This week I am down in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania for the International Plant Trials Conference at Longwood Gardens. I came down to learn about how different gardens formally trial plants along with gleaning a lot of new plants to use in the gardens of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

Speaking of CMBG, we have a ton of exciting things going on up in Boothbay, Maine. Most notable is that we are beginning a 20 year master plan. This plan will guide us on how we grow and evolve the gardens over the next two decades. A few weeks ago, we held our first stakeholder meeting where the designers asked staff and board what they would like to see in our garden. The lead designer was opining on the trend of botanical gardens to set up native plant gardens. He amusingly remarked that often we set aside native plant gardens to showcase the native plants that often will not grow that well on their own. Why not showcase the best native plants that can hold their own in a garden of a mixed composition?

I am hoping that one of the gardens we add to CMBG is a trial garden where we can evaluated both native and non-native plants to use in landscapes here in New England. A truly outstanding plant that we have evaluated for years in our garden is Gentiana clausa. This gentian, which is called closed gentian or bottle gentian, is a tough native perennial that can stand out in any planting combination. The common name for the plant comes from the flower’s appearance. It never truly opens its petals which makes it look like it is in perpetual bud. The buds and flowers are a deep, intense blue. We have a mass beside of the pond in our Alfond Children’s Garden. I notice guests often stopping to take a look in August and September at these plants. The plants hold up well for over a month. Even after frost, they turn a light brown that we leave until the flowers totally dry. After the first hard frost, the plants which still hold their flowers erect look as though they are in suspended animation.

Gentiana clausa is native along eastern North America from Canada down to Tennessee and North Carolina. The plants prefer somewhat moist sites with some dappled shade. The more south you live, the more shade I would give these plants. Definitely add this gentian to your garden and I bet it will be a plant you cherish for the late season, blue flowers.

-Rodney

Image: gobotany.newenglandwild.com