Crowded House

While Todd finally unpacks his office and sets up shelving inside...

...I've been spending every spare minute working outside.  I've been struggling with some of the results of my first-year decisions in the garden:  cramming too many plants in a too-small space.  I naturally like a dense, messy garden, but in some cases, we have a really crowded house!

Between the Solomon's seal and the columbines, this little fern could barely breathe.

This coreopsis plant is completely overshadowed by looming peonies and salvia and therefore is not growing as well as it should be. 

Some things were growing nearly on top of each other!

Look at how healthy this lupine is.

I bought another plant at the same time but put it in a different location, where it doesn't have enough room to thrive.  Huge difference!

I've moved a lot of things around this year to make better garden partners.  It's not just spacing, but color.  I'm pretty pleased with how things are turning out, for the most part.  I tend to rely on 2 main colors for my contrasts - lime green and silvery green - for my favorite flower colors (white, purple/blue, and pink).

This sedum (bottom of picture) is commonly known as graveyard moss, although it's not a moss.  It is such a robust, quick-growing plant that years ago, it became a popular choice for planting on freshly-dug graves.  I love using it with other limes, like this euphorbia, and with silver, like this artemisia.

It looks great against color, like this Sweet William, and darker green, like this lemon thyme.

I planted a trusty lime euphorbia next to catmint, which has lovely purple spikes in summer.

I also like the sharp lime of creeping jenny, which I've tucked into my mint bed.  It's a great contrast against the darker green.  Once I finish propagating it, I'll continue to spread it around the garden.

Lime green looks really good against dark colors, like this penstemon.

This is another much-loved color - dramatic purple leaves.  I have multiples of this plant, and I also have this color in several coral bells plants (see below).  The deep purple looks great against both lime green and silver, which is why I love the artemisia that I planted last year.  Most varieties of artemisia are known as "bullies" because it grows so vigorously, but so far, I love it.  Its feathery foliage and silvery color make it a clear choice over another popular silver plant, dusty miller, that I never warmed up to. 

I also use greens and silvers to 'cool down' hot colors, like red.  I don't tend to like red in the garden, but I love these dainty alpine columbines.  I moved them all around in the garden until they were concentrated in 'cooler' areas with hostas and the artemisia.

I also moved several of them out to the new shade bed I'm building under our pine trees.  They make a nice pop of color there, although they won't be really robust until next year.

Yarrow 'moonshine' also has a lovely silvery tint.  You can see it best in this picture from earlier this  month.

They're all fantastic contrast colors and work well together.  And it gives a nice backdrop for my beloved pinks, purples, and whites. 

I think purple is so dramatic in the garden.  It just works so well with green.

Of course, black goes with everything!  :)

Now that most things are moved around (another huge relocation will happen this fall!), I can sit back and wait for the next stage of blooms.

Have a great week!