Ink & Penstemon

I’ve delayed posting this because I’m living in denial that it’s September. September is the month when I have to put up dozens of jars of tomatoes, pears, and peaches, and raspberry jam. I prefer squeezing the last few thrills of summer out of late August afternoons.

Normally, it is a favorite time of mine in the garden with its late summer blooms. This year, it felt a bit empty and that was more than a bit discouraging. After blowing almost all of the gardening budget on hardscaping this spring, there was nothing left for plantings, and as I was busy propagating plants for the vegetable garden, I ignored the possibility for annuals. Confronted with the emptiness of bare soil, I had an epiphany. Even though the back garden was empty, it looked just as good as the front in its way. The front beds have flowers, but the backyard has good structure. I’ve always intended to work over the front yard, but aside from plopping in some experimental perennials here and there, I’ve not changed what the previous owners put in. Being forced to see structure rather than garden pushed me to accept some conclusions I’ve tried to avoid.

In the back garden, I now accept that the Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’ must go and be replaced with something taller. There is just too much root competition for ‘Diane’ and it is just not growing well. The problem is I gave it to my daughter as a “baby tree” in exchange for a treasured play area. Now I have to think up an acceptable reason in child logic for why I’m going to cut it down. I’m sure its felling will be a tearful affair. It will be replaced with a more vigorous native Acer grandidentatum, which I hope will replicate ‘Diane’s red fall-colors. Hamamelis flowers were nice, but I’m now convinced that if you can’t plant at least three of them or an especially fragrant variety like ‘Pallida’, they are not worth it.

The tree change up brought about a do-si-do involving the nearby Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Amethyst’, Abies procera ‘Glauca Prostrata’, and a tiny Amelanchier alnifolia. I was never especially happy where I first sited them, so I switched two of them and moved the Hydrangea to a new spot. This move in turn motivated me to sacrifice eating out for the next month so I could go on a plant buying spree. I bought some Lychnis viscaria ‘Schnee’, to interplant among the Penstemon cyananthus. That purchase led me to discover Campanula poscharskyana ‘Stella’ which I will plant around the dwarf Abies procera and under the incoming Acer. My hope is that the Campanula will mound up around the fir a bit and help integrate it better into the bed, and provide a shot of purple/blue as the Penstemon is waning. And, while I was at it, I also bought several plants of Geum ‘Beech House Apricot’ to keep the Campanula company. They look so happy together. Now I’m going plant mad and making wishlists. I will order bulbs, but now I’ll have to wait until October and shake down the sofa for loose change.

As for the front, I’m now willing to approach it tabula rasa, and am in the process of mentally tearing everything out. Unlike the back, where my vision is much clearer, I think I will need some help with layout and plant selection. But I don’t think I will act on anything for awhile. I feel enough motivation from the back garden. As a stop gap, I’ll order annual seeds and broadcast them indiscriminately into the front beds this fall and see what comes next year. Who knows, it may fail completely, or it may be the best year the garden ever had. Either way, I’m finally willing to experiment.