Garden Centre

Saturday, May 31, 2008

More floral contrasts

Here’s another of my favourite pairings – and it’s one of those serendipitous happenings – totally unplanned. The iris had been in place for several years when the Californian poppies were windblown in as seeds and appeared out of the blue.

The colour combination works perfectly, it couldn’t have been better if I’d sat down with a style guide and planned it, but I wouldn’t have, as iris usually like moisture-rich soil and Californian poppies dry and poor growing conditions. So, with all that ‘intellectual’ knowledge in my head, I would never have put the two alongside each other. Nature knew better, slapped them into the same space, and for the past four years has produced this lovely show.

In similar fashion we’ve be ‘given’ windblown forget-me-nots this year, which have taken to the side of the pond as if they were a planned planting, and my currant bushes are as thoroughly underplanted with variegated nasturtiums as if I crawled in under there every year with a packet of seeds and made it happen. I don’t.

Sometimes I get the feeling that I should just watch the garden without interfering, I’m sure it would get along perfectly without me!

Labels: californian poppies, floral contrasts, iris, windblown seeds

The All Seasons Gardener at 2:04 PM

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