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| Selecting Plants for your Landscape | |
| When you decide to purchase a plant for your landscape, a number of criteria should be considered. Hopefully, your plant is part of a larger plan for your garden, so you will already be able to answer many of the questions you need to ask before purchasing. This is part of the work that Kalmia Landscape design does for you when we create a landscape plan and plant list. | |
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| Buying Tip: When you visit most nurseries, they will have the current season's plants available. Be wary of buying all your plants for your garden at one time at a single nursery. If you have a good plan - you may order your plants from a diverse nursery that grows their own - or visit some of our local grow their own nurseries such as Niche Gardens in Chapel Hill. Those places are more likely to have spring, summer and fall plants available all season. Nurseries that simply order in their stock from large suppliers tend to only keep on hand the plants that are showy in the immediate season. | |
| Examples | |
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| This is an example of size. Each plant in this bed was chosen because of their relationships to other plants. Low, small textured sprawling plants are nice in the front of the border, while bigger leaved and slightly larger plants do well in the middle. Finally, use larger plants for the background. Pictured here are: Lysimachia nummularia 'Goldilocks', Heuchera and Anenome painina. Texture and color are also factors here. The goldish leaved Lysimachia and Hosta contrast nicely with the silver veined Heuchera and the dark green Anenome. Season is also in effect as the Heuchera is evergreen in our climate, guaranteeing color all winter. The Heuchera blooms in late spring, the Hosta in summer and the Anenome in the fall. These plants ensure interest all year long. | Season: The tulips and irises in this garden were chosen because they welcome the gardening season in early spring. Their bright cheerful color reminds us that summer is coming with all its gardening glory. Color: the deep purple brings out the purple tones in this iris, creating a variation on a color theme that is extremely pleasing in the early days of the season. Texture: the upright leaves of the tulips hide well amidst the more evergreen leaves of the irises, making them a good companion planting. When the tulip leaves have gone dormant, the irises keep the bed feeling full and alive. Not pictured here, but to be considered is the background planting in this bed of tall mid-season poppies and huge late season asters. This perennial bed was a joy from May - Frost because of planning for texture, size, color and season. These gardens received adequate rainfall and had well drained, fertile, loamy soil - a lovely condition for any gardener. *Note: in North Carolina, one may wish to consider spring bulbs such as daffodils or hyacinth which have a better return rate than tulips. Tulips should be treated as an annual in North Carolina. |
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| Season: This Anenome painina blooms in the fall in the shade garden - a time when many shade plant flowers are finished. Paired with Eupatorium rugosum ‘ Chocolate' , a mid-summer to frost bloomer, the flower season is extended in the fall garden. Color: The pink in the Anenome flower works nicely with the purplish leaves of the Anenome. | Alium tuberosum, Garlic Chives, is a great middle of the border plant for the herb garden, or anywhere in your sunny landscape. Utility: Garlic chives are used in cooking, and also provide food for pollinators such as the bee found here. Color: the beautiful starry white flowers come in September, sparkling in the fall garden. |