by Steve Smith CPH "The Whistling Gardener"
Sunnyside Nursery / www.sunnysidenursery.net
Fellow Gardeners, Creating year ‘round interest in our gardens is not rocket science. Actually, it is a total no brainer. All we have to do is visit our favorite garden center once a month and buy something that looks interesting and presto change-o, we will have interest in our gardens 12 months a year. Nothing could be simpler. So, why then do so many of us have boring-ass yards 8-10 months out of the year? The answer should be obvious.
When do we do most of our shopping for plants? April and May are the key months and to a lesser extent March and June. That is when we buy 99% of the plants that end up in our yards. And, what is it that we usually buy? Anything in bloom! That’s right. We are drawn to the plants that are in color during those spring months. If it has flowers chances are that we are going to buy it. If it doesn’t then we will most likely walk right past it, no matter how much signage and point of purchase information the garden center has amassed around it. It is just basic human nature. We are creatures of impulse.
So, if we really want year ‘round interest in our gardens then we have two basic choices. One, we can rise above our impulses and actually spend time reading plant tags and finding out when certain plants bloom and what plants have interesting bark or berries in the winter and what shrubs have good fall color and all that stuff. We can look online and Google any of this from the comfort of our homes if we wish and put together our shopping list before we ever set foot in the garden center. And if we are a left-brained, analytical type gardener then this is a very good method for us.
But if we are like myself and most gardeners, then shopping impulsively suits our styles much better. So our second choice for developing year ‘round interest is to head on down to the garden center once a month and see what they are featuring. Nurseries are very skilled at putting right under our noses whatever is looking fabulous that month. This time of year we will see winter blooming shrubs like Witch Hazel, Viburnum ‘Dawn’, Sarcococca, Cornelian Cherry and Daphne. In the spring it will be Rhododendrons and Azaleas, flowering cherries, crab apples and dogwoods, in the summer Hydrangeas and Spiraeas and a long list of perennials, annuals and bulbs, and in the fall Rose of Sharon and Sourwoods, asters, chrysanthemums and Japanese Anemones.
There is something going on every month of the year in this great northwest climate. In fact, I would venture to say that there is something in bloom 365 days a year in the Puget Sound area. So, all us left brainers need to get our lists and get in the car and all us right brainers need to just get in the car (the hell with a list) and high-tail it down to our favorite garden center and start looking around. If we do this 12 times in 2009 then by this time in 2010 we will start having year ‘round interest in our gardens. It’s really that simple.
Like the guy with the Men’s Wearhouse says: "You are going to love the way you look, I guarantee it". Only in this case you are going to love the way your garden looks. I guarantee it.
You can read Steve’s weekly gardening columns on his website at www.sunnysidenursery.net
6/07 | 
