In the Spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. Margaret Atwood
Spring does not officially begin for another month....but it's definitely in the air. Garden interest, garden love, and all sorts of gardening chores and musings are beginning in earnest; after all winter is nearly over and it's time for a fresh beginning - a chance to start over with your garden. No matter how big or how small your little slice of heaven might be, you can always use Spring as the excuse to get out in the dirt. Inspiration surely abounds, as lawns of fescue and rye seem to turn dark green overnight, only to be outdone by the earliest pretties as they emerge from the earth. Those green leaved wonders with yellow smiley faces aka daffodils, pretty blue, pink and white hyacinths, and prettiest in pink - cherry and quince. The clown-like faces of pansy and violas will bounce back after their long winter naps. The garden planning and work done in good faith last fall are now paying us back with their due respect, and gratitude for the patience over the winter months.
I have a thing for the blues...always have...so my go-to viola and pansy color is always blue...any shade of blue...all shades of blue with white tulips to make them pop
....also love purples and all shades of violet
For decades my "brand" seem to involve a certain kind of tulip...the Darwin Pink Impression. I started planting en masse in 1979, when it was introduced...I still love it so, but have become more expectant of my tulip $...so now I blend many varieties in similar shades to extend my very own Easter parade.
Love, love, love the color combination of these 5 blends of apricot and salmon colored tulips ... with these violas - hot and cold! These 5 different varieties of tulips were chosen from the earliest blooming to the latest...I had 6 weeks of continuous bloom with this method of blending tulips.
This is a favorite 'charmer" dripping with so many details...it has been great fun to transform the house, but the hardscaping and garden design is a personal favorite...it sure makes the landscaping fun and easy to do for my garden-loving client.
It's very common these days to see containers of all varieties and sizes being filled and planted in the fall with bulbs and overwintered, shall we say, put to bed for a few months.
This photo from the Dirt Simple blog site by Deborah Silver (amazing landscape and garden designer) is impressive...I can only imagine what these will look like in the Spring.
Perhaps a few of these were planted with.yellow narcissus and pretty hyacinths
or this...lots of muscari in shades of blue with just a pop of contrast with apricot colored violas resulting in lots of visual impact
...or even as simple as a plastic bucket of bulbs planted and placed later in the spring in a pretty gray willow or wicker basket.
This photo saved a while back from the French blog site Bulles & Bottilons, is a charming display of tulips and pale yellow daffodils...or their reference to them as jonquils. These bulbs were all planted in the same type of container...terra cotta. These particular pots have taken on the patina and character that comes with time and use - could they be any more perfect with these pale shades of flowering bulbs?
Here's an entirely different approach for planting a mass of bulbs in containers...Claus Dalby an amazing gardener and florist in Demark calls these "crashing colors". they are planted in every imaginable container from crockery, terra cotta, to rusty old and steel and zinc bins.
Get your garden on!
Terry
