Daily Dose Blogger Bios
One Plant Bad
A proud masser of marigolds
Reader Karyn asked a question about irises - she'd seen an image of a massed planting of them and was inspired to follow suit in her own garden, but the fact that using only one kind of plant takes up precious border space (and that irises flower for a little over a month, at best) gave her pause. What to do?
Well, I might be the wrong person to ask, because I think that planting only one type of plant (monoculture) is bad design, as well as being environmentally irresponsible.
Some very famous landscape architects and designers have made careers out of using huge groups of two or three plants in big blocks or stripes and calling that a garden. Sorry, but to me twelve grasses. twenty black-eyed susans, and a hundred yarrow don't do much outside of the three months those plants are at their peak. Many think this is the kind of planting that compliments modern architecture - I say "WHATEVER!". A stripped-down planting surrounding a crisp, modern home is redundant.
I love the complexity of well thought out plant associations, and in addition to being pleasing to the eye, this type of gardening is good for our environment. Using a variety of plants in your garden attracts more beneficial insects and wildlife, those in turn eat the nasty bugs, meaning you won't have to use chemicals to keep your garden looking good. The soil benefits from an increased variety of microbes. You benefit by having a garden that looks great for more than one season.
Don't be taken in by the faux- modern planting Trendy Wendys that look at mixed plantings and turn up their noses, calling them "cottage-y". They can bite me.
hi germinatrix, I have a question about window boxes. I live in a city apartment in new england with huge north windows and after reading your blog, I've got garden fever but I'm wondering what do. The windows get little/no direct sunlight until the summer when they get a little in the mornings. I've done impatiens, but I'd like to get a little more creative...mini boxwoods? ivy? is color possible? I'd love to know your ideas!
ps: this post made me think of the above comment because the only window boxes I've ever done have been mono-flower and I'd love some variety!
Srichey, what about Lamium and/or Vinca (periwinkle)? Vinca will trail a bit and give you an "ivy-ish" effect with purple flowers. Some are variegated.
Lamium loves shade, and in addition to pink or purple flowers, you get pretty variegated leaves with whitish or yellowish accents.
Speaking of variegation, Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium?) is neat too - purple flower spikes. My Brunnera also has blue/purple flowers now.
Campanulas may be nice too. Also some geraniums will do great in shade (but the smell gets me).
For annuals, even though coleus benefits from some sun, you can't beat it for color. Easy to propagate, too - pinch off and stick in the dirt.
Oh, and as for monoculturists, they can bite me too. If you like plants, wouldn't you want a lot of different ones?
You can have a garden that's contemporary and diverse at the same time. Perhaps it takes more attention than just going to your local home superstore and buying 20 sago palms, so it's beyond the talent of most "designers?"
I'm not sure how irises would do in containers (the Neomaricas seem fine), but that's an option for plants that don't do much other than bloom once a year, as well as deciduous trees. You can shuffle them around so when they look good, they're in front of your face.
Hi srichey, welcome! Lucky you, to have suasoria's input... this lady knows her plants. I agree with all of her suggestions, and here are a few of my own:
Don't turn your nose up at the English ivies - Hedera helix - there are so many beautiful varieties with gorgeous variegations that will spill over the sides of your window box and make it extra extra. My favorites are 'Gold Child', 'Glacier', and 'Gold Heart'.
Please plant Yucca filamentosa 'Bright Edge'! It will work well in your climate and doesn't need direct sun (easy on the H2O, though), and it will create instant structure! And the stripe down the center of the leaf gives you a hit of color.
Nandina 'Firepower' is my stand-by for colorful foliage in the shade, and I've used it in areas that get frost - try it!
Here's a great palette - Yucca 'Bright Edge', Coleus 'Big Red', vinca, Nandina 'Firepower', and Hedera helix 'Gold Child' ... what a windowbox that could be!
Suasoria - monoplanters don't love plants - they are design absolutists... they don't want messy plants getting in the way of their perfect hardscape architecture - and they can bite us!
Whoops, I realized I should have let you answer that question. My bad. (I get overly excited about shade plants.)
Germi, if you're talking about mixing plants with different water or soil requirements, do you suggest keeping plants in separate small containers and concealing them in the windowbox with mulch or Spanish moss, eg.? I guess the advantage is you can swap them easily.
- Susa
Susa, You can give out plant lists here anytime! Remember, I'm taking advice, too!
thank you both! i've never been so excited about window boxes!!
Right on Srichey! That's how gardening should feel ...
speaking of one plant...my boyfriend is boxwood crazy, which is driving ME crazy. Right now all we have in our garden is boxwoods, topiaries, and more boxwoods...it's beautiful, but I'd like to see some serious color besides just green in our garden. I'd love some suggestions as to what I could mix in to the garden that could balance out the overbearing boxwoods. I live in the southeast. Please help!
This sounds bad. Is he a Virgo?
I'd start with groundcover that stays tidy. (Do you have mostly sun or mostly shade?) Then maybe a flowering tree with lots of structure to satisfy this need of his - like a weeping cherry or peach.
You can also try for color without flowers, like blood grass or zebra grass. He can keep these sheared off flat if he so desires and you'll still have some color and texture.
Here's hoping you can get him to open his mind a bit!
Guess what Suasoria - MY husband is a virgo! Thank goodness his virgo-ian (or virgin?) influence is asserted inside the house rather than outside, or I'd go 'round the bend!
Keeganp - I've dedicated the current post to you - and I'll add more plants to the comments as they come to me. Notice how Suasoria takes your boyfriend's tastes into consideration when giving her suggestions, whereas I go on about the plants I am in love with. Sheesh on me!.
I'm having a hard time finding a window box I really like. Do you have suggestions for resources? My house is a small cottage and I'd like to add the window boxes to two windows under which I am planning a perennial border.
The border is not much more than 3.5-4 feet deep by about 15 feet wide. About half of it gets okay morning and early afternoon sun; the other half drifts into shade - therefore one window box will get more sun than the other, too.
Any ideas?
Casey, this deserves it's own post - Window boxes can look great, or completely cheesy,so we need to get into it a bit. I'll have the answer up tomorrow (4.28) sometime, okay?
Sounds great, thanks!