"My Embankment Challenge"
by Lance Weisser
(Kamloops, B. C., Canada)
facing our embankment
Dear Doug,
We bought a house last year in Kamloops, B. C. (Zone 4) up against a mountain--and the yard slopes down, ending in a fairly steep, five-foot high bank which sweeps across the front of our property. I had no choice in the matter--right before my eyes was my particular perennial garden challenge: how to plant vertically.
Kamloops prides itself on frequently being the annual winner of the "Communities in Bloom Award", out of all participating same-sized Canadian cities. This means there are many gardeners in my neighbourhood; and I've been touring their front yard displays. My conclusion: floral fireworks are largely blown off during May and June. By the second week of July--with its temperatures of 36+C--all that's left are rudbekias; yarrow; coreopsis; black-eyed-susans, and golden rod. So I've decided I'll leave Spring and Early Summer to everyone else, and concentrate my efforts on a good Mid-Summer to Late-Autumn display.
For me, the most important colour in a perennial garden is white. With hybridizers coming up with blooms of neon-electric intensity, there's little to soothe the maxed-out eye. White provides that. And white adds class. That's why I'm spending more time searching out white liastras; white scabiosas; aquilegia, delphinium, etc., than the latest shockingly-vivid, candycane dahlia.
Budget-conscious, I waited until post-Canada Day, then hit the garden centres, hunting for their 75% OFF tables. I went to 'kijiji.ca' and found locals wanting to share their perennials for a song, and started many from seed and cuttings. Placing them into the bank vertically took care and alot of deep digging.
The focal point for this sweeping embankment will eventually be the top right corner. For that, I'm throwing the budget in the toilet. I researched, then bought a hydrangea called 'Pinky Winky' with its 12", cone-sized blooms, (starting off white in July and ending up pink in October, it can get to be 7 feet tall and 5 feet wide). That is going at the very top corner (it's about five feet, from street-level to the top of the bank). Below, and in front of that I ordered three trumpet lilies, all growing up to 6-feet tall and set to bloom in late August to early September. In front, and below them are going purply-red, almost black, hollyhocks--the single bloom variety. And finally, to go in front of the hydrangea, lilies, and hollyhocks will be a 4 foot-high, floribunda rose called 'Pretty Lady', featuring huge creamy blooms with the faintest pink blush.
The rest of the garden will be featuring aconitum, chrysanthemum, aster, echinacea, freesia, fall crocus, and other fall-blooming bulbs. There are plenty of other plants to do justice to the rest of the season--but I want a garden whose momentum increases as the season heads towards that final frost. I even go so far as to pinch off buds of lupin and delphinium, delaying their normal blooming times til later in the summer.
My photos are from about ten weeks from first plantings this past May. There's a pine bush and overgrown iris to be extracted, (where my grand upper right corner plans will be carried out next year).
It is about the most exciting thing I've ever tackled. I LOVE the fact that it is such a steep bank. I can position plants as though they were a choir standing on risers.
Thank you for your wonderful advice that arrives weekly in my inbox. I read everything, and learn so much that I never feel daunted as I plant. I've had very few failures thus far as a result. Especially helpful has been your advice on planting roses and lilies.
Lance Weisser, Kamloops, B. C.