Cool Blue Garden

Camassia ~ a favorite early bloomer ~ delicate, star-shaped flowers.

It's been raining. A lot! Which is very odd in a high plains desert and that's inspired a few Midwestern Moments. Been gettin' all reminiscent about those wasted years when I lived in Minnesota. When most every outdoor plan we'd have was foiled by bad weather.

Dainty little Brunnera (flowers the size of your fingernail) lays claim to a shady spot in my yard.

Back home it's okay to bitch about the rain. Rains every damn time you get on your bike. Out here, it never rains (or so they say) and so I have to keep my trap shut.

The bluest and latest blooming of my Lilac Menagerie has a wonderful fragrance after the rain.

But it has inspired a cool, blue mood in my garden.

The crazy hairdos of Centaurea Montana

It's hard to find true blue ~ especially at my place since my alkaline soil does it's level best to change everything blue into purple and pink. (Acid soil does exactly what I'd like it to do but I'm not moving back to Minnesota to achieve this goal.)

Here's the latest gamble I planted with fingers crossed I might see true blue:

These Gladiator Alliums are supposed to be deep blue/purple, not pink. And, they're supposed to be 6-inch diameter flower balls (as opposed to 3 inches.) But, I still think they're kind of cool.

* Aluminum Sulphate or pine needle mulching are other ways to make your soil more acidic. Though it hasn't worked all that well for me...