Putting in Perennial Flowerbeds

I spent most of the Winter of 2002-2003 attending a Master Gardener class held by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Service. There are two "flavors" of this class, one concentrates on vegetable gardening, the other on landscaping and perennial flowers. As it just happened, this year was the Perennial class. I've always enjoyed flowers, but limited myself to potted annuals from Walmart or wherever, not having much confidence in my abilities to grow flowers. The MG class gave me LOTS of information to work with, and got me all fired up to try it.

I have a couple of areas on the front (East) side of the house that have always been a pain to mow, being right up under the bay windows and in the corner formed by the front of the house and the enclosed entry/stoop. I decided this would be an excellent area to lay out a new flowerbed.

This area has always been a poor spot for grass and overrun by a scruffy Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus). My loving wife forbade me to remove the bush, so I dug around it, and will attempt to smother the grass and shoots with mulch and landscaping cloth. A preliminary soil test showed that the various nutrients were pretty much in balance, but lower than optimum, and that the soil lacked organic content. This was addressed by adding the recommended rates and amounts of fertilizer, and spading in some good compost. The pH was right on for flowers.

After removing the old sod and digging in the fertilizer and compost, I transplanted some stuff I got from a friend, including Jacob's Ladder, Campanula, Daylilies (Hyperion), a Forsythia, Columbine and some Sedum for ground cover. I added Astilbe, Echinacea, Oriental Lilies (Fata Morgana) and a President Clematis. This fall, it will be finished up with Daffodils and Crocus for a little early Spring color.

The North side is quite heavily shaded, so a different selection of plants was in order. I had more Astilbe than I needed due to an order mixup, so I planted some next to the stoop. I also had more Jacob's Ladder than I had room for in the South bed, so I put that on the north side as well. We'll have to see how they tolerate the shade. The North bed also has Lamium Maticulata (Beacon Silver) and Phlox Stolonifera for ground cover, and Evening Primrose for a touch of yellow.

The "stars" of the North bed will be small-leaf Rhododendron (Purple Gem). Several folks had suggested Rhodies for the North side, but I've never liked traditional Rhododendron. The blooms are gorgeous, but they only last 2 or 3 weeks, and then you spend the next 11 months looking at (IMHO) big, ugly waxy leaves and twigs. I saw a shrub I REALLY liked at a house around the corner. Nice, dense foliage, fantastic purple blooms. Imagine my surprise when I was told it was a Rhodie!.

Finally, I wrapped the bed around the south side of the house. This area gets full sun, so it was planted with Rudbeckia (Cherokee Sunset), and some Sedum for ground cover. The petunias were left over from a hanging pot project, and rather than throw them away, I popped them in for some "instant color" while I'm waiting for the Rudbeckia to bloom. I've also started some Nasturtium for the same purpose, and am trying Hollyhocks again. I direct-sowed some in the garden last year, but they never made it (or I mistakenly weeded them out...) so I've started them in pots and will transplant under the kitchen window when they are healthy enough. They should "naturalize" and reseed themselves once established. I always loved the Hollyhocks we had under the kitchen window at the farm.

My first blooms! This is the Campanula, and from the number of buds showing, they're gonna go nuts in a couple of days.

Rudbeckia "Cherokee Sunset"

Another Rudbeckia "Cherokee Sunset" bloom. These started out kind of muted, and I wasn't too impressed. As the blossom matures, the colors become much more vivid

Primrose

Daylilies "Hyperion" These are coordinating nicely with the blue and white Campanula planted around them. I'm very pleased with how this section turned out

A view of the South bed, showing how nicely (in my humble opinion, of course) the Hyperion daylillies and the Campanula complement each other. I can hardly wait for the Echenacia to kick in, I spotted some buds today. If you look closely, you can see the Clematis climbing the stoop railing, and it has buds on it too.

It's now mid-August, and the clematis is flowering nicely. The vine is a bit flimsier than I expected, but I'm not sure if that's normal or I have an unusual specimen. Flowers are beginning to come out on the Echenacia, but I'm gonna wait a few days to get them fully formed before I take any pictures.

It's Labor Day weekend, and my Echinacea, while blooming nicely, is a huge disappointment. I ordered Purple Coneflower, what I got was Yellow. Attractive enough, but not the color I wanted in that spot. I'm in the process of dealing with the folks I ordered it from now. However, my Hollyhocks (in another garden beside the garage) are doing very nicely indeed. Germination rate was something like 30%, but those that did germinate are gorgeous.

Spring of '04, and my Crocus is blooming nicely. Should have planted them in drifts rather than give in to my Germanic heritage and line everything up in military order.

This year's project is a new bed on the north lawn for some Peonies. The central rock came out of my pasture, the flat wallstone I bought from where I work. Kinda depressing how little wall a $150 pallet of rock makes.
The Fata Morgana Oriental Lillies are doing nicely.

The Daffodil bulbs I planted last fall came up as well. The ones I planted in another bed beside the garage didn't, I think the skunks dug them up.
It took 3 years, but my peonies finally bloomed! Found out I was mulching them too deeply.