2006 Perennials Marketing Contest
Third Runner Up

Garden Works at Mandeville
Where every inch of the Perennial display earns its keep

A close-up of the interplay between light and dark colored plants, contrasting leaf shapes and the smatterings of reds and purples which provide elements of contrast. Who wouldn't want to replicate this in their garden?
This colorful and textural perennial display looks much larger than it is. Only 15 feet long and eight feet wide, every square inch is planted with purpose.

Our sincere congratulations go to Garden Works at Mandeville in Burnaby, British Columbia, the third place winner of the 2006 Perennial Marketing contest sponsored by Plant Publicity Holland, the Perennial Plant Association and Branch Smith publishing.

"We felt it was important to create a display garden to the scale of our average customer's urban yard", said garden center manager, Roberta Ward. "We also wanted to show our customers that in even the most modest of spaces it is still possible to have focal points, pathways, water features and more. Within the display are three vignettes: a gurgling fountain area, a central garden and an island, the centerpiece of which is a stunning container display."

Visible from the three main aisles of the nursery, this richly colored and textured display invites customers into the perennial area. From the photos, one would think this is an enormous display. Not so. It is only 15 feet long and eight feet wide, but every square inch more than earns its keep thanks to Owen Parker's artful design.

The massive, organically shaped fountain looks like it has always been there. Upon closer examination however, it is the variety, shapes and heights of the surrounding plants, and their artful placement, that make it seem so at home.

The Fountain
Setting this vignette's mood of warmth and majesty, the massive fountain is a backdrop to rows of sunny-colored perennials at its base — silvery-leafed lavender, Sedum 'Purple Emperor', and Erica 'Fiddler's Gold". Pond plants were selected to mimic the fountain's flow (silver-green Bird-of-Paradise) and to create the complementary sensation of elemental spaciousness (White Bulrush). Canna lilies and Colcasia 'Black Magic', a customer favorite, draw the eye deeper into the vignette where brilliant, scarlet Lobelia cardinalis forms a staircase to the heart of the display and contrasts beautifully with the foreground plants.

The Center Area
Here, dazzling white and pink Echinacea capture attention from afar. Boulders create balance to the fountain's mass, and airy, sky-blue Perovskia 'Little Spire' softens the impact. Elegant, spikey Phygelius rectus outlines the features of the stately 'Portrait-of-Mother-Nature' statue. Variegated Hebes, layers of Phygelius, and golden Ericas provide textures and exquisite colors, while a circle of glossy Heartleaf Bergenias surround a playful cherub statue, introducing a light-hearted charm to the garden.

One richly planted, stunning stone urn is often the only focal point a smaller garden, patio or balcony needs.

The Planter Area
A curved arbor, massed with two-foot flowering Rudbeckia, connects to the freestanding island planter display. The massive urn features a Canna Lily surrounded by a mix of trailing Artemesia, Coleus, Ipomoea, Setcreasea, and trailing Campanula, while the base is surrounded with Blue Oat Grass, Helictotrichon, and a layer of golden Sedum. Tall shrubs behind and stone-like bricks placed around the entire vignette frame the display.

"Our perennial sales were terrific last year," commented Ms. Ward. "One of the reasons for this is that the perennial display showed our customers new uses for, and combinations of plants that they were keen to have in their own gardens."

Garden Works at Mandeville
4746 S.E. Marine Drive
Burnaby, British Columbia
V5J 3G6

Roberta Ward, store manager