I really have no space left in my little garden...but sometimes plant lust prevails and I fall for one new beauty or another. Which makes me edit the garden beds to find room, which is never a bad thing. If you have to dig up/divide/compost/give away plants to make room for new ones, you're at least a little more reluctant to buy something that isn't absolutely fabulous.
Which describes this iris and salvia I couldn't resist. The salvia is from Cultus Bay Nursery on Whidbey Island, and its flowers look more pink here than their bright coral color....It's Salvia gregii 'Navajo Salmon Red'. I squeezed it into a half barrel beneath a chocolate mimosa, along with some hebes and sedum, in a sunny, sheltered spot in the garden. It's so showy, flowers all summer, has large flowers (for a salvia) and the hummingbirds are already flocking to it.
Look at the dark stems and buds on this gorgeous iris - it's Iris x robusta 'Gerard Darby' from Wells-Medina Nursery. The flowers are quite dark, and the foliage (according to Jim Fox, and I always believe Jim Fox) holds up well all summer. I love how the slim stems and buds look almost like Bird of Paradise...here's the mature clump blooming in the display garden at Wells, where you get the full effect of the black stems set against the green foliage...
