Harmon’s Histories: Missoula gardens awash in color … and pollen

By Jim Harmon

Missoula is known as the Garden City of Montana. How that came to be was explained in the Sunday edition of the Missoulian newspaper on May 30, 1909.

“To its miles of residence streets is to be traced the origin of the title, which, after all, is the proudest that Missoula bears. Wide and clean are Missoula’s streets, a rule that holds good especially in its residence districts.”

“Long rows of tall shade trees, stately, well kept, fringe the streets in straight, seemingly endless lines, the topmost branches appearing almost to meet halfway across the thoroughfare.”

“Trim lawns line Missoula’s avenues and boulevards. The man who owns property on any street of Missoula is bound to keep his premises in a neat condition. He would be very conspicuous if he didn’t and so a slovenly yard in Missoula is a thing hard to find.”

“There are many flower garden experts in Missoula. The climate is conductive of such things as pansies, sweat peas, nasturtiums and rose bushes, lilacs — everything in fact, that grows to perfume the air.”

Springtime, for an amateur landscape gardener like me, is nirvana.

The lilacs have bloomed, filling the air with their sweet-smelling perfume. My wife and I sit outside each evening, drinking in their fragrance along with some favorite wine, usually with a vintage of last Tuesday or Wednesday - we are not wine snobs.

The Blue Willows really loved this spring’s weather. So have the Lombardy poplars, though I wish I’d never planted them.

A landscape writer once described Lombardy poplars as the “rock stars” of the garden, “living fast and dying young,” but adding (and I agree) planting them is a BIG mistake.

They provide an instant, high hedge – but, they are so invasive. I’ve spent years trying to kill them. Luckily, I’m down to just a few, in one spot, where I need the screening.

But let’s move on to better, lovely plants like the Spirea.

I have a row of Spirea Snowmound along the roadside at the edge of my property. It’s a genuine show-stopper. Well, a car-stopper, anyway. We enjoy seeing so many drivers slow, and even stop to view the white, flowery spires.

Alas, they are “spring flowering only,” and are beginning to fade now. They “thrive in full sun, in zones 4-8, attract pollinators and are drought tolerant.”

At this point I should share my No. 1 rule of landscape gardening in rural Montana: Do not plant anything that deer devour!

Yes, I know – deer browse on everything. But they will pass by some plants with just a brief nibble, and move on (at least the white-tail and mule deer I have in my area).

With that in mind, let me recommend a couple of other plants in addition to lilacs, blue willow and spirea. One is potentilla.

Deer have never touched them. I have yellow, white, pink and orange varieties. I prefer the white ones, since they stand out at a distance against the greenery of the lawn.

Secondly, I recommend one of the most fantastic plants in my garden. But be warned: It is solely for those who don’t mind the risk of losing a plant to the occasional severe winter cold temperatures we can have. They are NOT for this zone (3-5), and they are considered a weed in Britain and parts of the U.S.

Now that you’ve been properly warned, let me tell you about Lydia’s Broom. A single plant can spread to cover an entire hillside. Their brief blooming period occurs in May (mine is just ending, now). The rest of the season they remain a green ground cover.

Genista Lydia is not supposed to survive in anything less than USDA Zone 6 or 7. Despite that, I’ve managed to keep a few alive for many years in my landscape. Some turn brownish in winter, but bounce back in spring. Others have turned brownish ... and died. So, good luck!

Well, the clock has struck 4 p.m. It’s happy hour. I’m heading to the deck to smell the flowers.

Achoo! Better take an antihistamine. See you next week.