The End

I have been averting my eyes as I pass by my raised beds, the garden that is a summer wonder. The death, the limp leaves, the loss of things I didn't save. I have aged and made decisions, cut some ties, hardened my heart. In comparison I guess I still kept more than most, the things that weren't saved had run their course, I had given them many years of happiness in a climate that is more severe than their life can endure. 

What was dug and lifted include 3 gigantic brugmansias, most of my tender bulbs, a huge begonia and my night blooming cereus 'Mark Twain'. Left behind were various tender bulbs, 2 other night blooming cereus, a sentimental pachypodium (almost as tall as me), and 1 brugmansia. 

One can't help but spend a little time considering the alternative of just planting perennials (and shrubs) that will reappear in spring and cause so little worry, provide sustenance for wildlife and do their thing with less maintenance. Well, I do that too, but to a much smaller degree. The summer garden is where my heart belongs and I suppose I should move to a tropical climate.

But since that isn't happening, at least not right now, I see that these decisions will become more and more of an issue. One considerations, outside of building a greenhouse, is to enjoy the gardens of places that do this tropical stuff well. On that note, I recently visited Green Spring Gardens in Annandale and was surprised to see so many new salvias. It was the eve of the killing freeze, which may or may not have laid them down, but there was certainly lots of joyous plants to see. One new line of hybridization is the Mexican sage or Salvia leucantha, which now comes in white on white (white bracts and flowers), pink and white and the (now old) purple and purple.  

With little hesitation, I already know that next year's garden will have some of these tender salvias. They flower on a short day schedule, which means you don't have a show till late summer, but that is a fine time in the garden. I rarely feel the anxiety, or possessiveness to actually dig them up or even make cuttings, so it's a win win. There have been salvia years, my gardener's clock arrives there and I think the span is every 4 or 5 years before I return. But my point was, we have some great gardens to visit and enjoy the fruits of their labor, as time marches on and the gardener reduces the load, joy can be found is something as simple as a stroll in these beautiful spaces.  

I on the other hand, will go a bit longer, have a summer garden for a few more years (lots more years), and maybe expand my perennial beds, just in case. And add more shrubs.  

 

Comments

[Laura]

Amen!