Monday, May 23, 2011

The Lure of Annuals

My perennial bed on 5.23.11
Compared to what it was like about a month ago, my perennial bed is filling out vigorously, albeit in a somewhat disorderly fashion - those I planted last fall jostling for space with the natives whose existence I was not aware of, elbowing one another unceremoniously.  Though I keep a pretty good record of what I planted, it will be nice someday to be able to identify each by name via the shape of its flower and leaf.


the same bed on
4.14.11
I was slightly miffed when I was told by our gardening expert, Greg, that our front yard lacked interest as it was mostly green, before the rhododendrons bursting on the scene, that is. I felt that I needed to defend it by saying that "but there are different shades of green!"  I am not enamored of those artificial-looking, ready-made, showy annuals which are popping up in the token flower beds in front of so many commercial establishments and on the aisles of gardening centers right about now.  And the idea of flowers which are disposable in a season is not very appealing, not to mention "unsustainable", so it seems to me.  Still there is no denying a certain allure in having clusters of colorful annuals lining the borders of one's gardening beds. Perhaps I may succumb to the temptation of putting in some annuals when summer arrives. 



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