The crisp days of autumn offer an ideal time for planning and planting the garden. While the successes and failures of the season just past are still fresh in mind, the gardener can correct his mistakes in color combinations and placement of plants, at the same time adding new flowers and improving the over-all garden effect.
Except in the colder parts of the country, fall is a good time to set out the majority of perennials. Plants that take root now are well established by the time the high temperatures of summer arrive and they are less apt to dry out. Planting the flower garden in autumn also gives the gardener a head start on the many spring tasks. Then too, it is only in fall that most of the bulbs can be planted.
Good Design Important In Individual Flower Border
Good design is as important in the individual flower border as in the landscape as a whole. We have all seen gardens that have been planted without any particular thought as to the result – perennials placed singly here and there, wherever space was available at the moment, regardless of color and time of bloom. The effect is spotty and ineffective.
It’s a far better idea to go out into the garden with pencil and paper in hand and make a rough plan of the beds as they are or as you would like them to be, noting the dimensions. Then, you can “plant” these beds on paper, marking the positions of plants to be set out.
Whenever flowering plants are used together, it is important to consider the date of bloom and the flower color of each plant. Foliage and plant form also contribute to the total effect and should be in harmony.
Unity and a pleasant separation of color in the garden scheme can be achieved by locating plants of the same kind in clumps and repeating these clumps at intervals throughout the garden A workable way to accomplish this is to mark on your plan the different months of the season, taking care that each month is adequately represented in the various parts of the garden. Next, make a list of plants that flower during these months and insert by each month your choices for that specific time.
The number of plants to use in a grouping depends upon the size of the garden – if it is a small one, three or four of a kind in each clump will be enough. The maximum amount of bloom can be bud by leaving some spaces for annuals. Tulips can be planted in these areas for early color.
Breaking The Skyline
When placing the taller growing plants in the back part of the border and the lower ones in the front, bear in mind the importance of breaking the “skyline.” In other words, different kinds of plants with varied heights should be used in both the foreground and the background. In a small garden it is definitely preferable to limit one’s choice of plants to a few varieties. Too many different kinds make a confused, unsatisfactory composition.
Accent the corners in the back parts of the beds with taller plants, such as foxgloves, hardy larkspur or thermopsis, and for later effect, hollyhocks or dahlias. If the garden is large, more dominant evergreen plants are sometimes required, as for example hemlock or yew (Taxus media hicksi). Both of these need to be kept compact and -within bounds with pruning.
Although most flower colors combine well outdoors, there are some which are difficult to use. Magenta is not a good mixer; red,¥ if used, should he worked in near white, yellow or blue. And, white in the garden is the grand harmonizer and brings nut the beauty of the other colors admirably.
Here are’ a few suggestions for combining plants. You may come across others in the gardens of friends.
Clumps of tulips with bleedingheart (Dicentra spectabilis), Jacob’s ladder (Polemoniern caeruleum), Phlox divaricata laphami, pansies (Viola tricolor hortensis) , leopard bane ( doron icum ) , and columbine (aquilegia) make a lovely effect. They may be followed by iris, peonies and Oriental popies (Papaver orientate) ; foxgloves (digitalis) and sweet william (Dianthus barbatus) are also important additions at this time. Hardy larkspur (delphinium), Madonna lilies (Lilium candidum), spiraca (astilbe) and phlox appear before the month is over and continue to give color for some time.
The summer-flowering Phlox decussata gives a wonderful display in July and August. Balloonflower (platycodon), speedwell (veronica), loosestrift: lytitrum) and Japanese iris (I. kaempferi) provide interesting variety. September and October are full of bloom with hardy ageratum (Eupatorium coelestinum), monkshood (aconitem), chrysanthemums and hardy asters.
An inhabitant of old-fashioned gardens, foxgloves still hold sway in the gardens of today in the improved hybrids. The handsome flower spikes of the larkspur cannot be surpassed.
Buds of the balloonflower, Platycodon grandiflorum, open to a soft shade of blue or white in June and July. This plant is well suited to the back of the border. The lower growing Platycodon grandiflorum takes its place in the front of the bed.
A garden would seem incomplete without the summer phlox. The showy flower heads of astilbe are excellent. Every garden should have plenty of blue and speedwell (veronica) does its part in filling this need, by blooming early in summer. The older species, Veronica spicata and V. maritima subsessilis (V. longifolia subsessills) are also of value.
The Japanese iris (I. kaempferi) produce beautiful flowers in July with graceful foliage.
The daylily is effective at almost any season and is one of the sturdiest of the garden aristocrats. Hybridizers have succeeded in creating several different shades and countless varieties, so by making a careful selection the blooms can be enjoyed From May into September.
Chrysanthemums will bloom into late autumn, as will the hardy taller asters. The lower growing hardy asters, are excellent in the foreground of the border. If a partially shaded location presents a problem, choose Aconitum fischeri and A. fischeri wilsoni for autumn color.
Among the annuals that are especially floriferous until the end of the season are: zinnias, petunias, marigolds (African and French), snapdragons, verbenas and ageratum.
Tulip planting time is at hand in the fall. These bulbs are the backbone of the early garden, their bright flowers bringing a mass of color long before most plants begin to bloom. Single flowered early varieties, blend well with the double early tulips. You cannot expect really good bloom from the early tulips for more than two years. but the later tulips will be satisfactory for three years. After that time the flowers become fewer and smaller in size.
There is a wide range of color in the late blooming tulips. Some of the best in purple and lavender.
by D Cloud – 1215
