Inspiration for the Long Border: American Prairie Plants in Battery Park, Designed by Piet Oudolf

I love the plants of the American prairie. The simple forms are beautiful. They are undemanding, attract tons of butterflies, flower over a long period of time, and make me feel connected to the land. Unfortunately, I don’t have the setting and environment where I could create a meadow garden.

In the Long Border, I have tried to incorporate many of these plants–echinacea, black eyed susans, phlox, butterfly weed, goldenrod, joe pye weed, asters, liatris, veronicastrum, monarda, baptisia, rattlesnake master–into my planting.

My inspiration for the Long Border came from a trip I took to the gardens of Battery Park in lower Manhattan. These American prairie plants compose a large part of the palette used by Piet Oudolf, the Dutch garden designer of the park. Below are some of the photographs I took on my visit.

The first picture shows purple coneflower and mountain mint in the foreground, backed by monarda, veronicastrum, joe pye weed, and miscanthus.
The second photo shows baptisia (not in flower), monarda, and daylilies with a mass of amsonia in the back.

Photo three shows veronicastum, Russian sage, yarrrow, rattlesnake master, and alliums.
The fourth photo shows liatris and switch grass.

The fifth photo includes purple coneflower, switch grass, astilbe, and oregano.

For pictures of the Long Border, click here: http://heirloomgardener.blogspot.com/2008/01/garden-for-late-summer-long-border.html

For my prior post on Piet Oudolf, click here: http://heirloomgardener.blogspot.com/2008/02/winter-garden-inspiration-piet-oudulf.html