Deutzia Scabra looking rather pretty in June

Do you name your garden beds?  I do.  But as the beds change and evolve so do their names.  This bed was formerly known as “messy garden”. 😉  It still is messy, actually, but it has become quite colorful so I think our new name of “Rainbow Garden” is much nicer.

The “messy garden bed” in June (plus Kitty)

The above picture is a “neat” view of our messy bed.  It was early in the summer, and the Deutzia (the white flowering shrub) was in full bloom. We have spent about five years trying different plants (with lots of fails along the way!) to get it to where it is today.  Part of the bed gets quite wet, while part is on the dry side (go figure), we get a lot of wind, and the soil wasn’t in great shape when we started. But now, the bed is really filling in and the plants are doing well.

the Rainbow Garden in early spring featuring erysimum bowles mauve in full bloom

I love to see bees in the garden! (Erysimum Bowles Mauve)

The bed now has two hellebores, a peony, Erysimum ‘Bowles’ Mauve’, globe artichokes, Mock Orange, Cornus florida ‘Cherokee Chief’, a yellow potentilla shrub and some white flowering bergenia.  In the spring there are some tulips, and in summer there are quite a few poppies. And brand new this year we’ve added Zantedeschia aethiopica Crowborough (these are large white calla-like lilies).

Spring flowering white bergenia (the not-yet flowering potentilla is behind the tulips)

the tiny white Bergenia flowers in spring time

Boy do we have some color now!  The poppies really give a POP of color.  🙂 The California poppies are short with a light orange color and *everywhere*.  There are also several different varieties of annual poppies in varying shades of red and orange.

Rainbow Garden at the end of July

poppies

We have enjoyed flowers blooming in this bed all year, starting with our ‘winter sunshine’ Hellebore in January/February. The mild weather here in Ireland has the benefit of early blooming spring flowers, too. Now the bed is almost in full bloom with lots of color!  I’m still waiting on the globe artichokes to bloom.

the Potentilla in full bloom with yellow flowers

Buddleja Buzz (dwarf butterfly bush) + Red Admiral butterfly

Buddleja Buzz (dwarf butterfly bush) on a sunny day

The garden is “peppered” with wild flowers, which provide a few different colors.  I’m still not sure if that was a good idea or not, scattering wild flower seed throughout the bed a number of years ago. I actually thought I’d dug out all of the poppies this year! But I’m glad for their color, and they are easy enough to pull once they are done blooming.

Rainbow Garden on a cloudy day

this view is rather messy, but shows the pretty blue/green leaves from the hellebore

‘winter sunshine’ Hellebore in full bloom in February minus the leaves which I cut off due to blackspot

I could certainly look at the bed and think of all of the work which still needs to be done (how about some edging?!). But I choose to only see the pretty, albeit messy, side. Just a few years ago there was nothing there but grass. I like it much better now!

Rainbow Garden

I love living in the country. I find it so peaceful to spend time in the garden. Being able to create different beds with all different flowers is just icing on the cake!

I hope you are able to find some peace in what you do, too.

In peace,
Dana