If you live in a northern climate, a major conundrum for homeowners and designers is a garden that's attractive throughout the year. Gardeners who are star-struck by perennials soon learn that it's not much fun to stare at bare brown ground or mulch from late October until at least mid-April, if not later.
Now, in their latest book The Nonstop Garden: A Step-by-Step Guide to Smart Plant Choices and Four-Season Designs, authors Stephanie Cohen and Jennifer Benner present 10 designs that will last through all four seasons. Cohen admits that she was once a perennial "purist," wondering why her plantings had no "oomph." She says she finally realized that perennials look a lot better with other kinds of plants, and that she's been "mixing perennials, woody plants, herbs, annuals and tropicals in her garden ever since."
The first design in the book, "Winter Wonderland," includes such plants as the paperbark maple, with stunning bark; late-winter bloomers like Witch Hazel and lenten rose; specimen evergreens and more.
Other designs focus on four season plants for wildlife; shade; fragrance; wet areas; native plants; the inferno strip between the sidewalk and street; vivid colors; cool colors; and plants with golden leaves.
Beautiful drawings illustrate each concept, and there's a planting plan and plant list for each as well.
There are special sections on bulbs, edible flowers, ornamental vegetables and herbs, annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs. The authors also include a chapter on permanent garden structures such as paving, arbors, furniture -- and how to use them for maximum effect.
I particularly liked the final chapter on Seasonal Beauty and Interest, with photos of stunning plant combinations that focus on many design basics ie, Work with Your Setting, Not Against It; Create Visual Appeal With Texture; Accessorize Plantings with Spring Blooms; Fill in the Cracks; Have Fun with See-Through Plants; and the like. It's chapters like this one that teach us all how to use plants for more effective designs.
Plants, of course, are not the whole story, but they are a big part of it, and this book will find a favorite place on many a garden bookshelf.
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