Perennial Border

The Perennial Border at the JC Raulston Arboretum is a spectacular, 300' long, 18' deep marvel of color and texture that contains nearly a thousand plants of great diversity. This mosaic of herbaceous perennials, small shrubs, grasses, and bulbs is designed to provide exciting displays of color, texture, and form throughout the year.

The Perennial Border's design is based upon the color scheme used by Gertrude Jekyll in her long border at her home, Munstead Wood. It begins with grays and silvers, moves into pastels and from pastels to more saturated colors, culminating in "gorgeousness" presenting intense golds, scarlets, and reds. On the other side of the hot colors, it reverses and moves back into the pastels again, allowing the viewer's eye to rest. Like Jekyll, who always separated blues and violets, we placed the violets (in the west) at the opposite end of the border from the blues (in the east).

Perennial Border