Achieving The Natural Look Of Garden
THE PALETTE OF FLOWERING PLANTS
I grow it grouped to edge a bed in front of yellow- flowered Paeonia mlokosewitschii and as a foil to the evergreen bushy spurge Euphorbia characias wulfenii. Slightly later flowering, the much brighter Oxford- blue flowers of Veronica austriaca teucrium are brilliant when combined with purple-toned leaves and crimson- colored roses (Rosa 'Rosemary Rose' has suitable leaves and flowers) or with shrubs such as the semi- evergreen Piptanthus nepalensis with contrasting yellow pea-flowered racemes. Erysimum 'Bowles' Mauve' has a drawn-out season, flowering for almost three months after a mild winter. Its pale magenta flowers shine among grey-green leaves; small creeping evergreen spurges such as Euphorbia myrsinites and E. nicaeensis spill out at its feet.
Portraits of some classic border perennials demonstrate their role as early summer performers. Most Jacob's ladder (forms of Polemonium) bear attractive pinnate leaves and flower at the same time as the first roses. The common upright Polemonium caeruleum flowers for many weeks, filling in the comparatively flowerless period between German flag irises and traditional summer perennials. At Tintinhull we grow lilac- flowered P. foliosissimum as a wide, sprawling clump next to silvery-leaved Dorycnium hirsutum (now Lotus hirsutus).
Pinnate-leaved galegas are mainstays of borders. Violet-blue pea-flowered Galega orientalis is superb but spreads vigorously; it associates well with the yellow of Thalictrum flavum glaucum and the scabious-like flower- heads of Cephalaria gigantea. The true goat's rue (Galega officinalis) flowers at least a month later, producing an ice-cream effect of blue and pink and tying in nicely with tall campanulas and early garden phlox.
Sun-loving alstroemerias are essential border plants, given unobtrusive staking with twigs when the attractive leaves emerge in spring. Alstroemeria Ligtu Hybrids have soft-tinted petals, in a range between rosy-pink, bright coral and cool apricot and yellow, which associate with almost any neighbouring flowers. The seed- heads are attractive, but their fading foliage may be an eyesore. Shallow-rooted plants that flower later help disguise unsightly leaves. The hardier orange-flowered A. aurantiaca (now A. aurea) — a mainstay of Victorian cutting beds and more tolerant of shade — reaches its peak later to coincide with summer perennials.
By midsummer the hardy perennial standbys are in full leaf and many of them are in flower. Achillea, for example, will be displaying its flat heads composed of tiny daisy-flowers. When combined with its attractive feathery leaves, it makes graceful clumps to associate with other Compositae such as anthemis, or with artemisias and campanulas, or with contrasting foliage of plants such as kniphofias, day-lilies and later-flowering crocosmias. Those achilleas with pale yellow flowers fit into any border scheme; the tall, more vigorous achilleas (such as Achillea 'Coronation Gold') carry flat corymbs of glowing yellow that shout for attention; they are best in strong-colored schemes with neighbouring orange-spiked kniphofias or scarlet lychnis. If happily sited in full sun and richly fed, astrantias are superb summer neighbours to showy clumps of daisy-flowered anthemis or silver-leaved anaphalis;, they are equally effective in a shady corner rising behind the nodding yellow sprays of the low-growing Chiastophyllum oppositifolium.
'The aromatic -artemisias, often with silvery or grey filigree leaves, act as foils to adjacent flower or foliage color, Some with insignificant flowers form mounds of attractive foliage for flower-bed edges. They need well- drained soil and full sun and are often short-lived; take cuttings each season. Others such as Artemisia lactiflora have dark green leaves and tall stems bearing tapering cream panicles. Needing a rich moisture-retentive soil, this full-bodied border perennial should be grown in Jekyllian drifts or in bold clumps next to herbaceous plants that need similar conditions, such as yellow- flowered achilleas, cream-plumed aruncus, and later- flowering chelones and purple-leaved lobelias.
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