Earlier this week, I took my camera to work and took a walk to Temple Square during my lunch hour. I wanted to get a few shots of the long, narrow flowerbeds by the lawn between Temple Square and the church office building. I could use some ideas to make my long, narrow beds look better next year.

Here’s an example I can learn a few things from. Note how it has that curvy line of red/magenta undulating through the bed, tying it all together. All of that red color is from the same type of geranium, repeated over and over. Even though I tried to create more unity in my narrow flowerbeds this year, I still succumbed to the temptation to use too many different plants. I repeated quite a few of them, but not in a way that creates this kind of curve running through the bed. I think next spring I need to plant with more unity — repeat the same plant throughout the flowerbed like they did with these geraniums (pelargoniums).

Here are the plants I recognized in these beds at Temple Square:

• Pelargonium (annual garden geraniums)
• Nierembergia – short, purple flowers
• Orange, single-flowered zinnia
• Pink and purple petunias
• Blue salvia
• Annual vinca, white with a red center and some purple/lavender ones
• Funny-looking ornamental cabbage or kale
• Here and there a few widely spaced Gerber daisies

There isn’t much in the beds besides these, and these plants are repeated quite frequently.

While I was there, I saw one of the Peregrine falcons that are known for nesting nearby. My new 300m zoom lens allowed me to zoom in fairly close on it. Very cool.

Here are some other photos I took while there:

That photo of blue-flowered ground cover has me thinking… I may be interested in planting some of it at my place, as long as it’s not too invasive. I think it might be ajuga?