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Armtesia silver mound.


Japanese bloodgrass.


7 P 16 SPRING 2013


perennials


erennials are increasingly being used in planters. They can be admired all summer long, then popped into the ground to overwinter and either continued as an adornment for your perennial garden or trans-


planted to a new container next spring. These plants will add foliage colour and texture to your pots, plus a surprise factor everyone will admire. Bergenia. The big, shiny, oval leaves are a real standout in


a container. If you set these out early in spring, you will be rewarded by their fabulous spires of pink or white flowers and at a level where your eyes can appreciate their beauty. Pulmonaria. Commonly called lungwort, the tradition-


al variety has lung-shaped, hairy green leaves spotted with white. Even though they have attractive white, blue or pink flowers in springtime they are really grown for their foli- age with will light up a dark corner. There are a number of


pretty potted


hybrids now that offer pale, minty green leaves of varying shapes and sizes, including lance shaped. Astilbe. Another shade lover, astilbe not only has lovely,


ferny leaves, but it sends up heavenly spires of pretty flowers in shades ranging from white through pink to bright red. Lady’s mantle. Always a winner no matter where she goes,


lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis) is happy in both shade and sun. Her scalloped leaves with their serrated margins are silvery green in shade, ranging to bright green in sunlight. Lady’s mantle has the lovely habit of catching drops of dew and holding the droplets well into the day. This water in medieval times was considered the purest water and was used by alchemists in their experiments to turn base metals into gold – hence the name “Alchemilla”. Lady’s mantle produces sprays of chartreuse to yellow flowers, suitable for cutting, that last many weeks.


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