Thank you, Debra and Corrie

Returning from morning chores, coming in for a landing at 3rd and Dayton, I spied these two ladies tending my “home” flower corner. I immediately hustled out to thank and talk with them.

Debra, along with Keith (not pictured), is one of two full-time Edmonds employees who are responsible for planning, planting and tending all the beautiful flower corners, entry gardens and hanging baskets that grace our fair town. Corrie (second picture), named for Corrie ten Boom, the Holocaust rescuer, is a veteran volunteer.

I asked Debra how she decides what to plant. The perennials, such as the yarrow and possibly rogue verbena here at 3rd and Dayton, are a given, she said. Each year, as they begin to plan around these perennials, a few annuals will come to prominence. This year, it was the deep blue petunias and low-growing purple verbena that helped define these beds.

Sometimes, as in this year's hanging baskets, the color palette does not turn out as planned. Debra’s inspirations for the baskets were the warm and subtle colors of a favorite Van Gogh painting, but it was the bright blues and reds that ended up predominating. The vagaries of climate and seed determine what will pop out most.

The 3rd and Dayton flower corner is Debra's favorite this year, along with 5th and Walnut. We agreed that the way the orange dahlias stand out among the white snapdragons at the later locale, is something special.

What’s your 2013 favorite flower corner?