The Garden by the Street

Our Street Bed at the front of the property

ROLLING DRIFTS OF COLOR

The Street Garden way out in front of the property looks complicated but it really isn’t, once you know the underlying strategy. It breaks down into three simple rules: highs in back, lows in front, and keep it warm. If you think the plains before the mountains you have the idea. To populate the garden landscape, we used sweeps for the plains and drifts for the mountains. Overall this garden came together quickly, so we are going to share the design with you.

Erysimum ‘Sugar Rush Orange’ offers a bicolor effect for autumn designs

Sugar Rush Erysimum is a plant we’ve talked about before—we keep it in the design toolbox because it provides great value for our landscaping dollar. We use it in the spring landscape and again in autumn beds. This year we’re offering ‘Sugar Rush Yellow’ and ‘Sugar Rush Orange’, the Orange having a bicolor effect with several different shades present. As you can see, there are plenty of bright blooms.

Now, time is money and this plant demands very little attention once it’s planted so that’s another plus in our book. Sugar Rush Erysimum is tough; it thrives in even the poorest soils. As a dwarf variety it reaches only about a foot high, which is a departure from the norm; sometimes wallflowers get a bit too tall and tip over when they’re in full bloom but there are no worries here.

Although we treat Erysimum as an annual, it is marginally hardy in the Cincinnati area. Plants are good down to zone 6, but we think they benefit from some protection in case we have a bitter winter.

‘Sugar Rush Yellow’ is lush and dense to fill out containers quickly

We like Erysimum for September containers because it settles in quickly and fluffs out fast. This is low color, rising up only just above the lip of the planter. We use it alongside Pansies and in window boxes as well. Flower spikes are sweet smelling in addition to being lush and dense—plants are neat and uniform, and branch out nicely to fill a space.

Erysimum ‘Sugar Rush Orange’ and ‘Sugar Rush Yellow’ are shipping now in the 4.5-inch pot.

Three takes on red in these Kales and Mustard shipping now

Kales and Mustard are shipping in volume right now. We like the form and texture these plants offer, and when the nights start to get cold their colors intensify. In this image we have different takes on burgundy-red in three unique Ornamentals.

‘Peacock Red’ Kale has an overall feathery appearance, with very frilly, open leaves around a bright red center. ‘Scarlet Bor’ is the other frilly Kale that has leaves with extremely tight and curly edges—the plant eventually turns dark burgundy-purple. Mustard ‘Red Giant’ has big, broad savoy-style leaves of deep maroon-red with chartreuse undersides.

As long as they are not smothered in snow these plants will provide winter greens throughout the cold months. Kale ‘Peacock Red’ is available in the 4.5-inch pot. Kale ‘Scarlet Bor’ is shipping in the 4.5, 6, and 8-inch pot sizes. Mustard ‘Red Giant’ comes in the 6-inch and 8-inch pot.