It has been almost three years since my wife and I moved into our new home, just 2 miles from the nursery. The first year we didn’t do anything to the yard, but the second year (2020) I completely tore up the existing landscape, as it was, and did some major site work. This first fall, I planted some trees and some shrubs. In 2021, I followed the program with fervor and filled a lot of space with more shrubs and a boatload of perennials.
The winter of 2021 was brutal and in the spring of 2022 I had to remove several dead shrubs and a multitude of perennials that were killed either by the very cold winter or by too much water in the ground. Anyway, last spring was a busy planting time where I tried to fill every bare spot imaginable with a plant that would give me some visual interest at some time of year. .
As we enter this fall season, I’m happy to say that for the most part, my new garden brings me many hours of enjoyment and enjoyment. It’s far from perfect (not that a garden is ever perfect), and is filling in nicely with only a few areas that will need replanting in the spring (unless I find some treasures this fall). I think what makes this new garden really work for me is that there is a wide variety of plant material that provides beauty all year round. By “all year round” I mean there is always something blooming or dying. I must also clarify that beauty does not only come from flowers. Remember that the key design elements are color, shape, line and texture. The foliage plays a big role in the composition. But generally speaking, if the garden is constantly changing, it will keep our interest.
Last spring my wife and I enjoyed a fine display of Siberian and Japanese irises and a good assortment of herbaceous peonies and new Itoh peonies. Sure, there were plenty of clumps of daffodils, tulips, alliums, crocuses, and snowdrops (I ordered several hundred more to add to the springtime cacophony of color).
In March an existing Forsythia gave us a burst of gold, and a little later a spicy Rugosa rose called ‘Terese Bugnet’ provided a lovely display of pink. These shrubs were followed by several clumps of delphiniums and a ‘Mrs. Furnival’ Rhododendron. At the end of May, several David Austin roses bloomed, as well as several ‘Walker’s Low’ catnip and a drift of Spiraea ‘Magic Carpet’.
Meanwhile, an assortment of eight different clematis climbed their trellises and quickly formed large, delicious buds which, with their foliage, enveloped the 4-by-4 posts to which they were attached. Once the spirea and catnip started to fade, I sheared them for a second bloom later in the summer. In the meantime, a vast assortment of perennials bloomed, only to be replaced by other varieties as summer progressed into fall, where we are now.
There is currently no shortage of color in my garden, partly due to late summer blooms and the many freshly bloomed fall-flowering perennials that can be found available at garden centers monthly. of September. In my opinion, one of the key secrets to an interesting garden is to always have something bloom or die. It’s this constant change that draws us to our gardens and keeps us coming back for more. As always, stay safe and keep gardening!
Steve Smith represents Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville and can be reached at [email protected]