RE: Spring Perennials

Hi Louise,

> I realised when reading everyone's posts about their
> favourites that one of the joys for me last spring was
> seeing the newly emerging foliage of so many plants, e.g..
> the whorls of Aquilegias as they come up.  

I enjoy this too, and it's another opportunity for spring plant
combinations.  Like the bright green new growth of sedum with dark purple
crocus -- they are typically emerging at the same time in my garden.

I have patch of 'Georgia Blue' - a creeping veronica that looks like blue
lobelia in March, with 'Tete a Tete' early daffs popping through it.

I have seen pictures of people using the emerging red shoots of peonies with
different early bulbs to great affect as well.

One of my
> favourites was my bronze fennel.  Does anyone know if it
> would be possible later in the season to cut back the fennel
> and get a second lot of emerging foliage - I'm not overly
> fond of it later in the season, much preferring it earlier
> on.  

It is quite an imposing plant.  I do let mine mature because the birds love
the seeds.

I get good (ha!) reseeding the next year and pull out only the plants I want
to keep or share.

> (I was reading a gardening magazine recently, and they
> suggested doing a similar thing with plants such as
> Achillea, to delay the flowering.  I thought that was quite
> a good idea.)

Louise, I don't know if it's available to you over the pond, but here in the
States the book that is the "rage" is he Well Tended Perennial Garden by
Tracey DiSabato Aust (sp?).  She did EXTENSIVE (understatement) research on
pruning once or twice in a season to control height, breadth, rebloom, etc.
on plants.  Even though the author did her experiments in I think, Colorado,
a state here that is drier and colder than your part of the world, probably,
it is a GREAT read, with lots of pictures and cultural advice.  I would
highly recommend it.

____________________________
> 
> Louise, southern England
> 
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