The everlasting beauty of perennial gardens
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
Whether you are thinking about beginning your first garden or have been gardening with annuals and wish you did not have to replant each summer, consider the beauty and convenience of perennial gardens that provide a wide variety of species and only need weeding and proper irrigation to produce stunning beds year after year.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF WINGWORKS

For the do-it-yourself gardener, local farms and nurseries carry perennial plants that are well-suited to the island's climate.

Sue Slosek at Moors End Farm is a wealth of information on what is hardiest and showy. At Moors End Farm, garden sections are divided into deer resistant plants and plants that need sun or thrive in partial-to-nearly full shade.

Nantucket also has many talented, knowledgeable professional gardeners who will help you choose the look you prefer and will do the hard work for you.

The experts say the first step is to examine your yard's conditions: whether it is a windy, open location, whether deer browse regularly on the property and the amount of sun and shade in different areas throughout the day.

"You can fall in love with a plant at the nursery and plant it in the shade and it's going to die," said Heather Coffin of Coffin Landscaping and Fairview Gardens.

Autumn is an optimum time to plant perennials, since it gives them an opportunity to become established and strong over the winter and then they will blossom spring and summer.

Coffin said that is especially true for roses. While there are some varieties that are mentioned frequently because they have a good track record in the island's wind and soil, every gardener has their favorites to recommend.

They caution that next to nothing is completely deer proof anymore because the animals are losing natural habitat, but they can be "cheated" by using fairly high fencing or spraying when the plants are putting out new growth, and alternating brands of spray so they do not become accustomed to one and munch the plants.

Although tender perennials do not fare well in breezy expanses such as Tom Nevers and Maddequecham, often- times when the plants become well-rooted and are staked for support they will survive the onslaught. In areas like that, grasses, rosa rugosa and rose mallow, all native species, successfully withstand the wind.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF KRISTINA WIXTED GARDENS Eryngium

Coffin said her business has no retail center, but has a nursery for the plants she installs for customers. Coffin also sells plants at the Farmers' and Artisans' Market at Nantucket New School.

Coffin suggests daffodils, native euphorbia with small, yellow flower clusters, iris, purple flowering Baptisia and allium with its attractive, globe-shaped flowers as choices for spring blooming and as plants that are resistant to deer.

Also resistant and flowering in the summer are Russian sage, rose mallow, nepeta (also called cat mint), salvia and biennial, yellow foxglove, which sometimes seeds itself. Verbascum is a very hardy and lovely tall flowering species that comes in pink, pale yellow and peachy pastels and resembles an oldfashioned English cottage plant. If the faded blooms are pruned, it usually flowers twice in the summer. Penstemon with spiky, pink flowers makes a good choice for borders in the back of the bed as well as pink verbena bonariensis and Joe Pye Weed.

Sedum Salvia

Fall-flowering, deer-resistant varieties include salvia, sedum in yellow and pink, perennial blue geraniums, brilliant coreopsis that often seeds itself and caryopteris with silvery foliage and purple flowers.

"When it's planted in a mass it looks like a sea of purple," said Coffin.

Coffin suggested all the deer-resistant plants for full sun gardens, along with pink echinacea, yarrow that comes in several shades, helenium that resembles a small sunflower, gaillardia, which is orangey-yellow, Black-eyed Susans, Shasta daisies, Red Hot Poker, balloon flower in pale pink, deep purple and white phlox and some lilies.

Plants that are fine in partial sun or a good deal of shade include feathery astilbe, Bleeding Heart, vinca with purple flowers, Columbine snake root with white flowers on tall stems and an unusual, lowgrowing plant called pulmonaria with pastel flowers that change color from pink to blue throughout a week's time. Other plants that are fragrant include, Lily of the Valley and Sweet Woodruff and the attractive anemones with many colors and bloom periods.

Carradonna Salvia

"The thing about perennial gardening is that it's always changing and a source of enjoyment and relaxation from year to year," said Coffin. "Part of the joy of gardening is getting to know the plants. It costs more for perennials, but you don't keep replacing them and they grow to be able to be divided and put in other locations."

Kristina Wixted, of Kristina Wixted Gardens, agrees that fall is one of the best times to plant perennials, particularly because people have had the chance to see the many flowers that bloom in spring and summer to decide what they would like in their own beds. She favors sea holly for windy locations, and describes it as a mid-sized perennial with striking blue, thistle-like flowers and as a variety disliked by rabbits and deer.

"You can use the seed heads for winter decoration or leave them for the birds," she added. "Bees are attracted to sea holly, so it helps pollinate other flowers in the garden, it is drought tolerant and loves sun."

Lady Allium Salvia PHOTO COURTESY OF KRISTINA WIXTED GARDENS

Wixted said salvia caradonna blossoms with a deep purple, spiky flower in early summer and is a hardy plant with long-lasting blooms.

"I feel the color of it is absolutely stunning," she said, noting that she likes the look of that plant mixed with foxglove.

Lady's Mantle is another early flowering, hardy perennial that thrives in sun or shade and has unusual chartreuse flowers that create a dramatic contrast with other species.

Monk's Hood flowers in the fall with blue spikes on stems that can reach five feet, can be grown in sun or shade, but needs careful handling because it can cause some people to develop rashes.

Agastache, similar to salvia but taller, comes in a variety of colors from reds, oranges and blues and favors sun. It is drought tolerant, relatively deer proof and attracts hummingbirds with its mid-to-late July flowers.

Peonies, an old-fashioned plant that many brides choose for their bouquets, grow well in town with more weather protection and should be planted in the fall because this species does not do well if its roots are disturbed.

Wixted also favors allium, which is actually garlic, that works well near roses to keep them pest free. Also called "Stars of Persia," this bulb flowers in early summer.

"These are perennials that will give quite a show in the spring if planted in the fall," she said.

Nantucket is a good location for many herbs, as well. Perennial herbs recommended are chives, which are easy to grow, get quite bushy, are pretty while in flower and have culinary uses as do several other species, including thyme. Wixted cautioned that if herbs are left to flower they will lose flavor. Some pinching back is necessary if you intend them for kitchen use. She suggests lemon balm and mint, excellent for teas and marinades; French tarragon, flavorful on poultry and fish; oregano for tomato sauces and marjoram for stuffings. Sage may work if it has full sun and well-drained soil, but it may not come back if it is pruned in the fall.

Lavendars are pretty, smell wonderful and can be dried for potpourris.

"Most of these herbs are fine in poor soil," she said. "For a home gardener who is just learning, herbs are a great way to start."

Roxy Laterra, garden maintenance manager at Wingworks Landscaping, placed her focus on shade gardens, which she said, "Feel so cool."

"There are so many good shade plants. Astilbe with feathery pink, white or dark pink flowers looks absolutely beautiful and don't blow over," said Laterra. "You can interplant them with hostas in all colors of foliage and different shaped leaves and various sizes."

She also recommended campanula and lobelia for shady areas, both of which are available in many colors. For a more subtle look, ferns are delicate and varied, "Forget-Me-Not" has a clump-like foliage and produces sweet, tiny blue flowers in the spring or early summer and primroses come in many colors and are very vigorous.

"I have some that are 125-years-old. I know where they came from," she said.

Phlox is good for shade gardens with some sun, along with cimicifuga, which produces spiky, fuzzy white or purple flowers on tall stems and blooms late in the season. And then, there are the always loved day lilies that come in several colors and do well in partial shade.

"There are so many perennials," said Laterra. "The garden just seems to hold its own. You get into it. You take an interest in other people's gardens and you divide things. It's fun." I