• In the Garden

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The red garden

posted by Terry OShaughnessy at 22h03

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The red garden is full of scent, especially the verbena. (Photo by Terry O'Shaughnessy)

When it comes to favourite flowers in the garden, I generally prefer blue flowers best. Delphiniums and larkspurs, spiderwort, bachelor buttons, love-in-a-mist, forget-me-knots, pansies, asters—you name it; if it’s blue, I like it. And my favourite foil for my blue flowers are yellow blooms—daisies, daylilies, and Ladies Mantle (lots of Ladies Mantle). So you can imagine my surprise when, after my annual springtime treks to pepinieres and fields, I seem to have acquired a red garden.

Like the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland’s Through the Looking Glass might have planted, I now have crimson verbena, orangey/pinky/red viburnam, striped Sweet Williams, burgundy bergamot and geraniums as hot and red as anything that might grace the verandahs of the Caribbean.

As unexpected as my new red garden is, I really like it. Much like the Red Queen who bossily informs that: “It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place,” I find I can just stay for hours on my porch, inhaling the amazing evening fragrance because the red garden is so scented—as well as enjoying a floral vista that is as richly scarlet as my favourite velvet dress when I was seven.

And anyway, a lot of neat things are red. My grandfather’s favourite colour  was red (he was the one who bought me that velvet dress for Christmas), and once one of his red dahlias grew so huge, my grandmother had to donate her mixing bowl to float it in. Red Square in Moscow is an absolute must on my Bucket List and I have always remembered designer Bill Blass' advice: “When in doubt, wear red.” And Miss Scarlet was easily the most glamorous suspect in that game of Clue we all used to play on rainy summer days (although I always had a soft spot for Professor Plum as well).

But who knows if it’s just a passing fancy, or if it can last until next year. If I take my cue from the Red Queen, who spends a lot of time on a chess board and can move in any direction she likes, maybe I’ll just change next year if I want. But I really like my fragrant red garden—and just might checkmate any other colours that try to intrude.