Piet Oudolf Designed Garden

Hello again,
As promised, some pictures of the Piet Oudolf designed garden.  It was completely my pleasure to come in before we opened, when nobody is around and shoot some pictures of this garden. Without further ado, here are some of the best sights to be seen.

Monarda bradburiana
Taking the world by storm, is this great native plant to the Ozarks.  Missouri Botanical Garden has promoted this plant extensively, followed closely by Roy Diblik.  I have had it in the garden here for several years, and only in the last part of November did I ever see any mildew.  The spotted flowers bloom earlier than other Monarda.  I have yet to see them reseed in the landscape, but I'm sure it's possible.  I just wouldn't worry about it taking over like Monarda fistulosa can.  These only stand 12" tall and spread a little further than that.

It also combines well with other plants. Panicum 'Northwind' is in the foreground, with Sporobolus heterolepis, or Prairie Dropseed, behind it.  The purple blooms to the back left are from Salvia 'Wesuwe'.  The combination of the Salvia and Monarda is stunning.  With all the new plantings from last fall, we have watered a lot more than normal this year.  The ground is really dry around here, and I assume it is around you as well if you are in this general vicinity.  In the front right of this picture is Allium atropurpureum which is very interesting as well. A few remain from the original planting, and they seem to move around.

If you are having a spring baby, and you aren't sure if it's a boy or girl, you can plant Amsonia x 'Blue Ice' with Scabiosa 'Pink Mist' and it will cover the baby pink and blue colors.  Scabiosa is new to the garden.  I honestly didn't expect it to come back as nice as it has.  This section used to have a large "blob" of Amsonia 'Blue Ice' and Piet didn't like it, so we broke it up with the Scabiosa and yet to bloom Gillenia trifoliata.  The older Gillenia are in bloom however, and are quite the interesting flower.

Zizia aurea, Tradescantia 'Concord Grape', and Salvia 'Pink Friesland'

This was one of my bigger fears when planting in the garden. I've tried so long to eradicate the Spiderwort from the landscape, but to no avail.  Then Piet came and saw how nice it looked with the Zizia, so we planted more of it.  The Salvia nearby was a nice addition to the combo.  The combination of the two natives though, is how this combo became so stellar.  Minimal maintenance is needed except for possibly pruning the Tradescantia back after blooming.

Coreopsis 'Golden Showers' and Salvia 'Rhapsody in Blue'

The combination of the fine textured foliage of the Coreopsis and the purple flowers of the 'Rhapsody in Blue' is quite effective.  The Salvia have reseeded around a little bit and we've seen many plants in pink and different shades of purple.  It's very interesting.  We've chosen 'Golden Showers' because it is a very reliable variety that I have yet to lose in the landscape.  'Moonbeam', 'Creme Brulee', and some others have not done so well.  But 'Zagreb' and 'Golden Showers' are the real deal. 
As the season progresses, I'll continue to highlight this garden from time to time.  It's to the point, where it looks different every week.  Something new comes into bloom, and something old goes away.  Every year a new seedling comes in and sparks our interest as well.  Thanks again for reading, and until next time, have a great day!