Lol, thanks.
I do have to wonder if it is too much of blue and purple/lavender. I
was going to put 'Lemon Lunar Lander' in there, but I really want 'Orchid Dove' in that area, not way out in the Back 40. I figure that 'Absolute Zero' will have to do as a lighter colored contrast to the other two (I didn't want to put that out back, either).
I am trying to figure out how to place things now. Because of where the agapanthus, pink breath of heaven, a white salvia, and the daylily are, it ends up with the three irises being on a sort of slanted line, and I am not sure that I like that. I also have to figure out where the society garlic plants and the 3 scabiosas go. It's going to get crowded in there! (Along the edge of that area there are also two coneflowers and a white dianthus that the gophers got most of, earlier this year, and going toward the main walkway there is
Iberis and then a spot for two white-ish irises (currently a gopher besieged 'Hidden Surprise' is there). Needless to say, the to-be planted irises are going into wide vole mesh "containers". I am not actually going to plant out the iris tomorrow/day after, but we can get those spots dug and the vole mesh laid down/in and the loosened soil back filled into there. I can then plant the irises at leisure during the next few months.)
There is another problem area (hot, horrid clay, gophers) that I also want to work on these next two days. I think the bloom times kind of stagger, but I am thinking of 'Pure as Gold', 'Total Recall', and 'Citrus Medley' for the irises to go in there. There are also
Gaillardia 'Arizona Apricot', a magenta
Pelargonium,
Iberis, a bit of
Stachys, some self-sowing
Euphorbia myrsinites and a backing of
Gaura in that bed. (Earlier in the spring, there is
Bergenia and some white daffodils.) If I can, I may also shoehorn in a couple of
Penstemon and see how that goes. (I'm not entirely sure how I feel about them; they can be somewhat weedy and some are aggressive spreaders.) I have one pot each of 'Firebird' and (I think it is) 'Blackberry Ice' which need homes.
I had a little bit of late afternoon time outside today, during which I did a bit of deadheading, a bit of weeding and watering, marked my few daylily crosses from the morning, and finally planted out my African Blue Basil and the mini cantaloupe in the kitchen garden. Iris wise, 'Purple People Eater' is now bloomed out (that was quick
), 'Navajo Jewel' was on its last bloom (gone tomorrow, I think), which leaves 'Friendly Advice' (in bloom) and 'Baltimore' (still to begin).
My sister sent me a link to this iris gardening calendar from San Diego. I didn't realize that we were supposed to feed THAT much fertilizer to ALL the irises right after bloom!
http://www.sandiegoirissociety...
