Although I mostly think that when it comes to gardening more is more, there is one place where I have opted for a restrictive palette - the pergola garden. This little garden by the sauna is dedicated to mostly white plants, and I love the softness of it. Here a set of pink garden furniture are framed by climbing roses and white perennials, and it is a wonderful place for late afternoon tea or pre-dinner drinks. Nestled in amongst the white are some pink foxtails and geraniums.
I am eagerly anticipating the pergola being covered with roses and clematis, but they are frustratingly slow to grow any hight in this cold climate garden. The one rose that has grown tall is the Northstar rose Pohjantähti, which is a Finnish cultivar. A third of its size is the rambling rose Lykkefund (pictured up top), which has medium sized, strongly fragrant, semi double flowers. As it is a favourite of mine I have planted two of it, one of each side of the entrance into the seating area of the pergola.
The New Dawn rose was a beauty this year! Pale pink and abundant it filled its space with soft and graceful flowers. My only complaint is that it is a really slow grower and hasn't reached any discernible hight in the three years since I planted it. The leaves are glossy and green, and gives a sweet but discreet fragrance.
After struggling a bit in the cold spring, Salvia White Rain has really bounced back. It's leaves are fragrant and the bees just love the flowers, so it is permanently abuzz with insects. Elsewhere I've planted Hysoppus officialis Alba and Malva Moscata Alba in large clumps. The Malva especially is a great self-seeder, but I really don't mind as I like finding flowers pop up in the lawn and on odd places in my wild garden.
In the back of the pergola are two Hydrangea paniculata "Praecox" bushes to give hight and structure, as well as Astrantia major white giant and Spiderwort (Tradescantia x andersoniana) "White". The Astrantia is lovely in that it has a very long flowering time, often going on from July until the end of August. This year all the plants are exceptionally lush as we have had plenty of rain. Although it makes life as a gardener easier, I do hope we get more sunny days.
