Archive for the ‘Shrubs’ Category

Fothergilla is a low growing hedge plant for part shade boasting brilliant fall color

“The roots below the earth claim no rewards for making the branches fruitful.” Rabindranath Tagore

Fall planting establishes the necessary root growth required to anchor the plant in its new environment and build up nutrient reserves for healthy & sustainable growth next spring.

Interesting Info on Fall Planting

• Over 75% of a plants root growth occur in  fall
• Soil is warmer in fall than in spring
• Roots continue to grow as long as the soil is not frozen
• Plants will grow better in the spring with a well established root system
• Plants are better equipped to handle drought & extreme conditions the following season
• Plants use less water in the fall as they become established

Plants Have to Work Harder in Spring

If you plant in the spring, plants have to do double duty.  They must adjust to its new environment AND put on leaves, flowers and be ready to embrace summer heat & humidity.  Fall planting is beneficial as roots continue to grow and become established.  In spring, plants are happy in their new environment and ready to put on strong top growth & flowers.

Planted in the fall, Fothergilla will be well established to support spring flowering honey-scented blooms

Start NOW

Yes, you can get that head start on spring by planting now!  If you need to limit yourself to a few  fall planting tasks, then consider planting spring-flowering perennials & shrubs such as:

Lily of the Valley

Dicentra

Hellebore

Lilacs – Syringa

Fothergilla

Related Articles:  Benefits of Fall Planting, 12 Fall Maintenance Garden Tips, Hot Tips for Cool Fall Weather

Reblooming Invincibelle Spirit Hydrangea

This breeding breakthrough is one of the most exciting new Flowering Shrubs of the past decade! It’s a PINK flowering form of America’s favorite Annabelle Hydrangea.  Rare, pink-flowering Invincibelle Spirit Hydrangea boasts giant 8-10″ flowers of bright pink that will color your garden for over 4 months!

For decades, the giant white flowered globes of Annabelle Hydrangea were the only Hydrangea that would reliably bloom in the coldest regions of the country. However, Invincibelle Spirit Hydrangea has changed the landscape with her bright pink flowers that thrive in the coldest Zone 3 gardens!

White blooms on Annabelle Hydrangea, Hardy in Zone 3

It took nearly 10 years for hybridizer Dr. Tom Ranney to successfully produce this pink-flowered form of Annabelle and we consider this one of the most exciting breeding breakthroughs in Hydrangeas of the past decade!

Invincibelle Spirit Hydrangea lends itself to a multitude of uses in today’s home garden including magnificent large pot specimens on the patio as shown in the above photo. She also makes a wonderful long-blooming Hedge Plant as shown in the picture below. What other hedges will grow quickly and give you over 4 months of flowers…which make long-lasting cut-flower bouqets!

Invincibelle Spirit Hydrangea used as a Long-Blooming Flowering Hedge

Each stem produces a large flower measuring 8-10″ across and a dark pink in color. Cooler temperatures seem to intensify & darken the pink coloration. As the main flower emerges, other flowers begin appearing up & down the stem, thus prolonging the flower show for up to 4 months!

And we saved the best part for last! Dr. Ranney has teamed up with Proven Winners to launch this plant with a special goal of raising $1 MILLION dollars to be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to help in the fight against this dreaded disease! One dollar for every plant sold will be donated!

Our hats (and garden gloves) off to our good friend Tom Ranney and we wish him much success with this new Great Garden Plant!!

Hydrangea, Hosta & Aruncus in a shade garden setting

Here’s a  garden plant combination for the shade garden that is a real eye-catcher!

Hostas are a terrific shade perennial to use as a foreground planting to flowering shrubs such as Hydrangeas.

The large rounded Hydrangea flowers play well against the delicate, lacy creamy white flowers of Goatsbeard or Aruncus.

Aruncus is an imposing upright shade perennial that thrives in a moist setting.    It grows up to 5 feet tall.  I like using Aruncus to give height in my shade garden and often will use this perennial in place of a shrub.

A few hard working flowering shrubs in the garden add structure & height while bridging the season with interesting foliage.  Plant in groupings or singly depending on the desired result or select  flowering shrubs  that bloom at different times for  continued bloom from spring-fall.

Butterfly Bush is a long flowering & fast growing flowering shrub

Buddleia

Gardening has never been so easy with drought tolerant Butterfly Bush. A wide variety of colors  and heights await your garden design. Plants grow fast and appreciate full sun and well drained soil. Cut back this deciduous shrub in the spring.

Caryopteris

Blue Mist Shrub or Bluebeard is a low growing shrub with  low water needs and beautiful blue flowers growing around 3-4 feet tall. Plant in full sun and well drained soil.  Cut back this deciduous shrub in the spring.

Cercis

(Weeping Redbud) This small tree or large shrub has showstopping bright pink flowers in spring, giving way to heart-shaped leaves.  Grows in full sun to part shade. Remove dead wood during or after flowering. Fertilize after flowering.

Hydrangeas

Hydrangea boasts foliage & flowering appeal and is regarded as one of the most popular shrubs for the home gardener. Versatile, they thrive in a range of soils from sun to shade.

Knock Out Roses

Perhaps one of the best landscape rose on the market today – hands down.  Knock Out Roses bloom  5+ months and even flower well in part shade. Trim back 1/3 in the spring and fertilize with Osmocote.

Lilac Bloomerang has fragrant flowers spring-fall

Syringa

This hardy shrub is commonly called lilac. Lilacs produce early spring, fragrant flowers. There is nothing like a fresh bouquet of lilacs to rejuvenate the spirit.   A deciduous shrub, prune after blooming.

Viburnum

There are tons of varieties on what is commonly called Snowball Bush. White flowers in spring, Nice green color all season long. Foliage turns red/orange in fall and sometimes berries.  Very easy to grow and widely adaptable to a range of soils.

Weigela

Weigela is yet another foolproof shrub that thrives under adverse conditions, yet remains beautiful all season long.  The star performance is in spring.  Easy to grow.

With the array of sizes, shapes, flowers and forms, flowering shrubs are a natural fit in almost any setting large or small.

Related Articles:

Tips on Shrub Pruning

5 Month Blooming Hedge Plant – Endless Summer Hydrangea

Long-blooming Endless Summer Hydrangea

Our pick for Best New Shrub of the Decade! Hydrangea macrophylla Endless Summer brings a wealth of great features to gardeners nationwide.

Blooms in Zone 4 gardens! Finally, a mophead Hydrangea that will bloom in Zone 4 gardens across the country! This giant mophead Hydrangea was selected at Bailey Nurseries in Minnesota for its ability to bloom on new growth! Other mophead or macrophylla Hydrangeas bloom on last year’s growth (old wood), but Endless Summer Hydrangea blooms on both old AND new growth. So, in areas of extreme cold which can damage the old growth flower buds, you’ll get an entirely new flower show in mid summer & fall.

Useful as a Long Blooming Hedge Plant

Months of GIANT 10″ flower heads! Endless Summer Hydrangea begins its flower show in early summer & continues for over 5 months with its heavy reblooming flower display.  Mid-November of last year we STILL had flowers on our Endless Summer Hydrangea.

Best long-blooming flowering Hedge Plant we’ve found! Hydrangea Endless Summer makes a superb and long-flowering Hedge Plant growing to 4′ tall and 5′ wide. Used as a flowering hedge you get garden beauty as well as bouquets of fresh-cut Hydrangea flowers that last over 2 weeks in the vase!

Flowers can be either Pink or Blue depending on soil pH

Flower color changes with soil pH. As with all mophead Hydrangeas, the flower color will change according to your soil pH. Flowers are pink if you have more alkaline soil with a higher pH and are bright blue if you have more acidic soils with a lower pH.

Fall foliage display on Endless Summer Hydrangea

Don’t forget the fall FOLIAGE show! Many gardeners forget that the foliage of Endless Summer Hydrangea also changes color in the fall taking on fiery colors of orange & red before the leaves finally drop off.

You won’t be disappointed with this long-blooming Hydrangea which combines wonderfully with colorful Heucheras, bold-foliaged Hostas, & lacy Hardy Ferns!