Edgers

Elisabeth — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:19:00 GMT

People edge their garden beds with all kinds of things--stones, bricks, ornamental edging irons or plain old narrow edging trenches. However, I think the best edgers are plants of the low-growing variety. These tough little plants require a minimum of care and make a nice divider between the beds and the grass or walkways.

Any low-growing specimen can be planted en masse and used for edging. I especially like old-fashioned pinks, which form dense mats of foliage and have a pleasant, clove-like fragrance. 'Cranberry Ice' (above) and 'Fire Star' are only two of many bright-flowered pink varieties. Both grow only about six inches tall. Lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis), with its frothy chartreuse flowers, softens hard edges and looks great in front of taller plants. Miniature campanulas (bellflowers), like the gold-leafed 'Dickson's Gold', add dainty bell-shaped blooms to the garden's edge. Small, hardy geraniums, like 'Tiny Monster', contribute interesting foliage and bold exclamation points of color.

Shade gardeners can't go wrong with the smaller hosta varieties. I especially like 'Blue Mouse Ears', which has the same blue-green foliage as its much larger relative, Hosta sieboldia 'Elegans', but only grows about six inches tall. 'Pandora's Box', with its variegated leaves, lightens dark corners and softens hard edges.

Edging plants are also a good investment. Unlike rocks or bricks, they don't fall out of line. After the initial cost, they are also very cheap to keep and rarely need replacing.

Hardy Geranium

Elisabeth — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:36:00 GMT

When I think about easy-care plants that hold their own in most garden situations, I think about hardy geranium. These are not the big, showy geraniums that you buy for pots on your porch or use to fill your windowboxes. Those beautiful tender plants are actually pelargoniums. Hardy geraniums are usually low-growing perennials with simple flowers that can be white, pink, rose, purple or blue-purple. Some require full sun while others prefer light shade. The flowers are generally single, with five petals apiece. Occasionally they are bi-colored or striped. The leaves are usually deeply dissected and sometimes aromatic.

Over the last ten years, hardy geraniums have come into their own, with new species and varieties arriving on the market every spring. One of the best recent introductions is an English import, 'Rozanne'. Like other geraniums it grows low, rarely reaching more than eighteen inches tall, and has a mounding habit. If it is happy, it will also spread and multiply. I bought mine three years ago, and divided it last summer. The plants have no problem getting through cold winters.

The best things about 'Rozanne' are the flowers. They are on the blue side of the blue-purple spectrum, with white central "eyes". The blooms are large for hardy geraniums--nearly an inch across and borne in great profusion. The plant can do just fine in light shade, but really performs best in the sun. 'Rozanne' needs regular watering while it is getting established, but afterwards can get by with almost no supplemental water.

'Rozanne' is a good edger and can also perform will in pots.

This spring buy your usual big, showy pelargoniums, but try their winsome cousins the hardy geraniums.

Growing Wise : edging plants

Edgers

Hardy Geranium