As we move into the fall season and our summer bloomers start to fade, it is encouraging to know that there are still quite a few choices for late color in our gardens. The classic fall blooming perennials are…
Gardening With Ornamental Grasses
Ornamental grasses are an interesting class of perennials. They have some unique qualities that make them an essential part of my borders, as they should yours. Unfortunately, many gardeners still see them as weeds that either need to be sprayed with Roundup or trimmed with the Weed-Eater. This column will hopefully find some converts…
Climbers In The Garden
Anyone who has followed me over the years knows that one of my many mantras is “There is always room for one more plant”. No matter how packed my garden is, on any given day I can find a little patch of bare earth that is just screaming for something to be planted in it. My wife often fondly refers to me as her “hortiholic with a planting addiction” and I suppose it is true…
Cone Flowers Continue To Thrill The Summer Garden
I know I mentioned last week that I always hesitate to spend too much ink on just one variety of plant, so it was my intention to discuss some summer chores for us to complete this month…. However, I found myself distracted by an article in the September edition of my wife’s ‘The English Garden’ magazine about the glories of the perennial Echinacea, or as we Yanks prefer to call them, cone flowers. That got me to thinking about this wonderful late summer bloomer…
Crocosmia Pack A Lot Of Punch In The Summer
It is always hard for me to focus in on one variety of plant this time of year. There are so many fabulous summer blooming perennials (and a surprising number of shrubs) that are strutting their stuff in the months of July and August, that to dedicate a whole column to one variety seems impossible and maybe even a little unfair. But fair or not, this little treatise is going to zoom in on the genus Crocosmia - mostly because they are coming into full bloom now and there isn’t a day that goes by that someone doesn’t come into the store with a sample flower (that they probably liberated from someone’s garden) and want to know what it is….
Hardy Fuchsias Are So Much More Than A Shade Plant
If you are looking for a perennial that will bloom from June until frost, will tolerate full sun or part shade, comes back every spring (unless Mother Nature is really nasty to us) and makes a wonderful companion to so many other plants, then what you need is a hardy fuchsia! They are hard to beat for nonstop blooms all summer long…
Dark Foliaged Plants For That Shady Spot
I don’t think that I am alone when I say that I am drawn to plants with foliage that is anything other than green. Anyone looking for dark foliage that does well in shade is hard pressed to find many options. If your search for dark foliaged plants for shade has left you frustrated, look no more. Here are a few choices that are well worth incorporating into your garden…
It's Time For Delphiniums
If there was one perennial that personified a cottage garden, I think it would have to be the Delphinium. They are the epitome of what I think of when I picture a Victorian border or even just a simple country garden. Their tall stature often anchors the back of a bed and provides the height that is so critical in keeping the eye moving through a perennial landscape design. When I moved to the northwest 30 plus years ago, I couldn’t wait to grow these beauties…
Hellebores - Winter Jewels Of The Garden
When it comes to perennials, the Perennial Plant Association is the place to go when you want to know what is happening in the world of these wonderful plants. One of the things that this association does is to promote certain perennials by declaring a ‘Perennial Plant of the Year’. These are not new introductions but rather tried and true varieties that are guaranteed to be easy to grow and disease and pest resistant. Back in 2005 they decided on a shade loving perennial known as Helleborus x hybridis. Over the past 14 years this perennial has grown in popularity to the point that there are now a plethora of varieties to choose from. They are the consummate winter interest plant for our northwest gardens and you can find them for sale this time of year in garden centers all over the Puget Sound region. Here’s a bit more info about this wonderful Genus…
Speaking as a self-proclaimed “plantaholic” who likes just about all things with foliage, fronds, or needles, one plant I started to salivate over in the 1990’s was Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia sp.). For us in northern latitudes, these mythical plants were uncommon and were perceived as…