Good time to order seeds for beautiful gardens ahead

Flip through the lush photos in White Flower Farm's famous spring catalog, and you might expect a company representative like Barbara Pierson to push all kinds of new offerings so you will spend more money trying to make your garden measure up.

But Pierson, whose jobs for the Connecticut farm include selecting new plants, is down-to-earth and practical.

And while the nursery manager points to some new varieties and praises combinations the White Flower Farm staff has put together, she also can't help raving about her old favorites.

Pierson, who has been in the plant business most of her life and was in the area recently for a talk sponsored by the Wisconsin Illinois Lily Society, looks for three things in a plant: fragrance, ease and season-long color.

Fragrance

When fragrance is the goal, Pierson starts with roses.

Lichfield Angel is a new David Austin rose that blooms creamy apricot. The rose smells clovy, almost like cinnamon and spice rather than heavy sweet, says our guide.

"I like Victorian roses with lots of petals," said Pierson.

And she said David Austin's roses are generally not disease prone, but roses need to be where they are happy. The sandy, warmer area near a foundation is ideal.

Pierson says traffic slows in July when the huge stand of hardy Casa Blanca lilies booms in her yard.

They are white and, like many Oriental lilies, so fragrant that breeders are trying to tone down the aroma because some folks object to having them in their homes.

Easy

Our own organizations involved with Chicagoland Grows, including the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Morton Arboretum, have been caught up with the "cone craze" and have developed new coneflowers or echinacea, and they are not alone.

Pierson praises the fragrance of After Midnight from the Big Sky Series. She also is partial to blooms in the pink family and loves the magenta-purple flowers on short stems. Her favorite coneflower though is the white Fragrant Angel.

While she's not crazy about the pompon style coneflowers, Coconut Lime is eye catching with white petals, light green poufs and orange cones.

"Coneflowers are so hardy you don't have to do anything. Gardening today has got to be easy."

Ornamental grasses are also easy.

"Plant them once for easy and beautiful foliage and vertical presence and architecture," said Pierson.

She likes the seed heads in the late summer of the pennisetum and miscanthus.

New grasses from White Flower Farm include Miscanthus Zebrinus with yellow bands and pink and white plumes in this water lover. Molina caerulea Windspiel's tall golden flower spikes sway in the breeze.

Although not a fan of day lilies, Pierson does like the pink collection (surprise) and grows it not far from trees where the flowers get about a half day of sun.

The beauty of the combinations sold by White Flower Farm is that the design work is done for you, and it's important for beginners to start with a small space.

Sunny Summer mixes a non-hardy grass called pennisetum purpureum Princess and a new coleus named Lanceleot Velvet Mocha with other plants and flowers. The coleus grows in full or part sun and has long, narrow chocolate to burgundy leaves.

Color

While Pierson would plant Siberian irises in a natural area like around a pond, they have too much foliage and the color is not long enough for "prime garden real estate."

Her favorite flower - and the perennial plant of the year - is geranium Roxanne. The flowers are purple or blue, and they bloom from May to frost in partial shade to sun.

A new variety is called Dragon Heart with a purplish red hue, and the company suggests using it with roses. Another version is called Pink Penny.

"It is gorgeous. It doesn't get big and doesn't overtake. It looks like an annual," said Pierson.

The grasses are beautiful all season, and she also goes for painted ferns.

Brilliance is a fern known for its shades of orange, and it's a favorite of Pierson. Coreopsis Jethro Tull blooms yellow all summer with tubed petals.

Crystal fountain lilac blue clematis blooms in late spring and again in late summer.

Clematis paniculata or sweet autumn clematis is a climber with white, fragrant flowers in late summer.

And of course, for summer color, it's hard to beat that big pot of annuals on the deck.

Pierson also loves growing vegetables on the deck, especially cherry tomatoes like Sungold, a small, sweet golden tomato.

"We think people will stay home, grow their own vegetables in these tough times," said Pierson. "If we provide value to people, they will buy. They will be conservative with how much they spend. The plants have to look good for the whole season and be worthwhile."