Columnists
Plant picks
As a landscape designer, I want to share my must-have plants for any outdoor space. These are the ones that I like to put into all of my designs, but also the ones that I have in my own personal spaces. There are thousands of plants, trees and shrubs that you can have in your outdoors, but I want to include ones that give-back; ones that have a positive environmental impact.
I am a sucker for intense colours. Every single garden that I design, install or curate has to have irises in them. There are hundreds of varieties of irises available, grouped into categories of rhizome, bulbous, bearded, and non-bearded. Personally, I love the tallbearded because of the sheer size of the blooms. I love the big blooms—and the hummingbirds do too. In fact, irises attract many nectar-feeding birds and insects including birds, butterflies and moth species.
You will find some form of poppy in every one of my gardens for the same reason I love my irises. Big, red and intense blooms are breathtaking when in full sunlight. There are few things that you should know before planting poppies. First, the blooms have to stay on the plant. I always plant poppies behind plants like lavender—not just because they love the same conditions, but also because the bushy lavender hides the yellow foliage in August. Wild bee populations love poppies. My little poppy meadow is literally abuzz all bloom season long.
My favourite shrub is called ninebark because of its natural tendency to have a peelingpapery outer coating on its branches (like having nine layers). I have ninebark throughout my own gardens and I’m always designing them into every space that I create. Physocarpus opulifolius is a North American native that will do well in almost any situation (except extreme shade). This happy shrub grows between 5-9’ tall, in dry, well-drained soil. I have successfully used this low-maintenance bush as a privacy hedge between neighbours and on the side of a hill to stop soil erosion. I also love the fact that ninebark is amazing for removing CO2 from the air. That lush colourful foliage cleans the air that we breathe.
Serviceberry (Amelanchier) is a fantastic native shrub that gets more attention in Europe than it does here at home. I love these bushes because they are usually the first burst of snow-white blooms in my garden in early May. The downside, Serviceberry blooms are quick to appear and even quicker to vanish, usually only lasting a few days. Once the blooms are over, these shrubs are covered in pleasant leaves that turn either a beautiful yellow colour or a fetching orange in the fall. Even in the winter, these plants are working hard to add excitement to your yard by bringing in blue jays, cardinals and waxwings that love to eat the red berries. Try planting serviceberries in shady spaces. They can handle dry conditions and even growing under large trees.
Even though hydrangea seems to be everyone’s favourite, I am not selecting them to round out my top three. Instead, I am picking a Canadian native with similar white or pink blooms. I am choosing viburnum because not only do they have great flowers, they are fragrant and followed by berries that are spectacular in bright reds, pinks and metallic blues. Better suited to our climate than hydrangeas, viburnums need significantly less watering or care, making them a low-maintenance option for homeowners.
While not the newest varieties, these are the plants that make me happy in the garden. Hopefully this will also help you narrow down your own wish lists for your space.
Comments (0)