What will the well-designed sunny perennial border wear this summer? Waves of color in a palette—cool or sizzling hot—that suits your taste. Since most perennials bloom for just a few weeks, you’ll want to add annuals and bulbs to fill in the blanks as some plants finish flowering.



Select plants with different bloom periods, starting with spring bulbs and ending with mums, asters, sedum and other late fall bloomers. Consider which plants bloom at the same time, such as iris and peonies in the spring, lavender, coreopsis and salvia in the summer, and helenium, boltonia and ornamental grasses in the fall. (This requires careful planning and also depends on our crazy Chicago-area weather! Writing a few notes in a garden journal or taking photos will help you tweak your borders.)

Learn more in an upcoming class at the Morton Arboretum when Chicagoland Gardening writer Nina Koziol and designer Marcy Stewart-Pyziak of The Gardener’s Tutor present “Designing with Color, Texture and Form,” on Saturday June 4 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. We’ll examine colorful foliage and flowers from a wide palette of annuals, perennials, and shrubs that can light up a shade garden or enhance a sunny border. The class will be held both indoors and outside. Please dress for the weather, including sun protection, and bring a sack lunch. Cost is $69 for Arboretum members. For more information, call the Education Program Registrar at 630-719-2468 or registrar@mortonarb.org

—Nina Koziol
www.thisgardencooks.com