Landscape

CONFETTI!

By Pat Raven, Ph.D., with Julie Hess

This year, the color scheme for my annual borders and containers will be confetti! In a normal year, I typically use a restricted palette, with a few complementary colors or shades of analogous ones. However, because of supply chain issues, there are just no guarantees of what plants will be available in the spring market, so buy for quality and personal delight – design theory be darned.

If you start planting with a completely mixed color plan, the result will come across as intentional. By contract, if you have a more rigid design scheme, but can’t get the goods to accommodate it, the off-plan colors will appear more obvious, and the lack of cohesion will be apparent. If you need a bit of design glue, limit yourself to bold colors or soft pastels, but not both. Me? I am going to cover the map.

My first trip to a garden center, in March, produced serious sticker shock. Everything is more expensive this year than last. Herbs are up nearly 30 percent with some vendors, and perennials are up almost as much. Woody plants, trees and shrubs are also up, but not quite as much, probably due to the multiyear nature of their production. Even fern baskets – a staple of the summer patio market – have risen by 15 to 20 percent. But with labor shortages, rising fuel prices for heating greenhouses and running delivery vans, and overall inflation for pots, soil mix and labels, this comes as no surprise.

Plan to shop early and often. Find out what days your favorite vendors receive new shipments (usually midweek), and be there that evening or the day after. It does take time to get stock from the truck to the shelves, but some popular items are sold out before they are even put onto the sales benches. If you see plants that you like, buy them on the spot. Don’t wait because resupply is uncertain.

By letting go of the landscaping rules, you can have lots of fun this year! Just go a little bit crazy. Try big and bold plants like sunflowers, cleome and bodacious castor beans (but not if you have grandchildren or outdoor pets, as such plants’ seeds are poisonous).

Make a splash with voluptuous scarlet amaranthus or vivid canna lilies. A wide swatch of colorful zinnias will always bring a smile (and butterflies). Spill out of your containers with chartreuse sweet potatoes and hot pink petchoas (Petunia x Calibrachoa). Replace your Russian sage with sky-blue salvias.

Be brave and plant some okra in the middle of lower-growing bedding plants. Take advantage of the hot new hibiscus varieties. Add a banana tree. If you need any inspiration for wild border combinations, just look up some Victorian garden images, or take a drive through Henry Shaw’s Tower Grove Park – one of the best-preserved Victorian parks in the world.

It’s time to loosen the gardening laces and unleash your inner gardening sass. Go, get dirty and have some fun!