Garden: New Pictures and New Plans

A few weeks ago, I had a little freakout on Facebook.  I was thinking about removing and replacing the sedums in the front garden and decided to ask the hive-mind for approval and planting suggestions.  

I've two problems with the sedums.  First, they are very dense--artifacts of a previous planting scheme--and I now prefer a wispier garden style.  Second, they are a very pale and minty green for most of the year and do not support the duskier color scheme I've been trying to create.  My initial idea was to remove the sedums and to replace them with something texturally lighter and tonally darker.   But, after thinking about it for awhile and ruminating on the answers I gleaned as a result of the freak-out, I decided to solve the problem in a different way.  I've decided to keep the sedums (at least three of the four) and to switch-out other plants instead.  

First to go were some lovely Amsonia tabernaemontana "Blue Ice" (which I really did like a lot), and also some Geranium macrorrhizum (which I really didn't like so much).  I replaced them with the hardy geranium "Samobor" that I'd already used on the other side of the garden.  (Thanks, Alison, for the suggestion!)  I hope that the dark splotch on each leaf will convey the darker, dusky theme that I'm trying to develop, and I'm happy to reduce the number of species in the garden by two--a small victory in the war against bittiness. 

The usual view.  

At the moment, I also enjoy the color echo between the geraniums and the just-opening alliums.

Geranium phaeum "Samobor"

I was still plotting against the sedums, however, until a post by Scott, who blogs at Rhone Street Gardens, led me to a different solution.  I've decided to switch-out some of the grasses instead of the sedums.  The grasses in this area are mostly Pennisetum "Hameln" which is a densely mounding grass.  I'm planning to replace them with Melica uniflora f. albida.  

Melica uniflora via Wikimedia Commons

Last year, I added some Melica to the rockery area and I've been pleased with it.  It does seem to seed around, but it also stayed green well into the fall, emerged early this spring, and has a much more loosely clumping form--all positives in my book.  I hope that the looser forms of the Geranium and the Melica will impart enough lightness to the planting.  And probably, I should also consider dividing the sedums--I haven't done that for a while and each clump is bigger than a bushel basket.

Here's the same planting area photographed from the opposite side:

Front garden with Geranium "Samobor" and lots of Sweet Woodruff.

And a couple of close-ups of various plant combinations:

Geranium "Samobor", Myrrhis odorata (Sweet Cicely), a branch of Hydrangea "Bombshell",
and Allium "Purple Sensation".  I hate that the Allium leaf tips are already browning--this is why,
for years, I avoided panting alliums.

Myrrhis odorata, Geranium "Samobor", and Sweet Woodruff, with Hakonechloa macra in the foreground.

Allium "Purple Sensation"

Here (below) is how the whole thing looks when viewed from the sidewalk.  One thing that I'd like to change about this view is the clump of coral-colored gems to the right of the walkway.  I've been planning to swap them out for years, but I haven't found the ideal substitute.  I want to replace them with another Geum, probably something from the new Cocktail series.  I really like "Gimlet" (a pale butter yellow),  but I haven't found it available locally.  Plenty of "Mai Tai", yes, but no "Gimlet".  I'm issuing an APB for "Gimlet"--please report all sightings promptly!  Or maybe I'd be better off by placing an-online order.  Gotta make up my mind and act fast while there is still stock available.

View from the street.

Bonus picture of the strip of ground to the north of the driveway.  I removed all the Nassella tenuissima (which never looked very good despite my constant efforts) and replaced it with Sesleria autumnalis.  This is also the new home of the displaced Geranium macrorrhizum.

Grasses, alliums, leucanthemum, and Geranium macrorrhizum on the north side of the driveway.

And that's all I've got at the moment.  Bye for now--if I keep editing, I'll miss the rest of Spring!