Whew! Am I glad the elections are finally over. I was ready to vote for Mickey Mouse if it would put an end to all the squabbling. So many people have such uncompromising opinions about the presidential candidates that I guess I'll make my comments about the Senate and the House instead. It looks like Congress will have most of the same old faces leading us down the garden path. Who can beat an incumbent nowadays? The old hands are just too rich and powerful.
Back in 1789 folks in Congress were only paid when they were in session - $6.00 per diem! In 1815 they finally got a yearly salary of $1500. Guess what they get now. $158,100. They're entitled to a cost of living adjustment every year. They can vote to skip this COLA, but obviously they didn't last year, adding $3,400 to their 2003 salaries.
I suppose that's not too unreasonable when you consider what a lot of CEOs make, but frankly I don't think they do half as good a job as the congressmen back in 1789.
Now that I think about it, one could consider quite a few plants in the perennial garden to be incumbents. They survive from year to year, familiar with the territory, their roots deep and well-established. Take daylilies. My lemon lilies have been in the border for at least five terms, and even though I can think of lots of good candidates that would do the job with more flair, I can't bring myself to vote them out of office.
Lemon lilies do their job pretty well, blooming in July when other plants are in recess. They rarely need dividing, get no diseases, and aren't bothered by bugs. It's the same with peonies. These incumbents will probably be around until they die. Who's going to vote to throw out a peony?
But the garden should occasionally get some new blood, just like Congress. If you decide to try some new and different perennials in your garden next spring, they will need help to become secure incumbents. Be sure and protect these newcombers or the old diehards will usurp their spaces. I can remember when I cleared an area of my Monet Garden many years ago to plant some delphiniums, as none were included in the collection. The surrounding plants were just starting to send up their own spring greenery and didn't look too competitive. By late June, however, I couldn't even find two of the delphiniums, and the others were turning sickly yellow in the shade of their fellow members.
Like the Adams, Kennedy and Bush families, who have held political office for more than one generation, the offspring of garden perennials often manage to get a foot in the door without much effort. Each spring I spend hours weeding out the roots of Artemisia and Monarda before they become entrenched. I pull up new lobelia and feverfew seedlings that pop up thinking they belong on the payroll.
Perennials have many advantages over the young tender annuals we gardeners add to the flower bed for additional color each spring. Newly installed annuals are small; their roots have often been cramped in a container all spring and must struggle in their race for space. These young freshmen can be totally intimidated by the plants that have been soaking up the garden's perks for years. Loosen and disentangle those pot-bound roots before planting so they get a good start.
I can remember the years when I made the mistake of spacing my annuals along the perennial border as single plants. It never worked well. One little petunia or snapdragon cannot be expected to hold its own against the garden's strong perennials. Plant them in clusters of three or four so they make a large splash of color and get their share of such perks as water, sunlight and space.
Enjoy daydreaming about your flower beds this winter and be thankful that our plants don't make us go through political campaigns every two years, or vote for outrageous pork barrel projects in order to produce their flowers.
