Going to Seed

Credit: GAP Photos / Graham Strong

This simple, airy combination, adaptable to many light conditions (except deepest shade or burning sun), incorporates perennials known to self-seed. It’s suitable for a wide variety of containers, including this ornately decorated terra cotta.

Garden workhorse Alchemilla mollis, a.k.a. lady’s mantle and hardy to zone 4, features frothy chartreuse-yellow flowers in summer. Its pleated leaves cup rainwater attractively, too. Legend has it that eternal youth and beauty will grace ladies who splash that elixir upon their skin.

Also included is Euphorbia dulcis ‘Chameleon’ with changing hues spring through fall and hardy to zone 5. Carex comans ‘Bronze’ (also self-seeding, zone 7), seen on the left, drapes pleasingly, adds grassy shape and picks up on the earth tones of ‘Chameleon’.