"Heritage Perennials® replicates Thomas Kinkade's painting entitled Garden of Grace, the latest in his Garden series. In this garden a cobblestone path leads to an aged wrought-iron gate opening through a tall hedge. The perennial beds flanking both sides of the path are a riot of colour and texture featuring spikes of delphinium, iris and foxglove, mounds of campanula and splashes of yellow sedum and purple verbena. Heritage Perennials® will be holding a contest during the show, awarding the winner a print of Kinkade's Garden of Grace".

Note: — this contest can only be entered by attending the Vancouver Garden Show. Full details may be found at the Heritage Perennials® feature garden, Map Locator #18.

Several people have written in recently asking whether the Niagara Flower & Garden Show is being held this year or not. The short answer is no — but it was such a huge success last year that plans are in the works for a repeat performance in June of 2006, at the Niagara Parks Botanical Garden. I'll certainly be including more details closer to the date.

• It's a good time to plan and plant a sequential summer perennial display of old favorites and new cultivars. There are many spectacular flowering performers for the sultry summer season.
• June is a time to discover new perennials at your local botanical garden, arboretum, or the display gardens at your favorite garden center.
• It is also a time to participate in a neighborhood or city wide garden tour to study perennials and garden design.
• June is the month to shear the tops of spring bloomers to ensure a uniform and ornamental foliage effect for the remainder of the season. [NOTE: don't shear back spring-flowering bulbs or peonies!]
• Early to mid-June is also a good time to cut back by half tall late-season bloomers to control height and eliminate the need for staking.

Whether you're confronting a scary, blank and brand new garden, doing some minor tweaks or a major renovation on an older property, you're going to find good information here to help you through the decision-making stages that can be completely overwhelming, even to advanced gardeners who have lost their way. Selecting the right style of garden to suit your personality (and what your property has to offer) is not an easy task, but reading the sections on cottage gardens, formal borders, naturalistic plantings or the many color-themed choices presented here certainly helps one to see the huge number of options available.

This book is not just for the large-property owner either, with plenty to offer those in small or even tiny spaces where the decision making is even more critical. It tackles every imaginable problem site, including such things as dry soils (shady or sunny), soggy sites, gardening on steep slopes, and perennial gardening on a tight budget. And, like any good perennial design book should, it includes terrific lists of companion plants including annuals, tender perennials, bulbs, grasses and shrubs.

Books on advanced garden design and complex color theory abound. This is one of the few titles I've seen in recent years that I would recommend to all home gardeners and beginning design students. Here's a wonderful quote from Stephanie:

QUESTION: "I recently purchased what I thought was an annual for some pots to put on our patio. I read the tag after I had planted it in the pots. The plant is called Mexican Heather (scientific name Cuphea hyssopifolia). Is it a perennial or an annual? I live in Zone 5. Help!" Christy — Muncie, Indiana

ANSWER: Mexican Heather is an annual in your region. Tag companies often tend to print really generic information since plants will be sold in garden centers from coast to coast. With a plant such as this, the information is not always good for gardeners in differing regions. This plant acts as a hardy perennial only in mild-winter regions like Texas or southern California.

The New Perennial Insider will be devoted entirely to new perennials. And by this, we don't mean the typical hyping and glossy presentation of every new thing that comes along. This promises to be a balanced forum to discuss new perennials, including their good AND their bad points. And it promises to include the regular input of you — our readers — as an integral and objective voice in making the information about new perennials reflect what really is going on in gardens.

If you belong to our New Perennial Club then you're already registered for this newsletter. If you're not registered, just click the link above. Membership is free and gives you a chance to win the monthly draw for a $50 gift certificate redeemable for Heritage Perennials® at the Dealer of your choice.

Liquid Fence® makes a number of products for keeping out various critters, including deer, rabbits, dogs and cats. It's not available at garden centres in Canada, but can be purchased online. American gardeners may find it available through a network of dealers on the website.

Our best-selling book, the Perennial Gardening Guide (4th edition, March 2003) is a handy reference used by gardeners across North America — written by John Valleau, horticulturist for Heritage Perennials®. Available at your local Heritage Perennials® Dealer.