Category Archives: perennials

landscape design, perennials, trees,shrubs,vines,perennials

How to Plant a Garden that will look like it’s been there forever

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 I love to read those articles in gardening magazines with titles like "How to Create a Complete Backyard in a Weekend"   or   "This Front Yard in Just one Year".  If you’re like me you think  " Can I really do that " ?   There are some short cuts that can make this happen and fall is the perfect time to try out some of them.

Start by making sure you have paths where you need them.  Simple flagstone set in sand or soil work fine for meandering through the garden.  A more formal and permanent path is needed to lead guests to the front door but stepping stones are quick and easy in other areas.  Hardscaping like paths, walks and fences establish the framework for everything else to build off of.

If you want your garden to fill in quickly choose key plants that grow fast and are suited to your conditions: sun exposure, soil type and water availability.  Plants given their preferred conditions will grow and flourish more quickly.  Designate irrigated areas for must-have plants and use plants that like it dry in your other areas.  Most important, if you are going for high impact quickly, choose plants that perform right away instead of those needing a few growing seasons to grow in.

Begin your planting by choosing trees and shrubs for structure, especially in the winter.  Fast growing trees include chitalpa, red maples, mimosa, birch, raywood ash, flowering cherry and purple robe locust.  Shrubs that fill in quickly are butterfly bush, bottlebrush , choisya, rockrose , escallonia, hydrangea, philadelphus, plumbago and weigela.

Next come perennials that mature quickly and make your garden look like it’s been growing for years. is one such plant and blooms summer through fall if spent stems are removed.  Their intense violet-blue flower spikes cover plants 18" tall spreading 2-3 ft wide.  They look great in wide swaths across the garden or  along the border of a path and attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees.  Walkers Low catmint is another perennial that keeps going and growing.  This vigorous spreading member of the mint family blooms profusely with little spikes of 1/2" periwinkle blue flowers from late spring through fall.  Catmints are easy to care for.  Shear plants back by half at the beginning of the season and after flowers fade.  They are drought tolerant, too.

Where you need a big clump of color to fill in a space. penstemon, crocosmia, cardinal flower, mondarda, purple coneflower and yarrow all put down deep roots and mature quickly.    

Be sure to include combinations that bloom in different months. 

 

 Yes, creating a garden slowly over many years is satisfying, but if you need to fill in a new area quicky, draw on some of these tips and your bare dirt will be full and beautiful in no time. 

 

container gardening, cut flowers, perennials

Chrysanthemums

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 I can think of only a handful of perennials that bloom so easily, so prolifically and come in so many colors as the chrysanthemum.   Although they will be available throughout fall, the best supplies are often found now.  If you need to perk up your tired containers of flower beds, think of the reliable mum.

Actually, their botanical name has been changed to dendranthemum grandiflorum but I never hear anyone use this name.  It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.
Purple Mums

Mums represent the changing season with their bonze, yellow, orange and red tones.  Other flower colors include pink, lavender, purple and white to match any color scheme you might have.

Grown for years to flower only in late summer and fall, they are short day plants, setting buds when they receive light for 10 hours and darkness for the other 14 hours of the day.  This is why mums bloom in the spring on leggy stems if they are not cut back.  And this is how growers manipulate their blooming, adjusting the dark and light periods with shades in the greenhouse so buds will form in any month.   They’re nearly constantly available in grocery stores and florists in every season.

    At this time of year, garden mums abound.  Pick a plant with lots of buds, they bloom only once and won’t set more flowers until next year.  Those buds, though, last a long time if you don’t let them dry out. The specific type of plant doesn’t matter since they all have long term growth potential.  There is a European mum that produces hundreds of buds and stays relatively small and compact when set out in the garden.  If you particularly like one color or form of chrysanthemum, plant it now to enjoy again next year.  You never know what the growers might decide to grow next season.

Choose a well-drained, sunny spot to plant them.  Like many members of the daisy family, mums don’t tolerate soggy ground.  After blooming, trim off the old flowers and cut back plants to within 6-8" of the ground.  If you started with 4" pots trim back by half.

Next spring pinch them back whenever growth gets to 8" tall.  Keep pinching until July, then allow plants to start forming buds for the traditional fall show.  Mums need regular water so plant them in spots where you have other plants with the same water needs.

This fall, add to your mum collection or start a new one.  The pungent scent of their leaf reminds us that cooler weather is on the way.  And don’t forget to cut some for a bouquet to bring inside the house.
    
 

groundcovers, perennials

Groundcovers

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Ground covers are like a fancy carpet in the garden.  They add richness and beauty under trees and become the stars of the show in sunny apots.  Ground covers reduce maintenance by preventing weeds and reduce watering by acting as a living mulch.  

 

When choosing ground covers, assess the conditions of the area you want to plant.

  •  Is it in the sun or shade?
  •  Is it a naturally moist area or dry?
  •  Do you intend to water it or go with our natural cycle of wet in the winter and dry in the summer?
  •  Matching the plant to the site conditions will ensure success.

When designing a plant layout I consider whether I want a sweep of the same plant or a tapestry effect with a variety of plants.  Using more than one type of plant allows me to work with foliage contrast adding pattern to my composition. 

Splash color and texture on the ground under trees and shrubs with shade-loving ground covers like   Serbian bellflower.  It needs little water, blooms with star-shaped 1/2" blue flowers in spring and summer and spreads vigorously without becoming invasive.  Heart shaped foliage covers this mounding plant.

Lamiastrum is another perennial ground cover for partial or full shade.  Silvery variegated foliage can lighten up dark corners and small yellow flowers are a bonus in late spring.

To preserve good visibility along a walkway or lawn, use low-growing, long blooming perennials like diascia, Santa Barbara daisy and achillea.   All prefer full sun and moderate to little water.

 

Diascia is a So. African native with 1/2" wide flowers that appear on the ends of spreading stems.  Pink used to be the only flower color but now hybridizers have developed apricot, coral and lavender, too.  Diascia’s are hardy to 0 degrees and bloom nearly continuously if old flowers are cut off after flowering.

 

Santa Barbara daisy has become a popular ground cover as it reseeds readily and can cover a large area fairly quickly.  This 10-20" tall trailing plan spreads rapidly to about 2 ft, making it a great filler between larger shrubs and perennials.  Dainty 1/3" pinkish white flowers cool down hot sunny spots.  Trim this plant several times a year to keep tidy and encourage blooming.  

 

Achillea or yarrow are among the most carefree perennials for summer and early fall bloom.   They spread by underground runners and make great ground covers. Keep this in mind if you have a limited space.   The most common variety is Summer Pastels but if you want to add a punch of color to your garden, plant Cerise Queen with it’s cherry red flowers.   

 

Rockrose provide large-scale cover for expansive sunny areas.  Their dense strong root systems help prevent soil erosion.   Choose from white, pink or magenta flowers on plants varying from 1-5 ft. high depending on which variety you choose.  This Mediterranean native is fast growing and drought tolerant. 

 

To create stunning combinations of ground cover plants. choose 5 or 6 styles and repeat them in small drifts to carry the eye through the composition.

 

Add grasses for linear texture.  Good candidates are Blue Oat grass, a non-spreading clumping grass with silver leaves.  Carex Ice Dance is a spectacular evergreen ornamental grass with dark green narrow foliage edged with a pure white border.  Ice Dance spreads by underground runners in partial sun or shade.

 

Take the opportunity to survey your garden for bare spaces that can come alive with added texture and color.