Features Of The Overplanted Border 2: The Perennials

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plantaholic
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Features Of The Overplanted Border 2: The Perennials

Post by plantaholic »

Okay, I'm going to start off with the West Border, shown here as of today,
my standard view from the side of the house.

Image
photo enlarges

Not much to look at now, but I'll be pointing out the floral
details later - what's here now, and items I'll be adding next year.
plantaholic
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Re: Features Of The Overplanted Border 2: The Perennials

Post by plantaholic »

Filling available space with perennials is as of yet a
Work In Progress, and so far irises and primulas have gotten
traction in my intended scheme of a pattern of sorts; you know,
think tapestry or carpet patterns, for example.


Image
photo enlarges

Yellow irises - MTB 'Spanish Coins'(Witt 1976) shown here - backed by red and yellow
primulas will frame the center panel of grass (i.e.,lawn). This yellow border will
have a clump of purple IB 'Eleanor Roosevelt'(Sass-McDade 1933
at each end as accents.
Last edited by plantaholic on Dec 26, 2009 10:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Gardentoad
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Re: Features Of The Overplanted Border 2: The Perennials

Post by Gardentoad »

I'm glad you started posting pictures of your overplanted border. I also like a full planted border. I like the look of yours and am enjoying your photos.

When I drive through my area, all the other lots have clear views of the homes with maybe one or 2 trees and a few bushes right up against the house. They have small rows of annuals in front of the neatly trimmed bushes or a ring of flowers arounf the trees or in small islands in the yard.

I have my larger shrubs and plants at the edge of the property so they make a nice backdrop to my perennials that I view from my house. Although I do keep the weeds pulled and the faster growing bushes trimmed back, it does look somewhat overgrown from the street, especially in the fall when the tall grasses are at their peak.
I used to live across the street from a public park and when I was younger and out gardening I would hear young guys yell at me as they drove by and I was always creeped out by cars and vans that drove by slowly when I was working out there. I decided at this house I wanted more privacy, but not a tall fence.



Southeast
Image
South
Image
plantaholic
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Re: Features Of The Overplanted Border 2: The Perennials

Post by plantaholic »

Now that's an impressive stand of daylilies you have there, g.t.;like,
hemerocallii factorial! Beautiful!

Re my post on a different thread:
plantaholic wrote:Here's a springtime view of my West Border:

Image
click on pic for a fullscreen view
Here's a closer view of a two-year-old pink peony somewhere in that view,
up against the lilac, about a month later, in June:

Image
photo enlarges


Also, note that I've got a maidenhair fern fitted in there - hopefully I'll
be able to divide it this summer to fill in elsewhere.

Slowly but surely weeds are getting crowded out....
plantaholic
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Re: Features Of The Overplanted Border 2: The Perennials

Post by plantaholic »

Then there are the crocuses.

Image April 2009
photo enlarges




Image April 2008
photo enlarges

Crocuses provide the season's first, and oh, so welcome, show of color.
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Gardentoad
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Re: Features Of The Overplanted Border 2: The Perennials

Post by Gardentoad »

What beautiful spring color! :D

You can enjoy crocus!
I'm jelous.
I planted hundreds of crocus bulbs tucked away in groups throughout my gardens.
If I'm very lucky, I get to see a few of the first ones as soon as they begin to color. Then the rabbits eat the flowers within hours of their appearance. Very disappointing after all that work but that's part of a wildlife friendly garden. They don't bother my hostas much at all and I have more daylilies than they can keep up with. I do have lots of daffodils and am slowly adding the miniture daffodils and miniture iris along the edges where I planned on the crocus show.

I use lots of daylilies along the edges mostly because I'm lazy. I have lower back pain and it really gets to me to pull weeds the length of the border or hold a string trimmer to tidy up the edges. With the daylilies the foilage drapes over the edges so I can just mow along them. I used to have several iris borders but keeping the grasses pulled out of the rhizomes got to be too much work. As the trees and bushes grow up and create more shade I am loosing many of my iris. I also found that planting iris in drifts made it a smorgasboard for borers and I do not use harsh pestisides. I'm looking forward to filling in what used to be iris areas with hostas.
Never before have so few with so much promised to take away so much from so many and then laugh their asses off as the so many with so little vote for the so few with so much.

---James Pence
Linda P
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Re: Features Of The Overplanted Border 2: The Perennials

Post by Linda P »

Here is a pic of my front border, taken several years ago. I live on a gravel road in the country, and have a two-fold purpose for putting lots of plants between the house and the road. They help cut down the gravel dust, and I can hide behind them when I'm out weeding. My yard was bare when we moved here nearly 24 years ago, and I was not able to start planting right away...had to work from before sunup to well past sundown just to keep our heads above water. I planted a few things about the 4th or 5th year we were here, so I consider my garden to be going on 20 years old, though the big planting push didn't come until about 15 years ago. My poor husband did not notice for the longest time that plants were appearing here and there, and he didn't really know where I was going with the whole thing. He rarely looks around, he just works til it's time to eat or sleep. Somewhere around 10 years ago, he said to our daughter 'well, the plants are nice, but is she ever going to stop?' A few years ago, when it all came together, and people started coming over to visit, he finally got the idea and decided that he likes it.
The other story I have about my garden is that my mother in law said several years ago..."You really need to get rid of some of those plants. You can barely see the house from the road anymore." Yes!!! That's what I was going for! She likes the look of one or two trees in the front yard, and a couple of shrubs plastered up against the house, so naturally she didn't appreciate my overstuffed yard. :wink:
The second pic is of the border on the other side of the driveway. Again, this pic is several years old, and there is a lot more stuffed in there now.
Linda P
Attachments
Front Border July 4 06 .JPG
Front Border July 4 06 .JPG (76.65 KiB) Viewed 11293 times
orange asiatics and gloriosa daisies July 4 06.JPG
orange asiatics and gloriosa daisies July 4 06.JPG (63.3 KiB) Viewed 11293 times
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.....
Algernon Charles Swinburne

Latitude: 41° 51' 12.1572"


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plantaholic
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Re: Features Of The Overplanted Border 2: The Perennials

Post by plantaholic »

:D Linda, you do have a way with flowers ! I'll bet you that dear MIL is as happy
to see your garden come to life this spring as you are.

I know where you're coming from, GT. Our home reeks of Ben-Gay tm during garden season.


I'm gonna get this crocus border completed in spite of the
squirrels! They made off with about half of what I
set out last year.

Couldn't find any at the store to set out this year, so it
remains to be seen as to how well the ones there now will
multiply.

Image April 2009
photo enlarges





Image April 2008
photo enlarges


The object is to have about a three foot wide band of gold
crocuses on both sides of the garden path.
Linda P
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Re: Features Of The Overplanted Border 2: The Perennials

Post by Linda P »

Plantaholic, the funny thing is that when she comes over in the spring before anything starts growing, she always says "Oh, you've finally weeded out some of the extra plants" and then she's flabbergasted whens she comes the next time and everything is grown up. She does love to look at the flowers, but she thinks they should be planted in rows.
One day she told me I wouldn't have so many bugs in my house if I would get some of the junk out of the yard. :lol:
I love your crocus borders. I had a lot of them here at one time, and I dont' have any squirrels, so I'm thinking that the voles got to mine. If I ever plant more crocus, I will try putting gravel in with them to try to discourage voles. Daffodils I have in abundance, since nothing eats them. I should have dug up and divided a lot of the older clumps this year, as they are far to overgrown, but was not able to get to it. It's on my list for the coming summer.
Linda P
Attachments
This is the main area that my dear MIL wishes I would 'cut back'.
This is the main area that my dear MIL wishes I would 'cut back'.
house view from drive 07.JPG (38.37 KiB) Viewed 11283 times
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.....
Algernon Charles Swinburne

Latitude: 41° 51' 12.1572"


My Hosta List
plantaholic
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Re: Features Of The Overplanted Border 2: The Perennials

Post by plantaholic »

Some irises displaced by my patio improvement project now
have a home at the front of the west border.

Image
photo enlarges
These are the indestructible MTB Honorabile.

A springtime floral tapestry is slowly materializing. Stay tuned.
plantaholic
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Re: Features Of The Overplanted Border 2: The Perennials

Post by plantaholic »

Ferns are emerging. This one's two years old, a dryopteris cycadina,
or shaggy wood fern, at home next to a red weigela in the west border.

Image



Nearby my maidenhair fern
is making its appearance under a lilac, next to peony "Janice"(Saunders 1939). Now,
it's been here a few tears, and has been divided once already. You can see it couple of posts back.

Image
plantaholic
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Re: Features Of The Overplanted Border 2: The Perennials

Post by plantaholic »

My peony Nippon Chief, set out year before last, bloomed for the first time.

Image
enlarge

It's set between the privet and a freshly-groomed lilac. Now I'm
hoping it grows taller as it becomes fully established so as to display
prominently against the hedge.
Image
1. enlarge
2. same view at noon
plantaholic
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Re: Features Of The Overplanted Border 2: The Perennials

Post by plantaholic »

Last week I added a few crocus bulbs to the west border.

Image


Luckily I disturbed only one crocus already in place, as shown
in this view as of last April. It was the singleton near that lilac.

Image

I'll keep adding them until there's no space left.
plantaholic
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Re: Features Of The Overplanted Border 2: The Perennials

Post by plantaholic »

The east border as of season's end 2010.

Image

Peony Martin Cahuzac- at the extreme left but not showing in this pic- and some blue and yellow primulas- were added to the floral border this year. High hopes are riding on the irises, what with the anti-borer measures
taken this past summer with my zapper.

That's peony Felix Crousse at the right end, turning yellow. The picture enlarges, by the way.
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JaneG
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Re: Features Of The Overplanted Border 2: The Perennials

Post by JaneG »

It's fun seeing the progression of your pictures from spring through fall. I love that last Autumn picture with all the gold leaves scattered on the ground. :D
JaneG
Start slowly . . . then taper off.
plantaholic
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Re: Features Of The Overplanted Border 2: The Perennials

Post by plantaholic »

And Jane, I really have my heart set on establishing an iris bed at the front of the border out back
with tellow border deardeds. Yellow set against the green of the hedges should make for a pleasing
and elegantly simple scheme. The primulas should overlap their blooming times, like, in mid May (hope-hope).

See my other thread for autumn colors in the backyard. The whole neighborhood is in glorious technicolor now.
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