I want to remember next year what worked and what didn’t this year so that I can improve my spring garden in 2009.
It was a good idea to plant pansies in the shade of the front flower bed (shown at left) — they’ve loved the wintery spring we’ve had. But next year I should plant purple ones instead of blue ones, because they are the exact same shade as the vinca blooms and don’t add any real interest to the garden right now.
My Claudia lily-flowered tulips (shown at right) are gorgeous. I don’t think I’ll bother with any other tulips — just these tulips plus a bunch of different kind of daffodils (my favorites are Ice Follies and Cheerfulness. The Cheerfulness blooms later than other daffodils, which is a nice bonus). The Claudias would have looked even better if my crabapple trees bloomed. I think the many freezes and snows we had kept the trees from flowering. I sure hope they bloom next year because that was a real disappointment.
The big yellow daffodils I planted towards the front of my main border mostly didn’t bloom either. They were cheap; maybe they’ll bloom next year. I am going to cluster them off towards the right side of the house next year where they look nice with the maroon Woodstock hyacinths I planted there last fall.
My neighbors have their hot pink moss phlox planted right next to mounds of candytuft. Looks great. My own candytuft did well in places and not so well in others (at left you might be able to see two big plants and two not so big ones further back). Next year I should pick up a few extra candytuft plants if I see them for cheap at King Soopers, like I did a couple weeks ago. My own moss phlox has done great, but I worry there’s too much of it. Still, it looked really pretty with the white Cheerfulness daffodils.
I have pink and white hyancinths planted amongst that lavender in front of the candytuft. They look pretty but got buried in the lavender. I will only plant more this year if I shear back the lavender significantly after it blooms this summer.
All in all, a pretty successful spring garden. I know more this year than last year — like not to pull out a plant just because it looks completely dead, which woody perennials and shrubs I should cut back and how much, and which tulips and daffodils to spend my planting time on.