Lessons from the Garden Tour

When I went to the garden tour this year I was looking for ideas. I took notes instead of just looking and admiring. I tried to notice why a certain group of plants was pleasing to me. Here are a few of the photos that El Esposo took. (Oh, yeah, that's another difference this year. He took the day off to come along with me. He planned our route so that we could see the maximum number of gardens. Eight. There were 15 on the list that we hoped to see (many more on the tour), but the tour only goes from 10 until 4 so we had to skip a few on our "must see" list.


This is one of the lessons I came away with. In our backyard we have a deciduous tree that shades an area near the lawn. That bed has now become empty and I needed ideas. I like this. It is a combination of douglas iris, lupin, coral bells and grasses. It will bloom early since the tree won't have leaves and the plants will get winter sun. Later in the year, this is a shady section, only getting the morning sun. I like the way it looks different from the "typical" native planting. (I have that in another bed that gets full sun. I also have the obligatory field of poppies!)
All three of these are the same little area from different angles. The lighting of the photo doesn't show the interplay of purple iris flowers, blue grass and then the cool red color of the coral bells. It was a really pretty combination.
Now that I wrote that I am thinking of the area in my yard that is closest to where I would do this, the camelia garden. Right now that area is awash with the same cool red. That would be a nice way to tie the areas together!

Below is a picture of the camelia garden a few weeks ago. There is much more red now. The quince is finishing up, the VFW poppies (Flanders poppies) are blooming like crazy, and some other red oriental poppies are also in bloom. All three are shades of a nice cool red. In the picture below (taken a couple weeks ago) you can see a few of the quince flowers (top left) and the VFW poppies (bottom left). Now the tall, pale green foliage just to the left and behind the chairs are also blooming. Those are the oriental poppies. All are red.
There are also a couple of CA poppies growing beneath the chairs. See them? They are now tall enough to be growing up through the wrought iron. Not very practical for sitting, but I like the look! Although I like seeing the poppy growing up through the white wrought iron, the color is now starting to clash with all the red. In the picture above, there is not so much of either so they coexist. But soon I will be taking out the orange poppy. (Besides, I don't want it to reseed there.)