My Garden is Smokin' !

While in Chicago, we toured many gardens, several of which I have yet to report on (and I will). There were a few things in those gardens that garnered quite a bit of attention, such as the fabulous use of Alliums of all sorts, the hillside of poppies, and the Geum triflorum, also known as Prairie Smoke.

I've grown Geum in my garden for several years now. I have the single orange, called 'Cooky' ...

...and the red 'Double Bloody Mary'...

Geum 'Double Bloody Mary'

Three plants of each are planted alternately in a rectangle. 'Cooky' is one of the first perennials to bloom in my garden in spring and just about the time it's done, 'Double Bloody Mary' starts in. If I deadhead 'Cooky,' it will rebloom in summer, after 'Double Bloody Mary' has finished. It's as if one patiently waits its turn, neither wanting to steal the show from the other.

Last winter, as I was browsing through High Country Gardens' catalog, a different kind of Geum caught my eye. Geum triflorum - Prairie Smoke - looked pretty darn cool with its fuzzy heads and I had to have it. I ordered four of them and planted them at the very back of Max's Garden.

Geum triflorum in my garden

Less than a month after receiving and planting them, three were dead and one was thriving. I wrote to High Country Gardens to let them know and they immediately sent out replacements. All of them survived our brutal 2008/2009 winter and are doing well and thrilling me with their seed heads, just like those in Chicago. Though they spread from their roots, they also can be grown from seed, so I'm going to collect some of the seed this year to try and grow more.

Spring Flingers - I know several of you are wanting these for your own garden and High Country Gardens now has them at 25% off, so get over there already, before they run out!