Thursday Garden Review: That Once In A Lifetime Week in the Garden!

So thought I would mix things up a bit. Joy insists that her meme can be about 'anything garden related,' and as such. I have decided to look back in time to a magical week back in June, 2013, when I was blessed with one of gardening's rarest and most treasured sights!

 As Joy can tell you, I am somewhat smitten, beholden, obsessed, enamoured with the colour blue! The REAL blue that is! Do not try and foist off a mauve-purple-blue... no no no, that will not do. It has to be the true, either crystalline shimmering icy blue, or the bright summer sky blue, or, and truly, I am not overtly particular, it can be the deep rich blue you only find with Gentiana, but for the love of Mother Nature, make it BLUE! And thus begins a week in which I was gifted with what many of us consider to be the bluest of blue...... that of course being the beguiling Meconopsis, also known as the temperamental blue Himalayan poppy! I knew within my heart of hearts when I noticed three buds in the waning days of May that I might - if Mother Nature would deem it so - bear witness to the first of these beguiling yet frustrating beauties right here in Teza's Garden. Its one thing to stumble across one on the internet, or in a book, but believe you me, it is something else entirely when you can actually reach out and gently caress the slightly unfurled bud!

Most, but not all within the genus, and more so with the blue flowering species, are notoriously and frustratingly said to be monocarpic, meaning that they will flower and die. If you're lucky, the plant will set viable seed before hurling itself off of the green mortal coil. They also tend to despise hot, humid weather, much happier in areas where cool, moist conditions are prevalent throughout the summer. Having said such, its a rare treat to find them outside of the coastal regions of Canada. Those who have borne witness [Larry, Jodi, Pat, Inge] to their intoxicating beauty are usually the first to try and dissuade someone like myself from 'having your heart broken!' Problem is, blue is my signature colour in the garden, and having already mastered Corydalis and a slew of Gentiana, there really wasn't much left to challenge me...... except the elusive, Holy-Grail Meconopsis.

Blue is my signature colour for many reasons aside of it being my favourite colour, but when stripped to the most honest reason, it is because it will forever be associated with my late Grandmother, whose eyes were a magical blue. My Father and I have both been blessed with a similar hue, but hers were like no other blue I have ever come across. When both she and my Father passed within four months of one another, I was more than determined to add as many blue flowering plants to my garden repertoire as was possible, and of course, I started with this one! 'Cory' and my Gentiana were all thriving happily. so now it was time to up the ante! He unfurled his first flower on what would have been my Father's birthday, and was still blooming [three flowers in all] on the ninth of June, which was my Grandmother's birthday, and continued on well past the eleventh, which marked what I will always consider to be the 'once in a lifetime' week in the garden. Sadly, true to its frustrating nature, he did not make a return engagement this year, nor did he set seed, but for me, one who is always looking for a new challenge, I think I can set back and rest on my laurels for a while! Its even better having a visual testament of such moments. The remainder of the post still comes nowhere close to capturing their jaw dropping, stunning beauty! 

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This will be the last posting, as, with life scurrying around us all, Joy has closed her meme. Its still a great blog to visit, so pop over and see what's new in Kingston!

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