Perennial Passion Careful Planning And Proper Soil Can Turn Your Garden Into A Year-Round Bouquet Of Botanical Beauty

Outside my living room window is a bouquet of flowers. It’s quite different from the more common bouquet found on the dining-room table. This outside bouquet is growing and changing with the seasons. It welcomed spring with delightful pink and white tulips and yellow daffodils. Later it consisted of light pink and purple bee balm, white Shasta daisies and light blue delphinium. Today, it’s a display of white phlox, soft yellow evening primrose, and pink coneflowers. As the season progresses into fall, the white phlox will give way to blue Michaelmas daisies and yellow chrysanthemums. Through all these seasons, different leaf textures and shapes add interesting filler to the floral arrangement.

This is the life of a perennial garden: a constant bouquet of ever-changing flowers, textures and forms.

But for a perennial garden to elicit oohs and aahs, one has to be a little creative, artistic and willing to plan - as in the case of WSU Master Gardener and landscape consultant Diane Notske.

Notske has created a show-stopping perennial garden outside her home - a profusion of changing color and form covering three large, raised flower beds. In order to get to this point, Notske had to set the groundwork first.

With the exception of just a few specimens plants must have well-drained soil to flourish. This simply means that water must quickly drain away from the roots. Notske was dealt hard-compacted sand that didn’t drain. Water continually puddled.

Realizing plants would suffer and many would likely die, she created planting beds that would accommodate truckloads of new soil. Three-way mix, llama manure and compost formed the rich foundation for the perennial garden.

The beds themselves were designed with three criteria in mind:

The shape of the beds and the direction in which they laid had to be pleasing, not only from outside in the yard, but also from inside the home.

They had to enhance the parklike setting of the community, and not block it.

The beds had to be large enough to display a number of plants.

Usually a dynamic, uncrowded perennial bed needs at least a 20-by-4-foot area. This space allows room for an array of tall, medium and short seasonal flower selections. Notske chose to create two raised island beds, 20 feet long, 8 feet wide and 2 to 3 feet high (they have since settled a bit). A third raised bed of similar size is off to the side of the patio. Large boulders were added to the mounds to create pockets of interest. Stone paths were worked through the beds so that maintenance could be achieved without damaging plants.

The last step of construction was the edging. It is always best to edge beds, especially if they are curved. Grass has a tendency to invade these areas very quickly. Constantly reshaping beds can be quite time consuming and laborious. There is an assortment of edging materials on the market. Notske chose notched redwood 2-by-4s. They curve easily and make a very attractive border.

Perennial gardens should have a few trees for vertical interest and a few shrubs for winter interest. Notske chose sub-alpine fir trees, hinoki cypress, goldflame spirea, blue star juniper and Japanese red maple. Once these plants were set, the fun began - choosing, placing and planting the flowers.

The first step in choosing perennials is to consult a good book on perennials and make a list of desired plants. Books can be checked out of the library or purchased. One excellent book is “Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Perennials.” Not only does it give advice on planning a garden, but it also addresses many of the flowers and ways to use them.

Try to make a list of plants according to their bloom time - spring, summer and fall. Under each of these headings create subheadings - tall (more than 3 feet), medium (2-3 feet) and short (less than 2 feet). Fill in the blanks. By the time you’re finished, you should have a few plants in each of the categories.

Plant selection should also be made based upon the environmental conditions present in your garden. Is the soil usually moist or dry? Is it sunny or shady? If the area is narrow - 2 feet or less or an island bed - plants may need to be compact and well-behaved. In a narrow bed, there is no room for floppy foliage and gangly flowers.

Notske can’t emphasize enough how important texture and form are to a perennial garden. These two elements give life to the garden all season, especially when it is resting between blooming periods.

Repeating plants gives continuity to the beds. Flowers are placed in the garden by threes and fives. Single plants can be used as specimen plants. Grasses, such as blue oat grass, add a soft flavor and definite interest, even in the winter. Spiky leaves of the Siberian iris and the Stella de’Oro daylily create strength and character.

Notske’s garden bouquet constantly changes with the seasons as the campanula, veronica, daisy, oenothera, perennial geranium, artemisia, catmint, lamb’s ears, liatris, autumn joy and coreopsis moonbeam bloom, each in turn.

On Sept. 9 and 10, you will have an opportunity to meet this talented gardener, at the Friends of Manito’s annual perennial plant sale at Manito Park. And if you are adding to or starting a perennial garden, this is a great place to choose from more than 200 varieties of perennials (and houseplants). Doors open Sept. 9 to Friends of Manito members from 8 to 10 a.m. and to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hours Sept. 10 are from noon to 3 p.m.