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Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Companion Plants

Companion Plants


      My mono-culture of azaleas looks great for a short time in the spring, but then appears as the definition of ordinary. Gardens need something else to carry them through, season by season. The dense shade of an oak-covered yard dictates a summer palette of subtle foliage, not blazing flowers.

      There were a few remnant hosta in the yard when I came up with the idea of watering the plants to keep them alive through the summer. An original idea of my own and described in painful detail elsewhere. So, the first thing I thought of when moving beyond azaleas were hosta. Initially the ones I bought kept trying to fool me. They changed color throughout the season. They grew larger than they were when I bought them. They flowered. They died. Just to be clear, not all the plants I bought died but there was a range of behaviors that made planning difficult (especially the dying part). Pictures in books, magazines and the net portrayed them at just one point in time (usually with flowers). And no holes. Mine had holes. Slugs? Insects? Falling sticks? Check, check and check. Over time I found some that were fine: 'Sum and Substance', 'Fire and Ice', 'Goodness Gracious' and 'City Lights' formed a backbone. Visiting other gardens gave me more ideas.

      Coming along with some gift azaleas, unbidden, were Lady Ferns. Maybe ferns would like the beds. 'Leather Wood Fern' and 'Autumn Fern' were large and held their presence. 'Christmas Fern' was too coarse as I decided that ferns should be feathery, but since I had a 'Christmas Fern' I kept it. The Lady Fern group, such as 'Lady In Red' and the original 'Lady Fern', couldn't stand Washington summers and so gave up, collapsing in a heap of disorganized stalks every time the season got droughty. They reappeared the next spring, though. 'Hay-scented Fern' looked feathery but was a bully, invading everyone else's space and requiring constant weeding.

      Somewhat less well known, and shorter, were Heucheras. They came in a variety of leaf shapes and colors (as long as you liked green, tan and purple). A few were red(...ish), with some imagination. Some had variegated leaves of silver and purple. The flowers were really insignificant, but they were going into a foliage bed with the hosta and ferns, so that didn't matter.

      Critters rarely took bites out of the heucheras, which made me curious. What did they taste like to be avoided by bugs and rabbits? OK, are the children out of the room? Yes? Then I'll tell you that I tasted them. Fibrous and bitter. Then I tasted the plantain in the lawn that rabbits considered candy. Still fibrous, though not as much, and with a strange aftertaste. Interesting. You can let the children back in the room now. “Children, don't eat the plants in the yard!”

Astilbe flowers L to R: 'Montgomery', 'Fanal', ChinensisBackground: Japanese Forest Grass, Heuchera 'Southern Comfort', Autumn Fern 'Brilliance'

      Gardeners suggested, and offered, a wide variety of other shade plants. Some are still sitting in their pots and getting antsy, frowning at me as I pass. Ones that have joined the party are hellebores (great in early spring), variegated Solomon's Seal (invasive), Bleeding Heart, Brunnera ('Jack Frost' would be a first choice), Poppy, Geranium (good in flower but may be crushing its neighbors), Astilbe (fine stalks of flowers for a short time), Anemone, Begonia (invasive), Japanese Forest Grass (only weakly invasive despite being a grass), Tiarella ('Foam Flower', nice in bloom but nothing special otherwise), Wood Aster (wildly invasive), Pulmonaria, Ligularia (like Pulmonaria, its spotted foliage is loved by some, hated by those who think it looks diseased), Bloodwort (dies back quickly after early spring) and Crosoganum (can't stand up well to competition; I may not have any left that haven't turned to compost).

      Now I've got to find space for the different species still on the outside looking in. Pots are like motel rooms, a terrible way to spend a life. More holes to dig, dirt to mix.

      The beds of herbaceous plants are now looking pretty good. Maybe they need some companion plants. How about azaleas?

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