When you garden, you surround yourself with plants you've presumably selected with care and hold yourself out to the world for inspection. Just as the Tacky Yard Art that some people display reflects their sense of taste (?) and preferences, so do the plants you put on display to the world.
Are you a joyful, carefree person prone to flights of fancy? We'll know you by your purple echinacea planted amidst that rambling drift of Rudbekia goldsturm and big, fat red chrysanthemums. Think you're privately a romantic at heart, a true idealist? Those of us lucky enough to see your foxgloves, roses, peonies, and Epilobium alba can tell it from 10 houses away. And oh, yes, we know you rugged individualists, you take-it-in-the-chin diehards, by your succulents and xeriscape plants. Real survivalists you are, and so are your plants.
"But wait!" you say. "What about me? I've got this sunny backyard, this shady spot in the front, and working with my clay soil means I have to give up having a garden that looks the way that I feel!"
Pshaw, I tell you. Quit talking to your computer and listen up. You can have the garden you want if you know how to select your plants. It's easy!
Pick your Spot.
You mustknow what kind of spot you'll be working with. Plants used to cover a foundation are completely different from plants used to create an island garden in the middle of your yard, and for good reason. The purpose of foundation plants is, well, to cover the foundation. Should you plant perennials or strictly deciduous plants there, come winter it's going to be looking awfully bare. But snuggle a few low-lying evergreens against your house, interplanted with perennials if you like, and even in the dead of January you'll spare the rest of us from having to look at that hideous foundation of yours.
You can choose plants based on their future habitat, or whether the spot you've picked is in full sun or shade. After all, most plants have a specific tolerance-level for light and just won't thrive if they're not given the right conditions. As hardy as hostas can be, for instance, if you plop them in a bright, sunny spot, they'll turn scraggly, limp and brown in no time. But put them in shade and, oh my, how they grow!
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