Three Good Mixers For The Landscape

There are innumerable wild flowers which are amenable to fraternization in the cultivated

garden but certain wildings are just born irrepressible mixers! Among these, in the Spring blooming blue to purple toned field, are three charming perennials: Phlox divaricata, Prunella (prunella vulgaris) and Blue-eyed Grass.

Phlox divaricata, a nine to 18 inch plant whose flower varies in color from a cool slate blue to mauve, thrives in the semi-shade and for this reason is highly desirable. A medium to late season bloomer, it is an ever-green in the deep South and provides an excellent ground cover source for this region. In one shady corner of my north garden, I have used the slate blue form as a border plant with wild Louisiana irises as a background.

Prunella, a fairly late spring blooming member of the mint family, is a herb common to most of the United States with the exception of the extreme north. Its flowers, which are borne in whorls on an erect stem, range in color from a pale lavender blue to rose. Growing in clump formation and reaching a height of from one to two feet, its blooms are not attractive as single specimens and make poor arrangement material but planted en masse or scattered here and there among cultivated flowers such as oxalis, it is enchanting indeed!

Once started in the garden, prunella, which is propagated by seed or division, is with you to stay, but if it becomes too prolific, it easily can be destroyed. I wish my zoysia grass was as easy! I have planted my prunella in the semi-shade, among Vince, pink cultivated Oxalis and wild sorrel of varying colors. Though it does well here, had I chosen a sunny spot it would have done just as well for it is easily pleased both as to light and soil.

Blue-eyed Grass is one of the bluest of all flowers. Each tiny single formed bloom is a true vivid blue. A bright yellow eye gleams in the center. A member of the Iris family, this plant, as do its wild cousins, loves moisture. It grows in clumps and its flower topping strong very stiff six to fourteen inch stems do not open simultaneously, thus affording a long becoming season. This perennial which grows prolifically in the broiling sun, will also flower in light shade. It combines well with phlox and wild bleeding heart. However, the rascal has a way of packing up and moving off when you least expect. it to. It reminds one of a cat which will hang around a place for weeks and then suddenly disappear. One year I planted it on the west side of our place beneath a bedroom window and the next spring found it gone. Long after I have given it up, I discovered it growing lustily in the vegetable garden.

All of the above plants are decidedly adaptable to the elements and will grow in nearly every section of our country.

by: Thomas Fryd

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