Planting Perennials with Spring Flowering Bulbs

Over the last year-and-a-half I have been consulting and coaching a gardener and HSNY member in Rego Park, Queens. I make seasonal visits to advise on new plantings to add, transplants to perform, pruning to consider, plant and weed identification, and the like. Not only am I thrilled with how the garden is coming along, but the owner has become really educated and empowered herself, and that is what is most gratifying to me. She had embraced and prioritized horticulture in her own life and every time I visit it is wonderful to see how she in return is positively influencing her neighbors and their gardens. Just the same, questions always arise, such as the following which came in a recent email. As always I am more than happy to further educate and empower to the best of my ability. If you have a garden space and need the advice of a professional horticulturist let me remind you that HSNY does provide a consultation service for residents in Manhattan and the outer boroughs. Feel free to email me for more details at afeleppa@hsny.org.

Question/concern:

I did do one probably bad thing Sunday. I couldn't resist some shasta daisies and then couldn't find a sunny spot to plant them so in desperation put them among the tulips (there are two big bunches, which I later realized I probably should have broken up). Now I'm concerned that the tulips and daisies will be fighting for nutrients and water next spring, will they?

Answer:

Not necessarily a bad move to plant the daisies among the tulips. Yes, you could have broken them up and planted them interspersed instead of in large clumps, but as we have discussed I know how the clumps make more of an impact in your garden so it is fine to enjoy them that way. Often spring flowering bulbs are active and then dormant at different times than many perennials. Up at NYBG they have a fabulous daylily/daffodil walk, a long expanse with the two different perennials planted in large clumps right next to each other. The daffodils do their thing nice and early in spring as usual and as they go dormant for the summer the daylilies really come into their own and then flower through the summer months. Bulbs do not need nor want tons of excess moisture during the summer, but the day lilies end up taking most of the water for themselves so it turns out that the two co-exist quite happily. Your situation is slightly different, but I think the basic factors remain the same. Your tulips have already pushed their flower and foliage. Now we are just letting the foliage remain to build up energy and nutrient reserves for next year. As those leaves will soon yellow and the bulbs will begin to go dormant the daisies will begin to enjoy the spotlight, including the sun and the regular watering you provide. Next spring the cycle should repeat itself, with the bulbs active early followed nicely by the daisies. In a couple years we might have to plant some new tulips as they only seem to last 3-5 years comfortably, and by that time we can plant them in more concentrated clumps between the daisies to keep the look and feel of your garden sensational.

Echinacea purpurea and related cultivars

I was digging through my photos trying to help my coworker put together the graphics for our latest mailer at work and I rediscovered these great shots of Echinacea from Garden in the Woods and Nasami Farm, both operated by The New England Wild Flower Society. Thought I would share them for a nice little visual on this gray Thursday. Above is the straight species Echinacea purpurea, commonly called purple cone flower. Echinacea is a native perennial plant here in the northeast, hardy in USDA Zones 3-9, and can grow to 4-5' tall and 18-20" wide. It flowers mid-summer and the blossoms can often last well into September or early October. It does best in full sun, and once established is marginally drought tolerant. A rich soil heavy in organics will produce the most robust plants, but I have seen them adapt to less ideal conditions as well.
Then there are a lot of great new cultivars that growers are developing. Many still need to be tested for years to make sure they hold up as well as the original, in terms of size, durability, winter hardiness, etc. Above is an Echinacea called 'Sunrise' and below a beautiful reddish orange 'Sundown'.
If you are a member and/or are on the HSNY mailing list then you should have received the latest programming mailer, the graphic of which was derived from the photograph above. If you are not a member, please visit the HSNY website and sign up as an HSNY member today!

Recent Photography: Reliable Plants

On September 20th, I gave an evening talk free to HSNY members on a number of reliable plants for city gardens. The talk was part of HSNY's educational programming in horticulture. It consisted of 20 plants that we have had good experiences with at our GreenBranches Learning Gardens, not to mention a few others that I have seen do very well in urban gardens throughout New York City. For my talk I mostly used photographs from HSNY gardens. However, I also visited my alma mater, the New York Botanical Garden, so that I could photograph a few specific cultivars to show that within a species you can find many options. Here a few of those plants:Sedum 'Autumn Joy' is a sun loving, drought tolerant 2' perennial with spectacular clusters of star shaped pink flowers late summer. It is often followed by attractive fall color.

Heuchera cultivars come in many different colors, from green to maroon to purple to silver and combinations thereof. This is Heuchera 'Pewter Veil' planted under a small tree in part shade. This mounding 12"-18" perennial I love as an edging plant or mixed with low-growing grasses to provide contrast in the garden.
Yucca filamentosa is a North American native and adds instant 2'+ structure to either a perennial or annual display. Since it is so spiky I usually mix it with hot colors like yellows, reds, and oranges. When I worked for the New England Wild Flower Society there was an all-native planting of Yucca filamentosa, prickly pear cactus (Opuntia humifusa), and black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia sp.) that I absolutely fell in love with. Two final words on Yucca: drought tolerant.
Heuchera 'Amethyst Mist' and variegated Adam's needle, Yucca filamentosa 'Variegata'.
Hakonechloa macra 'All Gold' is a more yellow form of the classic Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola', commonly called Japanese forest grass or sometimes hack grass. A great low, spreading grass that tolerates a little shade and mixes well with many groundcovers and mounded perennials.
Nepeta sp. is called catmint, and the foliage when crushed is quite fragrant. Pinch this mounding perennial back throughout the spring and summer and you end up with a full bushy plant with excellent fine leaf texture that blooms repeatedly all summer long.
Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' puts out new stems and foliage that in full sun are spectacular. An excellent upright woody shrub for foundations or alone in the landscape, smokebush puts up a light plume of flowers mid- to late-summer that resembles a cloud of smoke.
Common crapemyrtles, Lagerstroemia indica, grow their foliage and late-summer flower clusters on top of long trunks that are exceptional for their structural look and bark texture. Crapemyrtle cultivars can be classified by overall size, flower color, trunk color, and fall color. Talk about options! And as global warming makes our winters more and more mild, these attractive trees from down south are slowly showing their viability in New York City. I even know of an estate manager creating his own hybrids that are tolerant of salt spray coming off Long Island Sound. Lagerstroemia indica 'Choctaw', photographed above, is a tall tree to 33', with clear bright pink flowers, light to dark cinnamon brown bark, and bronze-maroon fall color.
Cornus sericea is commonly called redosier dogwood. Planted in full sun this woody shrub can grow to 6'-8'. The new growth comes out a bright fire engine red, an extra color element in the winter landscape especially. I also like in spring when the new leaves are more chartreuse and contrasting the bright red stems. I would take selective branches and cut them back hard every couple of years to keep that red new growth coming back.
Cercis canadensis is another North American native that is a favorite small tree of mine. The bright pink/magenta flowers that bloom right on the dark stems in spring followed by heart-shaped leaves make it a great tree option for small city gardens. I'd plant this tree in a sunny protected courtyard in a second. The culivar 'Forest Pansy' has new growth that is more red and matures green as the tree ages, granted it is in full sun.
Most people know the glossy pachysandra that is all over the city, Pachysandra terminalis, but the above plant, Pachysandra procumbens, is the North American native alternative to the glossy form. Whether it is classified as being simply "aggresive" or more seriously "invasive", I'm not a huge fan of Pachysandra terminalis because it can easily take over other plants in the garden if left unattended. Therefore, I like the larger leaf and more mat-finish of Pachysandra procumbens which still spreads well in part shade and has similar clusters of sweet white flowers in early spring.