Perennial Gardens for Texas

Description

A perennial garden is an ever-changing source of delight. Each season brings new colors and textures in flowers and foliage. As the years go by, perennial plantings mature and interweave into forms more beautiful and surprising than a season's growth of annuals can ever give. Best of all, a perennial garden can grow almost anywhere with plants suited to local soils, temperatures, and rainfall.

This book is a complete guide to perennial gardening in Texas and similar regions of eastern New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas. In Part One, Julie Ryan offers a historical sketch of cottage gardens and perennial borders, with a sampler of some of their modern variations. In Part Two, she defines the major ecological regions of Texas and, with words and color photographs, takes you on a tour of lovely public and private gardens in each region.

You'll find all the "how to" information for creating your own garden in Part Three. Ms. Ryan describes and pictures over 300 flowering perennials, bulbs, foliage plants, and old roses suitable for Texas gardens, with lists of companion annuals, vines, shrubs, and small trees. Accompanying charts provide quick reference to each plant's preferred regions and cultivation requirements. In addition, Ms. Ryan discusses how to design a garden and select plants, prepare the beds, and deal with garden pests. She concludes with substantial lists of resources, including mail-order suppliers of perennials, bulbs, and old roses.

Preface

Acknowledgments

Part One. Gardens

Introduction: In Search of Regional Gardens

1. Cottage Gardens and Perennial Borders: A Historical Sketch

2. A Garden Sampler

A Cottage Garden

More Cottage Gardens

Perennial Borders

Shade Gardens

Gardens of Native Plants

An Old-fashioned Garden

Part Two. Regions

Introduction: Regionally Speaking

3. The Prairies and Cross Timbers

An Artist's Garden

4. The Edwards Plateau

San Antonio Borders

5. The Plains Country

Four Native Gardens in Midland

6. The Trans-Pecos

Glass Mountains Shrub Garden

Desert Garden at Lajitas

A Desert Mountain Garden

7. The Piney Woods

A Woodland Garden in Longview

8. The Gulf Coast

The Upper Gulf Coast

The Lower Gulf Coast

9. The South Texas Plains

Laredo Gardens

10. The Lower Rio Grande Valley

Palms and Pothos

Flowers like Trees

A Rosy Future

Part Three. Plants and Planting

Introduction: Plants That "Do" and How to Grow Them
Pleasures of Gardening

Ecology

Plant Sources and Preservation

11. Design with Perennials

Kinder, Gentler Color

Perennial Myths

Bloom Season

Setting, Style, and Theme

Site Selection

Garden Seasons

Sizes and Shapes

Color Schemes

Planning

12. Plant Selection and Growth Requirements

On Plant Names

Perennials Primer

13. Flowering Perennials

14. Bulbs

How to Prepare a Spring Bulb Bed for Fall Planting

15. Foliage Plants for the Flower Garden

Decorative Foliage for Sunny Sites

Greens for the Shade

Perennial Grasses

16. An Old Rose Sampler

Introduction to Old Roses

Care of Old Roses

Bourbon Roses

China Roses

Hybrid Musk Roses

Hybrid Perpetual Roses

Noisette Roses

Polyantha Roses

Tea Roses

Species Roses and Near-Species Hybrids

New English Roses in the Old Manner

17. Companion Plants for Perennial Gardens

Reseeding Annuals

Vines

Shrubs and Small Trees

18. Techniques: Smart "Dirt-Gardening"

Bed Preparation

"Organic" versus Conventional Horticulture

Digging the Bed and Improving the Soil

Propagation

Care

Part Four. Plant Charts

Introduction: Chart Legend

Summary of Abbreviations and Symbols Used in Charts 1-3

Chart 1. Herbaceous Perennials

Chart 2. Bulbs, Corms, Rhizomes, and Tubers

Chart 3. Foliage Plants and Grasses

Appendix I. Mail-Order Suppliers of Perennials, Bulbs, and Old Roses

Appendix 2. Organizations and Periodicals

Appendix 3. Public Gardens with Perennial Plantings

References to Published Sources

Bibliography

Index