Annuals for Perennials

I live in Zone 5a where Verbena Bonariensis grows as an annual from early summer to late fall. It reaches maturity by August with a height of 3 to 5 feet and a width of 1 to 2 feet. This is an airy filler plant with tall upright branching stems that weave up through other flowers and ornamental grasses. It is most effective growing in the middle of the flower border with a backdrop of taller plants behind it. Use it in front of Perovskia [Russian Sage] and see how the combination of silver blue Perovskia and lavender blue Verbena creates an almost ethereal effect. It was photographed below in early summer in combination with other  plants, when the Perovskia was still in its infancy. This photo is courtesy of Ms.Violette Sauriol, horticultural foreperson of the Parks Department of the City of Cote St Luc, in Quebec, Canada.

Be Prepared!

Here is a list of what flower gardeners keep in their tool sheds.

1] Trowel: This is a small hand tool used for digging holes for bulbs, annuals and young perennials. If you don’t own a specific tool for digging out weeds, this will make a good temporary substitute. Always select a trowel with an ergonomically shaped handle that allows the strongest arm muscles to do the work while keeping the joints in a natural position. If you suffer from arthritis, select a trowel with handles that are wider than normal [about 1 3/8 inches in diameter].

2]  Short - Handled Spade: A square shaped spade, with a D-shaped handle  that can be used for edging, digging holes for plants, trees and bushes and for digging up perennials.

3] Long - Handled, Round - Pointed Shovel: For digging compacted soil, slicing through roots and for digging out deeply set plants.

4] "Toolstep" or "Trenchfoot."

This is a new product that slides over the

spade handle to rest on the head of the blade

to form a wider step.

The additional width lessens the stress on the

sole and arch of the foot when pushing down

on the blade. This product is useful if you

plan to do a lot of digging.

Sold as "Trenchfoot"

in the U.S.A., it is available online

from the Garden Gate Magazine Store.

In Canada, it is known as "Toolstep" and is

available online from Lee Valley Tools.

5] Bypass Hand pruner: A pruner is used to deadhead flowers, trim stems, stalks and branches and to cut flowers for indoor use.This is a multipurpose tool and a most important one for keeping a perennial garden tidy. Look for ergonomically shaped handles that are coated in plastic to create a comfortable grip.

6] Weeder: A weeder may be a long or short-handled tool for digging up weeds. This tool is available in many models, some dating back to the Middle Ages. Choose whatever style appeals to you because there is no ultimate weeding tool. Hard packed soil makes weeding difficult so moisten or aerate the earth before starting that chore.

7] Wheelbarrow: Transporting shrubs, tools and earth is hard work. Lighten the load by using a wheelbarrow. Your back will thank you.

8] Garden Hose: The hose should be long enough to bring water to the farthest point of the garden.

9] Adjustable Hose Nozzle: Newly planted vegetation and freshly sown seeds need watering. Ideally, a watering can is best because it delivers water gently. However, a hose, adjusted for low water pressure and attached to a nozzle that is tuned to a fine mist, works just as well and requires less effort.

10] Gardening Gloves: Gloves keep hands and fingernails clean, prevent the formation of hand callouses and protect hands from thorns. Rugged gloves are best for digging with a trowel, shovel or spade but they do not allow for fine work such as planting seedlings. Soft leather gloves made from goat skin or pig skin mold to the hand and allow full use of fine motor skills. They are not easily found and are usually sold in women’s sizes only. Don’t give up the search! Once you’ve tried them, you won’t want to wear anything else on your hands.

11] Kneeling Pad: Something must come between the ground and your kneecaps. A flat spongy kneeling pad is more comfortable than wearing knee pads.

Quality of Tools: Buy the best quality that your budget allows. Better tools last longer and make work easier.

Annuals for Perennials

Blue Salvia "Victoria" may be a late bloomer in spring but it lasts for a long time. While many annuals are spent by the end of August, this one continues to pump out brilliant color until the first frost. Use it in a mass planting to create a powerful blue statement or distribute it among pale perennials where its intense violet - blue color helps showcase lemon - yellows and pinks. Flowers grow on sturdy spikes in sun or part shade to a height of 16 or 18 inches. I have been using  this excellent border plant as accent color in my perennial gardens for years. It has never disappointed.

Book Review for Bookpleasures.com

The Bold and Brilliant Garden by Sarah Raven, Photographs by Jonathan Buckley, Published by Franceclick on the above image to learn more about this book from Amazon.s Lincoln, ISBN 13: 978 0 7112 1752 2

A book arrived by post this morning, on the shortest day of the year, when the sky was dreary, the temperature had dipped below minus twelve degrees centigrade and fifteen centimeters of snow were predicted to fall. The unwrapping of the book was the equivalent of lighting a bonfire in my living room. It arrived at the best moment to warm and illuminate the day.

This publication is about color; not about any color and not about the colors we traditionally associate with polite flower gardens. This is a book about sizzling color that sets a flower garden ablaze. In the introduction, the author declares that the use of bold and brilliant color is the result of a need to redefine the palette of her own garden. Having tired of “delicate” color schemes, she was ready for “passionate”. However, when these strong colors were introduced into her garden, they turned out to be either too rich or too dark and needed brightening up in order to set them off. To achieve the desired color saturation, the author began to mix tomato-soup red flowers with purples, orange with magentas and crimsons with gold. As a background for these intense combinations, she used acid green and silver plants to achieve the most eye popping results.

The introduction of the book ends with a double page montage of the twenty four vivid flowers that the author relies upon to create brilliance. Sorted into an eye catching color sequence, they range from blue Meconopsis to red Allium, from purple Salvia to scarlet Poppy, from ruby Clematis to tangerine Arctotis and from gold Helianthus to acid green Euphorbia. Never heard of some of these plants? Never mind! By the time you’ve finished reading this book, these flowers will have seared themselves into memory and you will never again look at a garden in the same way.

Readers with an appreciation for music will enjoy the author’s metaphors. Traditional gardens with delicate coloring are compared to the string section of an orchestra, while richly colored gardens are referred to as the brass section. The deep red flowers that give a garden its overall structure are called base notes, while the adjective “jazzy” is used to describe any vivid colored flower.

The main body of the book is an exposition on how to use intensely colored plants in each of the growing seasons. And, within a season, the plants are sub divided into those suitable for damp grounds and into those that require sun, shade or partial shade. Sprinkled through out the book, are care instructions for high maintenance plants such as Roses and Dahlias, as well as advice on staking flowers and soil preparation. Each page is brimming with detailed information about recommended flowers, suitable companion plants to create vividness, anecdotal details about the personalities of the suggested flowers and intensely colored photos.

Another helpful feature of the book is the use of colored blueprints to help the reader plan gardens similar to those illustrated in the book. These suggested layouts include a list and quantity of the plants required, as well as a guide to where they should be planted in relation to other flowers. The essence of the author’s advice is that bright colors need strongly shaped flowers to showcase their vividness; and that dramatic foliage, texture and fragrance are also required to create a sensory balance.

A gardening publication needs beautiful pictures, as well; this book takes garden illustration to such a higher level that it is necessary to acknowledge the photographer, Jonathan Buckley. His brilliant colored photos are imbued with finely textured details that allow us to touch the flowers with our eyes.

Read more book reviews at Bookpleasures.com

Web Photos That I Like

Artist/photographer Stuart Koslov finds abstract compositions in nature. This picture was taken in upstate New York, U.S.A. and is titled "Daisies at Sunset, Alder Meadow Marsh." Click on the image to see more of the artist's work or to purchase a copy of this photo for your collection.