A few thoughts:
We’re always trying to piece a garden together that has visual interest all year long. Ideally, we’ll construct it where one perennial stops blooming and takes a step back, while another takes center stage. Continuous succession of bloom or emergence of interesting foliage or texture. That’s the game.
Below is one of those situations where I’ve managed to play it perfectly. The pink Astilbe blooms have had their day in the sun but are now fading and losing color just in time as the yellow coneflowers are emerging. Yellow and pink, not so great together and fortunately, the world will not have to bear witness to it.
I’m really starting to buy into the ornamental grass as deer-loving-plant-protector. This hydrangea bloom is proof. Now the challenge is how to design an ornamental grass moat and make it look pleasant and natural.
You can only say it so many times before the message is lost on people. So here is my last plea for you to find a way to get Panicum ‘Northwind’ into your garden. Even if you have a smaller garden, please add one and thank me later. What a handsome and massively upright specimen (how I’m often described as well).
Do not underestimate the “see through-ness”of certain grasses like this ‘Karl Foerster’.
While you are adding a Panicum ‘Northwind’ to your cart (virtual or metal) also throw in Amsonia. They play nice together.
Nothing has reseeded more in my garden than Mountain Mint. It pops up everywhere in spring and even with my OCD tendencies, I’m able to let it do whatever the hell it wants. My therapist calls that incremental progress.
Bee Balm, friend or foe? Discuss.
I’ve been trying to up my container planting game for a few years now and I’m still not happy with my progress. I have learned to experiment more and stuff each container to capacity but I still need work. I’d love your feedback on this one. It seems to be thriving in its shady location. Be gentle but be honest.
QOTD – What is your go-to container planting combo? I have no shame in stealing all of your brilliant ideas.
Sadly I truly have no place for Northwind or Karl Forster. I keep looking though, because you keep showing off your lovely specimens. It does look nice with Amsonia. I’ve paired my Amsonia with Juncus, which by the way why don’t you grow this excellent plant? Both the wild J. effusus (mine comes from a local swamp) and the cultivar Blue Arrow are a sculptural presence in the garden. Rugged in wet or dry times, sun or semi-shade. I doubt that deer will touch it.
Bee balm: friend if it’s in the back of the border where its post-bloom mildew will not be apparent. Foe if it’s the dwarf cultivars that turn into hideous white disease where all the neighbors can see it. Thus is my pronouncement. Bee balm heads have rolled at Kate’s garden.
Your container. I offer my comments within the context of utter incompetence with my own container plantings. So easy to critique, so hard to do. What I see in yours is great color, great contrast of texture, but no variation in elevation. Everything is in the middle. Give us something tall (Juncus Blue Arrow!), give us something trailing. Now I’ll go do the same with my sorry containers….
Juncus – on it, no excuses. Bee Balm – dead on and I’ve given up on any dwarf cultivars. Container – I forgot what the green grasslike plant is called but that was the intention, for that to be taller than the others. And you’re right about trailing. Need to squeeze more in there. Thank you for all of your feedback/comments!!! Love it.
I have several Karl Forster and love each one, also a big fan of Gracillimus, Shenandoah, and Morning Light. I have several Northwind I purchased but have not planted. I planted my first Amsonia hubrichtii this year and am excited to see what it does.
My favorite container this year for shade is an upright Kimberly Queen fern (Wal-Mart) in the center of a nice sized pot with red dragonwing begonias, creeping jenny, and Dipt in Wine coleus. I have this in three pots in front of my garage and really like it. Proven Winner Supertunias in either Bubblegum or Bordeaux and a purple fountain grass in a nice sized pot will go and go in the sun. Nice because there is no deadheading. I sometime will trim it up the end of July as it can get a little leggy. Supertunias in the ground are a new favorite of mine too as they can cover a huge amount in color and never get leggy.
Love you blog and great photos of how “real” gardens look!
Thanks so much Kristin! Love the grasses and psyched to see you have Northwind. My Gracillimus desperately needs dividing but it is so huge I’m stressed by the effort it will take. I’d love to see a pic of the container, it sounds phenomenal. Could you send a pic through these comments? Would be awesome. Thanks.
Love, love, love the two panicum varieties that I have… which I believe are Northwind and Shenandoah. Might be on the verge of buying a few Hot Rod this fall. I actually swapped out most of my miscanthus Morning Light (kept one) for panicums because the latter are just so much easier to cut back in the spring. I bought some dwarf bee balms this spring and they are now at the yuck stage. Of course, they were supposed to be mildew resistant…grrr. I think Kate nailed the reason you aren’t in love with your container …all the plant elements are too much the same height. Last fall I went to a plant sale and succumbed to the charms of a carex called ‘Prairie Fire’ which is taller than any other carex I’ve ever seen. It stayed colorful all through the winter and I had added a dwarf roundish evergreen, a red coral bell called ‘Fire Alarm’ and some purple and yellow pansies. and a soft spilling evergreen sedum. Yep, the thriller, filler, spiller formula is golden for a reason. Even right now, if you stuck some ornamental twigs in your container that gave it additional height, you’d probably be happier.
I couldn’t agree more on Morning Light. They are close to unruly at this point. The Panicums are so much easier to manage. The “green” plant hidden in the container was to be the tallest and grasslike, but it is being bullied by the Persian Shield. Love Carex so makes sense to add to containers. Need to look up Prairie Fire. Twigs, eh? I like it. Even have some dead Allium that are still ornamental. I like. Thanks, as always.
Wow, some dried allium…genius! Should look great adding height and texture!
It’s not easy being such a visionary.
This is in regards to your container combo. I too, have combined the Strobilanthes (common name Persian Shield) as my
back ‘thriller’- used two pinkish impatience as my ‘filler’ and added some pieces of Tradescantia pallida (known as Purple Heart
wandering jew) along the front and side edges as my ‘spiller.’ Once the season progresses — All plants will totally THRILL- FILL
and SPILL beautifully providing they get their water and some fert!!
That is a pink Impatiens in my container as well. I do need more spiller for sure and oh yeah, fertilizer. That might help. I’m slow to learn. Ha.
Just found your blog, LOVE your plants and photography!
One comment I might add on your container is what if you tried something that would tie in with or accent the brick wall behind it a bit more. While the pink and purple are great together, they don’t do a whole lot against the brick. And yes, a spiller as others have said, and a fuller or more exciting thriller, or something fun like a bit of art or branches. I know creeping jenny is ubiquitous as a spiller, but that color might give this container a bit of pop.
I’m just beginning to use grass-like plants (limited full sun, and too much inherited Liriope that I am slowly removing). Japanese forest grass, some sedges (Everillo is my new year round favorite), dichromena latifolia (white-top star grass), and Acorus Ogon . I’ll have to make a spot to try some real grasses that you all have recommended! Love amsonia, have lots of that.
A new container combo that has worked pretty well for me so far this year has Ascot’s Rainbow spurge, red cordyline, Green and Gold (Chrysogonum), Hakonechloa Aureola, Vinca minor Illumination, and a small Thujopsis dolobrata aurea. It’s in a blue-gray whiskey barrel next to my front brick sidewalk and porch, and echoes house colors — bisque trim, blue-gray siding, and brick red front door. Not sure that I’m thrilled with all of it, but I like the cordyline, spurge, thujopsis and hakonechloa together.
Marilyn – welcome and thank you so much for the kind words! And a big thank you for the container combo, something for me to research over lunch.
Hi John,
Since I just joined your blog, per Michaele’s suggestion from GPOD, I don’t know where you garden so it’s hard to make
container suggestions but the ones that you’ve received are all good. I’m on a committee that plants the containers for our garden
club in Coupeville on Whidbey Is. and it’s always a challenge to find plants that look but don’t taste good to the many 4 legged marauders that roam the town streets. This year we did some with Canna ‘Tropicana’ as the center, euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’, coleus
‘Lime Dream’ helichrysum ‘Silver Spike’ and lobularia ‘Snow Princess’. So far with our continued cool temps, the Lobularia is the only shining star but I think with some heat things will change.
It’s fun to connect with other gardeners that also enjoy photography.
Welcome Linda and thanks for finding me. I am in NJ, zone 6B. Love the container suggestions and I actually have another container I put together using the Canna you mentioned. One of these days I’ll figure out this container thing. Thank you for the feedback.