This is a simple yet serendipitous pairing: Camassia (C. scilloides) with prairie smoke (Geum triflorum).
The camassia (in the background) has the classic "bare ankles" problem: its flowers are on stalks above a little clump of wimpy basal foliage that just lays there. But put prairie smoke around it and the ferny leaves and interesting flowers/seed heads will perfectly cover the blank spots!
You can see the prairie smoke a little better here. These plants only get to about 10-12" tall, so it's like the camassia is just a head taller than the prairie smoke.
I wish I had planted these closer together, and hopefully the prairie smoke will need dividing in a year or so and then I can surround some of the camassias farther back with more of them. I also like the mix of the icy blue and rich pink flowers. These photos are from a couple weeks ago and now the Geum is moving into the "smoke" phase. But what a nice coincidence this pairing has been in my south border! If you're in the temperate zones 4-ish to 8-ish, give this duo a try!
1 comment:
This is a great pairing, Rose; I don't know if you planned it that way or not, but it's nice to have the Geum covering up the bare legs of the Camassia. I don't have either of these plants in my garden; I've wanted to add some Prairie Smoke, but I love the blue of the Camassia blooms as well.
I chuckled at your comment on my post last week--how did I have time to write a post when I was so busy? The truth is, I had taken photos for a few days while tidying up the garden and put them into a post late at night when I was too tired to do anything else. This week I've been catching up on some rest, and now I can't think of anything creative for a new post:)
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