Monday, March 15, 2010

The Early Season Flowers Have Started to Arrive

As if to reassure me that spring really is coming to Atlanta sometime soon, "The Other Chuck" delivered the first round of things for the Big House garden a few days ago.  Obviously none are in bloom yet, so I've used photos provided by the growers.
The first, which I am WAY excited about, is from Blooms of Bressingham, and is a perennial wallflower called "Jenny Brook."  At the test gardens at University of Georgia, this one has been going for a few years, and Armitage says it's been blooming reliably from March until June.  It starts pink, goes to lavender, then to peach, all on the same stalk!

We also got several of the Pacific Giant delphiniums called "Blue Bird," that Martha S grows in her cutting garden in New York.  They are likely to melt in the Georgia heat, but for the spring, there are very few things that can rival a delphinium for a show!  They're all planted in one drift, with barberry behind and an apricot daylily growing in front of them....can't wait to see how they develop!

For containers, and some color at the front of the perennial bed (at least until May or so), the calendula called "Alpha" will give some great bursts of orange, and the Forget-Me-Not called Bluebird is always a spring workhorse. 

10 comments:

  1. delphiniums are my all time favorite, I have them in my garden, lovely:)

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  2. It's an exciting time of year for us gardeners. Love the wallflower, reminds me of the combination of the rose 'x odorata mutabilis', which is a favourite (photo on my blog in archives, if you're not familiar with it!).

    Will you be visiting Bressingham Hall & Gardens when you are in the UK, Tim? It's in the county of Norfolk. They do B & B so you could stay there too.

    Johnson

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  3. Steven, you're just aggravating my sense of "zone envy" with talk of northern plants! Johnson, I'm going to check out the archive on your blog. We are planning to go to Bressingham Hall as part of our trip, but are staying at a different B & B when we're in that part of the country. I've registered for a class at Coton Manor while we're there.

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  4. I adore calendula, one of my favorite annuals. Also love delphinium, but I've not had too much luck with them. Was shocked the first time I learned there really IS a wallflower! :)

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  5. Fire up for a lot of work and fun too. It is good you can start planting.

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  6. Tim, it's going to look lovely when it all matures!

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  7. I have never grown wallflowers and I don't know why. I no longer grow delphiniums because they just can't handle our heat. They are so pretty though.

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  8. Phillip, Wallflowers typically melt in the summer here, which is why they're not common. This particular variety, though, has tested well at Athens, GA, and in Dallas, TX. In both cases they've bloomed from Feb/March until June!

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  9. My Seattle garden (1986-2001) was inspired by English cottage garden, indeed our house was a true cottage at 750 sq. feet. We had a section that included a bank of Blue Giant Delphiniums with Blue Siberian Iris in front faced with Wallflower. Blue is a color almost absent from the house, but bountiful in the garden. They all do well in the PNW.

    I admire your choices.

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  10. Hi there! Just happened upon your blog, we're in GA as well and just starting to re-do the entire yard. LOTS of work, but I can't wait to see the outcome come Summertime! Where can you find that Wallflower? That is absolutely gorgeous!! I'd love to add some into my yard! I've only grown the Siberian Orange type and it never lasted very long for me.

    I love your blog and plan on perusing quite a bit more over the next week! Keep up the wonderful work!

    Thanks,
    Wendy

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