I’ve worked hard the last six weeks to get all of the plants I had grown or purchased for the Armando Garden planted.   It was slow, physical work moving all the bark off and then back on the garden, and digging holes in the packed soil.  But, it is done for the year.

The newest half of that garden doesn’t look like much–all the plants are smallish or completely dormant.  But they hold a lot of promise.

The best gardens are typically built by using multiples of good garden plants and large groupings.  I feel an urgency to plant special plants that I’ve always wanted to grow, so I added a bunch of those in the garden.

Here are some of the interesting highlights from Annie’s Annuals:

Euphorbia characias “Dwarf”

 

Below is Glaucium flavum

This is Knifophia thomsonii, which I had in a pot all summer and it sent up two flower spikes, despite the cramped quarters.

Anthemis sancti-johannis

Aster “Harrington’s Pink” (I did group 3 of these)

Geranium pyrenaicum “Bill Wallis”–I grouped 3 of these, as well.

And this scented pink, Dianthus “Scent First Coconut Surprise”

I also set out what I believe to be a Yucca rostrata that I’ve been nursing along in the greenhouse for about 3 years.  I would love for it to look like this one day:

And then there are the bulbs that I planted from John Scheepers.

Tulip Antoinette–I planted 20 of these in groups of five.

And these somewhat similar “Flaming Purissima” tulips, also 20 planted in groups of 5.

I planted 25 of these Camassia quamash bulbs, in 3 groups of 7-9 bulbs.

I have one of these in a pot that has bloomed beautifully for years, so I thought I’d try planting some in the Memory Garden.  There are 25 bulbs in 3 groups of 7-9 bulbs.  These are Corydalis solida.

I’ve always loved Hyacinths, but usually in pots.  I had a lot of ground to cover, though, and 20 mixed-color Hyacinth bulbs, so I went ahead and planted them in groups of 3-5.

And the big, later blooming lily bulbs, Lilium “Black Beauty”.  I planted three bulbs in one group and two of them as individuals.

And these Fritillaria persica bulbs, which I planted in a group of 3 in the Memory Garden and another 2 in the driveway bed.

Last, I planted another Fritillaria in the Douglas Fir bed, this one Fritillaria raddeana.

I am hopeful that we’ll have a good, wet winter that will water these plants in, and enough cold to chill the bulbs appropriately.

I believe the memory bed has over 300 plants/bulbs in it.  Half of it is looking pretty full and lush, and the other half is newly planted, but should still provide a lot of blooms and beauty next year.

One thing that I gave up on is trying to perfectly design the garden.  There is no perfect design, anyway, and I only have so much time, so I just planted what I had in a way that made the best sense at the time.  The great thing about gardens is that no decision needs to be final, so if things don’t work out well, I can shift things around and I intend to add things for years to come to fill in the blank spots.