Blue Skies and Sunshine!

A previous posting showed these "pillars" on the ground before installation. Here they are used as an upright element along a raised border that will be almost entirely focused on blue. These 4" pvc pillars will be modern containers with all sorts of nice things spilling out. The blank grounds space will be filled with all sorts of "goodies." It was beautiful today and the blue sky echoed this long border. I feel blue is underutilized in the garden. The quest for "true blue" continues with plants such as roses, dahlias, gladiolas and some other plants. Remember that the "visual cooling" provided by blue is not only pleasing to the eye but also is quite relaxing. We will have blue throughout the gardens this year. With all of our obelisks and pillars of blue out there, the April visitor already has a hint of what is to come. It's not too difficult to find seasonals with blue blooms (petunias, salvia, etc.) but with so many shades of blue out there, we'll focus on sky blue and a true dark blue. The "purplish-blues", while beautiful, wont be our focus this year. Can blue be overdone out in the garden. NO!

We have lots of Siberian squill (Scilla siberica) blooming right now. This little bulb packs a lot of punch when it comes to a bright blue color in spring. These bulbs are easy to plant (in Oct.) although the warning is that they will reseed prolifically and in open beds, you'll have the "grasslike" foliage of the babies filling in the gaps the following year. It then takes a couple years for these to bloom and seeds continue to drop. We don't mind these "colonies" as all the foliage of this plant will go dormant by early June and disappear until the following spring.

Lots more visitors are streaming in to the gardens and this week looks to be sunny and dry for a couple of weeks. We're finishing pruning, composting beds and otherwise, getting ready for the "fast and furious" time of year. Even our formal garden cherub is happy to see the sun today (notice blue drifts of squill in the rose beds behind the statue)!