Continuous Bloom of Perennials

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The fashionable revival of perennials started a few years, so everyone had to have them. At a lecture I recently gave everyone grew them. Sophisticated gardeners all, they were competitive, snobbish and tried to outdo each other. They too had an unshared dirty little secret. It was this: When a bare spot appeared, they immediately filled it up with new plants, usually in the dark of night so nobody would know. There exists this quest for continuous bloom in the perennial garden. It's like the Holy Grail or Jason's pursuit of the Golden Fleece or the surfer's wait for that perfect wave. I have been pursuing perfect continuous flowering in my garden for a quarter century. And each year I am almost there. But then reality happens. Bugs come. Animals chomp. Drought and neglect take a toll. (Vacations are the worst culprit.) Diseases kill. And each perrenial flowers only for about one to three weeks. (See the perennial flowering calendar at the end of this tale.) Some newer clones sputter along with new flower buds all season, but aren't ever as full as that first glorious flush. And so those frustrating bare spots appear. So let's start with a basic design for continuous bloom. First, in early spring the bulbs appear, closely followed by a background of flowering shrubs and trees. May is always easy, many perennials flower. June is even easier and is the most glorious month, especially if some roses are in the background or over a trellis. July is pretty good, and even better if clematis is on another trellis. August is difficult. Everything has messy foliage and few if any flowers, unless you planned very carefully or planted annuals in June. Fall brings a palette of late perennials, big annuals, a second flush of roses followed by the colors of fall foliage. But wait you say. This is a perennial garden. Ah but that is the dirty secret. If you want a really good season long sequence of bloom in your perennial bed, you have to augment it with other plants, especially annuals to fill in those inevitable bare spots. But don't fret. It doesn't mean you are a perennial failure. It's just reality. Why do we bother with a perennial garden? Because each week it's different. Each year is a surprise. With the bulbs come perennial alyssum, iberis and violets. Peonies, iris and columbine follow. All through summer it's a colorful minuet, flowers unfolding, leaping like a corps de ballet across the colorful stage we call our garden. It's exciting. Who can resist? There are many styles of gardens: Carpet Beds are full of stuff. Often complex designs. Sometimes they're French like in Versailles Palace. Sometimes lush and Victorian like in the parks and estates of England (which are the inspiration behind today's fashion in perennial beds). Carpet beds require lots of flowers and lots of replacements. In England, they are often completely re-dug every few years...perennials and all. Disneyland has taken this to a new exuberant, extravagant dimension. They change the beds completely 4 times a year or more if the flowers aren't perfect.

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