What's Blooming? Bright White

When used in a garden, white can enhance the colors of nearby plants. Just as black can highlight neighboring colors in a painting, think of Mondrian or Max Beckman, white plants call attention to their neighbors. And when the garden is a riot of color, white blooms give the eye a place to rest, to distinguish one color from another.

Liatris spicata 'Alba' (White Blazing Star) can be found in the Light Plate near the Seam, growing among stands of two varieties of Coneflower - 'Orange Meadowbrite' and 'Rubinglow.' Its 3-foot spires stand like sentinels in the garden. Notice how the other variety of L. spicata, the pink-violet Blazing Star, blends into the background.



New to the garden this year is Parthenium integrifolium (Wild Quinine or American Feverfew), also blooming in the Light Plate near the White Blazing Star. This plant is a Missouri native that grows well as far north as Wisconsin. When established, this plant will grow to 4 feet, its white, wooly flowers creating a screen to highlight the coneflowers.

In the Meadow, white Echinacea purpurea 'Green Edge' (Coneflower) blooms at the south end of both the Light and Dark Plates. A delicate ring of green florets at the base of the cone is what gives this plant its name. This sturdy coneflower is shorter than the other varieties planted in the garden, and it makes a nice contrast when interplanted with silvery Rattlesnake Masters.

Up in the Dark Plate, a stand of Hemerocallis 'Gentle Shepherd' (Daylily) brightens the shade from a Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia 'Chicago Blues') near the Cloud Plaza. A screen of white Veronicastrum 'Diane' (Culver's Root) will soon flower, adding more highlights to this part of the garden.

As you stroll through the garden today, pay attention to what white plants can do for a garden. Tours begin 10 am at the south end of the Seam.

What's Blooming? Companions

"Structure is the most important component in a successful planting," wrote Piet Oudolf in his book, Designing With Plants. Indeed, Oudolf believes that by concentrating on the structure of each plant, one can create a garden that is interesting to look at through several seasons, not just during bloom time. This was one of the principles employed when he designed the plantings of the Lurie Garden - selecting plants for their shape and structure to make interesting combinations.

One such combination can be found in the Dark Plate where he used plumes and spires at the south stairs. In the foreground, is a stand of an ornamental grass, Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' (Feather Reed Grass) in bloom this month with pinkish bronze inflorescences. It will grow to six feet, creating a screen to highlight the spires of Digitalis ferruginea (Rusty Foxglove) blooming in front. This Digitalis has smaller blooms, doesn't require staking, and makes a nice companion to the reed grass screen. Above and behind these plants, creamy white plumes of Persicaria polymorpha (White Dragon Knotweed) add another dramatic screen, calling attention to the tips of the Feather Reed Grass.

In the fall, the Digitalis will turn a sienna brown; the Calamagrostis inflorescences will blow out to buff-colored plumes; and the plumes of the Persicaria will become a lighter version of the Digitalis.

Tours begin at 10 am today. Look for signs pointing out Liatris spicata 'Alba,' Monarda didyma 'Scorpian,' and Agastache 'Blue Fortune.'

Last of the Peonies

The heavy rains we've had the last few days have left their mark on the garden. Rivulets have appeared along the paths and water stands in pools wherever there is a slight change in grade. It feels as though bloomtime is about two weeks behind schedule.



In the Dark Plate, the petals of Paeonia lactiflora 'Jan van Leeuwen' (Herbaceous Peonies) are drooping and dropping. It was only a few weeks ago that these plants were the stars of the garden, brightening the understory with their hot-white flowers. Now they look as though pieces of white tissue have blown in to cover the stems.

Although they look less stately, the peonies bring interest to the garden with their gauzey petals and shaggy, golden centers. Come into the garden and watch these plants as they move into their next phase, when their seed pods will swell into shapes the size of large, green olives.

What's Blooming?

It is a perfect day for strolling the garden with a Master Gardener docent. Skies should remain overcast, creating good, reflective light for photographing plants.

In addition to the Salvia River in the Light Plate, you will find a variety of plants from the blue-violet palette. Tradescantia 'Concord Grape' (Spiderwort) is blooming in the center near the Seam. You can get a closer viewing in the northwest corner of the garden near the Shoulder Hedge.


Stands of Baptisia 'Purple Smoke' (Hybrid Wild Indigo) are scattered throughout the Light Plate. This is a bold plant with spikes of deep blue pea-like flowers.

For contrast, three varieties of Amsonia, more delicate with star shaped flowers, are planted in close proximity.

Amsonia hubrichtii (Arkansas Blue Star) has needle-like leaves and clusters of tiny, pale blue flowers.


A. tabernaemontana var. salicifolia (Willowleaf Blue Star) has, as its name implies, leaves shaped like those of a willow with clusters of flowers in a medium blue.


Amsonia 'Blue Ice' is making its debut this year. Only 12 to 18 inches high, it fills in as a ground cover with its willow-like leaves and slate blue flowers. All three plants are native to the southeastern U.S.

The majority of plants blooming in the Dark Plate are white - giving the eye a rest from the abundant purples in the Light Plate. Look for brilliant stands of Paeonia lactiflora 'Jan van Leeuwen' (Herbaceous Peonies) on both sides of the Cloud Plaza. Each flower is nearly 4 inches in diameter with hot-white petals in one or two rows with a large, central mass of golden staminodes.
Overhead, Robinia pseudoacacia 'Chicago Blues' (Black Locust) is still in bloom, its dense pendant clusters of white flowers gently perfuming the air. Nearby, Baptisia leucantha (Wild White Indigo) is beginning to open its creamy white flowers.

Garden tours begin at the white tent located at the south end of the Seam. Tours last about 20 minutes are are given every 15 minutes from 10 am to 1:30 pm.

What's Blooming? Narcissus

Of the 120,000 bulbs that are planted in the Lurie Garden, tulips in colors of pink and violet are the showiest. But if you take a closer look you will find that the Narcissus play an equal part in the spring garden, bringing a contrast in shape and color. White and pale yellow narcissus act as a foil to the tulips, creating a light background that emphasizes the deep colors of the tulips.

Narcissus 'Lemon Drops' (Daffodil) were the first daffodils to be planted in the garden the the fall of 2006. Lemon Drops is a fragrant, tiandrus daffodil, having multiple flowers from one bulb. It has pale yellow petals with yellow, fluted cups and adds a natural look. In the Meadow, it mixes well with rosy Prairie Smoke, fuscia Shooting Stars and blue-violet Quamash.


N. 'Jenny' is similar to Lemon Drops and can be mistaken for it. When Jenny first opens, it has milky white petals and a sulphurous yellow cup. However, as the flower matures, the cup turns creamy white. Another distinction from Lemon Drops is that Jenny's petals are more pointed and arch away from the cup. One area to find Jenny is in a corner of the Dark Plate next to the Cloud Plaza.


N. Thalia is also a tiandrus daffodil with two to three fragrant, snow-white flowers to a bulb. It is distinguished from its cousins because of its pure white color and its long, open cup. A good viewing spot to see this beauty is at the top of the south stairs in the Dark Plate, under the blooming, pink Cercis canadensis.


N. Actaea is very different from the other daffodils. This fragrant daffodil has rounded white petals and a short yellow cup that is edged in dark red. Actaea is a member of group of narcissus known as Poet's Narcissus or Narcissus poeticus. It is considered an heirloom species, cultivated in 1919, and looks more like a wildflower growing in open land.