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Sooner or later, every gardener falls in love with a few select perennials. Perennials are flowering plants that live many years, but die back during their dormant season which is usually winter. When planted under the right conditions, perennials grow and prosper for years, often with little attention. Each perennial has a peak season of bloom, usually lasting from one […]
Because spring was late in many places this year, it is likely that most Iris bloom will be crowded into June, except in the South. This will be the case for all types of Iris except the dwarfs and early intermediate bearded Irises whose blossoms will have passed. Early this month, Iris fanciers may enjoy the gorgeous blossoms of new […]
WHAT IF… If the garden magazines, web pages and other information sources are to be believed, the world is full of gardeners who worry a lot about cause and effect. Most of them are busy—too busy sometimes to do the things that they think they ought to do in the garden. This is a frequent source of guilt, and since […]
WHAT an ugly name! But would “My Perennial Garden,” even if correct, sound any better, or “My Hardy Plant Garden”? So I must just leave it. It was originally the kitchen. gar en, but as it is close to the house and bordering the drive, the vegetables have been banished and only the fruit-trees retained on high walls, many centuries […]
Information on 50+ Perennials PERENNIALS WHICH WILL GROW IN POOR SOIL Achillea serrata (Millfoil or Yarrow) Ajuga genevensis (Geneva Bugle) Alyssum saxatile (Goldentuft) Arabis albida (Wallcress) Cerastium tomentosum (Snow-in-Summer) Dianthus deltoides (Maiden Pink) Dianthus plumarius (Grass Pink) Eryngium campestre (Hundred Thistle) Euphorbia Myrsinites (Myrsinites-like Spurge) Geranium sanguineum (Blood Red Cranesbill) Geranium maculatum (Spotted Cranesbill) Gypsophila paniculata (Baby’s-breath) Helianthemum vulgare (Rock […]
Perennials requiring additional water drainage to help them survive. Recommend adding pumus,sand or do a raised garden if you are having problems keeping these perennials alive. PERENNIALS REQUIRING WELL- DRAINED SITUATIONS Arabis alpina (Alpine Rockcress) Asclepias tuberosa (Butterflyweed) Aubrietia deltoides (Purple Rockcress) Coreopsis grandiflora (Tickseed) Delphinium hybrids (Delphinium) Dianthus barbatus (Sweet William) Digitalis purpurea (Common Foxglove) Echinops Ritro (Steel Globe […]
PERENNIALS FOR BORDERS OF PONDS AND STREAMS (Well-drained soil) SUNNY LOCATIONS Brunnera macrophylla [Anchusa myosotidiflora] (Siberian Bugloss) Chrysanthemum uliginosum (Giant Daisy) Cimicifuga racemosa (Cohosh Bugbane) Grasses (Ornamental Grasses) Hemerocallis, in variety (Daylily) Iris, in variety Lythrum Salicaria (Spiked Loosestrife) Myosotis palustris semperflorens (Dwarf Perpetual Forget-me-not) Tradescantia virginiana (Spiderwort) Trollius europa;us (Globeflower) SEMI-SHADY LOCATIONS Anemone japonica (Jap. Anemone) Cimicifuga racemosa (Cohosh […]
Information on 50+ Perennials PREPARING PERENNIAL BEDS Spade deeply . . . 12 to 15 inches. If some plants are growing in the bed, remove them and “heel” them into a small trench. Add humus and drainage material … Stir or break up sub-soil if possible. Perennials do not like “wet feet.” Put drainage material (small rock and gravel) in […]
The new gardener is coming to rely on perennial flowering plants to a greater extent every year. This is natural, for these plants to possess qualities, which enable them to fill satisfactorily almost all gardening needs. There is danger, however, that we may select too many plants of too many varieties and undertake to care for a larger garden than […]
No single word or term has yet been accepted to cover garden plants, as distinct from bulbs and shrubs, which flower year after year. `Herbaceous plants’, ‘hardy perennials’, `border plants’ are all inadequate or inaccurate in some respect. Strictly speaking, the word ‘herbaceous’ denotes the decay of each season’s growth, with the plant itself remaining alive, but dormant. Delphiniums, phlox […]