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| Giant Allium invaders scare some children, though they hardly notice a patch of small Alliums with white flowers. I wondered about a patch of smaller Alliums that I forgot after planting. What are these? I pinched some leafy material - Garlic! |
Today I will bury eight more flowers in the front yard. They will be marked with yellow - Do Not Disturb - markers.
True bulbs are flowers packaged to start growing underground in the fall, only to finish in the spring. The flowers are already present, just waiting for the right time to emerge.
Purists speak of corms, pips, and other labels for similar plants lacking the flower but following a similar, welcome appearance.
The Garlic family is known for repelling bad insects, but the bees love Garlic flowers. I might want to keep them out, but they sort themselves out. Every plant has a purpose, even if nefarious and destructive. God sorts it out.
I had to buy something cheap to reach the balance demanded for free shipping, so that is how I ended up with two Giant Allium bulbs.
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| Guinea Hen Flowers - Fritillaria |
I gave up Iris bulbs by trading online for a few Crown Imperials - cancel one, buy the other. The Altar Guild - a small but influential cadre (Mrs. Ichabod) - approved when she saw the Crown Imperials. Crown Imperials supposedly repel moles, and I like moles, but that gets sorted out too. No one grows these plants, and they are quite spectacular.
Remember the Unrighteous Servant who could not dig? That was the lowliest type of labor, and it is not a glamorous career today. However, if I dig in bulbs, I am suddenly a great gardener in the spring. Every time Ranger Bob challenges me on my practices, since he was a landscaper, I ask, "How many roses do you have, Bob?"
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| Crown Imperial - Guinea Hens with a PR team |
Guinea Hen flowers - I planted them because of a sale, and I was left unimpressed. I have not grown Crown Imperial since New Ulm, so I jumped at a swap between bargain Iris and noble Crown Imperials. Their stalks are two feet high, so they lift their crowns above the madding crowd. (Thomas Hardy novel, Far From the Madding Crowd).
I am justly criticized for planting without any particular plan. But I am simply following the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4, Matthew 13, Luke 8). The more I plant, the more flowers I have in the front yard. I do not know predict what will happen, but I know we will have more spring flowers than anyone in our region. Some people stop their cars in our quiet cul-de-sac and ask about what is growing at the moment. Why are congregations sowing expensive boxed programs - which are sterile and produce no useful fruit - when they could be sowing the Living Seed of the Word?
The Military Gardening Group enjoys the changing displays and offers their help in various ways. When we sip pour-over coffee on the front porch, we have an ever-changing canvas to admire. "Professor! Did you see that rose?!"
GJ - "Take It Easy, Bob."
Ranger Bob - "But what's the name?"
GJ - "Take It Easy. Too cute, but I didn't name it."
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| Take It Easy Rose |
