Return to the Garden
I’ve said before that, while I love to travel, I hate leaving the garden. But I relish the return. The newness, weeds, and occasional surprise delight my senses and take my mind off the mountain of emails that need replies or the phone messages that need return calls. My stroll with the camera tonight turned up nothing in the way of surprises, but did find me coddling the dangling stems of the long-awaited Gladiolus ‘Atom’. My grandma shared corms with me this spring from a sampler collection she ordered. They were marketed as “dwarf” and “hardy”.
‘Atom’ is certainly not dwarf. At nearly 3′ tall these towering spires have flopped under weight of their flowers into nearby sedums and irises. I’m nonetheless enchanted with ‘Atom’, a vintage variety from the 1940s with vivid and emblazened scarlet flowers that sport a foxy white rim. Another diva plant for sure. You can order ‘Atom’ from our friends at Old House Gardens.
 | Published on July 25th, 2009 | Posted by kdnblog |