My mother was a passionate perennial flower gardener. She introduced me early on to the delights of a day in the garden. As I grew to adulthood and aquired a home of my own, a garden was one of the first items on my 'to do list'. At that time, I must say the idea of 'right plant, right place' was beyond my ken. My technique was to dig a hole and pop the plant in. I did consider sun or shade in my placement, but that was basically it. Fortunately for my plants, I've learned a bit more since then.
Last year one of my perennial gardens was torn out because of the invasive, Aegopodium podagraria (bishop's weed). The weed has been eradicated (fingers crossed) and the garden will be re-planted this spring/summer. It is exciting to start a new garden, and I will certainly be using the knowledge gained in the MGV program moving forward, starting with the soil!!
The picture below is of my 'long bed' garden. This bed is a mix of evergreen shrubs (birds nest spruce and boxwood); trees (weeping spruce and dwarf spruce); woody shrubs, Hydrangea macrophylia, roses and forsythia; a couple of Prunus 'Kanzan' cherry trees and many perennial flowers and bulbs. You can see a white Clematis terniflora (Sweet autumn clematis) climbing over the arbor (next to my sweet granddaughter, Cora). This woody vine is considered an invasive in NYS and I will probably be spending way too much time keeping it in check. But I believe it is a small price to pay for such beauty! ~ Happy gardening! Robin
