Tag: Longwood Gardens

  • Two spring plant combinations to try

    Two spring plant combinations to try

    Purple alliums, columbines and camassias fill a display border at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania.
    Purple alliums, columbines and camassias fill a display border at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania.

    Parts of Canada are still snow-covered (at least where I garden), but thankfully it’s March and milder spring weather can’t be far behind. Here are two of my favourite spring plant combinations that would be easy to recreate in most Canadian gardens. The first was inspired by a visit to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania last year; the second is a coincidental pairing from my own garden that I hope to expand upon this year.

    Combo One: The spheres of tall alliums (possibly ‘Purple Sensation’) punctuated a planting of frilly mixed columbines (Aquilegia hybrids) in a perennial border at Longwood. Adding sparkle and more soft blue were camassias, a late-blooming spring bulb.

    Longwood dismantles its main display borders each season, impractical for home gardeners. If I were recreating this border in my own garden, I would want to extend the colour into summer. By weaving in daylilies, tall veronicas and Verbena bonariensis  — all plants with fairly narrow profiles — I would accomplish this, and extend the pink, purple and white colours of this border. Admittedly, the verbena isn’t hardy, but it often self-seeds as long as you’re careful not to weed out the seedlings in early spring.

    The rich colours of snake’s head fritillary and brunnera offer a spring surprise.
    The rich colours of snake’s head fritillary and brunnera offer a spring surprise.

    Combo Two: This was pure serendipity. One fall, I transplanted a clump of unvariegated Siberian bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla) to fill a bare spot, not realizing dormant snake’s head fritillaries (Fritillaria meleagris) were resting there. The following spring, the checkered blooms of the fritillary poked up through the dense bugloss foliage and the blue bugloss and maroon fritillary flowers made a pretty tapestry of rich, saturated colours.

    The hardy bulbs mentioned in these two combinations need to be planted in the fall. The perennials (with the exception of the verbena) are hardy to at least Zone 4, and are easy to find in most garden centres.

    What’s your favourite spring combination?

  • Visit new gardens to explore garden design

    Visit new gardens to explore garden design

    There’s eye candy for plant lovers everywhere you turn at Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, Pennsylvania. I love how the containers, foliage, branches and blooms all work together to create intimate vignettes. (Garden Making photo)
    There’s eye candy for plant lovers everywhere you turn at Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, Pennsylvania. I love how the containers, foliage, branches and blooms all work together to create intimate vignettes. (Garden Making photo)

    One of the best ways to discover new plants or design ideas for your garden is to visit other gardens, regardless if you travel down the block or on an overnight trip. Looking at how someone else arranges plants, combines colours, positions paths or places ornaments reveals the immense creativity of garden design.

    Admittedly, walking through a grand garden in a climate more benign than our own might make me greedy for more space and time, and a longer growing season, but even large estates and well-staffed botanical gardens can offer insights a home gardener can use. And there’s simply a lot of pleasure in exploring a new garden.

    Design Ideas, Issue No. 20 of Garden Making, includes an article by Lorraine Flanigan about public gardens in Canada, U.S. and Europe that serve as wonderful outdoor classrooms for those of us looking for fresh ideas. Lorraine groups her suggestions by theme:

    • gardens with terrific plant combinations;
    • gardens with interesting designs;
    • gardens, festivals and shows with a specific focus.

    In the past year, some of the new gardens I discovered were on driving trips in the U.S. Some people travel to go to concerts or big sporting events. The trips I love always include a garden or two.

    Saturated colours of orange, purple and red give a rich look to a flower bed in one section of the broad cutting beds at Wethersfield Garden in Amenia, N.Y. (Garden Making photo)
    Saturated colours of orange, purple and red give a rich look to a flower bed in one section of the broad cutting beds at Wethersfield Garden in Amenia, N.Y. (Garden Making photo)

    In September, we took advantage of the opportunity to travel to see the gardens in the Berkshires region of the U.S. northeast that were open the public for one day as part of the Garden Conservancy tour. Some belong to long-time home gardeners who open up their private gardens, while others are large estates where gardens are part of the not-too-subtle display of wealth and success.

    No need to hide or camouflage outbuildings if they’re painted in complementary hues that blend with the surrounding landscape. This practical storage area serves as a focal point in Margaret Roach’s garden in Copake Falls, N.Y. (Garden Making photo).
    No need to hide or camouflage outbuildings if they’re painted in complementary hues that blend with the surrounding landscape. This practical storage area serves as a focal point in Margaret Roach’s garden in Copake Falls, N.Y. (Garden Making photo).

    In May, we devoted a trip to visiting some well-funded public gardens that benefit from endowments from wealthy families – Longwood Gardens and Chanticleer Garden near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

    I’ll spend this winter going through photos to sort out all the inspiration gleaned from these visits — and look forward to their influence next spring on our modest home garden.

Advertisements
Clicky