A pretty bloom goes a long way toward making the gardener forget the plant that bears it.At least that's true in my garden.
I’ve been threatening to cut down my mockorange (Philadelphus ‘Buckleys Quill’) shrub, but then it blooms and I think “Oh, isn’t that pretty, I’ll wait to cut that down until after it blooms. Maybe I’ll do that in the fall.”
Then fall comes and I don’t do it, and then spring comes and I’m too busy. Then it blooms and I repeat the process. So I live with this ‘Charlie Brown’ shrub for fifty weeks of the year because of two weeks of bloom.
The lilac, at least the common lilac, Syringa vulgaris, is another shrub that gives us two weeks of heavenly scented fragrant blooms. The rest of the year? It’s a big ugly shrub.
We should expect that with a botanical name like “vulgaris.” Mine needs to have some other shrubs planted around it to camouflage it. I'm working on that, don't rush me!
By the way, there are other lilacs that you can plant that don’t look like dogs when they aren't blooming. May I recommend Syringa patula ‘Miss Kim’ or S. meyeri? You’ll like them, I promise.
My night-blooming cereus is also a plant that only a few could love when it’s not in bloom.
It’s all stems.
But the bloom is an event and I think it is worth having this plant “own” a corner of my sunroom for that once a year, or if I’m lucky, twice a year bloom.
Yes, you can "oh and ah" over it, because it is pretty, very pretty, "other worldy pretty".
If the bloom wasn't so pretty, why would I put up with my big night-bloomer plant for years before it got all pot bound and started blooming annually on a regular basis (if two years in a row is a 'regular' basis).
Some people think the peony plant is an eyesore once the beautiful bloom is gone.
I don’t agree that it’s an eyesore, if you remember to deadhead the spent blooms once they’ve started to turn brown.
(Note how I have cleverly figured out a way to post some more pictures of my peonies?)
Yes, I admit I have some scraggly looking plants in a few places in my garden, but about the time I have a WOO (window of opportunity) to cut one of them out, it blooms.
And I would never cut down a blooming plant. Would you?
Comments
I have a vulgar Lilac and try to ignore it when it isn't blooming!
I've planted annuals beneath it, we'll see. My son gifted me this plant so it can't be chopped down.
Gail
I know what you mean, though. I wonder why I still have some plants growing here, too.
No peonies here because...they always seem to flop while blooming and then blah. I do love to see them in other gardens though :-)