Finding the perfect plant or finding perfect plants?

While the question might at first seem to be the same, there is a difference.

Perfect plants might be the ones you see in a nursery, while the perfect plant is the one that is going to grow well and thrive in your landscape.

I have long admired Red Butte Garden as a wonderful place to help find the perfect plants. Because it is, relatively speaking, right next to many of us, it has long been an outstanding resource to look for, to find and to learn about plants.

This weekend is the perfect time to visit the garden to find the perfect plants for your own landscape. Red Butte is hosting its annual plant sale, which also offers the chance to get gardening advice from garden staff.

I spent some time wandering Red Butte to learn more about the plants that are thriving there. The stately trees, the vivid bulbs, the fragrant shrubs and the wonderful spring blooming perennials never disappoint. After visiting the garden, it was difficult to narrow the scope for this column, so for today I'll discuss the Dumke Floral Walk and its beautiful seasonal flowers.

Crystal Reece, a horticulturist at the garden, is in charge of this area. This Salt Lake native, who completed her degree at Oregon State University and held internships at other public gardens, came to Red Butte four years ago.

The Dumke Floral Walk, which takes you from the Visitors Center to the lower garden, features a wonderful blending of introduced plants among the native oaks. Each turn in the path delights with another view.

"The floral walk was constructed starting in 1994," Reece said. "It was designed to have different sections according to the sun exposure to get the chance to display many different plants that would fit the area." The lower part was redesigned to include the Olympic rings, a tribute to Utah hosting the 2002 Winter Games.

"The floral walk, between all of the varieties of the plants, is designed to have something in bloom from February to November and sometimes even later," Reece said. "It is a good place to see plants in continuous bloom practically all yearlong."

Although there are hundreds of plants located along the walk, I asked her to name her favorites that are now in bloom. She hesitated, because she did not want to leave out any of the plants entrusted to her care.

"One of my favorites is the pearl bush because you don't see that very often," she said. "Right now the lilacs are just starting to bloom, and the fragrant viburnums are very showy. Crab-apples, pears and spireas are also very showy."