Focus — Unification and You

(continued from page 35)

A recent large addition to the historic house resulted in the original top soil being removed temporarily. “It was all brought back, which was a blessing,” Rakers said. She also installed a yard for the dogs with artificial turf.

Landscape architect Steven Wheeler of Christner Architects in St. Louis did the original site plan. “I started working with Steven in 2020,” Rakers said. She reviewed the drawings and tweaked the plants. “We’re a zone apart from St. Louis, which is Zone 6 and we’re Zone 5. Quincy has such extreme temperatures—extremely cold and extremely hot, so it has its own challenges.”

Spring Ahead

The family entertains frequently so the garden must look good throughout the seasons. “Every year, we start with tulips and daffodils and pansies—thousands of them,” Raker said. “We do some pots in the early spring—and azaleas and pansies on the two patios.” When the spring bulbs have finished, Rakers’ team pulls most of them out.

“We’re totally changing it over then. We move on to things like vinca, begonias, impatiens, petunias and lantana. The driveway beds and high visual places are changed out completely. For fall, we pull all the summer annuals and do mums and pansies, ornamental kale and cabbage.” The show relies on 17 flats of impatiens, 25 flats of periwinkle and 438 five-inch pots of annuals—double impatiens, petunias, lantana, and begonias.

Rakers looks forward to doing some new combinations this summer. “I’m going to use more Scaevola (fan flower) this year and ‘Black and Blue’ salvias. Anything that draws hummingbirds is fun.” Last summer, she planted white snapdragons with softcolored coral impatiens. “That was a stunning combination and with that there’s Walkers Low catmint, a really nice combination. The homeowner really likes the corals, whites and purples—more of the pastel colors.”

Planter Palooza

Most of the potting mix is changed each season. “We use the commercial growers mix from Ball Seed. Potting soil has a shelf life and for it to perform the best it needs nutrients and moisture-holding materials.” The top half of the potting mix in large containers is replaced and Rakers adds a slow-release granular fertilizer before planting. “If a pot doesn’t seem to be doing what we think it should we’ll hit it with a water soluble fertilizer.”

The front of the house features black resin pots with boxwoods. “There’s a couple of topiary and we’ll add white SunPatiens or white petunias,” Rakers explained. “We want to keep that area formal and all of the furniture is black and white.”

It’s All in the Details

Rakers and her team goes to a pumpkin field each fall to pick out specimens—three tons of pumpkins and gourds. They are grouped in little vignettes around doorways, (continued on page 38)