Grow more than you think you can

I’ve loaded my new Birch Garden with so many cool wildflowers, and they are abuzz with pollinators. Growing in the High Dessert is always challenging, but nearly all things planted here in May have taken off and are shining as fall approaches. If I can grow these winners at 6,000 feet, you can grow them too.

My design is a Remix of Mother Nature

I trialed new perennials and grasses to see how they thrive. So far, so good.
I created a plant community rather than an arrangement of individual plants. I wove grasses with various wildflowers to create a matrix that mimics a meadow.
I planted most perennials and grasses a foot apart, so they will ultimately shade out weeds.
Plants are blooming and thriving as fall approaches but still small enough to see the planting patterns, so I think the garden will fascinate guests at my Dahlia Bouquet tours in September.

Perennial wild flowers thriving in Birch Garden

Save money with wildflowers from seeds

Nearly all seeds were started in January by sowing into trays that either went into my cooler or freezer to mimic cold stratification, which greatly increases germination. Still, the germination rates are nothing like you see with common annuals like zinnias. In some cases as few as 5% emerged. They were all slow growing under close lights, so they were fairly small when planted in May.

These wildflowers and favorites also survived the hungry rabbit days of spring:

Purple Twizzle Penstemon
Mystica Penstemon
Veronia Fasciculate - Iron Weed
Geum Trifoleum - Prairie Smoke
Echinacea Pallida - Pale Purple Coneflower
Parthenium Integrifolium - Wild Quinine
Allium Cernuum - Nodding Wild Onion
Kniphofia - Red Hot Poker
Phlomis - Jerusalem Sage
Echinops - Globe Thistle
Hellenium - Sneezeweed
Asclepius Tuberosa - Butterfly Weed

Best perennials found at nurseries

Some perennials I planted aren’t native or wildflowers, but they drought tolerant, excellent pollinators and wild looking. I found the following in flats of 18 or 32 plants:

Geum, Mrs Bradshaw - Avens
Aster, Lady in Black
Heliopsos - Bleeding Heart
Persicaria Speciosa, Firetail - Mountain Fleece
Helenium, Mariachi Salsa
Allium, Summer Beauty
Monarda, Raspberry Wine - Bee Balm
Agastache, Blue Boa - Hyssop
Baptisia Leucantha, White Wild Indigo

Stones dug up during planting form a dry creek.

Dutch Designer Piet Oudolf’s advice

I focused on the textures and shapes of meadow plants. Echoing the approach of Oudolf, I included tough, drought tolerant plants with four season of interest for year-round enjoyment and wildlife habitat. Not giving much thought to color when picking, the garden’s color scheme magically became vibrant and harmonious.

The show stopper perennial in Birch Garden is the Agastache, Blue Boa (Hyssop). I scored a tray of 18 at Rail City Garden Center in May, and the blue fronds grew to 24” tall in a couple of months. They look great even weeks later. I find the best values at the nursery are small perennials in spring. (Nurseries rarely carry small perennials in summer because they quickly outgrow their pots.)

I bought a whopping 64 Baptisia Leucantha (White False Indigo) as small plants to save money. Ideally, buy Baptisia as a gallon, because a small plant takes three years to reach size. I have plenty of Baptisia Australis with striking blue spikes to enjoy, so I will be patient. After their pea like flowers peak in early spring, they provide eucalyptus looking foliage in summer, and both are useful in floral design. Baptisia fixes nitrogen in the soil, and scattered throughout the Birch Garden they will amplify over time the nitrogen, which is woefully lacking. Because of Baptisia’s ultimate tall stature (around 5 feet) and bright white spikes, they will visually connect the garden in spite of the wide range of plants and meadow impression.

Tough Babes - Lilac and Spice Bush

Hands down the toughest and prettiest shrub I grow at Drift Farm is Lilac, which I have in a dozen varieties so I get a longer season of bloom and many shades of white, lavender, purple and rose. Spice Bush (Lindera Benzoin) is petite and has fluffy, lime-yellow blooms in spring and works well as an understory to River Birch trees. It marries beautifully with Lilac. Spice Bush and Lilac are both drought and deer tolerant. For shrubs, I tend to start small with gallon plants or bare root for ease of acclimation and value.

Lilac in white to match snow on Mount Rose

Good luck getting good grass

Beware that big box stores and local nurseries will sell grasses that behave like annuals because they aren’t in the right zone. Starting grasses from seeds is daunting requiring lots of seeds and lots of time. So I ordered quarts and gallon grasses from a wholesaler based on what I studied, but I will report back after winter if these all survive:

Pennisetum Hameln - Fountain Grass - has been the slowest to take purchase, but I couldn’t resist this species for it’s bunny tail like seed head I want in my floral design.
Panicum Virgatum Shenandoah - Switch Grass - is already stunning with airy red seed heads that will be amazing in fall bouquets. I cannot wait for fall when the leaf blades turn red.
Miscanthus Gracillimus - Maiden Grass - is still whimpy but destined to be 5-8 feet tall and will provide movement at the back of the garden after the Birch trees lose their leaves and winter settles in.

Frothy Shanendoah grass blends with Purple Twizzle Penstemon and a hummingbird moth

River Birch rule the garden

I love that Reno is called the City of Trembling Leaves, so I selected River Birch with its small dancing leaves, which drop to make good mulch and pollinator habitat in my High Desert site. I was able to find Dura Heat, a variety with good heat and drought tolerance, at Rail City Garden Center. I bought five clusters in 20-gallon pots. Yes it was expensive, and yes it was worth it. Nurseryman Pawl Hollis at Rail City says, “Well, you either have time or you have money.” I am 62, so I decided I had money. Although Dura Heat are drought tolerant, I will continue to lavish them with water for the first year. Once established, the shade created in Birch Garden will save on water usage.

Dura Heat River Birch showing off its sumptuous bark

Soil has been the long investment

In the 17 years I’ve lived off the Mount Rose Highway and prior to these plantings, I have layered cardboard with dying brush in piles to increase organic material lacking in the soil, which was mostly decomposed granite. In the beginning I was covering cheat grass. Over time the layers broke down to improve soil structure. Of course, the weeds were thrilled with the soil in Birch Garden once I turned up the weed seeds in the dense planting matrix. I weeded religiously until I could cover with a layer of compost.

Right plant, right place, right plan

Never give up has been my mantra as I’ve improved my 2.5-acre parcel with wildlife and pollinator plants. Yes, I’ve had things die. I’ve had my share of do-overs. Thankfully, I can feel great about planting a new garden in spring and seeing it thrive in fall. It’s been all about right plant, right place and lots of research and planning. If I can do it at 6,000 feet, you can too.