"Knowing
Your Soil...
A Dirty Business"
Dirt and soil are NOT the same. Dirt is the stuff we tracked through the kitchen as kids. Soil is the one stop shopping of the plant kingdom. It anchors the roots, stores the nutrients and allows for oxygen and water to be present. It is composed of air, water, minerals, organic matter and living organisms. Soil is also made up of three particle sizes - sand, silt and clay.
Feeding your soil is as important and probably MORE important, than feeding your plants. This is NOT to say that feeding your plants is a bad idea, far from it. Your landscape plants need an extra boost, but conditioning your soil gives long term returns on your gardening dollar and impacts the environment in a positive way.
We at H. K. Urban's use water saving poltmers, natural based fertilizers
and soil conditioner
roto-tilled into the ground on all prepped beds.
Tips for Todays Gardeners
As you recall when we installed your plants, we stressed the importance of watering. During the cold winter months when there is snow on the ground and the only outside activity is running from the house to the car and back again, or the occasional, "Honey, I'm going out to shovel", we forget that spring is right around the corner.
A newly planted garden's worst nightmare - DROUGHT -. Trust me, I know that dragging out the 100 foot garden hose isn't what I call fun, but it is something that we all need to do to help insure that our plants thrive in the season ahead.
Remember, over watering is also harmful, so pull the mulch away from the plant and check the soil before you water your landscape.
Perennials
The
hardest part in designing a perennial garden is choosing
which plants to include. These plants will add background,
movement and lines to your garden. All the plants listed
look good and anchor your garden's entire flowering season.
- Early
Spring Bloomers
- Bergenia (heart leaf, heart-leafed bergenia, Siberian tea)
- Brunnera macrophylla (Siberian bugloss)
- Epimedium (barrenwort, bishop's hat)
- Helleborus (Christmas rose, Lenten rose, hellebore, melampode)
- Hepatica (liverwort)
- Primula (primrose, cowslip)
- Pulmonaria (lungwort, jerusalem cowslip)
- Trillium (wake-robin, birthroot)
- Late
Spring Bloomers
- Anemone (windflower, pheasant's eye)
- Aquilegia (columbine, culverwort)
- Arisaema (jack-in-the-pulpit, Indian turnip, dragon arum)
- Corydalis (fumewort, rock harlequin)
- Dicentra (bleeding heart, Dutchman's breeches, staggerweed)
- Euphorbia (poinsettia)
- Hylomecon japonicum (Japanese wood poppy)
- Iris
- Phlox (flag)
- Early
Summer Bloomers
- Aconitum (monkshood, wolfbane)
- Actaea rubra (baneberry, snakeberry)
- Agastache (hyssop)
- Allium (ornamental onion)
- Aruncus (goatsbeard)
- Astrantia (masterwort)
- Baptisia (false indigo)
- Centaurea (knapweed, bachelor's buttons, star thistle)
- Chrysanthemum (mum)
- Delphinium (larkspur)
- Dianthus (Sweet William, carnation)
- Dictamnus (burning bush)
- Digitalis (foxglove)
- Geranium (cranesbill)
- Gypsophila (baby's breath)
- Hemerocallis (daylily)
- Heuchera (coral bells)
- Heucherella
- Lathyrus (perennial sweet pea)
- Lilium (lily)
- Lobelia (Indian tobacco, gagwort)
- Lysimachia (yellow loosestrife)
- Oenethera (sundrop, evening primrose)
- Paeonia (peony)
- Papaver (poppy)
- Penstemon (beard tongue)
- Phlomis (jerusalem sage)
- Polemonium (jacob's ladder)
- Polygonum (knotweed, smartweed)
- Primula japonica (Japanese primula)
- Thermopsis (false lupin, golden pea)
- Tiarella (foamflower)
- Tradescantia (spiderwort)
- Veronica (speedwell)
- Late
Summer Bloomers
- Achillea (yarrow)
- Anthemis (chamomile)
- Astilbe (false goatsbeard)
- Campanula (bellflower, rampion)
- Cephalaria (giant scabious)
- Cimicifuga (bugbane, black snakeroot)
- Clematis
- Coreopsis (butter daisy, tickseed)
- Echinacea (coneflower)
- Eryngium (sea holly)
- Filipendula (meadowsweet)
- Gaillardia (blanket flower)
- Gaura (butterfly gaura)
- Gentiana (gentian)
- Inula (elecampane)
- Kniphofia (torch lily, red poker)
- Lavandula (lavender)
- Lavatera (tree mallow)
- Macleaya (plume poppy)
- Malva (mallow)
- Meconopsis (blue poppy)
- Monarda (beebalm)
- Nepeta (catnip)
- Phlox
- Physostegia (false dragon head)
- Salvia
- Scabiosa (pincushion flower)
- Sidalcea (prairie mallow)
- Stachys (lamb's ear)
- Verbascum (jacob's staff)
- Yucca (dagger plant)
- Fall
Bloomers
- Anemone (windflower)
- Aster
- Boltonia (false chamomile)
- Chelone (turtlehead)
- Chrysanthemum
- Coreopsis tripteris (butter daisy)
- Eupatorium (joe-pye weed)
- Gentiana (gentian)
- Helenium (sneezeweed)
- Heliopsis (false sunflower)
- Perovskia (Russian sage)
- Rudbeckia (black-eye Susan)
- Sedum spectable (stonecrop)
- Solidago (goldenrod)
- Tricyrtis (toad lily)
- Vernonia (ironweed)
- Veronicastrum (Culver's root)