Pennsylvania gardeners Ondra and Cohen (Perennial Gardener’s Design Primer
) bring imaginative ideas, practical techniques and new inspiration to autumn, that often-neglected tail end of the gardening year. According to the authors, the “key players” of “fallscaping” include the multicolored foliage of trees, grasses and other plants; flashy seedheads and berries; long-blooming perennials; late-blooming sedums, coneflowers, asters and goldenrod; the surprising fall-blooming crocuses, daffodils and lilies; and vines like honeysuckle and sweet autumn clematis. Ondra and Cohen submit a number of fall-friendly garden plans, complete with shopping lists, from a “high and dry” garden of echinaceas, lavenders and feather reed grass to a vegetable, herb and flower kitchen garden of peppers and basils (to be brought inside before cold weather) and kale and chard (to carry the harvest into winter), with colorful touches of alpine strawberries, sunflowers and pansies. Interspersed throughout are “Fall Techniques,” with practical, down-to-earth information on how to divide perennials and design suggestions on planning paths, as well as more wacky ideas like spray-painting seedheads. The book ends with a “Fall Garden Care Primer,” delineating ways to evaluate your garden, improve your soil, build new beds, take cuttings, prepare plants for winter, store your tools and care for your lawn (a long section). Full of useful details and lush photographs, this book rounds out the growing year and may fill a gap in many a gardening library. (Aug.)
