12 February 2008

Valentine's Day: Thinkin' Pink


Angela at Cottage Magpie has challenged bloggers to do a post on pink things around our homes for Valentine's Day. Being a gardener, and not being one who uses pink in the house too much, I naturally thought of pink-flowered plants, the perfect gift for many a romantic soul.

Pink isn't a colour I wear much of--never was a pink girly girl as a child, more the tomboy with scuffed knees and dirt-coloured teeshirts and shorts! Nor is it my absolute favourite garden colour. In fact, I thought of doing an "I don't like pink" much in the way Nan Ondra did an "I don't like white" post to rave reviews. The results would be probably surprisingly the same; that I do like it.


It depends too on the interpretation of pink. Do we mean shell pink, rose pink, hot pink like fuchsia, (or is fuchsia closer to magenta?) or some other colour? Let's see....this annual poppy is definitely a happy pink with subtle colour changes. But a poppy could come in any colour from black to blue to pink to jubilant orange and I'd love it.


I was thinking I don't have much in the way of pink roses (they lean closer to magenta, some of them) and then I remembered one of my favourites is the wonderful rugosa Polareis, softly pink and white. It's also divinely fragrant and I'd rather have one fragrant rose than a dozen scentless longstems from the florist.


Normally, anything pink and related to breast cancer sends me into a rage, mostly because I find the whole fundraising thing around cancer to be rather repugnant--so much money is spent on PR, but that's a tantrum for another day. However, I bought this pink potentilla intentionally; money from it was being donated to a local group for breast cancer survivors, and I bought it to put in my former mother-in-law's memory garden, who died nearly two years ago.


Another subtly pink flowered plant, this one a peony of unknown name but exquisite fragrance and porcelain like beauty.


Astilbes are one of those plants I love whether they're in flower or not, because their foliage is just so great. Some of ours came from a nursery where they were simply labeled "White" "Red", "Pink" etc. This one was labeled "White"...but it's just fine in pink, too!


From a garden I visited this summer, a marvelous collection of lilies, in a rainbow of shades, but the pink ones really got me; especially the fragrant ones, which were beyond exquisite.


And I love Pinks, meaning of course Dianthus--annual pinks, perennial pinks, they're all good and I can't possibly get enough of them, especially if they're nicely fragrant, which these are.


Okay, maybe I'm splitting pink hairs a bit. This flower is mostly white and green, but with a bit of pink and deeper rose to it. Astrantia are one of my most beloved plants the past couple of years. The flowers aren't huge, but they're so perfectly patterned; I've been known to sit and just LOOK at one for long periods of time. A kind of garden meditation.


A bit of a deeper rose-pink now in this late-summer sedum, with a real cute bumblebee as bonus. Late summer and fall is actually when I most like pink; it tempers all the golds, rusts, oranges and reds that are in the garden, slightly cooling them, although put something pink in the wrong spot and it even screams "NO" to me!


I've grown very fond of this fleeceflower, which behaves nicely, flowers profusely, has a bit of a rest, and then throws more blooms later in the season, for good measure.


We can't forget pink foliage, either. Keeping a nishiki willow somewhat pruned (I just prune lightly) promotes new growth with that lovely pink in with the green and cream;


But this hardy kiwi takes the pink cake for rosy foliage, wouldn't you say?
There, that's enough pink for today...it cheered my heart too, given that although the sun is out, the snow is blowing and drifting into huge waves now in the yard and road.

21 comments:

  1. I am not much of a pink person either. Now, if you had said blue, I would be all set! What a lovely bunch of pinks you posted!

    We are getting ready for another storm tonight. This one is going to have lots of rain coming on top of the snow. I am sure you will be seeing it by tomorrow. At least Valentines Day is supposed to be sunny!

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  2. I am not familiar with the fleeceflower, but will definitely be looking into it. I experimented with some pink spiked cleosa last year, but it didn't amount to much. The fleeceflower looks just like what I'm looking for.

    BTW, the biggest pink thing around my house is a single wall in my office. Given the state of my office right now, I'm definitely NOT posting about that for Angela!

    Robin at Bumblebee

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  3. Hi Jodi, I love your pinks despite what you may think of pink these are all gorgeous.

    I have done my geography lesson.

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  4. Like you, I don't seek out pink in the garden, but like you there are some lovelies of that hue, the willow, which gets pruned yearly to about a foot and peonies and roses are the prettiest. I have something else in mind for Valentine's, already loaded so I'll have to pass on this assignment.

    Frances at Faire Garden

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  5. What a gorgeous collection of pinks! I'm not such a pink person myself, but migrate to antique pink roses, and the deep pink (older) azaleas - that poppy is just exquisite, isn't it? It was fun to stop by here and see the festive pink of Valentine's Day - it's a silly holiday (is it a holiday, really?) in some ways, but it is also my brother's birthday, so always a reason to celebrate. Why not celebrate with pink flowers?

    Happy Valentine's Day to you!

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  6. I grew much like you did, and I resented pink much on Principles (tm). Nowadays, when I not have to prove that I'm a HaRd Women (tm) I find pink to be a lovely colour. My only pink flower is a climbing rose I hope survives on my balcony untill I have the time to repot it :-S

    By the way, I'm impressed you've subscribed to my swedish blogfeed (Parkettodlaren - the swedish mother blog of Indoor Gardener). Do you speak swedish or german?

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  7. I think I'm the same kind of not-crazy-about-pink as you - I kind of love it. And I had to smile at your astrantia meditation. Once I painted a giant one for the sheer pleasure of gazing at the flower while I painted it. (ex bf has custody - that's a good excuse to do another...)

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  8. What a fabulous collection of pink flowers! I'm not a pink kind of girl, but I love pink flowers and you have chosen some real beauties here. I am right with you on the Astrantia musings-gorgeous plant.

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  9. I've never been "girly," but I refuse to bow to the color sterotypers. I'm always telling my kids that colors do not have gender - men can wear pink & little girls can wear blue.
    Sorry for the rant - the point is I am not ashamed that I like pink. Of course I prefer my pink hot & intense just like my... oh, let's not go there. Let me just say instead: Happy Valentines Day!

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  10. When I started blogging my second post was titled "Pink- A -Phobic", Jodi! But even if you don't consciously choose pink it sometimes chooses you - as it did here where every neighboring yard displays hot pink crepe myrtles, and with small lots, my neighbors' trees become part of my landscape.

    In self-defense I made a pink garden.

    But you get to have pink astilbe, pink astrantia and pink peonies, Jodi - my pink garden would be a lot prettier if they'd grow in Austin! What a fun post.

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  11. That poppy is just gorgeous, and the peony? Divine! Of course, the roese I love to. I'm an unabashed lover of pink, and pink flowers are one of my favorites! Thank you for such a pretty post (and for participating in the Valentine's Day challenge! :-)
    ~Angela :-)

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  12. I'm really funny about pink in the garden. I hate hot pink zinnias, yet I like pink coneflowers and pink daisy mums. This is fun, and you've got some great stuff there, Jodi. I'm getting my pink post ready now. I've loved seeing everyone's pink posts!

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  13. I'm a real lover of pink!!! I seek as many as I can for my gardens. So for me--I loved all the pics!

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  14. I like pink. I like all of your pink plants and I think most people look pretty good in pink...if they give it a try! LOL As I said, I like pink but now that I think of it, I don't have too much pink. Gotta get some more pink!

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  15. Yay for pink! I just recently began embracing my pink side in the interior of my home. It's been really fun because I've only allowed it outside in the garden up to now (like you). Despite having the lovely pink inside now, I still favor the pink that occurs in the garden. Your paler pink blooms are my favorite. But by far the sedum with the bumblebee is my favorite photo in this post!

    Cindy at Rosehaven Cottage

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  16. Your photo collection of lovely pink hues is great. I enjoyed reading bout each of them, most unfamiliar, but all interesting.
    Aiyana

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  17. I for one LOVE pink flowers! They photograph probably better than any other color. Your pink flowers are so pretty and very delightful for me.

    I'm working on my pink post for tomorrow.

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  18. I just clicked again on Angela's site and saw that the deadline is TODAY. I better get that finished tonight.

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  19. oh I had so much fun looking at your pink photos! The dianthus are especially cheerful.

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  20. Being a great fan of pink I love all your pinks Jodi! I too would rather have one fragrant rose than a dozen scentless longstems from the florist. I love them all but a soft, delicate pink wins my heart every time. Isn't Sedum wonderful the way it draws bees?

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