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...

Lilac Legacy

Devote 3 years to establishing Lilacs and they'll outlive your great, great grandchildren.

Been running around like that proverbial farm animal with her head lopped off. Test driving horses, hardening off seedlings,* making up all sorts of excuses not to weed the garden.

Sweet reason to keep a fragrant bouquet of Lilacs by your bedside: Cutting off ALL the blossoms EVERY year improves next year's flower power.

I'm quite delighted that it's finally and officially Memorial weekend. While Mother Nature undoubtedly has another trick up her sleeve, I can start digging in the dirt and celebrating this most wonderful time of year.

When everything is a distinct possibility.

Passion can only take you so far.

At some point, the giddy excitement that comes with big landscaping ideas must turn into the harsh reality of back-breaking labor.

And, THAT is why neighbors were invented.

You see, I happen to own a very big rototiller and it works a lot like a 'Free Beer!' sign. All I have to do is park that magic machine in the yard and some unsuspecting neighbor says, Hey! What are you doing? Need some help?

Too tall? Prune them back. Removing the oldest stems ~ down to the ground ~ encourages new stem growth and more flowers blooming at optimum (i.e nose!) level.

It's an indisputable fact. Hard work hardly ever wears me out. Provided I've suckered someone else into handling most of that manual labor. :)

* Hardening off seedlings: set your babies outdoors for at least a week or two before placing them in the ground. Everyone feels discombobulated after a move. This transition helps them get used to long hours in the sun and cool night temps.

** Or! You could just throw them to the wolves and hope for the best. That's what I tend to do...

** Here's a list of hearty Lilacs for the highest of mountain gardeners.