Drowning in Flowers

On our one lovely evening stroll at Chautauqua, I collected flower pictures. My gosh, I realize just how jumbled and crazy-quilt my gardens are when I come here, where people either have the sensibility to plan their gardens, or the rocks to pay somebody to do it for them. Don't get me wrong: I love my flowers. I just wish I could have a couple of weeks and two lean, tanned young men to dig everything up and REDISTRIBUTE IT for me. To clump things that would look better in a mass planting. To move those elephantine hostas into a neat row. To throw down a little mulch. And to bring me wine, rub my feet, and laugh at my witty repartee as I lie in a chaise lounge, idly pointing my dainty finger with its highly-polished nail this way and that, directing them where to replant my perennials. A girl can dream, can't she?
These purple coneflowers, rudbeckias and perovskias look good together. I have them together at my house, too. Score one for Zick.
I don't have any of these five-foot-tall Asiatic lilies that perfume an entire block as evening comes on. But I would like to have them. Another photo from last year, when it was sunny.
The rain was a little cruel to these pink and blue hydrangeas, but they were bewitching in their varying shades. I love the way they're peeking out of a mass planting of Salvia farinacea (Victoria Blue). That's oh, about $200 worth of salvia. It goes all the way up the other side of the stairs, too. And it's an annual, folks. Mass planting. Good thing. Something I haven't quite gotten the hang of. I mass a million different things together, which does create a mass, but not one with the overall impact and effect of something like this.I found this hanging basket just bewitching. Two tuberous begonias, some lobelia, and licorice plant. This would be a tough combo to keep happy in 100 degree heat back home. As much as I complain about the rain, I'm glad we missed that!
But as gorgeous as all these were, I think my favorite little garden moment was here, on a low wall.There was a display of tiny dolls in the window just beyond the plants. It takes real dedication to plant water-hogging impatiens in arable clay pots; you've got to be there to water them every day, maybe twice a day. But oh, how lovely, how perfect for the spot. Plastic pots just wouldn't cut it. Chautauqua is full of visual moments like this, because it's full of people who place a high value on aesthetics, and who are happy to tend the beauty they create.