Native Perennials–Plants that Bring Bling

Stephanie Cohen Gives 'HOPE' to the Boring Backyard

Stephanie Cohen was guest of the Five Rivers Metro Park Sunday at the Wegerzyn Gardens in Dayton, Ohio.  Truly a fun event. Stephanie has a wealth of knowledge of herbaceous plants and perennial design that she shared with a room full of gardeners.  Native plant choices Stephanie showed us were bright and colorful, and bring ‘bling’ into the garden from spring, into summer, and fall.


This fun speaker has been telling others about perennials for over 20 years and has many accomplishments to her credit. 
As an author of three books, her ideas and knowledge are available.  The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer was selected as the best selling book for 2005 by the Garden Writers of America.  Fallscaping and The Nonstop garden (Timber Press) currently are in the top ten on Amazon
Since I lost so many trees this past year, I’m anxious to fill in with some of these native perennials that Stephanie talked about in my sunny border. 




One Echinacea I will be looking for is ‘Hope’.  This coneflower is large with soft pink blooms which are fragrant.  Sturdy stems hold up flowers from late summer to early autumn.  ‘Hope’ is a “Plant for a Cure” dedicated to breast cancer survivors.  A portion of the proceeds of every plant sold goes to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. 


Besides being colorful, Native plants draw in pollinators,  their seeds feed birds and small mammals, and they take little or no care once established. After the 2012 summer most of us experienced, natives seem the obvious choice. Natives can handle the heat and drought so we don't need to drag those hoses around.


As gardeners, we can reach out to the community through our gardening efforts. Share a bouquet or show a youngster how to plant.  Any time we can, touch another’s life – and just like that plant in our garden, we grow.