Perennials All Season

Let's admit it right at the start, the major reason we all -and I include myself in this group - garden with perennials is to replicate those wonderful photographs of lush, bloom-dripping gardens we drool over in magazines and books

I was just told by my publisher (July 07) that this book is out of print. You can probably pick up used copies or you can get pretty much the same basic information (without all the plant descriptions that are on my website anyway) from my Ebook on Starting a Perennial Garden The ebook will cost you a whole bunch less money - and you can have it right now.

Our gardening dream is to be the envy of the neighborhood with vibrant gardens gracing our homes from spring through fall so all winter, we dream of lush gardens, fully loaded flower stems, and fragrant bouquets by the truckload. In our mind's eye, we see those wonderfully crowded beds full of healthy, fragrant flowers just waiting to bless our garden parties and if we close our eyes, we can smell each and every one

The reality is often different. Oh, we plant, feed and prune but somehow the garden never comes close to what we can imagine. We continually move plants about, we haunt specialist nurseries looking for just "that" right plant to make our dreams come true. Yes, we run all over the place trying this technique or that, this new and "scientifically guaranteed" fertilizer or this new, ergonomic pair of hand pruners. We attend meetings and we ask our garden writers and radio gurus for advice but still the elusive season-long blooming perennial garden eludes us.

It's in the design. The reality of perennial gardening is that the way in which the bed is laid out determines how lush it will look.

It's in the plant selection. No matter how good a gardener you are, if all the plants in your garden bloom in May and June - your fall garden will be a wasteland.

It's in the plant arrangement. Great combinations are not accidental in those lush gardens. There are guidelines and rules of thumb to create those seemingly simple, cottage garden perennial borders.

It's in this book I've combined all of the above elusive tricks of the trade into a simple system of garden design. Following the guidelines given in the book will allow any gardener to create a season long blooming garden.

This is not rocket science, nor should it be artistic psychobabble. It is easily learned and almost as easily accomplished.

For now, let us start with getting the garden to bloom all summer in the colors you love. Here’s what is in the book

Table of Contents:

Dreaming of an Ever-Blooming Garden

3 secrets for turning the dream into reality
Design in context
Garden shapes
Plant shapes

Exception to the rules: gardening in the shade
Three Top Tips for All-Season Bloom
A Word on Maintenance

Chapter Two Designing for All Season Bloom

Step one – spring bloomers
Step two – early summer bloomers
Step three – mid to late summer bloomers
Step four – fall bloomers
Step five – Drift Master Sheet
Designing in Color Drifts

Chapter Three: Color in the Garden

Designing with color
How the color chord system works
Two color chords
Three color chords
Four color chords
Using color chords
Foliage color
Color Contrast
Spatial effects of color

Chapter Four: The Hard Part – Choosing Which Plants to Grow

What Makes a Plant Outstanding
Find Good Plants
Which plants grow in my zone?
Plant habitats.

Chapter Five – Early Spring Bloomers
Plants included in this chapter include: Bergenia, Brunnera, Epimedium, Helleborus, Hepatica, Primula, Pulmonaria, Trillium.

Each plant is described in the following way

Brunnera macrophylla

Common names: Siberian Bugloss

Derivation
Brunnera was named for the Swiss botanist Samuel Brunner (1790-1844) Brunner was a plant collector specializing in plants of the Crimea, Italy and West Africa. The plant is native to Siberia and the Caucasus, hence the name Siberian. Bugloss itself comes from two Greek words meaning ‘ox’ and ‘tongue’ and describes the shape and rough texture of the leaf.

Cultural Details
Bloom time: Early spring
Height: 12” to 18”
Sun needed: Shade to Part shade
Bloom color: Sky blue – forget-me-not blue
Planting space apart: 12” to 18”
Soil preferred: Well drained but with adequate organic matter.
Propagation method: Division

Recommended Varieties
The species is often sold and is a delightful plant all by itself. Other hybrid forms include these two choices:
'Langtrees' also sold as 'Aluminum Spot' This form has aluminum colored spots on the leaves – quite attractive in the part shade garden.
'Variegata' also sold as 'Dawson's White' Heavily variegated in white and green leaf. Very attractive but see note below.

Growing Brunnera
Brunnera do quite well in shade or part shade spots in the garden where they produce forget-me-not blue flowers for an amazingly long time in the spring. If you think of woodland soil, rich in organic matter and slightly damp, you’ll have exactly the right soil for them. Chopping up leaves and using them as mulch around this plant in the fall is a perfect way to create a good soil. They do less well when given full hot sun, the leaves tend to scorch during the summer months and become quite unattractive. A lack of water will accomplish the same thing so if the plant is competing with greedy tree roots for water do keep it healthy and attractive by adding extra water on a weekly basis.

The variety ‘Variegata’ or ‘Dawson’s White’ is a very pretty plant but should be planted exactly where you want it to grow. It resents being moved about and divided. If you try to divide it and take too small a chunk of division, you’ll find the plant will lose its variegation and revert back to green leaves. I’ve had this happen several times when I tried to get a bit greedy. Do not stress the variegated forms. ‘Langtrees’ has not demonstrated this reversion characteristic in my garden and is an excellent plant.

Chapter Six: Late Spring Bloomers

Plants included in this chapter include: Anemone, Aquilegia, Corydalis, Dicentra, Euphorbia, Hylomecon, Iris, Phlox

Chapter Seven: Early Summer Bloomers

Plants described include: Aconitum, Actaea, Agastache, Allium, Aruncus, Astrantia, Baptisia, Centaurea, Chrysanthemum, Delphinium, Dianthus, Dictamnus, Digitalis, Geranium, Gypsophila, Hemerocallis, Heuchera, Heucherella, Lathyrus, Lilium, Lobelia, Lysimachia, Oenethera, Paeonia, Papaver, Penstemon, Phlomis, Polemonium, Polygonum, Primula japonica, Thermopsis, Tiarella, Tradescantia, Veronica

Chapter Eight: Late Summer Bloomers

Plants described include: Achillea, Anthemis, Astilbe, Campanula, Cephalaria, Cimicifuga, Clematis, Coreopsis, Echinacea, Eryngium, Filipendula, Gaillardia, Gaura, Gentiana, Inula, Kniphofia, Lavandula, Lavatera, Macleaya, Malva, Meconopsis, Monarda, Nepeta, Phlox, Physostegia, Salvia, Scabiosa, Sidalcea, Stachys, Verbascum, Yucca

Chapter Nine: Fall Bloomers

Plants described include: Anemone, Aster, Boltonia, Chelone, Chrysanthemum, Coreopsis, Eupatorium, Gentiana, Helenium, Heliopsis, Perovskia, Rudbeckia, Sedum, Solidago, Tricyrtis, Vernonia, Veronicastrum.

Chapter Ten: Foliage Perennials and Multiple Season Bloomers

This chapter describes a range of plants that can be used for foliage (some described in more detail in earlier chapters) as well as comments on grasses and ferns. The plants that bloom for long periods - the multiple season bloomers - are listed.

Nearly 300 photographs of the plants are included – many taken by myself.

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