What can be better than the contrast of Red Hot Pokers and snowball white Hydrangeas in the heat of summer?
The Red Hot Pokers only bloomed this week, signaling we are headed into the last full month of summer in Colorado. These plants, also known as torch lilies, look like they belong in Colorado because they have that arid, prairie-like appearance. Some people don't like Red Hot Pokers, thinking their bloom too short (if I'm going to give up garden space, it better be for a plant that blooms all season, they think). I've given my Red Hot Pokers a very prominent plot in the front of my house, and like the Day Lilly, I appreciate the brevity of their beauty. In fact, I wait with the same level of excitement for the Red Hot Poker to bloom in late July as I anxiously anticipate the first Clematis bloom in the spring.
The Hydrangeas, on the other hand, have been going strong for at least 6 weeks now. They bloom like giant snowballs and are a cooling contrast to the short-lived fire of the Red Hot Pokers. These Hydrangeas were so very sickly when I first got back into the garden this season, but my how they have responded to just a little TLC.
I think we need to appreciate the short-lived beauty some plants offer us. If we had the bloom all year long, would we even recognize the miracle of a blossom coming to life? Would we stop to take pictures of every day occurrences like bees and hummingbirds?
It's the last full month of summer in Colorado. Time to savor what is left of the season. August in Colorado means the sun beats the day with withering heat, but at night the crisp mountain air cools everything down. Fire and Ice. In my own backyard.
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