Perennials Grow Best With Time
Many years ago, I was told that a perennial garden (plants that come back year after year), takes about five years to establish itself before it becomes picture-perfect. I have found that it takes a little longer.
Fifteen years ago I started out the way I would recommend you start - with a plan. I soon discovered that the plants didn’t grow according to the orderly circles on the graph paper. Fifteen years later I am still dividing, moving, trading, ordering and searching for new plants. Their travel agent has them permanently booked on the spring and fall shovel. But creating and shuffling is half the fun of a perennial garden.
Over these years, experience has taught me that not all sun-loving plants enjoy 95-degree weather, that part-shade still means more sun than shade, that bloom time doesn’t necessarily coincide with the garden book and that some plants are incorrigible. I have also discovered that my garden wouldn’t be complete without them. Stunning combinations of colors and textures can create magic in the garden.
The following are a few of my favorite perennials:
Monkshood (aconitum): This slender, tall (3 to 6 feet) plant bears spikes of mostly blue flowers that resemble a hooded monk, thus its name. Its flowers and deeply cut lush green foliage create a splendid backdrop for pink or yellow summer flowering plants.
Though the recommendation is to plant them in a very rich soil, mine are doing splendidly in clay soil mixed with a little organic material. They’re recommended for full sun, but mine seem to do best in an area where they’re protected from the hot afternoon sun. Monkshood are poisonous plants.
Pasque flower (anemone pulsatilla): Even the name sounds intriguing. This little 12-inch plant blooms in late winter or early spring. Since it blooms so early, it should be planted where it can be seen from inside the house.
It develops in stages. First comes the lavender bell-shaped flower, followed by light, ferny leaves. The faded flowers are just as interesting as the flower itself. They are delicate balls of soft silver-like needles. The pasque flower can be grown in full sun or part shade.
Columbine, Nora Barlow (aquilegia vulgaris): Some people consider this type of columbine as down right homely. I think of it as quite unusual. In fact, it’s that uniqueness that makes it special to me. The flower begins as a small double blossom resembling a small cabbage rose. It opens into numerous needle-like petals of pale green and red. The Rose Columbine, as it was once known, has been in cultivation since the 17th century.
Astilbe: This gorgeous summer blooming plant produces plumes of light pink, rose, lilac, cream or magenta flowers atop beautiful multi-toothed leaves. It is best grown where it is protected from the hot afternoon sun - nestled under the canopies of evergreens. I have found that, though these areas are shaded, they can dry out very quickly. Crispy brown leaves are a sure sign of dry soil and the eventual demise of the plant. They must be kept moist.
Look for astilbe in all sizes from 4 inches to 5 feet. And leave the faded flowers for fall and winter interest.
Cup-and-saucer Canterbury bells (campanula medium, calycanthema): This fun plant is really a biennial rather than a perennial. The first year it produces leaf growth and the second year a tall, slender stalk lined with two-inch flowers resembling bell-shaped cups sitting on saucers. It begins blooming in late June and if you pinch off the flowers as they begin to fade, it will continue to bloom all through the summer.
Foxglove (digitalis): This, too, is a tall, striking biennial that is in bloom now. Its tall spike is covered in tubular flowers. Foxglove will reseed itself, so take care with that first weeding in the spring. Foxglove is poisonous.
As you can see, I have run out of space - not unlike my perennial garden. If you would like to learn more about perennials and their culture and perhaps see some of the flowers that I have mentioned, the WSU Master Gardeners will be hosting a free tour of the Ferris Perennial Gardens at Manito, next garden.
Also, Peter Shaw, professor at SCC, will be hosting a Perennial and Grasses class July 5-6 at SCC from 6 to 8 p.m. Please call SCC, 533-7261, to register. The fee for the class is $12.
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Phyllis Stephens The Spokesman-Review