my parterres – an update

by Sharon Santoni

digging the parterre at my french country home

Back in July I asked you for advice about parterres, you may remember my sketches that helped me visualise how they may work.

sketch for parterre design

Well the big news is, they are happening!

We have cut out and dug over the four symmetrical beds, that was the easy bit!   Of course the next step is to fill them, and I wondered if you’d have some more ideas for me please.

digging the parterre at my french country home

Each bed measures 4×4 metres, with a cut out corner in the center.   I therefore have over 60 metres of edging to plant, and then of course I need to fill the beds to give interest through the spring and summer.  I’m not looking for anything happening during the winter, the beds will be shut down around November time, in preparation for our winter when temperatures can drop to -15°, or sometimes even -20°.  Ugh!

These are the lines that I am thinking along, but I love to learn from other people’s experience so if you have some alternative suggestions, then I am listening!   I am looking for blocks of colour, probably white and blue as an echo to the bed in front of the terrace.  I don’t want it so tidy that it looks like a garden outside a town hall, but neither will I go for the cottage garden planting that I use elsewhere.

First of all the edging.  There is a problem with box blight here in Normandy, so I won’t be risking that one.  I am looking at Ilex Crenata for a box equivalent.  I was tempted to go for a much softer look with for example a Nepata, but it may be more difficult to keep tidy … Also, the Nepata, or catmint, will flower blue in May/ june, and I’m not sure I want that competition with the peonies …..any thoughts on that one?

catmint border

So I was wondering about  putting in tulip bulbs for the first touch of colour in April/May I am looking at tall parrot tulips in black and white.  Does anyone have any experience of growing these, do their heavy heads make them flop over, or will they resist and stand straight?

black and white parrot tulips

Moving right along from the tulips, May will see the peonies come into bloom.  I am looking at Duchesse De Nemours, as it flowers early and grows to about 85cm high, perfect!

Paeonia Duchesse de Nemours

At this point I could have some white or blue alliums pointing their heads above the foliage of the peonies once the flowers are over

blue and whiye alliums

And then we come to the roses.  Roses are my best bet for seeing me through the summer and into the autumn.  I need a repeat flowering, around 1 meter high, disease resistant and white or cream in colour.   I am looking at  Margaret Merril, Iceberg and Snowdrift, shown here.  I love the very slight tinge of colour in the Snowdrift, but it may not flower for quite so long as an Iceberg …. still researching that one.

white rose snowdrift

With my busy summer and fall , I am probably too late for buying the tulip and allium bulbs, in which case they’ll go in next year.  But I still have plenty of time for the edging, the peonies and the roses.

Planting and maintaining these beds is not going to be the easiest thing, I know that.  For now I am concentrating on how many plants I can include, how close to plant them, and how to persuade the dogs not to dig them straight up – you know, the everyday stuff.

peonies in parterre

I look forward to reading any suggestions you may have for me, and I’ll try to answer each comment or email, thank you so much.

55 comments

Clair Humphries November 26, 2014 - 11:18 am

We have a lovely white rose called ‘Special Child’ (don’t know the fancy Latin name, sorry!) It’s about a metre high and flowers from June- September / October.

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Sharon Santoni November 26, 2014 - 2:30 pm

Thank you Claire, I don’t know that one – what a lovely name! – I’ll see if it is available here

xx

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Mary Baynes/Indiana November 26, 2014 - 11:32 am

Tulips may Flop and crane towards the sun but the worst part is, to continue blooming,
their bulbs need to be separated in the Fall or eventually they crowd and won’t flower and you’ll only have stems and leaves! I’ve found a better bet is Daffodils! They spread themselves nicely and they are not finicky! Happy Planting! Whatever you do, I’m sure will be lovely. I look forward to your pics!

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Sharon Santoni November 26, 2014 - 2:31 pm

Yes Mary, I know that getting tulips to grow well in following years may be tricky, that is one of the reasons I am not sure they’d be a good idea.

xx

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Gina November 26, 2014 - 12:46 pm

Dear Sharon, Parrot Tulips are still available from Dutch Catalogs. The problem with tulips is that once they have bloomed you need to let the leaves “age” in the sun. They will not be pretty in your flower bed. Same with Daffodils. You will need to dig up the bulbs and let them “ripen” in another spot. Some gardeners braid the Daffodil greens but it is not recommended. In order for tulips and Daffodils to bloom the following year you need to let the leaves age, that means leaving them in place until June. By then they are quite unsightly.
Your best bet is to plant Snowdrift Roses for the first year and add some of your other choices as you see your parterre develop.

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Sharon Santoni November 26, 2014 - 2:33 pm

Yes Gina, I know about this problem from the daffodils I have growing in the lawn – stunning while they are in flower, but then we have to look at the dead leaves for almost a month!
You’re probably right, I need to rethink the tulip idea

xx

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Libby November 28, 2014 - 1:41 am

I dig up all my tulips every year and start with all new bulbs in the fall. Yes, I pull up each and every tulip at the end of each spring. I found, in the past, that “old” bulbs just are not reliable, either in coming up again, or at full height. It was far too frustrating for me, both in my old house and here. And…it’s so much fun to start with a totally new color scheme each year! Just a suggestion….

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Henrik November 26, 2014 - 1:28 pm

Hi Sharon.
Take at look at this garden, I Belive it can work even at a smaller scale https://www.pavillondegalon.com/

Sincerely
Henrik

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Sharon Santoni November 26, 2014 - 2:47 pm

Simply stunning Henrik! Thank you for that address!

xx

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linda koenig November 26, 2014 - 1:33 pm

Catmint, although hardy and pretty to look at, is invasive with a capital I! Will lavender survive your winters? Sedum is nice for a late summer bloom and has interesting foliage. I am fond of hostas and I plant annuals every year alongside perennials. Looks like you have a big project on your hands…what’s up with the kitchen?

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Sharon Santoni November 26, 2014 - 2:49 pm

HI Linda, yes, catmint does spread but it can be contained and it does keep its foliage. I considered lavenders, but after a couple of years they can get very leggy with too much wood.
I have hostas elsewhere in the garden but I don’t use many annuals.
The kitchen project won’t start until the new year, which is why I’m using this time to deal with the garden

xx

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melissa o'toole November 26, 2014 - 2:16 pm

So beautiful All my lovely Flowers get eaten by the deer, I could never have them out in the yard like that the deer are very greedy.

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Sharon Santoni November 26, 2014 - 2:50 pm

How annoying! I once lived in a house near the forest and we had the occasional deer but most of all the rabbits were maddening!
Luckily my garden is surrounded by a stone wall 🙂

xx

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Nancy November 26, 2014 - 2:31 pm

I would not use Parrot tulips as the stems are not strong enough to hold up the heads. White Emperor is a good early tulip and you could mix it with Maureen which is a later, taller variety and Mt Tacoma which is a double and very beautiful. Mix in some Muscari to give you the early blue and white. Lavender would be a good edging choice or yew which holds up well, even in snow (not sure how much you might get). Iceberg is a great choice for a rose and also makes nice standards if you’re thinking of going that route. I’d suggest a couple of different peonies for early, middle and late flowering as that will give you a longer period of bloom, The rising peony foliage should cover the tulip leaves if you plant around them. Keep in mind the alliums will be more purple than blue if you want to keep to that palette, other than A. caeruleum which is very beautiful. You could also use blue iris but that will give you a more casual look which I’m not sure will go with such a structured look. Good luck.

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Sharon Santoni November 26, 2014 - 2:52 pm

Lots of good ideas here, thank you Nancy. Maybe I should think again about lavender for the edging. Yew is lovely but it is also poisonous for horses so I’d be worried when they are in the garden.
As far as the blooming time for the peonies, I was thinking they should bloom together and then leave the center stage to the roses ….

still thinking hard!

xx

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Nancy November 26, 2014 - 4:43 pm

Just had another idea. I have been having trouble with flooding in my garden and my lavender hedge on one side of the driveway has just given up the ghost. Last year I replanted that side with Alchemilla (my feeling is you can’t look at both sides of the driveway at once, so am ignoring my obsessive/compulsive neatness tendencies!). You might think about that as it looks good for a long period of time and a hard shearing in summer brings on lots of new growth. Would give you a much less structured look, though that might go with the rest of the garden.

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Gardengirl November 26, 2014 - 2:35 pm

How exciting! I saw a beautiful informal parterre in Martha Stewart which I will be doing my own version of. It is going to be very easy to take care of and makes quite a statement. Inside the evergreen edging, in the middle of each square the gardener put in a planting urn placed on a pedestal. Inside the urn they had planted Gaura (whirling butterflies) which is white with tinges of pink. I adore it. In the ground surrounding the urn and within the evergreen border they planted a solid mass of purple sage. Just beautiful! Formal and informal at the same time. Look forward to seeing what you decide to do!

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Sharon Santoni November 26, 2014 - 2:53 pm

That sounds perfectly beautiful! I have Gaura here, and you are right, it has a long flowering season . I wonder if sage would work for the edging, the colour is so lovely

xx

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La Contessa November 26, 2014 - 2:39 pm

No comment from me seems you have it under control……..HOW EXCITING!!!
My SOUTH AFRICAN friend told me ICEBERG was prolific in her garden……I haven’t had the same experience here in California.Now, a rose I fell in love with in the last 3 years is BOLERO……..white and FRAGRANT.It has done well for me!Love CATMINT and your Peonies were delicious!Just go with your GUT!Anything you touch will be GORGEOUS…….I cannot believe your tackling the garden and the kitchen at the same time!!!XO

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Sharon Santoni November 26, 2014 - 2:55 pm

Hi Elizabeth, no I’m not doing the kitchen right now, that will wait until the New Year and Christmas is out the way …. I’m ambitious but not totally senseless! 🙂
I’ll have a look at Bolero, but your californian climate is probably alot kinder than here in Normandy
xx

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Karena November 26, 2014 - 3:07 pm

Sharon your garden of gorgeous flowers will be such a delight in the Spring. I adore Parrot Tulips and would definitely plant them!! Thank you for the update!!

xoxo
Karena
The Arts by Karena

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Sharon Santoni November 26, 2014 - 8:01 pm

thank you Karena, there are a lot of decisions to make still!

xx

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Rosa November 26, 2014 - 3:24 pm

I love your blog. It’s interesting and I can see that you love flowers like me. I like too much french style in decoration. I will follow you in your next posts.
Thank you for share it with us.

Rosa
http://www.ideasshogar.blogspot.com.es

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Sharon Santoni November 26, 2014 - 8:02 pm

thank you Rosa! 🙂

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Gina November 26, 2014 - 3:31 pm

I am so excited for your garden…a hint and hope of the future to come!

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Sharon Santoni November 26, 2014 - 8:03 pm

the planning is half the fun Gina, and there is less danger of back ache!

xx

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Colleen Taylor November 26, 2014 - 3:40 pm

How gorgeous this is going to be Sharon! It does look like a great deal of work, however, you already are aware of that. I’m so excited for you as well as seeing the gardens as they grow! X

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Sharon Santoni November 27, 2014 - 10:16 am

The excitement is the good bit Colleen, but I’m already happy with the proportions of the beds to the rest of the garden – it took ages to line it all up!

xx

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Judy November 26, 2014 - 3:41 pm

I love you’re ideas. I’m planning to put in a little french garden, edging with boxwood(which we prune and make sure to shake out any dead foliage-or it rots)
and then are planting lavender and carpet roses however I love the idea of peony thst you mentioned instead.

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Sharon Santoni November 27, 2014 - 10:18 am

Lavender and roses sounds good to me Judy, I did that in a bed some years ago and loved it

xx

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Lorrie November 26, 2014 - 4:14 pm

Your ideas sound lovely, Sharon. La Contessa (Elizabeth?) mentioned the Bolero Rose. It does well here in our coastal climate much further north than California so it might thrive for you, too.
Love the idea of peonies with the alliums popping up above them.

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Sharon Santoni November 27, 2014 - 10:18 am

Thank you Lorrie, I should think that you and I live in a similar climate. I’ll check out the Bolero Rose too

xx

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Susan Umberger November 26, 2014 - 4:24 pm

Here in my US zone 6 garden catmint is invasive and slightly floppy. I think your peony foliage will cover any tulip or daff foliage you have going down–I do that here, only with daylily foliage, in order to have continuous bloom. Another thing I do sometimes is treat my tulips as annuals and take the bulbs out after bloom–slightly expensive, but I always get good bloom! And I order from a wholesaler so the bulbs are not costly, and I can put them exactly where I want them. We have box blight here too so I cannot use it for an edge, and am thinking of ilex crenata. Roses do not do well here in the humidity and there is a disease affecting them too, so I can’t comment about them–darn it!!
Anyway, I am sure the parterres will be beautiful! Always good to have many projects to think about!

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Sharon Santoni November 27, 2014 - 10:21 am

Replacing all the tulip bulbs each year would be an expensive exercise Susan, as I think I’ll be needing around 100 in each square!
I’ll have to cut the peony foliage back a little after flowering so that the roses have space to perform – I feel like I’m writing a choreography!

xx

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Wendi November 26, 2014 - 4:39 pm

What about euonymus for the edging? It’s pretty indestructible, nice variety of leaf colours and could be roughly shaped without committing to clipped boxwood. I loved the Russian sage in the garden that Henrik suggested – that would be a great addition for the later part of the growing season but I have never used it in a garden so I don’t know it’s habits in the spring/summer garden. The other suggestion would be Artemisia – maybe there is a mounding variety? Looking forward to seeing this project materialize!

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Sharon Santoni November 27, 2014 - 10:23 am

Thank you Wendi, I have been looking at the Euonymus , in particular the ‘Emerald Gaiety variety. I love Russian sage too, it may be a good alternative and it can be planted next spring if I get behind on my autumn plantings

xx

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Peggy Braswell November 26, 2014 - 6:23 pm

i have a client that has rosemary as a border around her garden + it smells so good + the border is so big + but then we are in ca. + don’t know about where you are. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

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Sharon Santoni November 27, 2014 - 10:38 am

Yes Peggy, I love rosemary, and the blue flowers are very pretty, but for some reason they don’t last long in my garden

xx

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Krb November 27, 2014 - 2:47 am

Do you do this yourself or do you have gardeners??

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Sharon Santoni November 27, 2014 - 10:41 am

I love gardening, although since I am so busy with the blog and all the stuff around that, I don’t have as much time as I used to.

My husband and I still do a lot ourselves and I am lucky to have a wonderful gardener who comes in twice a month just to tidy up and handle any of the more technical or heavy stuff for me. Actually I wrote about him and his fantastic garden , you can see it here https://sharonsantoni.com/2013/06/design-and-creation-in-normandy-francois-the-gardener.html

xx

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Krb November 28, 2014 - 1:44 am

Whew! That’s a lot of work. Your energy is amazing!

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Mary Ellen November 27, 2014 - 4:26 am

Sharon, your soil looks so rich. I am sure your parterres will be beautiful. I have found cat mint to be very invasive also. My russian sage looks good even in winter. Of course the blooms are gone but the wispy branches collect the snow and frost. I love the idea of white roses. A circle of small stones in the center of the lawn with a focal point of a statue or garden element would be lovely amongst all the flowers. Happy planting!

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Sharon Santoni November 27, 2014 - 10:43 am

Hi Mary Ellen, Yes we are lucky with our soil here, and I’ll be adding some compost to those squares. A lot of people think I should have a feature in the center of the parterre, I am just imagining laying a dinner table there on balmy summer evenings 🙂

xx

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Anna Howard November 27, 2014 - 11:05 am

Hi Sharon, this is very exciting, when the time comes to plant you will probably run out of space! Most important though, what is going to be at the centre? An old wellhead, rampant with lichen and mosses, an eighteenth century statue of a shepherdess with a cryptic smile? Or just a gigantic pot on a plinth? Just joking. But it needs careful consideration as it will set the mood. Here, gut feeling is of the utmost importance! Just turned careful consideration on its head!!
Mixing in the more decorative herbs with little fraises de bois, will give you groundcover that is perpetually decorative, roses love any kind of strawberry. The garden variety of Myosotis looks delicious with spring bulbs, creating hazy drifts of silk ribbon blue. As for bulbs, old fashioned peasant eye narcissi and similar species are always lovely. Roses, big subject, maybe antique cabbage roses of the shabby variety. Or possibly standard roses, maybe a little too formal. Pansies and more pansies. Perennials, the choice is almost limitless, have fun. As for borders how about antique terracotta rope edges, if not something green, (the box blight is unfortunate) it will make sure that the parterres dont “wander”. To dream……
Anna.

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Sharon Santoni November 28, 2014 - 5:53 pm

Thank you for all these ideas Anna, the center stage is going to be problematic. Most people seem to think I need something grand, while I was imagining a simple iron table and garden chair …… we shall see what the spring brings

xx

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Libby November 28, 2014 - 1:44 am

Do you know Caryopteris? It’s one of my favorite small shrubs. Beautiful blue flowers toward the end of the summer, very reliable, cut back in early spring. Mine thrives in a drought and has done well both here in the hot South, and up in New England.

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Susan Athanasakou November 28, 2014 - 5:46 pm

I can’t wait to see the finished results of your parterres (they call them that here in Greece as well!)
I love all the flowers and plants that you are thinking of using, very English country garden.
Sadly, most of these plants, don’t grow well here, I have tried, all that I achieved was a great loss of time and money!

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Susan Stamp November 29, 2014 - 9:19 pm

Hello Sharon, I love your blog and your new garden bed ideas.
I am English living in Australia, establishing a new garden here,in an area that has frost and snow.
I have used Euonymus japonicas microphyllus Tom Thumb as a edging hedge and it seems to tolerant frost, full sun, summer heat, partial shade and requires little water once established. Could it be an idea for your edges?

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Stephanie November 30, 2014 - 11:50 am

Long-time reader, first-time commenter here! What about perennial geraniums? I especially like a low-growing one called ‘Biokovo’ with white flowers and fragrant leaves that often get good fall color. Stays in neat, tidy mounds. Might work as an edging plant?

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Parsimonious Décor Darling November 30, 2014 - 3:41 pm

Your garden is simply sublime!! No suggestions, here. 🙂

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Dana Mathias December 4, 2014 - 11:51 pm

how about germander? it’s evergreen all winter, blooming pinkish/purple in summer, and can be trimmed like box – it’s an herb and only gets a foot high at most. It’s used in herb knot gardens. have fun!

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Sarah Wain, Gardens Supervisor, West Dean Gardens December 8, 2014 - 3:44 pm

What could be planted within your parterre? How about a vegetable theme colour chards with stems of white pink red or yellow, beetroot bulls blood, Heliotrope (grown from seed) and cosmos Rubenza or similar. Traditional roses and lavender are just two off the top of my head.

I would also seek inspiration from the gardens in the National Trust who have parterres such as Levens Hall for example.

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Jane July 18, 2016 - 5:37 am

Times are chninagg for the better if I can get this online!

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