Week 16 – All Things Weird and Wonderful

Arizona is under an excessive heat warning for the next 5 days. I’m not sure what the exact definition of that is. As far as opinion goes, it depends very much on who you ask; triple digits may seem excessive to some people but not to others. Tomorrow, however, is probably the highest forecast high temperature since we have moved here: 118 deg F.  As far as gardening goes, that means water very early and hope for the best. But what happens when your brain is in garden mode and, as summer chugs along, it’s just too hot?

We look at bulbs. Of course. Then put way too many in our online shopping carts and slowly whittle down to an affordable number. At one point this morning, there were 1,250 bulbs in my shopping cart. It’s not only money that caused me to cut that back to a tiny fraction of the original number. I usually find bulbs to be a pain to plant. In the Northeast, they usually want to be planted just as there are loads of leaves to be cleaned up. (That’s not an issue here)

What is an issue is that I’ve never grown these new (to me) types of bulbs before, my success rate with other plants is – let’s call it modest, and I’d rather not light my money on fire. But what bulbs grow in Phoenix? I’m used to bulbs that go into the ground in the fall, get nice and cold during the winter, and then provide a bright, brief burst of color in the wet, chilly spring. Phoenix doesn’t fit that pattern. But there are bulbs that work, and as usual, we look to other parts of the world like the Mediterranean and South Africa for examples.

I’ve been wanting to try alliums for a long time. I didn’t get them at first, but I’ve started to see the value of varying shapes in the garden, and large purple flower spheres seem just right to me at the moment. Are these types (like Globemaster and Purple Sensation) the ones that will work in Phoenix?

Of course not. And this helped me to recognize what seems to be an unwritten rule here. This climate favors the weird. I’ve looked into milkweed to attract butterflies. The traditional milkweed would be unhappy here. But there is desert milkweed with silvery leaves and yellow flowers. Most growers openly tell you that it will look like a pile of sticks for most of the year.

But weird is subjective. What’s weird and awkward to one gardener is exciting, even inspiring, to another. So I’m learning to say goodbye to the perfect flower spheres in my mind and be open to the alliums that can thrive, even naturalize in this climate, like these:

Yes, the famous “bad hair day” allium can grow here. Of course.

And, my personal favorite so far:

Technically, this is Nectaroscardum rather than allium. Also known as Sicilian Honey Garlic. I think I may try this one out. It’s one of the best suited to Phoenix and has the possibility of naturalizing in a slow, controlled manner. The bells continue to open until the whole thing begins to look round. Those lovely little dangling bells are nothing like my purple spheres, but I think they look really cool. I may even (shhh!) prefer them.

Weird isn’t always bad. Growing is usually uncomfortable. But if I wind up with a more interesting, vibrant, sustainable garden because of it, I’ll sign up.

I’m down to 100 bulbs in my shopping cart. Back to whittling.

Once more unto the breach,
🌿 Ruby