The White Simplicity Rose I bought for our gardens but the blue aster are a gift from a client I renovated a garden for. She no longer wanted them and as you can see they work well with my roses. This fall I added pink phlox that someone no longer wanted in her beds. Her desire to have only white phlox was a win for my gardens.
Great combo. Like the pink phlox idea for an addition too. Looks there some irises in the bed. I call these gardens Friendship Gardens, made up as they are of plants given by others. Even though they aren't designed at a single time and they are a bit luck-of-the-day, they are beautiful because of the sentiments and memories. I'm curious, though, to hear what you as a professional designer feels about that.
My love of gardening led me to landscape design. When I design I must keep many things in mind but first and foremost it's my clients wishes and needs then the site and last but not least my own vision. When I work on my own gardens that is usually dictated by the plants that I have just found and had to buy or that have been given to me and where they will enjoy living. Not to mention where I can find the space.
The plant that looks like Iris to you is actually a yucca ( you can see the bloom stalks in my profile picture) they too were recycled from my brothers garden as well as some Iris that you cannot see in this photo.
I just love the yucca plant, I have found that not enough people appreciate the yucca. I also love the golden yucca and I've seen some exciting new varieties at the NYBG in the last couple of years that are hardy in our zone. In the rock garden they have been developing an area of winter hardy cacti, yuccas and agave as well as other succulents. I believe one of the common names was the Red Yucca that sends out red flower stalks and has much thinner leaves.
It has been years since I have been to NYBG. The waterwise hardy collections are important for all of us to know about - and I haven't seen many that are cold hardy (possibly because the colder areas have lots of rain). In any case, I'd love to have their collection on the site, just like the UC Berkeley series highlights interesting aspects of their 19,000 species collected all over the world. By any chance, do you have any contact with their outreach or extension arm?
Sorry, cannot help you I personally don't know who that would be I even inquired but came up with nothing so far. I suggest you contact them directly.
As for the impact of the rain in our area on the yucca, etc. The plantings at NYBG are in the rock garden so you can imagine the drainage is great. When I plant my yuccas I also use them in areas that are prone to dryness. But I find they can tolerate a lot more water then they have been given credit for, as you can see in the photo they just grow larger and more beautiful. I have yet to lose a yucca in NY. As a matter of fact they tend to be a bit difficult to get rid off if and when you decide you no longer want them.
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