Thoughts From The Bellysize=+2>

November 2004

By: Dan Mays  Ironbelly1@aol.com

Autumn is my favorite gardening season. I really have to wonder when I read articles in magazines talking about fall cleanup. Why in the world would you want to remove plant materials when they are in the height of their glory? I would hate to interrupt things when the gardenÂs grand finale is just beginning. What? You say your fall garden isnÂt looking exactly glorious? Perhaps we should examine why many gardens have already spent several months looking shabby  a "June bride" is what it is called.

As gardeners, we all too often make plant choices. Rarely do we make design choices when selecting our horticultural purchases. True to the societal trend, we seek instant gratification and select something that blooms early but senesces in the heat during the dog days of summer. By autumn, nothing remains to be enjoyed and the only thing left is to cleanup. It doesnÂt have to be this way.

I know I am repeating something said in several previous columns. However, the biggest misconception about garden design is that flower blooms are the most important. This is absolutely not true. One definition of a fool is someone who keeps repeating the same actions but also keeps expecting different results. Do you find yourself always a little unsatisfied with the results of your garden? Ask yourself if you are perhaps trying to practice a little foolishness. Quite simply: If it ainÂt working  Try something else.

A good rule of thumb to use when selecting plants to purchase in the spring is the old two for one rule. For every spring blooming flower you buy, purchase two that bloom late in the growing season. Amazing improvements in your garden will magically appear. Not only will you have extended the period of enjoyment but also your garden will look better overall. Let me explain; albeit a little oversimplified.

Plants produce flowers not for humans to enjoy but rather to produce seeds. After the seeds are produced, the plant essentially has no further need to survive. Not only do the blooms fade but also the entire plant collapses. Plants that bloom late in the growing year must continue maintaining healthy, vigorous growth for a number of months until it is finally time to get some seeds produced before freezing weather. Quite simply, this translates into plants that typically have great looking foliage. It is great looking foliage that creates the background and stage for whatever is blooming to look even better.

Think about the foliage of some of our autumn bloomers. DonÂt the leaves of mums (although you may not have paid attention to them) always look fresh and green until they finally disappear behind an autumn flush of blooms? CanÂt the same be said of the foliage of Japanese Anemones, painterÂs pallet, ornamental grasses or many of the other fall bloomers? Many of these late blooming plants can provide some of the all-season fullness that many garden designs are lacking.

Two for one. It is an easy rule to remember and it may be just what your garden design needs. After all: Momma didnÂt raise no fool!