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A big love for tiny flowers

Posted on July 1st, 2008 – 10:05 AM
By Jaime Chismar

Flowers are like fireworks. Peonies, iris, lily — big bangs are often big crowd pleasers. After our cold grey winters these bright blooms are a jolt of color therapy.

When our friends, Gene and Kelly (yes, Gene Kelly) gave me some forget-me-nots, I was expecting some small to medium-sized flowers. Instead, I fell in love with teeny-tiny blue blooms. (Seriously, if Hello Kitty made a Lego set, these would snap in place just outside her doorstep.)

forgetmenots.jpg

Where big blooms can’t help but draw attention to themselves, there is something incredibly sweet about stumbling upon such a small surprise. Ah, the joy of discovery!

Do you have a big love for tiny flowers? What are you favorites? Where do your plant them to maximize their sweetness?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 10:05 am and is filed under Flowers + Grasses. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

13 Responses to "A big love for tiny flowers"

kiwi9mm says:

July 1st, 2008 at 10:55 am

Blue lobelia. Small, compact, yet stunning color.

sparklegirl says:

July 1st, 2008 at 11:32 am

I couldn’t agree more about the lobelia! I’m also a huge fan of white alyssum, which edges all my beds but is also in a small pot near our patio chairs so I can enjoy the honey-like scent.

Jaime Chismar says:

July 1st, 2008 at 11:57 am

Lobelia is super cute! I’m also a big fan of flowering hens-and-chicks.

Robin says:

July 1st, 2008 at 12:22 pm

I like the white alyssum also and also the tangerine and lemon marigolds.

Amy says:

July 1st, 2008 at 12:48 pm

All these are great! The petite marigolds are my favorite (and stunning when surrounded by blue lobelia!) I also love creeping phlox, I just wish they lasted longer!!

Tracy says:

July 1st, 2008 at 1:05 pm

Blue bacopa has become one of my favorites over the years.

Amber says:

July 1st, 2008 at 1:25 pm

Similar looking to forget-me-nots, variegated Siberian bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla ‘Variegata’) is my favorite small-flowered beauty. Little pale blue clouds of flowers float over the nicely striped leaves. It’s the first plant to bloom in my shade garden–a little spring love affair.

Jaime Chismar says:

July 1st, 2008 at 1:27 pm

I planted some yellow bacopa in a patio container a few years ago. It is one tough plant. It got full sun all day long and looked great though fall!

Jaime Chismar says:

July 1st, 2008 at 1:31 pm

Amber, your brunnera is charming! I’m a sucker for variegated leaves, too.

Connie Nelson says:

July 1st, 2008 at 2:11 pm

I love lobeila, too, but it always dies out on me in the middle of the summer. Even if the plant isn’t in full sun. What do you folks to to keep your lobelia going strong in the heat?

Peter Hoh says:

July 2nd, 2008 at 12:29 pm

Among the smallest flowers in my garden is Irish moss, which produces flowers no bigger than an ant.

sparklegirl says:

July 2nd, 2008 at 4:30 pm

Connie, my lobelia strategy is to give up mid-way through the summer. The last two years, I’ve bought gorgeous lobelia baskets to hang in a quite shady spot under my pine tree, and both times they’ve pooped out when things get too hot. Some friends who also love lobelia tell me this is just the way it is; you have to accept that lobelia doesn’t make it through July.

Fargofan says:

July 5th, 2008 at 7:15 am

I love signet marigolds - and I like that they don’t have that typical marigold smell.

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