Plant Partners : Creative Plant Associations for Perennials

by Pavord, Anna; Kruger, Anna

• ISBN13: 9780789480170
• ISBN10: 0789480174
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-09-17
• Publisher: DK Publishing, Inc.

Summary

Magical planting suggestions from today's most compelling garden writer. Herbaceous perennials are the star performers in the garden. But to create maximum impact they need the right partners, and knowing which plant to put with which is an art that often eludes even the most knowledgeable of gardeners. Here, Anna Pavord helps to solve this tantalizing problem by suggesting 60 plants that she feels deserve a place in every garden -- her star plants -- and to accompany them, two ideal partners. She shows, season by season, how to create irresistible planting associations that juxtapose texture, shape, color, and scent. In these small-scale recipes she uses perennials, annuals, and bulbs that either perform simultaneously or dovetail to provide interest for most of the year. To extend the options, she also gives scores of alternatives for each combination. Stunning photographs and Anna's unique ability to awaken us to the delights and idiosyncrasies of these, her favorite plants, work together to provide a marvelous source of planting ideas. These can be visited time and time again, whether we want merely to fill one small gap, transform an awkward corner, or start a whole new border from scratch.

Author Biography

The Tulip, the result of Anna Pavord's lifelong passion for this particular bulb, won her worldwide acclaim and almost started a second bout of tulip mania. Indeed her enthusiasm for plants, combined with her ability to evoke in words their many quirks and charms, make her one of the most entertaining yet informative of garden writers. Anna has written many highly successful books, including The Border Book and New Kitchen Garden, both published by Dorling Kindersley. In the UK, she writes regularly for the magazine Gardens Illustrated, where she is also associate editor, and contributes a weekly column to The Independent newspaper. She is a frequent radio broadcaster and has also presented her own TV series about gardening. Anna is an avid traveler, gleaning information about plants in many corners of the world. Back home in Dorset, England, she uses her large garden -- around an old rectory -- as a source of inspiration and a place where she can constantly experiment with new associations of flowers and foliage.

Table of Contents

introduction	6	(2)
signs of spring	8	(36)
Early-flowering bulbs, primroses, hellebores, and other plants and planting associations that help cast off the shackles of winter, followed by 10 star plants and their ideal partners
Star plants
Arum italicum `Marmoratum'	24	(2)
Asplenium scolopendrium	26	(2)
Cyclamen coum	28	(2)
Erythronium `Pagoda'	30	(2)
Euphorbia myrsinites	32	(2)
Helleborus orientalis	34	(2)
Hyacinthus orientalis `King Codro'	36	(2)
Leucojum aestivum `Gravetye Giant'	38	(2)
Narcissus `Quail'	40	(2)
Tulipa `Prinses Irene'	42	(2)
spring turns to summer	44	(66)
The garden in late spring and early summer, together with the attributes to look for when building satisfying plant combinations, followed by 20 star plants and their ideal partners
Star plants
Aquilegia vulgaris `Nora Barlow'	70	(2)
Convallaria majalis	72	(2)
Crambe cordifolia	74	(2)
Dicentra `Stuart Boothman'	76	(2)
Dryopteris wallichiana	78	(2)
Euphorbia characias	80	(2)
Gladiolus communis subsp. byzantinus	82	(2)
Iris `Jane Phillips'	84	(2)
Iris sibirica	86	(2)
Nectaroscordum siculum	88	(2)
Osmunda regalis	90	(2)
Paconia lactiflora `Bowl of Beauty'	92	(2)
Papaver orientale `Patty's Plum'	94	(2)
Polystichum setiferum `Pulcherrimum Bevis'	96	(2)
Pulsatilla vulgaris	98	(2)
Smyrnium perfoliatum	100	(2)
Thalictrum aquilegiifolium	102	(2)
Tulipa sprengeri	104	(2)
Viola `Ardross Gem'	106	(2)
Zantedeschia aethiopica `Crowborough'	108	(2)
high summer	110	(68)
Color considerations, the importance of foliage, and ways of using annuals to keep the garden looking good all through the summer, followed by 20 star plants and their ideal partners
Star plants
Allium giganteum	138	(2)
Astrantia major `Shaggy'	140	(2)
Campanula latiloba `Hidcote Amethyst'	142	(2)
Cerinthe major `Purpurascens'	144	(2)
Crocosmia `Lucifer'	146	(2)
Delphinium grandiflorum `Blue Butterfly'	148	(2)
Dianthus `Dad's Favourite'	150	(2)
Digitalis purpurea Excelsior Group	152	(2)
Eryngium giganteum	154	(2)
Eschscholzia californica	156	(2)
Geranium psilostemon	158	(2)
Helenium `Moerheim Beauty'	160	(2)
Hemerocallis citrina	162	(2)
Hosta `Krossa Regal'	164	(2)
Lilium regale	166	(2)
Nepeta `Six Hills Giant'	168	(2)
Nigella damascena `Miss Jekyll	170	(2)
Phlox carolina `Miss Lingard'	172	(2)
Rodgersia aesculifolia	174	(2)
Verbascum chaixii `Gainsborough'	176	(2)
into autumn	178	(57)
Organizing an exuberant finale before frost comes, the splendors of sunflowers and grasses, and some of autumn's unexpected delights, followed by 10 star plants and their ideal partners
Star plants
Aconitum carmichaelii `Arendsii'	194	(2)
Anemone x hybrida `Honorine Jobert'	196	(2)
Canna x ehemanii	198	(2)
Cimicifuga simplex `Brunette'	200	(2)
Cyclamen hederifolium	202	(2)
Dahlia `Grenadier'	204	(2)
Geranium wallichianum `Buxton's Variety'	206	(2)
Nerine bowdenii	208	(2)
Polypodium interjectum `Cornubiense'	210	(2)
Verbena bonariensis	212	(23)
alternative partners
Other suitable companions for each of the star plants	214	(21)
index	235	(5)
acknowledgments	240