Saturday, July 20, 2013

A Rudbeckia Of A Different Color


 Day 291: Typical of my haphazard gardening, I bedded starts and sowed seed in the spring and then promptly forgot what I'd planted. The best part of this method is that something invariably takes me by surprise. I did remember that I'd stuck some Rudbeckias out there...perennials because I'm getting lazy in my old age...though the fact that they were a rich maroon entirely slipped my mind.

I have a passion for dark-colored blossoms. I love Queen of Night and Black Parrot tulips, Superstition Irises, black Callas (which I can't grow), even silly little black Pansies. I am always looking for new black-flowered plants which can survive my neglectful gardening practices. If not black, give me the darkest shades of purple or red available for a species.

This is not to say that my garden has a funereal aspect. Far from it! I really don't plan for color, so the flowerbed looks more like a crazy-quilter had a hand in its design. Over here, there will be a thick mass of bronze marigolds; over there, clumps of blue Globe Gilia or a tangle of pink, white and purple Nigella. It's not a "scatter garden." It's more like a mosaic.

The Rudbeckias will be permanent fixtures, although they may get shifted around over the coming years so that they form a backdrop for shorter flowers. I'll probably forget where I put them until they burst through the ground, ready to surprise me with their gypsy-dark eyes yet again.

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