Blue in the garden

There's a joke that I am sure you've heard: "A woman asks: What colour is this? Cobalt? Royal? Indigo? Azure?" A man answers: It's Blue."
It just goes to show that something that seems so simple, can actually be quite complex. There are infinite shades of blue and many of them have specific names.
It's also been said that it's hard to find True Blue in the garden, and by that, the person usually means in plants and flowers.
I had a look through my photos and discovered that I had quite a number of Blue-flowered plants.

Above is Iris reticulata, a gorgeous blue Spring bulb. It's very short - 4-6" but a brilliant cobalt blue. The yellow and white markings intensify the blue.

Another early Spring bulb, Muscari or grape hyacinth, is a periwinkle shade of blue. It blooms with early tulips and spreads over the years, creating lovely swatches of violet-blue.

Scilla proliferates rapidly by seed, forming a mat of sky blue in mid-Spring.

When I first planted these fragrant hyacinths years ago, they were a dark purple-blue but over the years, they come up more blue than purple.

Pale mauve-blue creeping phlox tumbles over a boulder. It is surrounded by many colours and sizes of hosta.

Centaurea montana (perennial Bachelor's Button) is a lacy spring flower that has a fuchsia centre but pale blue frothy blooms. It is also known as Blue Cornflower.

Siberian Iris are much more blue than these photos indicate. They stand out brilliantly against their own dark green foliage and are a perfect compliment to Allium moly, the little yellow flower above.

Is Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) blue or mauve or a combination of both?

Hydrangea are often white but now come in pink, green and blue!

Dainty little Love-in-the-Mist (Nigella damascena) self-seeds and pops up everywhere.

Hostas come in many shades of blue - mostly a silvery blue and have names like Blue Wedgewood and Blue Cadet.

There are many, many more blue flowers that I love but the last one I want to mention in this post is Balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorus). It's a lovely, delicate shade of pale blue but it nevertheless brightens shady corners. It also does quite well in the sun.

Need even more blue in your garden? How about adding a swimming pool or other type of water feature?

If all else fails, paint your house blue, add blue cushions to the patio furniture or paint your Muskoka Chairs a bright blue!

Please check my food blog: the latest recipe posted is for Classic Roast Chicken.

Diary - My 10 Favourite Bulbs

My 10 Favourite………………………….Spring Blooming Bulbs

Daffodil ‘Tahiti’
A double daffodil with an orangey-red centre against a yellow centre on white. Always invites comment and very lovely in a vase. In the perfect garden, I will plant LOTS of daffodils (along with muscari) because they’re toxic and bitter and will deter squirrels.

Daffodil ‘Mount Hood’
White-on-white trumpet style. Very similar to ‘King Alfred’ but pure white. 16-18” tall.

Daffodil ‘King Alfred’
This is the Grandpa of all daffodils and the most beloved. Tall 18” stems produce rich golden blooms.

Muscari armenicus ‘Blue Spike’ or ‘Early Giant’Grape hyacinths are a short, bright blue, fast spreading spring bulb that looks glorious with yellow – tulips, daffodils or forsythia.

Daffodil ‘Thalia’ (Triandrus div 5)
A graceful, late blooming pure white enchantress that produces 3-5 sweetly scented blooms per 14-16” stem. Thin and delicate.

Puschkinia scilloides (Libanotica)
Here’s one you may not know! A wonderful, short, “fluffy” spring bloomer in white with pale blue stripes. 3-6” tall. Extremely hardy and quick spreading. Goes very well with Daffodils and Scilla siberica.

Scilla siberica (Blue Squill)
The lawn of the University of Toronto Law Library seemed to be awash in a sea of deep blue flowers! What were they?? I was fascinated. They turned out to be Scilla siberica . They are extremely hardy and ideal in any garden that doesn’t get too dry. They also come in white and pink.

Tulip ‘Diana’
Pure white blooms on strong white stems 12-14” tall.

Tulip ‘Christmas Marvel’Cherry pink blooms look good enough to eat!! They make a brilliant border display and look lovely with white daffodil ’Mount Hood’.

Tulip ‘Estella Rijnveld’Probably my ultimate favourite tulip! It’s a parrot tulip, very late blooming, feathery and frilly. “Estella Rijnveld’ is a wonderful striped combination of read and white and looks terrific with lilacs and Tulip ‘Queen of the Night’ in a vase.

Honourable Mentions

Here’s a few more daffodils that I’ve grown to love:
‘Suzy’ (Jonquil div. 7) - 18” yellow with orange centres, fragrant
‘Jenny” (Cyclamineus Hybrid Div 6) - 10-12” short and white
‘Ice Follies’ - open yellow and turn creamy white Ht: 16”

‘Hawera’ - nodding yellow heads, very short 6-8”

I won’t be planting too many tulips in my “perfect garden” because they are short lived and squirrels love them too much! But I wonder if I can completely give up:

'Red Riding Hood' - small, bright red, one of the earliest tulips
‘Peach Blossom’ - double early tulip, rosy pink with white, look like small peonies
‘Apricot Beauty’ - single early, peachy pink, wonderful in a vase, fragrant
‘Schoonoord’ - double early, pure white
‘Bastogne’ - Triumph tulip, bright red and show-stopping

‘Queen of the Night’ - single late, such a dark purple that it looks black – people cannot believe it! Looks great in a border or vase
Lily-flowered ‘White Triumphator’ - Spiky white petals, looks great with everything and they bloom a bit later when lots of bulbs are already fading
Viridflora ‘Spring Green’ - starts out green and turns white with green stripes. Very unusual. Just discovered it a few years ago and love it!
Tulipa tarda – tiny, short (2”) – like little wildflowers – yellow pointed with white tips – very long-lived

Allium giganteum ‘Gladiator’ or ‘Lucy Ball’ – Really different – 4’ tall – large globe shaped flowers on sturdy stems. Lilac and purple. Late blooming.

Chionodoxa (Glory of the Snow) – very early (April) Electric blue flowers look beautiful in a woodland setting and combine well with tulips and daffodils. Also terrific under forsythia

Iris reticulata and Iris danfordiae – tiny (4-6”) Iris that bloom in early spring. Reticulata are violet blue and Danfordiae are yellow. They have always been my signal that spring has really arrived. They bloom right outside my kitchen window under a linden tree.