Digging out the yarrow |
In ancient times I bought a yarrow plant (Achillea) with reddish-pink flowers called ‘Cerise Queen.’ I enjoyed the beautiful flowers, and the deer didn’t eat it, a double plus. Over the years the plant spread slowly, seeded, and flowered again.
Seldom did the second-generation plants have burgundy blooms. Sometimes their flowers were light pink, but usually they were a dull white. And a year or two ago, apparently the original ‘Cerise Queen’ plant died and was replaced by dull offspring.
'Cerise Queen' in early years |
Rain was forecast for this mid-week, so on Monday I got out my shovel and dug out ‘Cerise Blah.’ The job was easy because the yarrow had shallow roots growing just an inch or so in the soil that I had improved over the years with compost and pine-bark mulch.
In an hour or so I had finished the digging. Tuesday I took the wilted plants to the compost pile and finished most of the rest of spring clean-up of the front flower beds. Bring on the rain—or will it be a “wintry mix”?
Now I have to decide what flower will replace ‘Cerise Blah’ in that bed. I have four requirements: (1) It must be deer resistant; (2) it should be a perennial; (3) it should be relatively short because it’ll be in the front of the bed; and (4) it cannot be “blah.”
Blanket flower |
I think I’ll keep an eye out for blanket flowers on my springtime visits to local nurseries.
If you have another suggestion, please post a Comment.
Sounds like a good idea...and they are beautiful in the eyes of the beholder!!
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