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 flowering Ranunculus, and purple Giant’ (mustard greens)—both have stunning burgundy foliage.