‘Continuous Bloom: A Month-By-Month Guide to Nonstop Color in the Perennial Garden’ by Pam Duthie and ‘Plant Guide 2021’ by The Growing Place
I love gardening books that follow the calendar and Pam’s book is one of the best. She gave a program at a Naperville Garden Club meeting and, being a gardener from Northbrook, her suggestions for continuous bloom were ones that we certainly could use in our own gardens. As I perused this book on a cold and windy day in April, I also had the new Plant Guide from The Growing Place, one of our local nurseries with locations in Naperville and Aurora. When I saw a plant in Pam’s book that I would like to add to my home landscape, I looked in the Plant Guide to see if it was listed and, in most cases, it was.
Pam’s book is a photo album of 272 of her favorite perennials, ferns and roses with information including planting instructions, problems that you should be aware of (such as, summer dormancy- it will leave an empty space after it blooms) and her “insider tips” (such as, this is a good background plant) and other plants that would be complementary. With only one plant on each page and a photo of it in a garden setting, it’s easy to imagine how it – or it and its friends – would look in your garden.
I am going to try to rise to the implied challenge to have something blooming in my gardens from March until November. I think I can do it because I was delighted to see some of my favorites in this book. I am off to a good start. I had a beautiful spring! My hellebores (Lenten Rose) are reliable early spring bloomers, multiplying nicely each year and the rabbits leave them alone. I will plant more Anemone Blanda (Grecian Windflower) with other bulbs this fall because they are the sweetest little daisy-like flowers that the rabbits don’t eat. I can’t have too many and they are adorable tucked in between other plants. But there’s room for improvement and I now have a shopping list.
With Pam’s suggestions and a good selection of plants at The Growing Place, I look forward to months of continuous bloom and you can, too.