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"Getting Started in Rock Gardening" One of the most fascinating types of gardens is a rock garden. With the right placement of rocks the planting can look as natural as a rock formation found in the mountains. Another fascinating aspect is growing all the unique alpines and dwarf rock garden plants which are very early and are beginning to grow and bloom now. The combination of rocks with special plants makes one of the most interesting types of gardens. When it comes to rock gardens there are many different types including a scree, moraine, boulder field, rock outcropping, stone wall, and trough. A scree is found in the mountains where large pieces of rock have broken off the crags and tumbled down the side of the mountain. Large pieces of rock are found at the top of the sand slide and the pieces get smaller and smaller toward the bottom. A moraine is a scree with water running beneath it. In the mountains when the snow melts the water trickles down through the rocks at a depth of a foot and a half down to three feet deep. A boulder field is a collection of large, rounded rocks randomly scattered. The largest stones are off by themselves with smaller stones clustered opposite the large stones. Rock outcroppings are common here in western Massachusetts. Large pieces of rock jut out of the side of a hill. All the rock protrudes at the same angle and appears in layers, or strata. Stone walls that are not mortared can be planted. The spaces between the stones need not be large. Many types of rock garden plants like growing in the cracks and crevices on the face of the stone wall or cascading down from the top of the wall. A trough is a special planter ideally suited to growing alpines and dwarf or miniature rock garden plants. Originally, the watering troughs made of stone that were used for holding water for cattle were used as planters. These days trough planters are manmade, but look like real stone. The trough can be made out of a mixture of Portland cement, peat moss, and vermiculite. The mixture is put into a mold and is reinforced with wire mesh or Fiberglas strands inside the walls of the planter. Planted troughs stay outside all year long. As interesting as the different types of rock gardens are the many different types of low-growing, dwarf, or miniature plants that complement the setting. Many rock garden plants also share the same cultural conditions such as excellent drainage and a cool root run. If you are new to rock gardening a whole new world of unique plants awaits you. Some are upright-growing, others are prostrate, and others are clump- or rosette-forming plants, but all are generally small in scale and fit the aesthetic appearance of the rocks. What I especially like is the fact that a good number of alpines and rock garden plants are among the earliest plants to bloom in the garden. Alpines are of the Alps mountain range and therefore are cool-growing plants and are quite hardy. It's interesting to see these plants beginning to grow and bloom during the cold weather of late winter and early spring. There are many choice hardy plants for a rock garden including basket of gold, pasque flower, columbine, rock cress, sea pink, Artemisia 'Silver Mound,' mountain aster, purple rock cress, campanula, snow-in-summer, pinks (Dianthus spp.), fringed bleeding heart, gentian, crane's bill (Geranium spp.), creeping baby's breath, candytuft, edelweiss, evening primrose, creeping phlox, primrose, adonis, saxifrage, sedum, hens and chicks (Sempervivum tectorum), thyme, draba, lewisia, saponaria, and ramonda. Dwarf conifers such as hinoki falsecypress, 'Compressa' juniper, and 'Cole's Prostrate' weeping hemlock are also good rock garden subjects. Minor bulbs such as snowdrops, winter aconite, dwarf crested iris, crocus, and mini daffodils are small in size, look good when tucked near rocks, and add extra-early bloom to the rock garden.

by Pernell Gerver

"Dwarf Flowering Shrubs for Each Season" Q. I would like to know what shrubs you recommend planting in my raised beds located on both sides of my driveway. Any suggestions would be really appreciated. Thank you. A. For any landscape plantings I would recommend a variety of shrubs that are dwarf and require no maintenance. The following shrubs will provide blooms through all the seasons and there is even something for winter interest. For fragrant springtime bloom and handsome variegated foliage I recommend Daphne 'Carol Mackie.' In late spring Weigela "Wine and Roses" bears bright, rose-pink tubular flowers that hummingbirds love set against deep-burgundy foliage. For summer bloom Hydrangea "Annabelle" produces huge white flower clusters a foot wide on short plants. Also for summer is Buddleia 'Pink Delight' which has very fragrant, rose-pink flowers that attract butterflies like crazy. Blue mist shrub has violet-blue flowers that combine nicely with silvery-gray foliage on a compact shrub in late summer. In autumn purple beautyberry produces attractive clusters of small, shiny violet berries arranged in clusters up and down each stem. Then for winter interest there's winterberry 'Red Sprite' which in winter has bare stems loaded with bright-red berries the birds love and the red berries really stand out against the snow-covered ground. Daphne 'Carol Mackie' Hydrangea 'Annabelle' Butterfly Bush 'Pink Delight' Blue Mist Shrub Purple Beautyberry Winterberry 'Red Sprite' Click here to read more about these shrubs and order them from Pernell Gerver's Online Store Click here to submit gardening questions for Pernell Gerver's online Q & A column. Click here to read previous online columns in the archives.

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