A list of the best books, articles and websites on perennials.
Keyword: Perennials--Care and maintenance
Garden Tip #199
Staking plants has got to be one of the most tedious garden tasks in the warm summer months. While there are plants you can choose that don’t ever require it, some plants simply cannot be appreciated without it. Here are two good articles on the subject:
- Staking Perennials from University of Iowa
- Staking Perennials from Royal Horticultural Society
Garden Tip #200
Many of the daisy-like flowers such as Rudbeckia, Helenium, Symphyotrichum, and Chrysanthemum will form a mass of flowers that will eventually topple over the edge of the beds. While a cascade of color can be attractive spilling over the edge, it looks very unsightly when you expose the brown bare centers of the plants. It is best to stake these plants as a group or clump.
Tall perennials with large flowers like Lilium, Delphinium, Crocosmia, and Dahlia will benefit from individual stakes.
Perennials : the gardener’s reference
Drawing on over two hundred years of local experience, authors Susan Carter, Carrie Becker and Bob Lilly are best known for the magnificent Borders at the Bellevue Botanical Garden. This encyclopedia organizes that collective plant knowledge from A-Z in a well-structured format. But what makes this especially valuable are the signed introductions to each genus (including guests authors) and the notes and comments throughout — all learned directly in the field. Of course it’s a perfect fit for gardeners of the maritime Northwest, but the on-the-job commentaries make this book useful to gardeners in almost any temperate climate.
Excerpted from the Fall 2007 Arboretum Bulletin.