Proud To Be Pink
There are so many different shades of pink. At one extreme there are the subtle, delicate, pale pinks, which blend perfectly into pastel schemes, with soft blues, mauves and silver; at the other are the vibrant, bright, assertive pinks, which create dashing and explosive contrasts with orange, scarlet, purple and golden yellow flowers in “hot” borders.
Some of the perennials we have recently added to our range at Bridgemere which I find myself especially drawn to and impressed by are very much this “not for the faint hearted” kind of pink.
Monarda ‘Pink Lace’ was my top new plant last year and is equally wonderful this summer. The typical, slightly fantastical-looking Bergamot flowers with the topknot of slender, curved petals – they would fit nicely on the head of some tropical bird or fashionable lady at the Ascot races – are a clear, bright, glowing, verging on shocking pink. There are plenty of these open at any one time, but also lots of buds to follow at different stages, indicating a long flowering season ahead; and they have already been going strong from the beginning of this month. They are held on dark stems which show them off well, against a background of fresh green foliage, which gives off that lovely bergamot scent. It is more compact than most Monarda’s, growing around 2 feet high. I love it – and so, I’m pleased to say, do lots of other people! Hooray! Monardas are perfectly hardy and easy to grow, as long as they are in the right kind of soil, which needs to be on the moist side, though reasonably well-drained – so with a good humus content which will prevent it from drying out in summer.
Though not quite as sensitive to dryness, much the same can be said of the conditions favoured by Veronica’s, of which there are also some very good new ones about (‘Purplelicious’ is a super purple-flowered one we have had for the last two or three years). ‘First Love’, which is brand new this year, is unlike any Veronica I have seen before, with tight clusters of flowers, rather shorter than those of most herbaceous Veronica’s, slightly curved at the tip, and a really luminous pink, deeper than that of the Monarda. It too looks as if it will have a longer than average flowering season, with lots of buds to keep it going. It will be encouraged in this by the occasional light dead-heading. It is neat and compact, with good, strong stems, growing to around 18 inches, and healthy, glossy, deep green leaves. Another winner in my book!
Astilbe ‘Alive and Kicking’ is one of a series of new, vigorous, robust varieties, with big, feathery heads of brilliant, rose-pink flowers, again with that luminous quality, shining out from a distance of many yards. It has bold, handsome, ferny foliage. It grows about 3 feet high, so makes quite an impact. Astilbes also like it moist, or even boggy, but will do perfectly well in ordinary soil, as long as it doesn’t get too dry.
