- July 11th, 2008
- Filed under Horticulture
…Perennial Treasures from the Gardens of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Picture this. Ancient Egypt. Cleopatra’s palace gardens.
“Mark Antony, did you tell the slaves to weed the iris bed?”
“No dear. I thought you were doing that with the gardener.”
“Really Mark Antony, you do amaze me. Do you not remember I had the gardener executed last month for using up all of my eye liner? If you didn’t tell the slaves to weed then what happened to my special iris?”
“What do you mean Cleopatra?”
“I mean my Siberian irises are gone.”
“Which ones were they?”
“You know fully well which ones they were. My Iris sibirica ‘Caesar’s Brother’. Your petty jealous heart just couldn’t bear I would be taking them with me when I die.”
“Alright Cleopatra! Alright. It’s true. I ripped them from the ground. Just like I have tried to rip that Caesar from your heart.”
“Nice try Mark Antony. But like my love for Caesar, the iris cannot be killed by a mere human. Both will be with me in the great beyond.”
Ah, Cleopatra. Some say she was perhaps the most beautiful woman to ever live. She may have actually determined how humans look today at some level. But was she as beautiful as Elizabeth Taylor in the famous movie?
Does anyone remember those rumors from about 20 years ago that she was going over to Europe for injections of sheep embryo cells to prevent aging? Just one of those things that has stuck in my head.
Anyway, just as people want to live forever they want their plants to live forever too. People have a real desire to plant perennials because they come back each year – in theory - so you don’t have to replant on an annual basis. In truth you may get 3 years out of a plant or you may get 10 plus. Very dependent on the plant and the gardener. So they down their cholesterol medication then amend their soil with manure and compost. While running on the treadmill they are reading the latest issue of a gardening magazine to learn how to divide their Heucheras. While eating their extra-fiber-all-natural-whole-grain-no-trans-fat granola with skim milk they are debating if a garden is partial shade or partial sun. Heaven forbid if the $4 perennial they bought should die before its 5th birthday (But the $4 cup of coffee/dessert is a no brainer?)
There are a great many perennials that are easy and hardy. Ones for sun, ones for shade and everything in between. And certainly if you follow the principal of “Right plant, right place” you can have much success. At its most basic this means if you buy a plant that likes a well drained sunny spot you do not plant it in damp shade. Simple. And with time it becomes pretty easy to do. Don’t go fretting if you kill a few plants. That’s just education. This concept doesn’t necessarily apply to kittens. However it seems perfectly acceptable with goldfish.
Of course some perennials do seem to live longer and really without a lot of extra care. I’ll mention just a few today that we grow here at the IMA who are at their best this time of year. That way you can come see them if you like. We love visitors, remember you can walk the gardens even when the museum is closed.
Daylilies (Hemereocallis) are one of those tough-as-nails plants. You can treat ‘em like an uglyred-hairedstepchild with ringworm and they keep on survivin’. One of the best is an heirloom cultivar called ‘Hyperion’. Its lemon yellow flowers with a green throat are lightly scented for an added bonus. These thrive in most any soil a
nd full sun. Heck, they will even bloom in light shade. But like most plants, the better the soil the better the performance. These are in the Garden for Everyone, the South Parking Lot Hill, and the Southwest Border Garden. Some were purchased in 1991 – that’s 17 years if you do the math.
Ferns are one of the essentials for the shade garden and one of the hardiest is Athyrium nipponicum ‘Pictum’, the Japanese painted fern. Today several cultivars are readily available but back in 1990 and ‘94 when we first put them in here all you could really find is ‘Pictum’. It varies somewhat in color but the best have lots of silver in the fronds highlighted by burgundy. They tolerate amazingly dry soil once established. They thrive in more moisture retentive soil and spread by runners and spores. Here’s a shot of some extra silvery ones in the gardens. These were selected from a large mass of plants varying degrees of silver.
In the Southwest Border Garden dwells a plant always on my top 5 or 10 list, Pictum – spiny bear’s breeches or as I prefer, Acanthus. This plant gives months of interest to the garden from the time the foliage first emerges, to bloom in early summer, and back to the fabulous foliage that lasts until late fall. It is a true work horse. Don’t let the common name scare you. Usually the only prickly part is the bloom stalk. There is a super finely cut leaf version that has spines on the leaves but you can see this easily. I don’t have a problem with some prickly plants in the garden. They keep people on the path.
Some of these plants are 12 and 15 years old. I always thought Acanthus would only be happy in very well-drained soil. Once I started growing it I discovered it does very well in soil that hold a good deal of moisture. Strange isn’t it? How you can think you know all about something then one day – Bang! – something happens and you realize you never really knew him at all. Oops. Did I say him? I meant plant. You never really knew the plant at all.
Anyhow. That’s about it for this week’s blog. Yessiree, that’s about it.
Maybe it’s time for some dance music. Like ‘Nucleopatra’ by Dead or Alive.
August 4th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Most excellent blog!