It is Night and Day at The Garden Guy’s house when it comes to perennials this spring. That is a little tongue and cheek — it's also the perfect recipe for which I had been looking for, and it's all thanks to Garrison Farm and Garden in Cornelia, Georgia. It's amazing that a small town in North Georgia is causing many of my Facebook fans to be green with envy.
We can’t really give all the credit to Garrison Farm and Garden, as they are a Proven Winners Certified Garden Center. As such, they elected to showcase the EZ Scape for pollinators, which are recipes developed by Walter Gardens, the perennial partner of Proven Winners. Since The Garden Guy is a pollinator nut, this caught my eye.
As I was learning more, the EZ Scape recipe program unfolded before my eyes. I have been writing a garden column for almost 30 years and I have never really written much about a website. But the EZ Scape program needs to be shouted from the rooftop, and hence this column too. The site I am referring you to is www.ezscapes.com.
There you will find 34 recipes for using perennials together at your home. The recipes will have multiple seasons of interest, successive blooming, complementing foliage and similar growing conditions. The information provided with each recipe gives you beautiful pictures of each plant, plus keys to successful growing.
Even the gray-haired Garden Guy needs help, and I chose the recipe Night and Day. This year a new perennial, astilbe, is hitting the market. It is called Dark Side of the Moon. It has almost chocolate purple foliage and glorious purple plumes. In 42 years of being a professional horticulturist in the South, I have seen two patches of blooming astilbe.
They have just not been a Southern plant; the word in garden circles is Dark Side of the Moon is changing that. So this weekend I said to myself, "How does The Garden Guy achieve success with this new plant?" I kid you not, the Facebook post from Garrison Farm and Garden introducing me to EZ Scapes was perfect timing, as I discovered the Night and Day recipe there.
The recipe suggests Dark Side of the Moon astilbe, Dolce heuchera and Shadowland hosta. When you visit the website, you’ll see they further suggest Dolce Wildberry heuchera and Shadowland Coast to Coast hosta. At your garden center, you can tweak the recipe you like based on availability or preference.
The Garden Guy planted Dark Side of the Moon astilbe with Dolce Appletini heuchera, which will dazzle next to the purple foliage of the astilbe, along with Shadowland Empress Wu, the Proven Winners Hosta of the Year with blue leaves, and Shadowland Autumn Frost hosta with creamy yellow and green leaves. My inspiration came from the EZ Scape recipe.
As you look at the artist rendering, which will start the thought process going, know that you can steal a plant from one recipe and incorporate it into your plan as needed. The website will make perennial gardening a breeze, but it will also stir up the artistic designer in you. You will feel that inner Monet stirring.
As you look at the recipes, you will see the newest Luminary tall garden phlox, this year’s hot new Meant to Bee agastache and Color Coded coneflowers. But you may find that it will eliminate the hesitancy you possess in trying certain flowers. Every time I post a photo of my Pyromania red hot pokers or kniphofia, I can tell gardeners want to try them but have worries. This website will help you. I promise, you are about to embark on the most gardening fun ever, and that is growing perennials.
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(Norman Winter, horticulturist, garden speaker and author of “Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South” and “Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden.” Follow him on Facebook @NormanWinterTheGardenGuy.)
(NOTE TO EDITORS: Norman Winter receives complimentary plants to review from the companies he covers.)
