"Dynamism in the garden"

I like drama in the garden.
Sunday, 30 August 2015     

Clipped hedges in the parterre in the garden of Villa Farnese, Caprarola, Italy

I have always been in awe of very formal gardens comprised solely of clipped, geometric evergreen hedges and topiary, eschewing all or most flowers. They look wonderful all through the year - they never have a down time when things are scruffy, untidy or bare. Yet I have never tried to make such a garden. Partly this is because I am by nature not a neat person and this sort of garden would not be 'me' at all. But I have realised that another reason is that I find these gardens too static - there is no ongoing drama!

This thought struck me during the week when I saw, peeping through the ground, the tiny, lacy, leaves of a perennial herbaceous Delphinium I had been given as a gift from a friend last year. It was such a thrill! It inspired me to go looking for other emerging snouts and fronds of other herbaceous perennials in my garden. I don't grow a lot of these nowadays (compared to my heady 'cottage garden years' of the 1980s and 1990s) but there are some: tough customers that can put up with Sydney's hot, humid summers and relatively mild winters - conditions disliked by the majority of this group of plants. I was rewarded by finding the plump, pointed shoots of Solomon's seal (Polygonatum x hybridum), the tiny rosettes of perennial Aster (such as Aster cordifolius 'Silver Spray' and Aster novae-angliae 'Violetta') and perennial Phlox, and the sumptuous jagged, burgundy-tinged leaves of Ageratina altissima 'Chocolate' (syn. Eupatorium rugosum 'Chocolate'), one of my favourite dark-leaved foliage plants. Hosta and Echinacea are others that will emerge soon. The fact that these plants disappear underground in winter makes them so welcome when they return, and their fresh, new foliage looks so perfect and spring-like! Then they will flower, further transforming themselves ...

For the same reason, I love to see the baby leaves on deciduous trees and shrubs (and even perennial vines, such as Clematis viticella, pictured at left) at this time of year. Yes, their bareness in winter can seem stark and grim at times, but when their pristine leaves unfurl it gives a sense of excitement that a clipped hedge cannot provide for me. Many of these will also have lovely flowers ...

Spring bulbs are blooming everywhere now, and they represent some of the most changeable of all plants - sending up their foliage, flowering, then dying down and becoming dormant for much of the year. Yet such dynamism is (to me) what gives gardeners the sense of anticipation and hope that enlivens our days. When I spied my yellow Sparaxis bulbs in flower entwined with blooms of a Chinese forget-me-not (pictured above), I felt enraptured, even though these flowers will be gone in a few weeks.

Elsewhere in the garden, vigorous self-sown annual seedlings of Cleome, nasturtium, forget-me-nots, Nigella, heartsease and Orlaya have sprung up in bare spots - always surprising me with where they have decided to grow each year - and they will quickly grow into useful filler plants, blooming whilst the rest of the garden burgeons during spring.

Most of my semitropical plants (such as Salvia, Canna, Dahlia, many Acanthaceae plants etc) are now cut back quite hard - the rest (including Begonia, Pentas and Fuchsia) will be done next week. Though my garden looks extremely bare right now, I love watching the daily changes as these plants grow, flourish and fill in as the warm weather settles in. They will flower all through summer and autumn. All my ornamental grasses are currently just sad tufts, but will soon grow lovely new leaves, which will provide another dimension of vitality in the garden, as they sway and rustle with every passing breeze.

The exhilarating changes throughout the year in the garden as plants wax and wane are the essence of gardening for me. There is always something delightful to look forward to, and I feel tuned into the seasons. This seems to be the reason why I don't want a garden solely of hedges. However, those who know me know that I do have a couple of hedges and topiary spheres in my garden - their value is in providing a stable background to the kaleidoscopic changes that happen throughout the year, much of which is an insubstantial, transient froth - but to me, a source of endless joy!


 Reader Comments

1/4  Margaret - 2122 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Monday, 31 August 2015

Thank you for drawing our attention to the value of herbaceous perennials. I, too, am finding delight in spying some of these treasures emerging. The "chocolate" Eupatorium sounds exciting. The self-sown annuals also provide joy, as does the anticipation of many other plants "waking up" - some of which may have been forgotten, temporarily. There is always a feeling of exhilarating anticipation in the garden, with so many plants to give pleasure. Yes it is wonderful when the plants start to wake up after their winter rest! Such an exciting time of year. Deirdre


2/4  Lynne - 2479 (Zone:11A - Sub-tropical) Monday, 31 August 2015

Being an ex Pom, I was used to the ever changing dynamism of the seasons so it has taken a while to appreciate the subtle dynamism (if there is such a thing) of our Australian seasons. It is there though and gives me joy to observe such things as the changing colours of some Eucalypt leaves in fresh flush, the lovely, downy Spring growth and flowers on Bottle brush; tiny Banksia flowers appearing like little green towers; the first appearance of cymbidiums, and much more. A joy indeed. Yes a very different natural landscape here, but late winter/early spring is the most exciting time for Australian native plants, with so many in bloom. Deirdre


3/4  Leigh - 2107 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Monday, 31 August 2015

I feel the same about my garden Deidre; such "dynamism"makes me feel that my garden and I have a type of partnership - they do their seasonal, spontaneous thing and I do mine [the feeding, mulching, pruning] and hopefully we end up with happy plants and happy me. The formality of an inert, unchanging plantscape makes me feel the plants are too passive, dominated by symmetry and shears [and people]. My sometimes wild, always willful garden truly has a life of its own. Thank you for articulating such an important dimension of this topic. Deirdre


4/4  Ian - 2506 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Tuesday, 01 September 2015

Hi Deirdre, I am trying to get used to the name change of Aster to Symphyotrichum and now that it is being used on commercial pictorial labels I thought I had better imprint it to memory. Happy Spring to you and thanks for the interesting story as always, Regards Ian Thanks, Ian, I must adjust my Plant Reference in accordance with the new name! Deirdre


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