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Each year I champion the use of texture in the garden. "A landscape should offer something for each of the five senses including touch," I' ll argue as my father looks murderously at the lamb's ear growing rambunctiously in my perennial borders.
Stachys byzantina, a.k.a. lamb's ear, has long been an issue of contention in our family. My mother, along with my father, can't see the point in growing the plant. After all, its leaves are gray, and its unusual flowers are something of an acquired taste. Meanwhile, my husband, who knows what is good for him, loyally defends our furry-leafed friend.
I'll admit, lamb's ear has been something of a high maintenance bully in my garden. It demands an annual dig and divide, or it will suffocate its gentler neighbors. Yet, I find the plush, velvety texture of its large gray leaves irresistible, and I'm not the only one. Several times a season, I find children pausing on my sidewalk to stroke its soft gray leaves. Once, a shy little girl pointed at the lamb's ear and asked, "Can I pet your plant?"
Children aren't the only ones who take a guilty pleasure in petting the perennials. A weeping pussy willow, Salix caprea ‘Pendula', seemed to get the lion's share of attention at this year's home and garden show. Gardeners and mall rats alike paused in front of the plant to stroke its fuzzy catkins. Similarly, the cushion-like needles of Vanderwolf pines, Pinus flexilis ‘Vanderwolf's Pyramid, were patted by shoppers of all ages.
There are plenty of other plants that attract attention like bunnies in a petting zoo. Sagina subulata, commonly known as Scotch or Irish moss, is a velvety groundcover that is perfect between stepping stones. Plant some of it, and you're sure to see people bending down to caress its short yellow (Scotch) or deep green (Irish) foliage. Another ground hugging plant, Partridge feather, Tanacetum densum var. amani, boasts gray leaves that remarkably resemble small feathers. Meanwhile, silver mound sage, Artemesia schmidtiana ‘Silver Mound', features short, downy foliage that suggests the texture of a newly hatched chick. Some larger perennials also possess incredibly soft foliage. Silver sage or Salvia argentea is a bit like lamb's ear on steroids. Its large thick leaves are covered with coarse "hair", and its tall gray flower stalk with yellow blooms is impossible to ignore. Powis Castle Sage, Artemesia x Powis Castle, starts as a small silver plant in the spring, but rapidly becomes a three-foot high feathery shrub in summer. Many grasses encourage touch as well. It is difficult to pass ponytails needle grass, Stipa tenuissima ‘Ponytails', without running your fingers through its fine leaves. Similarly, the seed heads of Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum' or purple fountain grass are like fluffy burgundy foxtails.
However, not all plants with interesting texture encourage touch. Plants that are outright prickly can be very valuable in creating a garden with texture. In Greek, the word Echinops means hedgehog, and one look at the bristly steel blue ball of a flower on the globe thistle, or Echinops ritro, is a memorable language lesson. Another plant with prickly blue flowers is sea holly or Eryngium planum. Its unusual cone-like flowers are a welcome sight in the August garden that often seems to be dominated by daisy-like flowers and grasses. Yuccas, with their thin sword-like leaves, can provide a year round sculptural accent to the garden. While the kings of prickly plants, hardy cacti, immediately give any landscape a western flavor.
Plants with fleshy leaves are also worthy of consideration for the western garden. Not only do these plants provide texture in the landscape, they are also very drought tolerant. Fleshy-leafed plants include sedums, ice plants, and sempervivums. Sedums have a marvelous variety of colors, heights, and shapes. This group includes everything from groundcovers like the popular Sedum spurium ‘ Dragon's blood' to the knee-high Sedum spectabile ‘Autumn Joy.' Ice plants, in contrast, have ground hugging, bumpy, foliage that looks a little like green plastic bubble wrap. The flowers on ice plant also have an industrial character; their perfectly formed petals have an almost metallic sheen. As an added bonus, the foliage on hardy yellow ice plant, Delosperma nubigenum, turns a lovely raspberry color in wintertime. Finally, Sempervivums, commonly known as Hens and Chicks, have thick, rubbery leaves arranged in delightful rosettes.
There's a whole world of garden textures to explore. There are the lacy plants like Artemesia stellerana ‘Silver Brocade,' and the ferny plants like thread-leaf coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata) and bronze fennel (Foeniculum dulce ‘Rubrum'). There are plants with waxy leaves—Bergenia cordifolia and Asarum europaeum. While the leaves of some plants are needlelike--pines and rosemary and even creeping phlox. When I select a new plant for my garden, I try to remember, that a plant's bloom time is often brief, but a plant's texture is constant. In short, in a garden filled with texture, you can always pet the lamb's ear.
Q: Each year I try to grow the herb rosemary, and each year I seem to kill it. Do you have any advice?
A: Rosemary (Rosmarius officinalis) thrives on the coasts of the Mediterranean. This means that it likes sunshine and well-drained soil. However, a rosemary plant should never be allowed to get bone dry. If a plant is allowed to dry out entirely, it may continue to look fine for weeks, but it will die as a result of that time without water. Recently rosemary trained into topiary Christmas trees and wreaths has appeared on the market. These topiaries are very difficult to keep alive over a sustained period of time as they often are made up of many plants with densely packed roots. This root competition makes them extra susceptible to drying out.
Q: How and when should I prune my shrub roses?
A: If your shrub rose is a non-recurrent bloomer, meaning that it only flowers once a season usually around the beginning of June, you should wait to prune until after the rose has bloomed. However, spring is an excellent time to prune your shrub rose if it is a recurrent bloomer. Usually by late February or early March, it is easy to see the swelling buds on your rose, and you can prune off the tips of the canes that have died over the winter. You also should prune out any diseased canes and crossing branches. If some of the canes have gotten to be too vigorous so that they ruin the shape of the shrub, you may also prune those out.
Q: Is it too early to plant perennials?
A: You can plant perennials as soon as the ground is workable in spring. These plants should survive any cold snap, but a hard frost can cause cosmetic damage to lush greenhouse-grown perennials. To help the plant adjust gracefully to life outside, leave the plant outdoors on a porch for a few hours each day, and bring it inside to a cool area like a garage for the night or during cold spells. Let the plant harden off in this fashion for a week, then plant it. After the plant is in the ground, tip a cardboard box over it when frost or snow threatens. Do not use a plastic bag for protection. Of course, remember to keep the plant watered when it's in the pot and when it's in the ground.
Attract beneficial insects to your garden by planting members of the Umbelliferae family such as carrots, celery, dill, fennel and parsley. Let these plants flower to provide nectar and pollen for ladybird beetles and lacewings.
Oriental lilies are large (up to five feet) and usually fragrant flowers that bloom from mid-July until September. You'll find the bulbs in nurseries and garden centers and they can be planted now. Plant in full sun but in an area protected from wind or plant a dwarf variety in a container for the patio. They are easy to grow and as a cut flower will last up to two weeks in a vase.
Do you have only one trowel? Try one of the new sizes for specialized jobs. The transplanting trowel has a 2 1/2 inch curved blade and is perfect for making small holes to plant those flowers and vegetables that come in "six-packs". The crevice trowel is 1 1/4 inch wide with a pointed blade to plant in cracks in flagstone walks and patios or in rock gardens. There is also a potting trowel for slipping in between plants in pots and containers without disturbing the plants all ready there. It has a blade that is only 1 3/4 inch wide and also has a pointed tip.
Plant onion sets and transplants in April. Onions are day length sensitive and will begin to form bulbs once the daylight reaches 12 hours and temperatures reach 70 degrees. If onion tops are small at this time, the bulbs will be proportionately small.
One of the best things you can do for your lawn is core aerate. Removing plugs of soil will relieve soil compaction and control thatch build up. Leave the plugs on the lawn and they will eventually decompose.
The authors have received training through Colorado State University Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener program and is a Master Gardener volunteer for Larimer County.
Fact Sheets are available at the Larimer County Extension Office, 1525 Blue Spruce Drive, Fort Collins, Colorado, telephone (970) 498-6000, or contact us by e-mail at larimer@coop.ext.colostate.edu
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