Change can be good...or not

I was hacking through the jungle underbrush last night (OK, it was really just overgrown geraniums and lady's mantle, but with all the rain we've had this spring and summer, parts of the garden are starting to resemble South America), when I noticed that I have way too much red in my garden this year.

It was an experiment. We painted our front and back doors red last year and I thought I'd 'coordinate' my house and yard this season.

Mistake.

Oh, I guess it looks fine. It's just that I don't really like red - at least not in the garden. It's just too blaring. In the garden I want soft. Quiet. Serene. I want pink and white and purple.

So why did I change what had 'worked' for me for years? Pressure. And hype. I guess I just read too many garden design articles and too many plant catalogs touting the virtues of drama and bold beauty.

At least most of those red plants are annuals and I can easily go back to pink ones next spring, lesson learned. The red Knockout rose will get switched with the pink Baby Blanket that tends to get lost out in the far border anyway.

All will once again be right in my world.

At least until the next issue of Fine Gardening arrives in my mailbox...