Feature Article Smooth Sailing Rethinking succession plantings and plant combinations for smooth transition from spring into summer. By Jonathan Wright

ike many gardeners, I love the estimate the process of hardening-off. course of time in one’s garden lessons, Lact of gardening. It is very satisfying Another important rule is to ignore observations are made and lessons to plunge a trowel into freshly turned any preconceived notions as to what are learned. Through the passage of soil or take pair of sharp pruners to types of plants can or should be used seasons, one can become, dare I say, an unruly branch. I am sure that I am in combinations. I’ve become a big fan comfortable in one’s own garden. Last not the first gardener who has gotten of edibles, such as cool season vegeta- autumn, in a brilliant move to encour- antsy after a dreary winter and headed bles and culinary herbs. This group of age fresh ideas and new perspectives to the local garden center for a bit plants can take frost and, on occasion, in the garden and among staff, our of spring color in late March. Why I have had beds planted for opening director Bill Thomas moved the full- listen to weather forecasters or the day suddenly buried under 5" of snow time gardeners around, assigning new advice of other (perhaps more sane?) without showing any signs of damage garden areas. With this change, many gardeners. This is complete optimism when the snow melted away. of the horticulturists, including myself, and gardening encourages this sort of Until this past spring, I was re- are now tending new spaces. I am behavior. sponsible for designing, installing, and now responsible for the gardens sur- As one of seven horticulturists at maintaining the Entrance, Teacup Gar- rounding the main house and terraces Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, PA, it den, and Tennis Court Garden. This including the swimming pool. is my responsibility to make sure my area comprises a series of patios and I began dreaming up ideas for my area of the garden is looking stellar courtyards, formally laid-out borders, new garden areas almost immediately, from opening day through closing as well as meandering beds. Over the but the real design work started in the each year. Depending on how the depths of winter. Looking at calendar falls, this may be as early as photographs of your garden the last few days of March through the throughout the season is a great first few days of November. way to take note of what works, To have the garden ready for visi- what you want to work on, and, tors, I ultimately end up pushing the perhaps most importantly, what limits with my spring displays. To be you want to avoid. ready for “showtime” means having I’ve recently started shoot- to always plant in the third or fourth ing quick images with my week in March. Over the last nine phone and emailing them to Jonathan Wright years, I have developed my own list myself with comments at-

of what I consider to be downright photo © tached. The camera is perhaps cold tolerant plants. These can go in In the border alongside the containers discussed, the simplest way of document- a carpet of burgundy-foliaged edibles fills space the ground and containers during that at the feet of tall red tulips, Tulipa 'Big Red'. ing the garden. One thing that last week of March and continue to Edibles include Lollo Rossa lettuce, Bull's always jumps out at me in look good at least until the arrival of Blood beets, Violetta pak choi, and bronze photographs, especially photos warm summer weather. A few even fennel. As the edibles were harvested or began taken of recently planted areas, make it through the entire season. The to die out due to warm weather, they were is bare soil. While I know that gradually replaced with coleus and alternanthera, main lesson learned is to never under- also in burgundy toned foliage. plants grow and eventually fill

Vol. 27, No. 4 Hardy Plant Society/Mid-Atlantic Group 3 in, I can’t help but think that if to have a consistent color scheme I see bare soil I must need more or at the very least consider the plants! I also always think of the plants you are planting for spring weedy potential of exposed soil. and summer. Consider the plant- In the past, I’ve usually planted ing plan of both displays and try to my spring displays and containers make sure they will work together. very heavily, with tight spacing, to For instance, if you plan to spot achieve a more instant effect. Lat- a coleus throughout a summer er, when it came time to replace border, you could use a lettuce to

cool weather plants that made do the same early in the spring, Jonathan Wright up the spring display, I would making the change of that one plant remove them all at once. With a very simple. photo © A mid -April image shows the first combination clean slate, the summer display Here is an example of a suc- of theTulipa Yellow Cubed™ mix, blooming can be laid out and planted in one cession of plant combinations in with a carpet of lavender wallflowers and sweet fell swoop. This is typically how a bed sized roughly 9' by 30'. In alyssum. seasonal bedding is handled. The November, I planted a mixture of problem with this type of tradi- three yellow tulip cultivars (sold as tional bedding-out is that in early Tulipa Yellow Cubed™ mix) with summer when the garden should early, mid, and late bloom times. be looking its best, the new sum- I covered the entire area with the mer bedding often appears awk- yellow tulips at 12–14" spacing. ward. Plants that have just gone For contrast, I planted a series of in have yet to root, orient their various sized polka-dots of Tu- foliage, or fill in, thus exposing lipa ‘Black Parrot’ dotted across lots of soil and generally looking the bed. When the tulips began unsettled. The other problem with to show in late March, I planted removing the spring combinations bronze fennel Foeniculum vul- all at once is that the plants rarely gare ‘Purpureum’ in between the Jonathan Wright all go over at the same time. So emerging black parrot tulips. Then, photo © while the weather has warmed, between the remaining yellow The same bed a few weeks later, after the yellow spring bulbs have finished bloom- tulips, I tiptoed (joke withheld) and tulips have been removed and replaced with ing, and you have summer plants planted the remaining spaces with the summer plants. The last of the tulip flowers ready to be planted, it might be lavender wallflowers Erysimum( complement the color palette and offer a little extra to the summer planting scheme, as well as painful to clear the way for new ‘Winter Joy’) and sweet alyssum bridge the gap until the plants have begun to plantings with foxgloves still in in varying shades of purple and grow. heavy bloom. lavender, (Lobularia maritima So this year, I have made a ‘Easter Bonnet Lavender’). The very deliberate attempt to have whole effect worked as I had hoped as little soil showing as possible. with the wallflowers and alyssum Instead of switching out contain- adding color until the tulips began ers and beds clean-slate style, I’ve blooming in mid April. The yellow been replacing them piecemeal. In tulips looked lovely with lavender this style, pull cool season plants booms at their toes and bloom con- as they begin to fade (or, in the tinued for quite some time, given case of lettuces or other edibles, the staggered bloom of the three harvested and eaten) and replace cultivars and the gift of a cool, long Jonathan Wright

them with the heat loving sum- spring. As the yellow tulips hit photo © mer plants, a little at a time. I have peak bloom, the black parrot tulips The sweet alyssum and wallflowers fill space been very happy with the results began opening above the ferny mist and cover soil, in addition to complementing of this approach. There are a few of the bronze fennel foliage. After the planting. Silybum marianum, with its white marbled foliage, contrasts nicely with the purple things to take into consideration heavy rains knocked the last of the leaves of Strobilanthes dyerianus and flowers of with this technique. First, it helps yellow tulip petals to the ground, Heliotropium arborescens. 4 Hardy Plant Society/Mid-Atlantic Group July 2013 they were carefully removed from the work equally well with Narcissus, Proven Performers combination leaving the groundcover Fritillaria, hyacinths, or any other More than just pansies, these plants will of lilac-colored blooms, accented bulb that you enjoy. all tolerate seriously cold weather. In my garden, they have all survived tempera- with clusters of black parrot tulips The potted bulbs had been planted tures as low as 27°F with little or no vis- and bronze fennel. As the last of the in the autumn and kept in an unheated ible signs of damage, once they have been hardened-off. Most will last into early sum- black tulips began to drop, the sum- coldframe over the winter. Compost mer and help bridge the gap while warm mer plants were installed among the was heaped up on the edges of the season plants fill in. alyssum and wallflowers. A combina- bulb pot to hide it. Around the bulb Annuals and flowers for early tion of Persian shield (Strobilanthes pot was planted Heuchera ‘Frosted color: dyerianus), tall verbena (Verbena Violet’, bronze fennel, burgundy wall- Antirrhinum spp & cvs (snapdragons) Bellis (English daisies) bonariensis), black pearl pepper (Cap- flowers (Erysimum ‘Vulcan’), deep Brassica juncea ‘Brazen Brass’ & ‘Red sicum annuum ‘Black Pearl’), helio- red floweringRanunculus, and purple Giant’ (mustard greens)—both have stunning burgundy foliage. Can be eat- trope (Heliotropium arborescens), and sage. Cut stems of red-twigged dog- en before bolting or allowed to bloom, Salvia splendens ‘Paul’ continue the wood (Cornus alba ‘Elegantissima’) adding tall yellow blossoms before dy- purple color scheme. Centaurea ciner- were stuck in and arranged to support ing in heat. Calendula (pot marigold) aria ‘Colchester White’ and milk-this- the wallflowers and complement the Erysimum ‘Winter Joy’, E. ‘Winter Sor- tle (Silybum marianum) were added in red theme. The red twigs also added bet’ (wallflower)—great performers, many new cvs are wonderful. Buried for a touch of silver. A green flowering color and height very early in the under snow without any damage, these tobacco (Nicotiana langsdorffii) and season before the other plants began to may be the hardiest cool season flow- soft orange flowering maple(Abuti - grow. Ranunculus thrived in the cold ers I know. ® Gilia capitata (blue thimble flower)— lon Lucky Lantern Tangerine) were weather and added color before the blooms into early summer, fades with added as accents. show of the tulips. The tulips grew up heat. The effect, immediately after through the twigs and wallflowers to Lactuca sativa cvs (lettuces)—harvest as needed to enjoy and plant empty spac- planting, was that of a well-estab- es slowly with summer plants. lished, grown-in border. It was a little Lathyrus spp & cvs (sweet peas)—start early, as early as September the previ- extra effort to plant among the existing ous year, and grow cold through winter plants, however the final result was or harden-off in early March. All fade worth the effort. After two weeks, the quickly with summer heat. Linaria (toadflax) planting looks as if it has been there Nasturtium—harden-off well before plant- all spring. The colors and textures ing and protect from wind. Nemesia spp & cvs all work together to create a lovely Osteospermum, Dimorphotheca, Ursin- display. As the summer plants fill in, ia (South African daisies) the bed will slowly morph into the Papaver nudicaule (Iceland poppies) Ranunculus asiaticus Bloomingdale mix planned summer display, hiding the or La Belle mix (Persian Buttercup)— dying cool season plants in the pro- both wonderful in seriously cold weath-

er, but die early with warm weather. cess. This method worked wonders Jonathan Wright in another bed where spring-planted Edibles for cold weather and long lettuces, kale, mustard greens, and photo © into the summer: Early in the season, the tulips take Many of these can be groomed and will beets, all with burgundy-toned foliage, center stage in this combination that last all season into and through the cooler were slowly harvested and replaced includes a few perennials including weather of autumn. with coleus, Hemigraphis, and Alter- Heuchera 'Frosted Violet' and Swiss Chard, ‘Bright Lights’ mix, single nanthera cultivars, also with burgundy Euphorbia amygdaloides 'Purpurea' color strains. with its chartreuse bracts. Beets, Bulls Blood—dark burgundy foliage. colored foliage. Cabbages, kale cvs, especially ‘Laci- A similar piece-by-piece change- bloom beautifully. nato’ (syn ‘Dinosaur’ or ‘Tuscan Kale’)—last through the whole season over was done in a series of contain- After blooming, the tulips were if groomed and protected from cabbage ers with a burgundy and red theme. deadheaded and the dying Ranunculus moths. Leeks provide a strong vertical component These containers were planted in the removed, their places easily concealed in mixed container designs. last week of March, to complement by the expanded Heuchera foliage, Herbs: parsley; sage (golden variegated, the nearby beds. Being large pots, they allowing the wallflowers to take center silver 'Berggarten', tricolor); rosemary, trailing and upright; and thyme—lem- enabled me to sink 12" pots of tulips stage. As the weather warmed, the on thyme, yellow variegated. English (Tulipa ‘Big Red’) into the center of wallflowers continued to bloom, hid- thyme very quick to fill in. the pot. This same technique would ing the dying tulip foliage. A simple Vol. 27, No. 4 Hardy Plant Society/Mid-Atlantic Group 5 Jonathan Wright Jonathan Wright photo © photo © A dramatic Crinum asiaticum var. As the fennel and wallflowers began asiaticum 'Splendens' takes the place to bolt, they were removed and of the spent tulips in late spring as the replaced with heat loving plants. other plants expand and spill out of the Heuchera foliage remains, adding to container. the combination and taking it into early summer with a full effect. lifting of the spent tulip pot allowed for easy planting of a burgundy-leaved spider-lily (Crinum asiaticum var. A self-professed plant geek since childhood, asiaticum ‘Splendens’). Jonathan Wright serves as the horticulturist in A few weeks later when the heat charge of the Main House and Terrace Gardens finally arrived, I removed the bronze at Chanticleer, a pleasure garden in Wayne, PA. fennel, purple sage, and wallflowers. A graduate of the Longwood Gardens Professional Gardener Program, Jonathan went Planting the openings filled the con- on to intern at the former Heronswood Nursery tainer immediately. Plants added for in Kingston, WA. He then accepted a position as the summer were South African Cape Chanticleer Fellow, which has allowed him to rush (Chondropetalum tectorum), bur- work alongside talented gardeners, both at Chanticleer and in some of the greatest gardens gundy-leaved Aeonium ‘Plum Purdy’, in North America. Begonia boliviensis ‘Bonfire’, coral Jonathan leads classes and workshops fountain (Russelia equisetiformis ‘St. for PHS and Longwood Gardens, as well as Elmo’s Fire’), and a trailing narrow- lectures for gardens farther afield. When he isn't in the garden, he can most often be found in the leaved waffle plant(Hemigraphis kitchen where he enjoys preparing meals with repanda). This container will continue fresh seasonal ingredients. to look great all the way through sum- Editor's Note: For a full-color version of this article, go mer into autumn. to the HPS/MAG web site, www.hardyplant.org. With a little bit of extra plan- ning and this slight shift in planting technique, I feel that I have improved the transition between the spring and summer shows in the garden. In the process, I’ve also saved myself a little bit of stress. I hope sharing these expe- riences will do the same for you.

6 Hardy Plant Society/Mid-Atlantic Group July 2013