More on massing: Bigs clumps of stuff get lots of attention, as Wesley Rouse's sweep of elephant ears and bamboo showed. But there's another reason to mass plants: to create a thematic thread that runs through the garden and ties it all together. Here at Sydney Eddison's Newtown, Ct garden, a river of lamb's ear (Stachys byzantina) flows along the edge of one of Sydney's mixed borders, providing an easy care edge, a pathway for the eye, and-best of all-a unifying element that makes the garden, with all its disparate parts, seem like a single entity.
6 comments:
I just hear Sydney Eddison speak at the RINLA winter session and she had gorgeous slides or her garden. I purchased 'Gardens to Go' and your pictures are glorious!
That's... [sorry, Layanee. I had to steal your adjective. I couldn't think of any other] glorious! That makes me want to design such beautiful combination. If only I had a ground to plant my greenies in!
I kept noticing that border in the background of your shots of Sydney's container garden. (I sat next to Layanee at RINLA) I was curious about the lamb's ear because at first I thought it was pea gravel. It is an interesting solution to the dilemma of the front row and I do like how it really carries the eye along the length of the border...
Thanks Layanee-Sydney's pretty special. She has certainly been my mentor in many things gardening, not least my love for gardens in pots.
Chandramouli--Yes a patch of ground would help-then you could see this silvery stream shimmer in the moonlight.
Kris-Well gravel would be lower maintenance still, but the lamb's ears provide that fun, tactile quality. And if you use one of the larger leaved cultivars, or one that doesn't flower as readily, you get a good show for minimal effort.
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