This year I am wrapping my yard in a ribbon of silver. Not tinsel, not a glittery ribbon at all, but one of velvety, soft silver. The material? Stachys byzantina - better known as lamb's ears. I was given a 2" pot of it four years ago, and have been steadily borrowing from the resulting growth ever since. Soon I will have edged all of the main gardens with it.
Yes - you might say it grows vigorously. Nevertheless, it is easy enough to dig up, certainly economical, and, most important of all, a beautiful edging for my flowerbeds. The sameness ties together a pretty eclectic set of plantings. I tend to be a collector of plants rather than one who plants in lovely drifts, and so the lambs ears have been critical in tying things together.
Luckily, since my garden is divided into "rooms" not visible to one another, I have also been able to experiment with many other great edging plants.
So why make a deal about edging plants? Because they add a finishing touch to the garden. Because they create order and help make your plantings look organized, drawing the eye along the sweep of plants and defining the form of the garden. Because they look so nice spilling over the rocks that edge all my beds. Because some of them feel good, or smell terrific if I happen to brush against them - something I won't do too often with the plants in the middle of the garden.
Edging plants create the frame that either makes or breaks the garden picture. Poorly or spottily done, they are mere rickrack on the fabric of your creation.
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20.
May 31, 1998 9:11 PM
I kind of like that picket fence look, Josephine. It reminds me of a crib full of baby lambs. But that's the patch I'll be dividing as soon as I get around to it. If you really want the spikes, I'll ...
-- posted by CarolWallace
19.
May 31, 1998 5:34 PM
Carol, get some garish plastic Easter eggs, set them in the middle and take a photo. Instant entry to the you-know-what-contest! LOL
18.
May 31, 1998 4:09 PM
The baby lambs in the middle will bloom later in the summer. They all tend to do that when they get older. When they get really old, the main roots in the middle can even die. In the wild, they genera ...
-- posted by Jojo
17.
May 31, 1998 3:25 PM
Well, I'm glad you warned me. I was half thinking of getting the alleged non-blooming type myself. I guess I won't.
There's one area of my yard where my husband doesn't want me to cut off the flo ...
-- posted by CarolWallace
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