Border Patrol August 5, 2009
of The Seasonal Walk Saga
By Tovah Martin
Cloud Proportion
By sheer volume, the Seasonal Walk has attained cloud proportions. The perennials have all bulked up to equal breadth – billowing to about three feet in height, swelling against the edging, flexing the width of their unified bulging muscles. It’s almost impossible to dissect the contents of the border now – they’ve merged into one critical mass. Although you can still play the hide-and-seek game, for sure – pointing out favorite perennials and bulbs – but really, the Seasonal Walk is now one organic unit, singing together in a single, lusty voice.
If you must have a hero right now, it would be the coneflowers. With all the echinaceas in synch, they toss back and forth a banter from the front to the back of the border and also volley the statement across the aisle. The echinaceas pull you along, but they’re not scene-stealers, per se. Blame it on the force of willpower, but everything seems to hold its own. With blocks of Teucrium hircanicum ‘Paradise Delight’ still waving its wands, Pycnanthemum muticum shimmering silver blossoms, Aster frikartii ‘Monch’ brandishing little blue stars, brick-orange Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’ still going strong, and Actaea simplex ‘Brunette’ sending up its graceful wands, there is no tug-of-war. Even the modest Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta is called to action and balances by forming a spray of bluish-white blooms. Meanwhile, the grasses are beginning to do their thing – Molinia caerulea ‘Dauerstrahl’ is sending up its see-through tassles in true Oudolf-style.
