Allium, Garden Onions

Alliums are a huge family - it includes table onions, chives and the gorgeous garden "onions".
The latter come in many varieties from the tiny yellow allium molly to the huge football sized allium christophii. I love them all. They are very easy to grow, the majority are bulbs that are planted in the fall just like daffodils and tulips.
Like tulips they are sometimes eaten by little animals - I would have thought the onion taste would deter them but apparently not. The most long lasting I have found is the huge and regal Allium Globemaster. They are expensive but just a few bulbs make a big show.
Coincidentally my John Scheepers bulb catalogue came in the mail today - I am going to try some new alliums for next summer.

Anemone nemorosa

Despite the very early spring and unseasonable warmth the daffodils and forysthia are still blooming stongly.
On the other end of the scale from these vibrant, flashy spring stars are a great favorite of mine, Anemone nemorosa. The tiny flowers are only about an inch across and a few inches tall. But their beauty and elegance belies their size. Plus they grow into nice sized patches. Though they take a while to establish and need some protection from aggressive neighbors when small they are easy to grow in light shade.

Bog Garden

I'm happy to say that the birds have found my cherry tree. I saw a robin and a scarlet tananger munching away and the cherries are almost all gone.
I spent the morning weeding the little bog garden in this photo. It was originally a little pond but we did not maintain it well. It is only about a foot and a half deep and lined with rubber. When we decided to give up the pond we just filled the rubber lined hole with dirt. It is a perfect spot to grow plants that like very moist soil .
The yellow trollius shown here love the damp and grow exuberantly, they are almost three feet tall in this spot.
When I first planted the garden I planted filipendula but it loved the wet soil too much and filled the entire garden by the end of the first summer. All of the filipendula has been moved and I now use this little area for the trollius, iris ensata, and Siberian iris. All of these grow well in ordinary garden soil but love this boggy spot.

Flower Find

Who could not love a Jerry Garcia Grateful Dead Peace Crane? The red flower paper is gorgeous and it is embellished with glitter. Handmade by Localcolorist