In the English Manner : Perennial Borders Have Slowly Come Out of the Pages of English Garden Books and Into Southern California Landscapes
AMONG AVID GARDENERS, they are the topic this spring, these plants called perennials. They are the new kids in town--a bit shy at nurseries, more than a little mysterious but ever so intriguing.
Long a staple of English and some Eastern gardens, perennials came late to California, perhaps because here we have so much latitude in what we can plant--from orchids that grow outdoors to flowers that bloom in the dead of winter. Remember that perennials are, for the most part, from harsher climates than ours and most die to the ground to survive the cold winters of their native lands. Californians are accustomed to year-round greenery and flowers at almost any time, so the traditional perennials have seemed unlikely choices, considering that they occupy space 12 months of the year but may flower for only a few.
But what gardeners have discovered in California is that perennials offer their own possibilities. It is perhaps unfair to attribute any trend to one individual, but the interest in and use of perennials in Southern California can be traced to Chris Rosmini, one of this area’s premier plantswomen. She has been experimenting with perennials for more than two decades, sharing what she learned along the way with other gardeners at seminars and talks.
Rosmini’s latest effort in perennials was the Los Angeles garden of Ruth Borun, which was photographed in full flower last May. Borun is an equally serious gardener--but not ashamed to call in a little help when faced with bringing order to a burgeoning collection of remarkable plants that had grown joyfully but haphazardly over the years.
In many respects it would be difficult to find a less typical California garden. True, there is a swimming pool and a patio or two, but the garden is devoted to plants. It is not obsessed with what California landscapes have become known for--what has been called “outdoor living” (there is no spa, no tennis court, no barbecue area, no bar). Yet it is not a passive garden, meant only to be looked at. Its beauty reflects Borun’s study and hard work.
There are many elements to the Borun garden (including one of the few true rock gardens in Southern California). But the border of perennials is undoubtedly the largest in Southern California and one of the few to really do perennials justice. They are planted in one huge bed that sweeps the length of the yard, and they so fill the bed’s ample boundaries that plants spill out on all sides and threaten to cascade into the pool at the base of the slope. The bed is so broad that there is a path behind it, without which the plants in the center would be completely out of reach. As it is, one must step gingerly through the lush growth to reach the remote interior.
(Although some of the best drama in the Borun garden comes from plants that are not perennials in the strictest sense--plants that can’t be grown in Eastern gardens such as the towering pink watsonias, a South African bulb related to the gladiolus--for the most part, it’s the perennial plants that are putting on the show.)
Do not stare too dreamily at English garden books, however, because perennials in California do not reach the crescendo of English perennial gardens; our seasonal clock is less precise. What do you think perennials made of last month’s weather, when it sizzled one day and drizzled the next? Was it spring yet, or summer, or still winter? As a result, perennials here tend not to bloom all at once as they do in August in England. But in compensation, they tend to bloom over a longer period during the year.
What do perennials have over more-ordinary bedding plants? One advantage is the variety available, beginning with height. While seedsman strive to create ever-more-uniform marigolds and zinnias and try to make them ever more compact, they are also making the plants so much more like Fords and Chevys. From a distance the flowers are simply carpets of color, and to see them up close you must drop down on all fours. And when it comes to holding the attention of an active gardener, there are not that many annuals to play with, and those available have a certain similarity that doesn’t pose much challenge after a point.
Unlike annuals, perennials last at least a few years, needing little care along the way, though eventually one must get in there and tend to them--by digging up and dividing the now-too-large clumps or by pulling them up and replacing them with fresh starts. A garden composed solely of common annuals may be a knockout at first glance (and not to be entirely knocked either, because there is still nothing brighter or more cheerful). But the entire planting must be ripped up and re-done at least twice a year, which is somewhat unsettling and a bit too much like growing corn or other crops. Most perennials, especially the traditional sorts, are not permanent in Southern California, but neither are they as short-lived as annuals.
Perennials are definitely a challenge: Because they are new to California, you first will need to learn how to grow them, which comes mostly with trial and error. The only way to begin is by plunging in as both Borun and Rosmini did some years ago. And a good time to begin is this month; March is an ideal time to plant most perennials.
Don’t be put off by the size of the Borun garden; any section of it could be scaled down to fit in even the tiniest yard. Planting could even be done in pots, which Rosmini has accomplished in her own garden and in others. What is important is that you allow as much room as possible, and especially depth, even if it means digging up part of the lawn. The more depth you allow, the more room you will have for a variety of heights.
Height is a crucial element in a flower bed. It brings excitement and contrast. The first perennials to catch the eye, as they do in the Borun garden, are the tall ones. For that reason, delphiniums are among the first perennials gardeners try, even though in California they act more like annuals, needing to be replanted every March. But they are tall enough to make an instant difference in the garden, and many are blue to boot, a color lacking in annuals.
Many perennials are tall plants. As you stroll through the Borun garden, they can be looked straight in the eye, and many of them tower overhead with all the grandeur of a cathedral. Some of this is a deception: The beds in the Borun garden are raised, so tall plants seem even loftier than they are, and often one is standing downhill from them, making them seem even taller.
With perennials, the variety is so great that there are also flowers at your feet, knees and waist. You can spend a great deal of time looking them over.
They come in every shape as well. Some of the perennials in the Borun garden are vertical accents, and others are at the opposite extreme, spreading horizontally along the ground or spilling over the sides of the raised beds. Some have slender, pencil-thin leaves; others have leaves as broad as the pages of a book.
And perennials are not confined merely to the bright and, some might say, garish colors. A gardener could occupy a lifetime trying to make all the available colors work together, but perennials tend to be forgiving, and if you can live with poor combinations for a season, you can dig them up and move them the next winter; most of them are easy to transplant.
Color is found in the foliage as well. Many perennials are planted for their leaves--the wonderfully felty lamb’s ears with gray foliage, for instance. Next to the pool in the Borun garden, a whole raft of perennials, especially those with gray leaves, are grown, primarily for their foliage.
And, there is the season-of-bloom factor. In California especially, there are perennials that bloom at almost any time of the year. But a perennial garden looks quite wintery from November into March, with only a few exceptions providing some bright spots--and most of those are decidedly non-traditional perennials such as Reinwardtia indica , which flowers bright butter-yellow in the depths of winter but won’t be found in Eastern or English garden books and is nearly impossible to find at nurseries.
Which brings on another challenge.
Nurseries have been caught off guard by the sudden interest in perennials, forcing adventuresome gardeners to search through mail-order catalogues from Eastern nurseries. Ruth Borun even went as far afield as England to get plants, and Chris Rosmini, who regularly leads garden tours to England, has had to ship her clothes back in a box because her suitcase has been so stuffed with plants. This spring, however, the nurseries are catching up with demand, and hundreds of different perennials are being offered. Finding them may still take some effort and driving around, but they are out there somewhere.
Should this March turn out to be the time you take the plunge with perennials, be sure to prepare the soil thoroughly before planting. The Borun border required tremendous effort, but the soil is rich and full of organic matter and has the best of drainage. Not all perennials require good soil, but many of the most interesting do, and perennials work hard for a living, depleting soils. And you don’t soon get a second chance, because, unlike annuals, perennials will be in the ground a long time.
Beyond planting, caring for them is mostly puttering. As Ruth Borun and I talked and walked through her garden, she was always stopping to pull this weed or nip that bud. That is what gardening is all about--and why perennials are so popular with people who love to grow things.
