Back in the days when I thought gardening required nothing more than design, water, and weeding, I planned a red garden. Composed of red lilies and daylilies, red columbines, a couple different red clematis, and red geraniums, I looked forward–that first year–to brilliantly red blooms.

The joke was on me. The red lilies–as seen in the photo–bloomed an orange-red. The daylilies bloomed a wine-red. The columbine didn’t bloom at all. The clematis bloomed a rich purple-blue.

Only the geraniums were red.

Oddly enough, after five years, I like this garden better. It’s full of surprises. Not what I’d planned, but good.