For more articles by Larry Gnome, Please see the Perennial Article Index.
PILLOW PREAMBLE
Mounding perennials are different than spreading perennials. Mounders have a limit to how far they will go, and form tussucks or ottomans, depending on your perspective. Spreading perennials just keep going, so we will not discuss those here. What we are looking at are those well-behaved miniatures. You could use them as a specimen among taller plantings. You could use them singly in a pot. You could choose to not use them at all and simply read this article as a way to become familiar with more new, interesting plants.
It trust I have made myself clear on this subject, and that there will be no more aspersions cast. This article will ramble in and out of my favourite garden memories involving some of the best pillows I have had the honour of setting upon.
THYME
Oh Lawrence, how boring you might say. We are getting to know each other at this stage in the game though, so you should know that I am quite a utilitarian fellow. A tiny bit of thyme just on scrambled eggs or mixed in cream cheese instantly makes life more interesting. I grow thyme in lots of sun and the only thing that I can find that will kill thyme is wet roots. A fast draining soil is your best insurance. The worst place to put thyme is at the bottom of a hill or wall where all the rain water stands. Thyme makes a perfect pillow if you clip it back. You can prune them or give them a haircut almost any time, but be sure to shear back thyme after their blooming period. This is the most effective pruning period for Thymes. My favourite thyme variety is plain English thyme because it's slightly grey pallor and healthy texture are enough in my eyes. Sometimes the gold and silvery ones are too garish - depends on the garden of course.
I always like to remain the most colourful part of my garden. In a way a garden is a backdrop, and if all else fails the plant in question must match my pants at the very least.
PURPLE SAXIFRAGE
IMAGINE! Crowded with persistent overlapping grey-green scale-like leaves. Pink to purple (rarely, white) bowl-shaped flowers are proportionately large (1-1.5 cm), on very short stalks. The root system is extensive, with a main tap root about 50 cm long, and many side branches. This is one of the earliest flowering plants in its arctic or alpine habitats of northern Canada. It begins to flower very soon after the snow melts, and often is seen blooming right beside a snowbank. However, the timing of flowering is dependent on time of snow melt (the temperature increase following snowmelt triggers flowering) and the species can be found blooming in cool shady spots as late as the end of July. There are many other beautiful saxifrages. This one is my favourites, but you may look at more HERE, HERE, or HERE.
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