The other day I was working opposite the Garden Cafe on our Seasonal Walk, the border that was designed by Dutch Designer Piet Oudolf. This border is characterized by an intermingling of permanent and ephemeral plants that drift through it, and my late season task was to deadhead the dahlias.
We have some stalwarts of the garden in this border, one of my favorites being the popular flower known as Dahlia ‘David Howard’. This dahlia was immortalized years ago in Christopher Lloyd’s borders at Great Dixter in Sussex, England, sporting dark black-purple foliage and bright apricot-orange flowers. The contrast between the foliage and flowers is stunning, while the flowers alone are quite showy with their large, 4-inch-wide, blousy double blooms. In our garden, the height of ‘David Howard’ ranges from 3 – 3.5 feet tall.
Giving ‘David Howard’ a run for his money is the stunning, blushing Dahlia ‘Bashful’. She is a prolific bloomer and grows from 30-36 inches. Her flowers remind me of a raspberry parfait. She has purplish petals that fade to mauve-lilac on the tips, each surrounding a buttery golden center. Delicious! On the morning that I went out to deadhead the dahlias, several bees were asleep on her flowers.
Wasn’t it only a month ago, give or take, that the Seasonal Border was a simple stretch of soil, spotted with tiny sprouts and shy flowers? Looks like that protective mesh did an admirable job of keeping the squirrels away.
Four-season gardening can be as simple as ensuring your garden has something that will provide winter interest, like this wonderful hedge, Euonymus alatus ‘Compactus’ (commonly known as Dwarf Winged Euonymus or Dwarf Burning Bush) in the Seasonal Border.
Sonia Uyterhoeven is Gardener for Public Education. Join her each weekend for home gardening demonstrations on a variety of topics in the Home Gardening Center.
Throughout the long border of the Seasonal Walk different themes are repeated—some based on texture, color, form, and plant choice. In this long border created by renowned Dutch designers Piet Oudolf and Jacqueline van der Kloet, many perennials act as anchors for the design. It is important in any successful design to have repeating dominant themes. They create the architectural structure of the design as well as tie together the composition and give it unity.
For the late summer display, Echinacea is one of the major structural components. Oudolf shows off many of his own fabulous cultivars: Echinacea ‘Virgin’ ‘Vintage Wine’, ‘Fatal Attraction’, and ‘Green Jewel’. Repetition gives a border energy and movement.
For every bold anchor plant in the border there is an equally important filler plant whose feathery or airy texture is a necessary contrast to the overall design. In every good design it is important not to over-stimulate the senses. Rest is as important as movement. Calamint (Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta), downy skullcap (Scutellaria incana), and mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) are a few underused yet garden-worthy perennials that fit this category. All are wonderful at attracting insects into the garden, and the last two are natives in this region of the country.
One of the greatest lessons to learn from the Oudolf-van der Kloet collaboration is the multi-dimensionality in all seasons. There is not a moment when the garden is quiet, and it evolves in a dynamic way from early spring well into winter.
