My new route to work takes me past this garden every morning. A few days ago
Loree posted that she felt a change of heart coming on regarding Dusty Miller. I thought instantly of this place which is full of colorful ornamental and edible plants all summer. As many of the colorful herbacious plants are now out of sight, the large quantity of artemisias are taking center stage.
I'm not sure who lives here but they do love this plant and it is truly quite nice especially at this time of year. Notice also the fresh mulch that makes everything look very tidy.
I'm thinking that the green line is going to be a mass of inky blue grape hyacinths in just a few weeks.
The garden features two varieties of artemisia both of which are stunning. the green dots are raindrops.
This leaf looks so soft and fuzzy that one is tempted to pet it!
One of the benefits of actually getting out of the car is the opportunity to see a little more than what is visible from the other side of the street. The house sits at the top of a hill and the sidewalk in front is about 10 feet higher than this sunken garden. I wonder what grows in the pots
From the other side, behind the house. This is a pretty large space for being in a downtown area. I'm not sure what's growing in the cells of the cinderblocks but I see green sticking out of each of them.
I went across the street to take some of the images above and noticed this new ajuga foliage emerging from the moss.
A young man passed by while I was taking the pictures and said, "Crime Scene?" I explained that I thought that the newly emerging Ajuga foliage was interesting. He looked a little bewildered and continued walking. To be fair, he couldn't see what I was seeing from his vantage point but isn't it sad that the explanation of photographing a crime scene made more sense to him? The area where this garden grows has an unfortunate reputation but in my experience, it's not a lot different from many areas of town.
So, what do you think of Dusty Miller and for that matter Ajuga; great hardy plants that can be used for a variety of purposes and require little care or is it a crime to love something that can be purchased in six packs at any big box store? And of course the bigger question weighing on all of our minds (no, not the nonchalant acceptance of crime scenes or what we can do to help make a positive difference in our urban areas) is: will Ms. Danger soon change her mind about petunias?
Happy Monday!
