At Ferncliff this week: The wildflower walk and other highlights of late spring…

The wildflower walk, very late May…

Although there is a more formal entry to my home, at this time of year I usually take the ‘wildflower’ path through the garden. This seeded walkway was not designed for utility, (there is a much wider walkway along a retaining wall), but as more of a whimsical, meandering route to the secret garden below. In early spring, the path is blooming with unusual narcissus and species tulips. Then, as the last of the double daffodils fade out, the lupine begin to bloom. Closely following this show is one of my favorite informal-garden plants, the free-seeding adenophora confusa, (blue-violet lady-bells). A walkway like this may look carefree, but in reality it is not low-maintenance. In order for the lupine and adenophora to seed freely in and along this route, as they would in nature, I do not apply the same thick compost mulch used in the other garden areas. This means that weeding is a constant chore here. There is a very fine line between utter chaos and controlled, wild beauty in this garden. My mother is very good at wild-style flower gardening, and since she and my father sold their home, I have been trying to recreate the effect here at Ferncliff. Before they moved, my parents collected a bag of flower seed from their garden to pass on to mine, and although it has taken a few years, the path is beginning to fill out as planned…