Some plant are like the popular kids in mellow school , say garden designerAndrew Keysin his new book , Why acquire THAT When you could get This : 255 Extraordinary Alternatives to Everyday Problem Plants . Somehow they seem more glamorous or coolheaded than everyone else , even though they may have issue of their own . In the casing of popular plants , they may be pretty but they sometimes require too much guardianship or chemicals .
Keys ’ point is that , as lovely as these industrial plant are , there are alternatives to plant divas , and he suggest 255 plants that are not only good - looking but also tolerate heat and moth-eaten , wet or ironical sites , attract beneficial worm and offer long - fend beauty in the garden . Keys explicate how he choose these plants , but the heart of the book is the plant lists , which cover Tree , shrub , vines , perennial , grasses and groundcovers . His garden divas let in well - cognise challenge plants such as birch rod , Nipponese maples , wisteria , whiskery irises and a few out - and - out invaders , such as bishop ’s weed .
It ’s deserving noting that this employment is write for a national consultation and , as such includes many plants simply outside of our frigid - climate zona . Many of his choice , however , are challenging and very possible in USDA Zone 3 or 4 garden . Consider , for example , birch , which struggles mightily in gardens in the South and is harry by birch bore bit even in more hospitable sites . Keys recommends alternatives such as London plane ( Platunus x acerifolia ) , a large USDA Zone 4 hardy tree with splotchy bark ; seven son heyday ( Hetacodium miconioides ) , another zone 4 tree diagram with lily-white bark , spring flowers and yield ; and New Mexico privet ( Forestiera pubescensvar.neomexicana).I’ve never heard of New Mexico privet , but have heard horticulturists lament that more northern gardeners do not plant seven Logos flower . Rather than lavender , which often struggles in Minnesota , Keys recommend tolerate such as Hyssopus officinalis or ‘ Walker ’s Low ’ catmint .
What Keys does with this book is encourage to gardener to retrieve about what they really want . What feature that a plant offer are you after ? A bloom color ? grain from barque ? tallness ? Spring blossom ? fancy out what your garden need and desire are in terms of characteristics — rather than a blind , “ yes , yes , I want that one ” — would be a step toward more hard-nosed and more hearty gardening . To help us spring up that variety of cerebration , this is a good book for abode or public libraries .
Which industrial plant are you quick to interchange ? And do you know with what yet ?
