Garden pornography

...as it is universally known on gardenweb. I think Michael Pollan uses the phrase when talking about garden catalogs as well. What else could you call the stack of full-color garden catalogs I’ve been carrying from room to room? It’s time to order tulips and other fall-planted bulbs and I still haven’t decided between all the lush, brilliant, fabulousness I’ve been poring over for the last week and a half. These flowers are just as oversaturated and impossible as, I guess, the women in the better skin mags.

Uh, anyway, ordering fall bulbs makes facing the end of summer much easier. As everything in the garden begins to decline—not yet though—you can look forward to bright spring things. (God, I sound like nature girl—I am NOT nature girl.) I do love imagining how they will look in my garden, even if I know things won’t quite turn out that way.

I know I’m getting the freakish T. acuminata and the sort of freakish Black Parrot for accents in the front. Probably a couple other species tulips as well for the same spot (tulips do not last well here, even species, and need to be replaced often) and then some orange and purple Triumphs for forcing and containers. Dark purple and light creamy pink hyacinths for forcing and containers.

But what about the mix for the front circular beds? What should I get?

I’m looking at these:


and these:


and these: