Perennials in spring

perennial gardens

THE PERENNIAL GARDENS

Twenty-seven years ago we started planting perennial gardens in the rich valley bottom soil around this old farmhouse. Back then, this was the only kind of gardening we knew. In the last decades we have travelled many horticultural miles but we are still overjoyed and astonished by the spectacular color and the dramatic impact of old fashioned perennials. What can be more showy than well grown peonies or astilbes? Or more exuberant than foxgloves? or hollyhocks seeding out hither and yon ?

Our gardens are designed with pleasure in mind, and also with the intention of displaying and trialing the plants we offer for sale. In order to accomplish this, we have sacrificed the dramatic effects of mass plantings and have satisfied ourselves with modest sized groupings. This may have, to a certain extent, reduced the overall drama of the gardens, but it has increased the educational aspect of the collection.

The gardens at Cady’s Falls are being continually dug up and rejuvenated bed-by-bed. As years go by, old planting schemes become exhausted and key specimens die out or become overgrown. This is the time to tear things out and start anew. We have learned that this kind of attention keeps the gardens vigorous and dynamic.

Our perennial plantings are mulched each fall with a layer of shredded leaves and are occasionally side dressed with organic fertilizer. We spray certain problem plants with horticultural oil and pyrethrum for control of mildew, spider mites, aphids and other soft-bodied insects. To keep our plants looking their best during periods of drought, we soak the gardens overnight with overhead sprinklers.