More Eremurus

Front Border at Froggy Bottom with Eremurus 'Spring Valley Hybrids'

     I previously wrote about Eremurus here, and I can't praise this great plant enough! While it is blooming, there are very few plants that match its magnificence.  Although I have taken a lot of the eremurus in this border to my new garden, there are still enough left to make quite an impact.  The ones in the picture above came from Brent and Becky's Bulbs or McClure and Zimmerman as their Spring Valley Hybrids.  There is also an orange eremurus to the left in the picture that you can see poking up behind the Nolina foliage.  That one is called Cleopatra, and it is commonly found in bulb supplier's catalogs.  It is not quite as tall as some of the others I have grown, although its color makes a standout in any garden.
     Other plants in this picture include Nolina nelsonii (on the left in the picture), Dasylirion wheeleri in the bottom center, Nasella tenuissima, Papaver somniferum, Salvia nemerosa (a cultivar that I lost the name of--but I think it is better than the usual), Echium vulgare (the blue flowered plant),  Onopordum ancanthium, the tall grey plant on the upper right. and Verbascum bomyciferm.  This is a border that is loved by the bees, and this year many of them seem to be busy with these flowers.  I love it!  I should mention that although the echium is supposed to be a noxious weed, it is considered by many to be one of the best bee plants around, and the honey from this plant is supposed to be excellent.  While I don't want to get hate mail, I sometimes question the whole noxious weed control zeitgeist.  If you don't like my philosophy on this, please do not post any comments, as I will probably delete them.
     Another point to make about this border is that it did not come about overnight.  It has taken many years of experimenting with various plants and many years of allowing self sowers to become established to achieve this result.  In my view no garden is really good until it has been established for awhile.  Sure, given enough money you can make something that might look presentable in its first or second year, but that is not the same as establishing what is essentially a self sustaining community of compatible plants that, by the way, look beautiful together.  This kind of gardening, and not the instant pictures so popular on TV makeover shows, is what I find interesting.  Anyway, enough with the ranting for today!