THE MODERN MINT BLOG
For those of you ahead of the bell curve, working on the edges of contemporary garden design, then you will of course be building a rain garden – to slow down, filter, store and re-use rainwater in the garden.
To help you, here are 10 plants for rain gardens….
- Rudbeckia
- Persicaria
- Eupatorium
- Monarda
- Aster
- Hosta
- Iris
- Miscanthus
- Carex
- Cornus
What do you notice about these plants? They are all good, tough garden plants whether you have a rain garden or not. Use them!
As a bonus – Crocosmia, Bergenia, Hellebore and Sanguisorba will not have a problem being flooded occasionally either.
As a double bonus – check out the flowers in the daisy family (Asteraceae) – we have already suggested a few in the list above (Rudbeckia, Aster and Eupatorium, if you’re interested) but Helenium and Inula could also be used.
Want a bulb to add? Camassia, that amazing blue flower, is our choice.
Try these to get you started planting up your rain garden – they will make the garden look amazing!
For mor help with your rain garden, try these books:
Wasting Water
Well worth a read in the BBC today – a note on how wasting water in the UK “as socially unacceptable as blowing smoke in the face of a baby.” Read the report here. I have written a talk about how we use water in the garden. It was written when I moved from Hampshire to Essex and found out for myself just how dry this area of the UK is. It completely changed the way I garden. The lack of such a precious resource as water made me question what we can do to save it, store it and …
The Foie Gras That Tastes Like Nature
Ethical Foie Gras? Is That A Real Thing? Foie gras – can it be ‘grown’ ethically? The video showing how this farmer works suggests it can… We first read about this in a book called The Third Plate by Dan Barber. I loved it and I love how Eduardo the farmer, who farms on the Dehesa in Spain, has a ‘take half leave half rule’. When talking about how the geese eat his olives… “They’re always quite fair. If you make sure the geese are relaxed and happy, you’ll be rewarded with the gift of fatty livers. That is God’s …
Hardy Orchids Via James Wong
Hardy orchids – here is a subject I would love to know more about – so lo and behold, James Wong has written about it in the Guardian! Read the article about hardy orchids here. I love having orchids in the house, just your usual run of the mill buy them in any shop orchids, but it is a pleasure to read about the plants that will grow outside and cope with this weather. (This insane weather! From the hottest days of February on record to Storm Freya, all within a week. Weather is always such a factor in gardening, but …