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

Delphinium Inspired Flower Beds

This garden features Delphinium elatum Sweethearts with Delphinium elatum Sunny Skies. These are three year old plants grown from seed.

When I posted my last blog about Delphiniums, I was contacted by Lorraine Roberts of Plant Paradise Country Gardens™ who was proud to inform me that she grows and sells Delphinium elatum from seeds that she imports from New Zealand.

Delphinium elatums combine with Persicaria polymorpha, sibirian iris, campanula, malva, erigeron, Miscantheus giganteus...

Some readers may remember that I have already blogged about this variety of Delphinium, developed by plant breeder Terry Dowdeswell in New Zealand. Because traditional Delphinium are short lived, he worked to find a strain that was robust and hardier. The result was elatum, a variety that offers longevity and hardiness, growing in climates as cold as Zone 3 [that would be zone 4, USDA].

Delphinium elatums combine with Persicaria polymorpha, daylilies, erigeron, oxalis triangularis, iris pumila 'Baria', Asiatic lily 'Fangio', Malva, and miscanthus gigantheus.

Unfortunately, it is not conceivable to ship plants from New Zealand to North America. Consequently, several nurseries on this side of the globe have been successfully growing elatum from Dowdeswell seeds.

Delphinium elatums combine with Persicaria polymorpha, daylilies, verbascum, iris, Japanese Anemone 'Pamina", Silene armeria, Asiatic lily 'Fangio', and Painted Daisies.

Lorraine’s growing and selling facility, Plant Paradise Country Gardens™ is an organic perennial nursery, destination garden centre and display garden. Readers living in the Greater Metropolitan Toronto area, might like to know that, by car, it is located only 45 minutes north of the intersection of Highways 401 and 427, at 16258 Humber Station Road in Caledon Ontario, 905-880-9090. It is open from April to October, Wednesday to Sunday 9:00am to 5:00pm and there is a Google map on the website for further directions.

Delphinum elatum Sunny Skies with Sweethearts

Delphiniums are such outstanding perennials that at Plant Paradise Country Gardens™ they celebrate Delphinium Day in July with festivities that include a catered lunch, a guest speaker, door prizes and guided tours of the gardens. Tickets are available at their website www.plantparadise.ca.

Delphinium elatum Purple Passion

Delphiniums bloom in all shades of blue, purple, pink, and white. They begin flowering, in full sun, by the end of June and continue for 4 to 6 weeks. At this nursery, when the blooms have finished, they cut down the plants to about three to six inches from the ground so that they will start re-blooming again in September and last until frost.

Delphinium elatum Morning Lights

All of the Delphiniums in the photos are staked. That care advisory is a must otherwise strong rain and wind will crack the stem of the plant. Unlike other perennials whose bent stems are sometimes no impediment to blooming, the delphinium flower experiences instant death upon cracking and there will be no additional blooms on that stem until the next season.

Delphinium elatum Royal AspirationsSome gardeners with small gardens may think they can only grow small plants. This is not so because the Delphinium gives a small garden height, which gives it the illusion of a larger garden without sacrificing space.

All images are the copyright property of Plant Paradise Country Gardens™and are used with their permission.