Outside My Zone

When I first started gardening, I made what I think is the most common mistake of a new gardener. I believed that if my local greenhouses were selling a plant as a perennial, that it was perennial in this zone. Fortunately, it did not take me long to figure this out because I had a gardening mentor in my friend Judy and although I didn't always listen, she always had good advice. When I didn't listen, she would say, 'It never hurts to try' and when I failed, she would never say, 'I told you so'. Judy knew that when I wasn't listening, it was because I was so taken with a plant that only Mother Nature was going to stop me. As a fellow gardener, she understood. All those early mistakes put me in a place where I would not even think about planting any perennial outside my zone for several years. Slowly, I started to warm up to zone 4 perennials and now have several in my zone 3 garden. Some do just OK, like the Coral Bells 'Key Lime Pie'. Some never manage to gain a foothold like the Hydrangea 'Endless Summer' that started as a pair and have been killed off to a small piece of root I will mail to Linda and hope she can save. Others, however, like all of the lily, survive spectacularly well to reward me with a stunning display. There is a little extra mulching to do each Fall but mulching is probably the simplest chore in my garden. I read there is a little more work in the Spring to remove the extra mulch on zone 4 Iris. I don't do that for the lily but this year I added Iris outside my zone so I will have to start that next Spring if I want to see blooms. Each year, my bravery seems to grow in terms of what I will try. I do dig up and pass on when these experimental plants do not perform well for me. Mother Nature does always win and I find most often, it is not worth the fight. I would encourage other gardeners to try anything once. You never know what will establish and one zone opens up whole new plant possibilities. Just remember these two things: we all kill plants sometimes and it never hurts to try.