Colourful perennials for your garden border

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/03/2024 (563 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When I became a serious gardener, I also became a more demanding gardener. I am always wondering how I can improve the layout of my garden borders to make them look more interesting. Garden borders are more than just spaces that we encounter briefly. The goal should be to linger awhile and be inspired by the beauty of the different textures and colours. It’s not simply a matter of popping in plants here and there. I’m still trying to get it right but if there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that creating impact depends on a succession of bloom, architectural form that stands up to the elements, interesting foliage and overall plant performance.

Recently, I had a conversation with John Leperre who gardens in Winnipeg and works for Bylands Nurseries, which grows plants for garden centres in Canada and the United States. “I used to think that breeders came up with new plant varieties to generate buzz,” he said, “but new or recent introductions are improved plants. They typically have better disease resistance, a more compact habit, and basically, they have been bred to make life easier in the garden.”

Here, Leperre shares some of his favourite flowering perennials to look for this spring at your garden centre. Any of these can be grown in garden beds or containers.

Lungwort puts on a beautiful flower show in late spring and is a useful plant in the shade border because it provides early nectar for pollinators and is deer and rabbit resistant. Pink-a-Blue lungwort is a pulmonaria hybrid from Proven Winners. “It has cool-looking deep green foliage that is more vividly mottled with silver spots than I’ve seen on other lungworts,” said Leperre. “The pink flowers transition to blue so it is a very interesting show.”

Pink-a-Blue also has improved disease resistance, an important factor since lungwort can be prone to powdery mildew, said Leperre.

Pink-a-Blue is hardy to Zone 3. It is suitable for part shade to shade locations. It has a mounded habit with a mature height of 41 cm or 16 inches and a spread of 56 cm or 22 inches.

Leperre is also impressed by the Shadowland Hosta series from Proven Winners, especially Shadowland Coast to Coast which makes an impressive statement at the front of the shade border with its substantial size (29 inches or 76 cm tall and a spread of 34 inches or 91 cm). “The thick leaves are more of a chartreuse than gold and brighter, I find, compared to other lighter coloured hostas,” said Leperre.

Echinacea PowWow White coneflower from PanAmerican Seed is a first-year flowering perennial with an abundance of large white flowers with prominent golden yellow cones supported by stiff, well-branched stems. “PowWow White coneflower is really a standout,” said Leperre. PowWow White blooms earlier than many other coneflower varieties and continues to bloom throughout summer. It is hardy to Zone 3 and has a mature height of 16 to 20 inches or 41 to 51cm. “White is also a problem-solver in the garden when you need to break up or calm a riot of colour,” said Leperre.

Echinacea Summersong Firefinch coneflower from Proven Winners has a short dense habit (12 to 16 inches or 30 to 41 cm tall) which makes it an attractive choice for the front of the border. You may know Summersong Firefinch by another name. It has undergone a recent name change and used to be called Lakota Fire. “Summersong Firefinch gives you a mix of different colours including red flowers, coral flowers and a bit of pinkish-red flowers,” said Leperre.

“I think that shorter coneflower varieties just add to the diverse benefits that Echinacea brings to the garden in general — easy to grow, trouble-free, nectar for pollinators, beautiful flowers, and interesting seedheads. Coneflower can be planted near the back of a flower bed or in the middle or in the front of the border. But taller varieties can get a little floppy near the end of the season or just weighed down by the elements. Shorter plants have sturdier stems and so tend to keep their form better.”

Summersong Firefinch is hardy to Zone 4. It blooms summer through fall and is drought tolerant once established. Coneflowers prefer a full sun location with excellent drainage. Go easy on the compost. Coneflowers thrive in lean soil.

Leading Lady Razzberry Bee Balm is an early-blooming monarda from Proven Winners that has bright raspberry-purple flowers. With a mature height of just 9 to 14 inches (25 to 36 cm), Leading Lady Raspberry brings dynamic colour as well as fragrance to the front of the border. “It’s a very prolific bloomer with improved disease resistance,” said Leperre.

Salvia nemorosa Pink Profusion and Violet Profusion are two short-statured varieties (14 inches or 36 cm tall) from Proven Winners that start their bloom cycle in late spring to early summer. Both are hardy to Zone 3 and are deer and rabbit resistant.

Salvia Pink Profusion is Proven Winners 2024 Perennial of the Year. “Salvia is one of my favourite perennials,” said Leperre. “It is so easy to grow and so rewarding. It puts on a great early show and then you get a second show. I’m a little persnickety with mine. Instead of shearing the spent blooms haphazardly, I go in with scissors and cut each stem very specifically, taking care to only cut back the main flower stem but leave the lateral flower shoots to continue blooming. You don’t want to cut those off.”

Once salvia is well-established in the garden, its water needs are low to average. Maximize salvia’s impact with a mass planting.

Magic Show Purple Illusion Spike Speedwell (you’ll remember that name, won’t you?) is a Veronica hybrid that performs its magic act early to midsummer. Slightly taller than Pink Profusion at 41 to 46 cm (16-18 inches), Magic Show Purple Illusion has rosy purple flower wands. “The flowers are a real stunner, and they are quite dense, and the foliage is a nice deep green,” said Leperre. Magic Show Purple Illusion is long-blooming, salt tolerant, and deer resistant. It makes a lovely cut flower, too.

Phlox is one of the most popular garden plants, said Leperre. Opening Act Pink-a-Dot and Opening Act Ultra Pink are naturally dwarf, earlier blooming phlox varieties. “That’s always the goal — to squeeze out a little more bloom time,” said Leperre. “Again, the disease resistance has improved, and phlox is great for pollinators, which is always a big draw.”

The light requirement for phlox is part sun to sun but you will get more prolific blooming in a full sun location. Leperre suggests a western exposure over an eastern exposure. “At least four to six hours of sun is best.”

It’s exciting to play with different textures and colours in your garden border. These perennials will kick it up a notch.

colleenizacharias@gmail.com

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