Mini Plants, Color Combos, and Deep Purple. . .

The front section of my garden faces the street, and I've made a mini-rock garden that mixes both small growing alpine plants with taller varieties.  Some of my favorite low growing perennials are: Armeria (Sea Pinks--love!!), Dianthus (any variety, but I'm particularly fond of the red 'Flashing Lights'), Cerastium (Snow in Summer--one of the most dependable plants up here), Arabis (Rock Cress-I have both a purple and white variety in my garden), Aurinia (Basket of Gold--nice early bloomer), and Sisyrinchium (Blue-eyed Grass).  All of these have been dependable survivors up here, blooming consistently every year. 

Double Pink Dianthus

Sisyrinchium-Blue Eyed Grass

Sea Pinks, Blue Avena grass, light yellow pansies

Color Combos:  Here are some notable color combos that I like:

Blue Geranium, Red Dianthus, Cerastium

'Moonshine' Yarrow, Blue Salvia, Red Dianthus

Denver Botanic Gardens-Golden Rod and Lavender

I don't think I need to explain why I like them. . . I just do.  Top 2 photos taken in Crested Butte, bottom one from Denver.  I have seen Goldenrod sold in the nurseries up here, but can't say I've ever worked with it.  I've just never seen it with these yellow plumes in the nursery, but after seeing it at DBG, I'm tempted to try it!  Lavender occasionally will come back up here, but don't hold your breath;  better off just considering it an annual.  But the purple and yellow is a nice combo.  Could also go with a 'Six Hills Giant' Nepeta (super dependable up here), next to a yellow flag iris. . .
I'm currently in total awe of my Golden Hops vine.  I know, I know, I've mentioned it in some previous posts, but I just can't get over how well it's doing this year and how it's highlighting the plants in front of it.  On one side of the fence, I have a pink yarrow growing in front of it:

 And on the other side, I moved my painted daisies in front of them, because I thought they needed more sun. . . There is something about that lime green foliage that makes the pinks POP!  I have an Echinops that should bloom in the next couple weeks, and I'm anxious to see what the blue blooms look like with it. 

Photo off Melissa's Iphone. . .

Deep Purple: Bearded Iris are another one of my favorite perennials.  Their tall thin spikes of leaves add such a great architectural element to the garden.  And good thing their shape is so interesting, because they may or may not bloom.  I have 4 bearded Iris clumped together; last year only one bloomed that was white with blue edges:

The Iris cometh. . . (Iphone photo. . . sorry.)

This year, another one of the four (but only one, and not the same one as last year) has sent up a bloom stalk.  The bud of this year's was almost black, and I was thinking to myself "Did I buy a black Iris??"--I vaguely remember cruising the aisle at the nursery and in a moment of Goth inspiration thought a black Iris would be cool.  It finally unfurled to an incredible Deep Purple:

Just like most rock stars, this beauty is in touch with it's dark side and it's attraction lies in it's complexity, not it's simplicity. . . .

Mid Season Color

I have to note, it's been a funky weather year.  We had an incredibly mild winter and then a fairly dry spring.  We've fortunately gotten regular rain in the past month, but the relative drought has played havoc on the flowers this year.  It's been a disappointing year for wildflowers, although I have found some good patches both up West Maroon Pass and up by Yule Lakes.  Noticeably absent this year up West Maroon are the scarlet paintbrush which are usually mind blowing.  The Fireweed has been popping up, which is usually a late season bloomer budding out later in August or even September.  As far as the garden goes, there seems to be an overall dominance of blue and purple throughout town.  My own garden seems to be lacking in mid-season color, although I wonder if the plants are holding off a bit--maybe they know something we don't?

'Allegro' Oriental Poppy

I can't resist posting another picture of a poppy.  This morning the sun was hitting this to reveal the crinkly texture of the petals and highlighting the color so well.  The Day Lily's are starting to pop as well.  I have quite a few of the 'Stella D'Oro' variety that has done very well up here.  I have a couple other taller varieties that are just budding out, so we'll see what color those turn out soon.

'Stella D'Oro' Day Lily

My Delphinium are starting to bloom as well, and like I mentioned before, they have thrived in their spot against the fence, giving them some protection from the spring winds.  They also are enmeshed with my Golden Hops Vine, giving a great color contrast:

Delphinium and Golden Hops

I also have a great patch of purple Lamium that seems to bloom almost all summer long.  I have a mix of Purple, White and the Aurea Lamium that hopefully next year will all be filled in.

Purple Lamium

Lamium bloom

 It has been a banner year for Penstemon.  I've had several volunteers show up in the front garden.  I used to be somewhat ambivalent about Penstemon, but the height that it adds, as well as the vibrant violet color of the blooms has made me a believer.  It's a native plant that goes well in the domestic garden:

Rocky Mountain Penstemon

Another native plant that I love is the Eriogonum umbellatum or 'Sulphur Buckwheat'.  Another great plant for adding contrast to the color pallet of the garden, and tolerates drought well.  

'Sulphur Buckwheat'

The Saponaria is going off, the icelandic poppies are in bloom, my dianthis is coming to then end of it's bloom cycle as is my purple Salvia.  A yellow foxglove is budding out, the red day lilies will be here soon, and hopefully the next couple weeks will bring some more color to the garden. . .

Denver Botanic Gardens

I also made a stop at the Denver Botanic Gardens this last week and was so incredibly impressed!  They had these amazing sculptures by Tetsunori Kawana out of bamboo by and the landscaping was incredible.  The 'East Meets West' exhibit is going on through November 4th, so if you're in the Front Range, I highly recommend it!

Allium. . . variety??

This last pic is of an allium (which I couldn't find the variety of) that was just about the coolest thing I've ever seen.  On short stalks (maybe 5-7 inches high), they had HUGE seed heads and looked like fireworks bursting from the ground.  The DBG website is an incredible resource; definitely check it out.   Of course, it provokes a certain amount of envy when you visit somewhere that can grow Zone 7 varieties (or beyond), but we don't have much traffic to deal with up here, so there you go! 

3 Weeks Time. . .

I had a little trip out to California over the forth and it was a good chance to see how the garden grows in a short amount of time.  When I left, we had been having record heat and EXTREME fire danger.  Not good conditions for a 4th of July fireworks fest.  But the day after I left, the monsoons started and Crested Butte has settled into a nice (and sometimes tempestuous) rain cycle.  Yesterday lightening cracked so close, half the town lost power for half an hour. 

June 26th, 2012

My oriental poppy was budding out and I was anxious to see what color it would be since it hasn't bloomed since I planted it 3 summers ago.  I'm pretty sure I bought a red one, but you never really know. . . The oriental poppies around town have struggled this year, even though I think they usually thrive on a certain amount of neglect and heat.  I went to take a picture of a house that my friend used to live in that had a huge mass of double orange poppies and they looked. . . well, they looked heinous.  Crispy and brown with very few flowers.  I have a love/hate relationship with Oriental's as they can be such a great huge pop of color, but after they bloom, their foliage tends to flop and look horrible.  They seem to look best in a mass (where they can be cut back after they start to fade) or in a place where other foliage will cover up the hole that they leave after blooming.  So turns out:

July 18th, 2012

They are orange. . .
Poppy Time:

'Watermelon'

This is an unusual 'Watermelon' Oriental in town. . .

'Princess Victoria Louise'

They are incredibly stunning with their huge seed pods and feathery anthers.  The Icelandic Poppy is another strong performer around here.  Deadheading prolongs bloom time, but allow them to drop some seeds toward the end of the season so they can propagate.