Updated September 23, 2021: I discovered early this spring that the plants I described below are actually globe thistles, not alliums. Regardless, the sentiment remains the same.
Mid-summer brought a lovely surprise last week: alliums! I shouldn’t have been surprised to see these hardy perennials, but I really was.
That’s because a mild drought has parched the lawns and made them bare in spots. Brief downpours have rejuvenated these patches – with unwanted crabgrass. As I walked around the main lawn last week, I focused again on these unsightly areas. Not the sights and sounds of a summer morning in the country. I wondered how and when I was going to repair this blight.
And that’s when I came upon a profusion of golf-balled-sized white alliums. I hadn’t even noticed their arrival this year; I must have raced right by them on the riding mower for weeks.
Seeing the alliums’ spiky domes and plump bees noisily flitting from one to another instantly lifted my mood. I forgot about the crabgrass. Weeds that were interspersed with the alliums seemed to fade from view.
It’s so wonderful to behold these snowy pom-poms, and I’m grateful to whomever planted them. Although I probably would have opted for a lush planting of the showier Globemaster alliums, their smaller, pale cousins will remain an important element as I restore order to their bed.
Days after my “discovery,” I realized that I’ve rarely been on any of the lawns or in the gardens unless I’m on a mission: picking up branches and sticks, snipping an outcropping of pricker bushes, noting tunneling or holes; yanking weeds. By not slowing down, I’ve missed the quiet signs of the gardens’ life cycles and the short-lived opportunity to best enjoy, understand, and support them.
I wish I had picture-perfect landscape photos to share, but the transformation of this property continues to be a long, slow journey. That doesn’t mean that the beauty here isn’t still evident to me when I take a moment. Sometimes that happens as I remove yet another heavy coil of bittersweet to reveal a peony that just couldn’t bloom beneath its dense shade.
Or, when I’ve cleared a jungle of weeds to see a lone stem of pink phlox that soon attracts a hummingbird.
Or, when I spot a spray of alliums standing tall among the weeds.
Happy Summer, everyone!