Sunday, June 15, 2008

Cute Is As Cute Does

I just bought this positively adorable stone crop "Blue Carpet" yesterday. I can't decide if it is irresistible or looks like bread mold. I thought it would look good in my planter but I think I will wait to see if it can actually make it through the winter in the ground, without the added stress of being tossed into my compost heap while still in a planter to see if it will make it through the bitter cold.

Well as if the stone crop wasn't enough to set the cuteometer swinging, I supplemented with the little violet korena Sylvetta Mauve to the right of it. I can hardly bear this combination!

I backed up the shot to give the total effect. This is what I call succulent way- because of all the hens & chicks and sedums lining the little path. The arrangement of rocks and miniature plants borders on twee, but it embodies the magic of gardening that first captured my imagination as a small child.

I started thinking about the cuteness factor in gardens while reading Girl Gone Gardening who makes no apologies for it. Black Swamp Girl asked if people had purchased plants because of their names. When I looked at the Mountain Laurel by my front steps I had a flashback from when I moved it from out in my field. I found its nursery tag ringing a lower branch and it was still legible. It clearly said "Tinkerbell."

Perhaps it is just my cross to bear in the garden.... exiled to cute-land. I suppose it works well with my freckles and buck teeth.

7 comments:

Mim said...

I love the design on the violets leaves...is that a red flower?
And yes, it kind of does look like moldy bread...

SMC said...

No- it is a purple flower. But this violet is all about foliage!

LYC said...

It just sort makes yu want to skip and hop up and down a few times. Of course that's because we're cute conniseurs.

SMC said...

These are the times I am glad there are no security cameras set up on my property....to catch me twirling around in slow motion while singing "The Hills Are Alive, With The Sound Of Music."

LYC said...

Every once in a while maybe you could put on a puffy taffeta skirt to twirl around the garden and sing "I feel pretty."

SMC said...

And just when I was thinking of giving them all to Good Will!

Unknown said...

Heh... I am reading this, and grinning. And you know I don't "do cute" but I'm drooling over that succulent-and-stone path... so maybe it's not so twee after all? (Or maybe I'm in denial about my lack of cuteness? Or both?!)

:)