Fall is in the air and with the crunchy leaves and pumpkin flavored everything comes clearance sales at nurseries and garden centers!  I’ve spent the past few weekends rotating through my local garden centers scoping out the sales and trying to find items on my must have plant list.  I got lucky last weekend at Vineyard Garden Center when I came across some lovely maiden grass on sale 50% off.  Maiden grass is one of my favorites because it can grow up to 3-5′ tall and wide, providing substance and size in a hurry.

Another benefit of ornamental grass is fall and winter interest.  As they go to seed in the fall, most grasses produce lovely seed heads that add texture and visual interest to a fall garden.  Their blades change from greenish hues to varying shades of crackling brown, yet remain upright in spite of all that lovely nitrogen returning to the roots for winter storage.  As other deciduous trees and shrubs abandon their leaves completely by late fall grasses will maintain their structure.  The wispy browns pair nicely with evergreens to transition nicely into winter months.  Ornamental grasses can become less of a visual factor once heavy snow hits, as it will here in Utah at some point.  The blades bent down by snowfall won’t perk back up as the snow melts, they will simply lay there crushed and horizontal to the ground.  In early spring the grasses should be trimmed back, about 6 inches or so from the soil.  As soon as warmer weather starts to arrive, fresh new blades will emerge.

With the inspiration from my newly purchased maiden grasses I drew up a quick island planting bed design.  In addition to maiden grass this design features some of my other grassy favorites: blue oat grass and dwarf fountain grass.  I focused on perennial and shrub pairings that show specifically some fall interest , and grounded the entire design with evergreen mugo pine and decorative landscaping rock.  As you can see I received a little help during the final phase of the design process.  A certain little girl woke up from her nap and was dying to assist me.  At four months she already has an adoration for all things growing. especially anything yellow and growing.  My explanation of the design literally had her drooling as pointed out the placement of my salvias and heucheras.  A girl after my own heart.

Photos:
monrovia.com
heuchera.com

Let’s start with the shade pots on the porch. North facing doorways are the perfect canvas for continuous summer blooms. Without overwhelming southern or western sun, plants never experience that parched,dry look.

For southern facing pots, especially those on patios or decks {where they tend to get even hotter}, proper plant selection is crucial for blossoms that persist through August.

When using containers as centerpieces on tables make sure to check the tags and keep the mature height of the plants in mind. Avoid aggressive trailing plants like potato vine.

I was just about to direct his attention to a magnificent arbor, covered in deep purple wisteria when he said to me, “You know Lacey, I really like dandelions.”  Now, to a landscape designer this confession is blasphemy. A gazed at him in shock, and asked how on earth this could be true. After all, this was the horrible little weed that plagued beautiful green lawns and beds filled with more worthy blossoms.  He answered, telling me that they were flowers, pretty yellow flowers.  Marcus explained that he had just never considered them a weed.  I tried to shake these comments off, and convince myself that I could still be a landscape designer, even if my husband was a weed lover. Just as long as no one else found out.

But I couldn’t forget what he said, and as I walked past the dandelions I noticed the vibrant blossoms and deep green foliage.  But it wasn’t until a train ride in the German countryside between Augsburg and Fussen that I too realized the beauty of dandelions.  Rolling hills of yellow as far as the eye could see flew past us as we sped along the tracks.  The color was so massed individual flowers weren’t distinguishable, and initially I didn’t think they were dandelions at all.  When the train stopped in Fussen, I left the tiny station and wandered over to an old lodge pole fence to find the source of the gorgeous yellow color.  Dandelions. I had to smile as I remembered the conversation that Marcus and I had a few days before leaving for Europe. I guess dandelions are flowers, and not just weeds, after all.