Plant a Perennial Garden that Flowers for Eight Months; a book review.

A Recipe for Continuous Blooms, Lorraine Roberts, published by Plant Paradise Country Gardens, Caledon, Ontario, Canada, L7E 0Y9.                    

The easiest way to ensure a continuously blooming perennial garden, from the earliest spring until fall, is to buy a copy of this book. Thank you, Lorraine Roberts, for making it so easy for new gardeners to create continuous-flowering gardens, in temperate and colder climates.

Paeonia suffruticosa Chojuraku, Blooms May - June. Grows to 4 feet. Sun/Pt.Shd. Image copyrighted by Lorraine Roberts.Before the publication of this manual, whenever neophyte gardeners wanted to create three-season flowerbeds, they were compelled to muddle through encyclopedic photo-lists of plants. The first step was to make a list of those flowers that were appealing. The second step was to edit the list to eliminate plants that were inappropriate for one’s growing zone.

The tedious chore continued with a third step - the preparation of yet another list - because the remaining plants had to be categorized by bloom period. The gardener needed to ensure that appropriate plants were selected to provide continuous flowers for about twenty-two overlapping, blooming periods. Usually, these begin in March and stop at the end of October.

Until now, this three-step procedure proved to be one of the most time-consuming aspects of planning a garden. It doesn’t have to be that way, anymore.

Sanguisorbia menziesii. Blooms June - August. Grows to 3 feet. Sun/Pt.Shd. Image copyrighted by Lorraine Roberts.The publishing concept for A Recipe for Continuous Bloom is brilliant in its simplicity. First, each suitable perennial is presented on a separate page, dedicated to the appreciation of one plant at a time. Second, the growth season for both sun and shade gardens are sub-divided into twenty-two easy-to-distinguish bloom periods, in sequential, chronological order.

For example, to ensure that flowers bloom throughout the month of May, one starts with recommendations for plants that begin blooming April - May. Then one turns the page to discover plants that will bloom in May only. Turn another page and, viola! Here are the plants that bloom May- June. The reader then proceeds to recommendations for May - July until reaching suggestions for May - October. That sequence adds up to seven varying bloom periods associated with the month of May alone.

Salvia sclarea turkestanica. Blooms July - August. Grows to 4 feet. Sun/Pt.Shd. Image copyrighted by Lorraine Roberts.The process is repeated for the month of June, and again for July, and continues for each subsequent month as overlapping bloom periods flows seamlessly, from one to another, until the blooming seasons end.

The author’s ingenious idea of a chronological sequence of pages – and one plant per page - makes it easy for new gardeners to plan flowerbeds that, in some locations, will provide attractive plants for eight months of the year. However, readers who live in areas that experience accumulating, winter snowfalls that are late to melt [e.g. Montreal] should not expect the recommended plants for March to bloom at all, unless they are planted up against a sunny house foundation where the radiating warmth of the home, plus the sun, will accelerate the melting of the snow.

Artemisia lactiflora Guizhou. Blooms July - September. Grows to 5 feet. Sun/Pt.Shd. Image copyrighted by Lorraine Roberts.Accompanying each photo are technical specifications such as height, width, type of soil required, and growing zone. American readers should lower the numerical value of the mentioned growing zones by a factor of one because they are presented here in Canadian values, determined by a protocol different from the one used in the USA. Therefore, a plant designated in the book as Zone 5, is USDA Zone 4.

Suggestions are also offered for temperate and cold-climate plants that attract butterflies, for drought – tolerance, hummingbirds, long – blooming, native to North America, moisture – tolerance, beneficial insects, great foliage, cut flowers, and for plants that are deer-resistant.

Astilbe x "arendsii" "Color Flash". Blooms June - July. Grows 20 inches tall. Shade/Pt.Shd., Moist soil. Image copyrighted by Lorraine Roberts.The color shot for each recommended perennial is set up to present a flower at the height of its glory. The plants are portrayed with such attention to detail, that new gardeners, who have not yet established their favorites, might fall in love with all of them. It is a tribute to Ms. Roberts’ photographic talent, for painstakingly showcasing her selection of perennials so that each one becomes an object of desire.

Tiarella "Spring Symphony". Blooms May- August. Grows 12 inches tall. Shade/Pt.Shd. Image copyrighted by Lorraine Roberts.

Order this book directly from the author at http://www.plantparadise.ca/A-Recipe-for-Continuous-Bloom-by-Lorraine-Roberts.html

How to Create Beautiful Gardens in Small Spaces; a book review for Bookpleasures.com

Landscaping Solutions for Small Spaces, 10 Smart Plans for Designing & Planting Small Gardens by Ann-Marie Powell, published by Creative Homeowner

Beautiful gardens can be created in small spaces. The trick is not to stuff all of one’s dreams into a tiny garden. Instead, it is about judiciously selecting those design elements that are critical to ones pleasure, and about paring down a plan to its most important features. By following the author’s advice, satisfying, beautiful gardens, even in cramped quarters, can become a reality.

http://www.ann-mariepowell.com

According to Ms. Powell, with careful design the most awkward space can become a garden. When plants, structures, and furniture are used wisely, a homeowner can transform a confined location not only into a thing of beauty, but also into a multifunctional space, with separate areas for relaxing and entertaining.

http://www.ann-mariepowell.com

Her experience in designing allows the author to summarize a range of garden styles suitable for small spaces. These include - Urban, Edible, Romantic, English, Sun, Low-maintenance, Rustic, Night, Terraced, and Minimalist. A comprehensive chapter, dedicated to each style, includes a full sized, easy to read, and very detailed diagram of the garden, accompanied by an additional full-page blueprint-style planting guide.

http://www.ann-mariepowell.comThe recommended ideas can be adapted by the do-it-yourself homeowner or by qualified landscapers. Creative readers may use these plans as a springboard to building a personalized garden by substituting plants and construction materials that reflect ones aesthetic needs and specific growing zones.

http://www.ann-mariepowell.comThe author’s wise advice includes a suggestion to begin with a master plan. This will help in evaluating the allocation of precious space and budget set aside for the garden. Furthermore, the reader is cautioned not to select a design idea from a larger garden and shrink it down to fit, as wide lawns, deep planting borders and tall trees do not adapt well to tiny spaces.

http://www.ann-mariepowell.comOne feature of the book that truly impressed me is the fact that no construction or planting detail, no matter how minute, is omitted or left to chance. In each chapter, the author includes a list of hardscape materials, a plant-shopping list, and a reminder of miscellaneous garden accessories that are required, such as eye screws for window boxes, wood screws, fence clips, and dumpsters for construction waste.

http://www.ann-mariepowell.comThe information is supplemented with a specific to-do list that includes, for example, a caution to measure the garden carefully before ordering raw materials, and a safety tip to have all outdoor lighting installed by a qualified electrician.

http://www.ann-mariepowell.comAs well, there are guidelines for the handling and execution of paving, furniture selection, decking, boundaries, trellis, and lawn, [if there is space for it], vegetation, the construction process, and planting. Each chapter, for any one style of garden, is completed with a twelve-month maintenance plan to help the homeowner sustain in perpetuity both the hardscapes and the plants.

http://www.ann-mariepowell.comThis is a very impressive manual. Of late, publishers have been tapping into the talents of skilled and creative professionals, so that projects available to do-it–yourselfers are moving away from run-of-the-mill to become extraordinary. Although Ms. Powell’s book is intended as a mass-market publication, it is, in fact, an example of landscape mentoring at its best.

Ann-Marie Powell is a garden designer, TV personality, and writer focusing on innovative landscaping. She runs her own landscaping business, contributes to numerous newspapers and magazines, and is the author of two books. Her garden designed for the world-famous 2010 Chelsea Flower Show won a gold medal. All of the photos included in this review are available on her website.