Linda White of Edina, Minnesota, wanted her suburban garden to provide blooming color into the fall, so she turned to landscape designer Sharon Riechert for help. Together the two mapped out a plan for a prolonged season of bloom. To keep plants healthy, it's important to provide both adequate drainage and sufficient moisture. Linda had a drainage system installed to improve her garden's growing conditions. Ditches were dug, and corrugated pipe covered with gravel was put in place to drain water away from planting beds. She wanted her garden to reflect her family's gardening history, so she incorporated plants that her mother and grandmother had loved. She hopes to pass the gardening tradition on to her own granddaughter as well. Many of the plants in Linda's garden were grown from seeds and transplants from her mother's and her grandmother's gardens. Linda's garden features the following perennials: - Obedient plant, or false dragonhead (Physostegia virginiana) (figure A), hardy to Zone 4, requires full sun or partial shade. Its purple, pink or white blooms resemble those of snapdragons.
- Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida) is hardy to Zone 4 and grows well in full sun or partial shade. Black-eyed Susans are tough and easy to grow in almost all soils except soggy ones.
- Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium fistulosum) (figure B) appreciates a moist soil and full sun or part shade in hot climates. It's hardy to Zone 3 and is very attractive to butterflies.
- Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) (figure C) requires full sun and plenty of moisture, as its name implies. It's hardy to Zone 3. Contact with milkweed sap may irritate skin.
- Turtlehead (Chelone glabra) (figure D) grows well in damp areas and is often used in bog gardens. It prefers part shade and is hardy to Zone 4.
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