Spring Perennials
To create a successful perennial garden, it's important to select the right plants for the area, use nutrient-rich soil, and monitor the growth - feeding, grooming, and adjusting care as specimens develop.
Some of the most beautiful growth this time of year is behind my Tenant House and around my gym building. In these areas I've planted Epimediums, trout lilies, mayapples, ferns, Syneilesis, Polygonatum, Cotinus, Stewartia trees, and other interesting plantings.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Behind my Tenant House I designed lovely perennial gardens that come alive this time every year. The burgundy tree is a Japanese maple. With more than a thousand varieties and cultivars, the iconic Japanese maple is among the most versatile small trees for use in the landscape.
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- I always look for the most interesting plants to add to my gardens. This is Syneilesis – a tough, drought-tolerant, easy-to-grow woodland garden perennial that prefers moist, well-drained, slightly acid soils. If in the proper environment, syneilesis will slowly spread to form an attractive colony. Commonly called shredded umbrella, it has leaves that are narrow, dissected, and cascade downward like an umbrella.
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- All around, I also have lots of ostrich ferns growing. Matteuccia struthiopteris is native to North America. Once established, these grow to a height of three to six feet. Ostrich fern grows in vase-shaped clumps called crowns. The showy, arching, sterile fronds are plume-like and reminiscent of the tail feathers of – you guessed it – ostriches.
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- Astilboides is an interesting plant with huge, bright green leaves that are round and flat and measure up to 24-inches across. The effect is dramatic, and beautiful among other hardy perennials.
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- The hellebores continue to show beautifully at the farm. Hellebores are members of the Eurasian genus Helleborus – about 20 species of evergreen perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. They blossom during late winter and early spring for up to three months. Hellebores come in a variety of colors and have rose-like blossoms.
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- Uvularia grandiflora, the large-flowered bellwort or merrybells, is a species of flowering plant in the family Colchicaceae. Blooming mid to late spring, the flowers are twisted both in bud and in flower giving it a slightly droopy appearance.
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- Lungwort plants, Pulmonaria, are most often grown for their interesting leaves, which are green with random white spots. The leaves also have a rough, hairy fuzz covering them. The flowers, commonly known as lungwort, are bell- or funnel-shaped with five petals. They typically start out pinkish and mature to violet blue.
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- And we still have daffodils bordering the garden beds with bright colors! My daffodil blossoms come in many combinations of yellow, orange, and white.
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- Podophyllum peltatum is commonly known as mayapple, American mandrake, wild mandrake, and ground lemon. Mayapples are woodland plants, typically growing in colonies from a single root. The leaves are deeply lobed and can grow up to one foot wide making them stand-out in the garden bed.
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- These are Snowflakes – not to be confused with Snowdrops. The Snowflake is much taller and has more than one flower per stem. Snowflake petals are even, each with a green spots on the end, whereas Snowdrops have helicopter-like propellers that are green only on the inner petals.
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- This is a trout lily. Its delicate blooms, which resemble turks cap lilies do best in dappled light.
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- Anemonella thalictroides is an easy-to-grow, deer-resistant, durable, but dainty looking plant. The genus name Anemonella roughly translates as ‘little anemone’ because its flowers are miniature copies of the windflower. These are a light pale pink.
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- Heuchera plants grow into mounds and are exceptionally heat tolerant. Heuchera is a genus of largely evergreen perennial plants in the family Saxifragaceae, all native to North America. Common names include alumroot and coral bells.
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- I planted several Stewartia trees in this space. Stewartia is a species of flowering plant in the family Theaceae, native to Japan and Korea. All varieties are slow-growing, all-season performers that show off fresh bright green leaves in spring, white flowers in summer, and colorful foliage in autumn. And do you know why I love Stewartia trees? Well, Stewart is my last name after all. However, there is no relation. “Stewartia” is named for Scottish nobleman and botanist, John Stuart, who had imported the plant to his personal London garden. He later served as British prime minister from 1762 to 1763.
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- Nearby, the Cotinus are leafing out too. Cotinus, the smoketree, or smoke bush, is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to the sumacs. Their smooth, rounded leaves come in exceptional shades of deep purple, clear pinkish-bronze, yellow, and green.
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- All the hostas are also growing quickly. The lush green foliage varies in leaf shape, size and texture, and their easy care requirements make them ideal for many areas.
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- Epimedium, also known as barrenwort, bishop’s hat, fairy wings, horny goat weed, or yin yang huo, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Berberidaceae. The leaves are made up of leaflets, which can range in number from three to 50 and in size from as tiny to six inches long. They are generally heart-shaped, but can range from round to arrow-shaped.
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- Sprays of pink, white, yellow, orange, or lavender flowers appear this time of year.
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- Ipheion uniflorum, commonly called spring starflower, is native to Argentina and Uruguay and features grass-like foliage and solitary star-shaped flowers on six-inch tall stems. Flowers range in color from almost white to violet blue. Flowers have a mild spicy fragrance, and when bruised the foliage emits an oniony aroma.
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- Every year, more and more plants grow in these beds, cover the space, and create a lush, green carpet of beautiful foliage.
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