Corralling the collections - thoughts?

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Terry Murfreesboro, TN(Zone 7a) Jul 02, 2006

I guess I'm a plant dilettante, dabbling in a little o'this and a little o'that.

I've got a good-size Heuchera/Heucherella/Tiarella collection going...somewhere around 40-some plants, and more on the way. I've also got small-but growing collections of pulmonarias, ferns, hostas, daylilies, hellebores, dahlias, roses, peonies, and now echinaceas.

We have a little over an acre here, so I have plenty of room (for now), but here's my question: Is it better to put all the related varieties and species in one general area, or sprinkle them around? I can see pros and cons to both...

Pros - Their cultural requirements are usually similar, so grouping them together makes it easier to tend to them and keep them on a feeding/watering/deadheading schedule.

Cons - When perennials are all together, you get one big "bang" and then the blooming is done. (Thankfully, foliage plants provide an extended period of interest, but still...)

Pros - You can more easily compare and admire the minute differences between cultivars when they're in close proximity.

Cons - I don't want my yard to look like a series of demonstration gardens.

At this point, I have all the daylilies together in a long border next to the driveway, interplanted with daffodils for early color, and a hardy ruellia for some late summer/fall interest.

My heucheras are gradually migrating to a large shady bed and adjacent border where they can be enjoyed closeup, and I can keep an eye out for vole damage. (Grrr.)

All the roses and most of the peonies are in a long border with the neighbor's picket fence as a backdrop. Other peonies are grouped together nearer the house, along with several hydrangeas (did I mention those, too??? chuckle...)

The hostas are everywhere - in large beds around the big trees in the front, tucked along the front and back walks, and in a dedicated shady bed near our big pond. Ferns are tucked in several shady nooks and crannies.

The dahlias and echinaceas are pretty scattered, but I'm toying with pulling them together this fall.

So what do other (more serious) collectors do, especially if you have several plants that never fail to tug on your heart and purse strings when you find one you don't yet have?

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