Bright-yellow ‘ Sailing to Byzantium ’ and hotorange ‘ Sherwood Cheer ’ daylilies satisfy my preference for strong , vivid colors , tall stems , and high bud count .
leaves and interesting textures . Dwarf conifers appealed for their diverse textures and needle colors , Japanese maples for their star-shaped and dissected leaves , and the way they changed colors with the seasons . I still loved flowers , but saw them as fleeting beauties , supported by an array of handsome foliage .
A vignette of foliage color and texture : Fatsia ‘ Camouflage ’, with soft-shield fern , Polystichum setiferum .
Advancing Age Calls for Changes in the Plant Palette At 50 , I was limber enough to bend down to plant , weed , and cut back perennials . But observing my older friends I saw that squatting or kneeling might become more difficult with age . To make gardening easier , I reduced the number of perennials like tickweeds ( Coreopsis tinctoria ) and lady ’ s mantle ( Alchemilla mollis ) that called for deadheading at ground level .
I added shrubs that I could groom while standing . Evergreens like Abelia , Pieris and Choisya offered year-round interest , while forms of panicle hydrangea ( Hydrangea paniculata ), rose of Sharon ( Hibiscus syriacus ), and ninebark ( Physocarpus opulifolius ) provided seasonal flowers . I leaned towards taller perennials , replacing short daylilies with tall ones , and adding Salvia ‘ Black and Blue ’, summer phlox ( Phlox paniculata ), and Culver ’ s root ( Veronicastrum virginicum ).
Less Work Overall At first , I was enamored of fruit trees , planting a Bosc pear , a Brooks plum , a persimmon , and several fig trees . The garden came with two ancient apple trees and a dozen concord grapes . I was unaware of how much work these require : yearly pruning up on a ladder in late winter ; harvesting the fruit in summer ’ s heat ; then , either giving away most of it , or preparing it for the freezer or canning .
Early on it was fun , but then it became labor . The pear and plum trees became diseased , the persimmon never ripened in time . I took them out . I ’ ve kept the best fig , Ficus carica ‘ Desert King ’, and the original apple trees and grape vines , and now hire a landscape service to prune them .
Staking is another job I avoid . If a plant flops and needs stakes and ties , forget about it . I enjoy delphiniums and dahlias in other people ’ s gardens . I ’ m willing to train clematis up a trellis or arbor , but only the ones I adore : ‘ Etoile Violette ’, ‘ Princess Diana ’, ‘ Polish Spirit ’, ‘ Niobe ’, ‘ Rooguchi ’ and ‘ Pearl D ’ Azure ’. These are all summer-bloomers , requiring only one hard pruning in late summer .
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