The Dickens You Say

John Friel

It is the best of times in the world of perennials. It is the worst of times in the world of perennials.

Best of times, Take 1: The USDA reports that perennials continue to gain market share as annuals slip. Herbaceous perennials, once a tiny blip on gardeners’ radar, now account for over 30% of plant sales, up from 20% as recently as 2000.

That’s not unqualified good news, but is there such a thing? “Mixed blessing” is one of those phrases that, upon examination, often proves somewhat redundant. It’s almost like saying “dumb sheep” or “black Model T.” Sheep only come in stupid, Model Ts only came in black and silver linings come wrapped in clouds.

Popularity’s downside, of course, is that the erstwhile specialty is reduced to just another crop. The exotic niche has logged many miles on the well-trodden path from oddity to commodity—think electronics, think orchids—and is subject to the same market forces—price pressures, margin compression—as those lowly, disposable annuals. Sometimes, passing a milestone feels like passing a kidney stone.
Worst of times, Take 1: We lost an architect of the perennial industry when Kurt Bluemel, King of Ornamental Grasses, died in May. Immigrant, artist, visionary, grower, grave-digger, wholesaler, Perennial Plant Association President, plant explorer and more, Kurt seemed about 10% larger than life, on a slow day.

It’s difficult to overstate Bluemel’s influence on America’s hardy plant industry, especially in the category of ornamental grasses. To say Kurt was “influential” in grasses is like saying the moon has some vague effect on the tides. He was the force that made it happen. By the time you read this, I will have said as much to a roomful of hort types at Cultivate’14. My presentation would likely never have happened had there been no Kurt Bluemel. RIP, König Kurt.

Worst of times, Take 2: Former PPA Board member Cindy Gilberg passed away in June after a long battle with cancer. My time on the Board did not coincide with Cindy’s, but I knew her well as an Association stalwart. She and her husband Doug, co-owners of Gilberg Perennial Farms, did a lot of the heavy lifting when PPA’s yearly Symposium convened in St. Louis in 1989.

Horticulturist, designer, teacher, author and more, rightly hailed as a local legend and mentor in the St. Louis area, Cindy advocated gently, patiently and persistently for perennials and natives long before they became garden staples. Condolences to Doug and their two children.

Cloud: We are all poorer for Kurt’s and Cindy’s passing. Silver lining: We are all richer for their presence in our world.

Best of times (literally), Take 2: Many of you had your best spring selling season in years, if not ever. A recent visit to a favorite local independent was encouraging. While annuals had the lion’s share of bench space, perennials were still very much on display and not yet discounted. Most were in good repair, aside from a group of shade-loving lamium and lamiastrum cruelly left to suffer in full sun. The hosta were sporting a small crop of tiny weeds—oxalis and bittercress, a.k.a. Cardamine hirsuta, the usual culprits here in the MidAtlantic. I spent a few minutes pulling them; I never can resist doing that at a garden center, any more than I can stop myself from picking up trash while kayaking. Can you?

The hosta had been shifted up into the pots of a brand that doesn’t do those hosta. If it were my brand, I’d object. If it were my garden center, I’d praise the enterprising employee who made the recycling effort and then forbid any such future endeavors. Only very small, family-staffed indies can afford (barely) to throw labor at such non-lean, multi-touch projects that always add expense, but rarely value.

Sports are hardly the only pursuit wherein exhaustion and elation are natural partners. Our traditional wild card—
weather—is predictable in its unpredictability, but this year it answered our yearly prayers: Give us a string of nice
weekends, our favorite mixed blessing, and we’ll take it from there, thank you. May all your clouds be well and brightly lined. GP

John Friel is marketing manager for Emerald Coast Growers and a freelance writer.