Posts Tagged ‘Hedge Plants’

“Good things come for those who wait….”

My admiration for Baptisia took a couple of years to develop.  It certainly wasn’t love at first sight since  first year plants were spindly and I thought it was never going to amount to much. The second year  this sun perennial started to take off and I began to see its merits both as a drought proof flowering perennial and its shrub-like habit.

Garden Design with Baptisia

Baptisia is worth a place in any garden.  Here’s why:

1)  Baptisia helps anchor the back of the border.  It is an excellent choice as a small shrub alternative due to its size, shape and some pretty spectacular foliage that stay attractive all season.
2) No serious insect or disease problems.
3) Seldom bothered by deer.
4) Drought proof once established.
5) Maintenance –  Easy – Just cut back in fall or spring

Stunning lupine-like violet-blue flowers in spring are loved by butterflies

More on Baptisia

• Baptisia grows 3-4 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide
• Hardy perennial – Zone 4-9
• Thrives in full sun to part shade
• Stunning, violet-blue lupine-like flowers in late spring
• Plump seeds pods turn charcoal black when ripe and can be used in dried arrangements
• Prefers a moist, humus soil
• Needs good drainage
• Develops deep taproots – not for the serial plant mover – best to leave alone.
  

  The dried seed pods of Baptisia lend themselves to craft projects & dried flower arrangements

I like the fact it won the prestigious 2010 Perennial Plant of the Year award.  There’s a lot of new flower colors that are rocking the garden world. I personally love an old fashioned variety called  B. australis because there is so little true blue perennial flower color.  This is a true beauty of a garden plant in or out of flower  providing interest, color, and structure  from spring-fall in the perennial garden.

Find out more about Baptisia

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!

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!

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!!

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

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!

If you want to prevent people from walking through your landscape and/or keep them on a defined pathway  you want a low growing hedge plant like Buddleia Blue Chip.

Blue Chip Buddleia is a hedge plant with a non-hedge look with its long flowering blooms that start in mid-summer and last well into fall with no need to deadhead or prune.

Buddleia Blue Chip is a compact deciduous shrub that grows about 30” tall by 24” wide with fragrant re blooming blue flowers that beckon butterflies & hummingbirds. This cold hardy flowering shrub is a new miniature butterfly bush that works well in a narrow spot.

This planting is near the office  entry at Spring Meadow Nursery.  How nice it must be walking to and from work and being greeted by hordes of butterflies!

Benefits of  Blue Chip (Lo & Behold) Buddleia:

• Create a  hedge plant barrier that prevents people from walking through your landscape
• Highly versatile flowering shrub
• Tolerant of road salts
• Highly deer proof
• Drought tolerant once established
• Easy Care
• Cold hardy to Zone 5

Whether your are defining a pathway, screening out undesirable views, it is hard to beat the overall beauty and  one time investment of easy to grow Buddleia Blue Chip

What a great way to great summer guests and keep them on a defined pathway to your office or your home.

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