As we ease into fall, I thought I’d share with you one of my favorite late-season perennial borders, located at the Bellevue Botanical Garden.

Tucked away on the east side of Washington’s Puget Sound, this 36-acre horticultural gem is one that I will always regret not spending more time exploring.

By the time I arrived, I was only able to spend about an hour wandering through the garden, before it was time for my presentation with the Northwest Perennial Alliance (NPA).

Pulling myself away from this garden was really, really difficult.

But with the clock loudly ticking inside my head, I decided to focus what little time I had on their new Perennial Border.

The original designers Glenn Withey and Charles Price,  created the border in 1991, but as often happens over time, the garden needed refreshing.

In 2008, the NPA, with its community of dedicated (and talented) volunteers, worked alongside the designers to give this border a complete overhaul.

I have to laugh, as one of the group members asked me to offer any advice (from a designer’s standpoint) of ways to improve the border.  Seriously?  This is about as close to perfection as I can imagine and there’s nothing I would do differently!  I hope you enjoy the tour:

I’m always a sucker for rudbeckias, and this variety has quickly climbed to the top of my wish list.

R. subtomentosa ‘Henry Eilers’ has zillions of 2-inch flowers with thin, delicate petals at the tip of towering 4-foot stems.

While I haven’t yet tried this in our area, my initial research says it’s drought tolerant.  You can be sure I’m planting some in my garden next year!

Oh, and don’t you love how it’s combined with the dark foliage of black mondo grass?  Divine.

This monochromatic pairing took my breath away.

Creating a one-color border is difficult to do, as it can quickly become messy and jumbled looking.  One of the solutions is to focus on each plant’s shape and form to make sure there’s enough contrast within the combination.

In this instance, the tall and wispy False Hemp in the back of the border (datisca cannabina) commands the eye to stop and take notice.

Nearby, the waving thread-like flowers of the solidago and the puff-ball flowers of the shrubby hare’s ear (bupleurum fruicosum) add much-needed visual contrast. 

Here you can see the impressive False Hemp planted in other areas of the border.  I particularly like the way it forms an archway over the pathway.

Even though it can tower to heights of 8-feet, its base remains fairly compact at 2-feet wide. These dimensions, combined with the airiness of the stems, make it easier than you’d think to tuck within a border and you can be sure I’m on the hunt to find one for my own garden.

Another stately, in-your-face beauty, is the Variegated Giant Reed Grass (arundo donax var. versicolor).

The base of this plant becomes woodier and thicker than that of the False Hemp, so a larger space would definitely be needed to house such a show-stopper.

A brilliant combination, placing the creamy shades of the hydrangea and miscanthus flowers in front of the sultry purple background. 

The burnished shades of an epimedium’s fall foliage usher in the changing seasons.

As do the various rose hips, fruits of the dogwood and Harlequin Glorybower (clerodendrum trichotomum), and a hydrangea’s changing colors.

The end of the Perennial Border takes you through one of the most impressive fuchsia collections I’ve ever seen.

Here are just a few examples…

Now can you see why I’m filled with regret for only having an hour to spend at this garden?

With so much more to see,  I’ll definitely come back again next time I’m in Washington.