The New Perennialist 2.0 Redesigned to Feed your Mind

Welcome back to the very new New Perennialist.

I’m thrilled to unveil the latest version of this blog, freshly redesigned over Summer 2021 to gear up for the next round of explorations in naturalistic planting design.

The awe-inspiring drone shot of the new Piet Oudolf-designed garden at the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany helps to set the tone.

What started out as a blog based on my outsider’s fascination with naturalistic planting design has grown over the course of nearly ten years into a useful archive of original content. I’ve been truly gratified by how it’s come to be enjoyed as a resource by like-minded garden friends from around the world.

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The Wildscaping Symposium: COVID-19 Update

My Wildscaping Symposium in Naturalistic Planting Design is now officially postponed.

Our new target date is fall 2022. Same place. Same time of year. A new sense of urgency to reconnect with our fellow humans and the natural world.

In the year of the virus almost no one saw coming, spring itself appears to be on hold.

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Tempest in a Flower Pot: The New Perennial Debate

It’s that special time when newspaper columnists and writers like to stir the pot with predictions of ‘What’s Hot & What’s Not’ for the coming year.

While they compile such trend lists for the world of gardening, I rarely pay attention because making a garden is really more of a long-term affair.

Coming into 2017 though, I’ve noticed a definite trend in the ether: A few garden writers have surprisingly declared that the New Perennial trend of naturalistic gardening along with its trademark use of ornamental grasses, is on its way out.

Are they right? Or are they wrong?

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Spring Theories: Ghost Deer in the Garden of the Mind

It’s now full-on spring in the sheltered woodland of my northern un-cottage garden.

The crabapple tree is weeping shell-pink blossoms as the red lady ferns unfurl from beneath its dappled shadow. Spiky filaments of Camassia and Allium light up the sunnier beds in a wandering halo of purple and blue.

If spring is about new life, it’s also about unearthing fresh ideas. With that in mind, here are my ‘spring theories’ – designed to either stir the imagination or stir the pot, as you will.

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