Second Wind

Somebody who is fated to live a linear life can’t easily grasp the cycles of nature; I’m envious, almost, of the way the garden gets to reshuffle the deck at the end of each year and start fresh in spring, one level up from where it was before.

Sometimes this cycle skips like a record with a scratched groove and the plants go back a month or two, to the gardener’s delight.

I don’t know what enticed yarrow into its second flush of bloom, but I’m going to enjoy it, even though it looks a little strange in the company of stonecrops and ripe pampas grasses.

I guess it liked its spot in full sun and the fact that it is not crowded, maybe the soil in that flower bed suits it, I don’t know.

I can’t wait for the other plant to adjust to its new location: it produces an abundance of peach colored flowers that last for more than a month.

Yarrow is one of the perennials that successfully transitioned from the herb patch to the flower border after horticulturists developed hybrids with larger and more colorful flowers. The vibrant reds and yellows of Red Velvet, Moonshine and Coronation Gold are the most popular, but I prefer the mellower earth tones of the Terracotta and Colorado Mix varieties.