Home of the Practically Perfect Pink Phlox and other native plants for pollinators

Friday, May 30, 2008

I Fibbed

Or did I merrily change my mind?

Blame it on Frances, she noticed the parenthetical reference to PPPP still blooming in the Porch Wildflower Bed in yesterday's post. She gave me the opening and I took complete advantage of the opportunity. Can I convince just one more of you of this plant's practically perfect pink status.

There is just one caveat:

"He said there was a flaw."
"A flaw?"
- Some flaws.
- Some flaws?
He said they were beautiful diamonds
but, officially, there are flaws. Sorry.
Is ok.*

Yes, this diamond has a flaw. It travels a bit too much in loamy soil. You will have to edit and move it about and share it with other gardeners who think the flaws are unimportant. You could be OK with it! I don't have loamy soil.

That's why it's Practically Perfect and not Totally Perfect...Oh, my did anyone catch the unfortunate Initialism? TP! Oh no, Practically Perfect becomes...PP!

Yikes, this is what happens when you over think an idea!

Back to this cutey pie plant....you know, Phlox pilosa. Here it is in bloom with a few friends in the back garden. Could you please ignore how badly the Garden Of Benign Neglect




is neglected and focus on the Practically Perfect Pink Phlox still in bloom. Also in bloom, are Penstemon X (left) in the above photo

and to the right,
Stella (Daylily bloom)...Ok, you caught me! I didn't want to go back outside and photograph Stella in the back garden, then have to up load her to iphoto and then , etc, etc! So I used a photo of Stella from the front garden and there she is with a Coreopsis bloom. (click for their closeups) Coreopsis would indeed look good in the Garden of Benign Neglect, but it isn't there;-)

To the far right is Anthony Waterer (Spirea). His inflorescence in closeup, click for a really good look.

I have come to really like both Stella and Anthony. For a long time I thought them ubiquitous. They are...and used too frequently in mass plantings, especially in front of commercial buildings. But the yellow of Stella is a nice counterpoint to the pinks of Anthony, Phlox and even the Penstemon. You can't beat the long bloom period for all of these plants.

Meanwhile back to PPPP. Did I pinky swear that I wasn't going to post on P pilosa the last time I posted on her? It's completely possible that there will be no more posts, maybe a mention or two, but no more posts...and this time I mean it!

You are all the most loyal and supportive of friends....

Gail

Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without. Confucius



* Kate and Luc (French Kiss)

11 comments:

  1. A Practically Perfect Plant can be forgiven for a few flaws I think. Sometimes a spreader is wanted to cover large areas of ground. I know I would love to have some pretty flowers on our unmowable slope!

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  2. You got 'em, Dave, I will collect some for you!

    Gail

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  3. My PPP is a cultivar named "Eco Happy Traveler." The name pretty much says it all. Mine has started blooming, so I'll be posting about it soon.

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  4. Gail, you are so funny. And with a tendency to overthink? We call the garden of benign neglect way of gardening, the Semi school, ignore, step on it, never weed or do anything at all, possible pee or throw up on it if beer has been ingested inappropriately, and the plants still thrive. TP or PP, still a winner in our book. Thanks for the link BTW.
    Frances

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  5. Frances,

    Then we must get the offspring Semi some practically perfect phlox ... so she can test it's constitution!

    I need to get you a bit of this happy traveler, too.

    Gail

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  6. All the colors really go well together! The green, purple, yellow, pink... they blend to make a beautiful view.

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  7. Tina,

    Glad you liked it....I have some PPP for you potted up!

    gail

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  8. MMD,

    I love that name! Mine is a passalong plant from a fiend and she never gave me a name. I wonder if PPPP wants to be called EHT.

    Gail

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  9. Gail, I always have liked people who are willing to admit they have a few flaws; the same goes with plants. I like PP better than TP :) It just needs the proper place to be PP, right?
    Thanks for speaking up for Stella, too. I know you see them everywhere, but I think they're almost the perfect plant, too. Anything that blooms all summer and can eventually be divided for more plants is a winner with me!
    Funny post!

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  10. funny post :) with the time I appreciate more and more plants that can be neglected and still look PP - that's a treasure in the garden.
    e.

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"Insects are the little things that run the world." Dr. E O Wilson