By Brian Minter
Traditionally this is the biggest gardening weekend across our country.
Most folks are anxious to add both color and food crops around their home, and on decks and patios. Temperatures are consistently in the right range and we have a long growing season ahead.
Locally, we can expect a cooler long weekend with a few rainy days, so while it may not be the best patio weather, it’s ideal for planting perennials.
Perennials have increased in popularity, especially among our younger gardening community, for a few important reasons. The fact that they come back each year at specific times allows us to plan when and where we get to enjoy their colour. They also increase in size each year for an even more spectacular show.
BRIAN MINTER PHOTO
Thanks to continuous breeding in the perennial world, many varieties will bloom far longer than their predecessors. In some cases, as with coreopsis, Rozanne geraniums, and rudbeckias, they can bloom just as long as annuals.
They are adaptable to many landscape situations from heavy shade to full hot sun. Perennials make great ground covers for year-round green to beautify hillsides and difficult growing areas under large trees and along challenging roadside verges. Once well established, they are also helpful in controlling weeds.
Certain families of perennials have really captured the attention of avid gardeners because of their beautiful perfume and pollinator attraction. The latest research in pollinators shows that perennials are six times more likely to attract pollinators like bees and butterflies. Hummingbirds also have a long relationship with perennials like Gaura and Agastache, but lavender is at the top of the list. In the Fraser Valley area, which is Zone 6, we should depend upon the lavandula angustifolia varieties which are hardy to Zone 5, so will withstand our colder winters.
BRIAN MINTER PHOTO
They are just now coming into bloom in nurseries and today there is an incredible selection of varieties, from the more compact Munstead and Hidcote to some of the taller varieties like Betty’s Blue and Provence. Lots of sun and well-drained soil are very important for their best year-round performance.
In the Lower Mainland, Surrey, Vancouver and the Gulf Islands the stoechas, or Spanish lavenders, which are Zone 7, bloom all summer long and varieties like Anouk and Primavera have large, fragrant blooms that will not let you down.
Ferns have also exploded in popularity for those shady areas and now far more varieties are evergreen, creating a lush look year-round. My new favourite is pteris cretica Jurassic Velociraptor. It’s an evergreen ribbon fern which is Zone 6 hardy, with golden yellow new growth while old favourites like dryopteris erythrosora or Autumn ferns and Japanese painted ferns also have stunning new growth to really jazz up the subtle greens of traditional fern plantings.
BRIAN MINTER PHOTO
Grasses have really jumped in popularity, favoured for their myriad beautiful plumes that dance in the wind. Their graceful foliage is in constant motion with the slightest breeze.
The narrow, vertical, almost architectural form of green calamagrostis Karl Foerster, also known as Feather Reed Grass, has become very popular, as have the Japanese Forest Grass hakonechloa macra, and my favourites, the entire evergreen carex family.
Perennials, be they flowering or primarily foliage, add so much value to our landscapes in their own unique ways, and this weekend is a great time to incorporate them into your gardens and containers. Select the right plants for your light conditions, ensure you create well-drained soil where you’re planting and you’ll be well on your way to creating years of enjoyment.
Brian Minter is an award-winning horticulturist, author and syndicated columnist from Chilliwack, B.C. He and his wife, Faye, founded Minter Gardens, a 32-acre mixed-style show garden.
Featured image: Brian Minter
BRIAN MINTER PHOTO
BRIAN MINTER PHOTO
Comments are closed.