A terrible thing has happened. My sister has given me a gift certificate for my favorite perennial plant vendor. Of course I am grateful for the gift, which is enough to buy me a few new plants, but not so much that I can go crazy. The problem is that time, that most precious of all resources, is flying away. It is fall, the window of opportunity for perennial planting is short, and the vendor’s website is full of alluring plants.
I have to make some choices.
If I want to play it safe, I can look at the vendor’s array of spring-flowering bulbs. As long as they arrive a few weeks before the ground hardens, I can get them planted. But this particular vendor is not my bulb supplier of choice and I have already made a big order from the preferred supplier. I return to perusing the perennials.
A sensible person would say, “What do I need?” What I really need most is not perennials at all, but a trained garden crew at my beck and call. Unfortunately, that is not available through this vendor either. Even if I could order such a thing, the amount of the gift certificate would probably pay for about fifteen minutes of work. Again, I need to return my thoughts to the realm of the possible.
My back fence needs something and that something should be a tall plant. The area is more shade than sun, with soil that tends to be dry. Deer frequent the premises. I have often thought of filling the spot with Filipendula rubra or “queen of the prairies”, a native plant that grows six to eight feet tall, with delicate foliage and pink summer flower panicles that look a little like astilbes. My problem—the vendor in question only carries Filipendula ‘Flore Plena’, a white-flowered, shorter variety that tops out at three feet tall. I will transplant some vigorous Joe Pye-weed to the site instead. It is incredibly vigorous, will sprout up to the moon if you let it, and the deer seem to avoid it. I am not sure Joe Pye will be as floriferous in the semi-shade, but it’s worth a try. Besides, the price is right and the gift certificate is still unspent.
My thoughts turn to fall-blooming anemones. These are beautiful plants that come in shades of white, pink and red. The tall stems stand out in the fall garden and the single, semi-double or double blooms look a little like poppies. Each flower is enhanced by a cluster of golden stamens at its heart. Post flowering, the seedheads are also interesting. Happy fall anemones also self-seed in an appealing way. My vendor has a lovely variety called ‘Max Vogel’ with slightly recurved or backswept petals that are pink edged in white. They look absolutely scrumptious in the picture.
There is only one problem with ‘Max Vogel’ and the other gorgeous anemones. In defiance of the vendor’s assurances, deer think they are scrumptious as well. If I invest in one, I will also have to invest in deer spray on a regular basis and hope that the deer can content themselves with wolfing down my hostas instead.
My thoughts stray to coneflowers. Thanks to aggressive breeding and marketing efforts there are now an enormous number of varieties on the market, with more arriving each growing season. I am attracted to one called ‘Rainbow Marcella’, which allegedly “blossoms in glowing sunset hues, aging to a soft pink”. The petal tips may be orange/yellow. It sounds lovely, but I have lots of coneflowers already.
I also have lots of hardy geraniums, but I am convinced that it is impossible to have too many. They are a diverse group of plants, and if you search even a little bit, you can find a hardy geranium or cranesbill for just about any garden situation. Deer really do ignore them—at least in my garden—and they combine lovely blooms with interesting leaves. I am taken with one in particular, Geranium himalayense ‘Derrick Cook’. The name sounds like something out of Downton Abbey, but the reality is probably not as romantic. In any event, the flowers look gorgeous—two inches wide, with white petals ornamented with vivid purple veins. I like plants with good foliage and ‘Derrick’ features deeply dissected leaves that flush red in the fall.
A similar plant, Geranium wallichianum ‘Crystal Lake’, has the same bright purple veins against soft blue petals. ‘Derrick Cook’ and ‘Crystal Lake’ would make a nice pair.
So, my mind is made up. I can get both my geraniums and have a little money left over to pay for shipping costs. I figure that by choosing geraniums over anemones, I’ll also save on deer repellent.