Posts Tagged ‘perennials’

“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

What apps are to computers, Geranium Rozanne is to the perennial  garden– functional, fulfilling and a fast growing groundcover I can’t live without.

I’ve grown tons of varieties of hardy geraniums over the years – some really terrific ones, but like an app, Geranium Rozanne just does something more for me in the landscape that no other geranium does equally as well.

Meandering Spirit – Spreading clumps fill in fast and weave here and there but never overly  ambitious or that would require extra work on my part.   I like to plant it where it can meander around spiked  or small shrubs  shrubs (I’m going to try it beneath Barberry Gold Pillar this year )

Carefree Color – Five-petaled saucer-shape blue flowers boast  blue-lavender blooms for over 12 weeks  and it doesn’t need to be deadheaded to continue blooming!  Rozanne geranium defies the early fall frost here in Zone 5 and just keeps blooming –  something you don’t see in most hardy geraniums. The foliage takes on a reddish tinge  in the fall, so there is even something more to enjoy!

Heat Tolerance – This award winning sun perennial groundcover is HIGHLY Heat Tolerant  – not something hardy geraniums are known for.

What it Loves – Rozanne Geranium thrives in a moist, moderately fertile, well drained soil in full sun to light shade.

Garden Staple – Rozanne Geranium works so well in lots of settings. It combines beautifully with another colorful, carefree and heat tolerant groundcover – Coreopsis Creme Brule!  This groundcover is to perennial gardening  like khaki

pants & blue denim are to weekend summer wear.

Flower power, ease of growing, fast growing habit and tons of combination possibilities make Geranium Rozanne my all-time favorite sun loving perennial groundcover.  Its’ like having a great app!

CLICK HERE for more info

I’d like to introduce you to the man behind many of the very BEST double-flowered Coneflowers currently in American gardens. He is our very good friend, Arie Blom of The Netherlands. Arie studied advanced plant breeding at the University of Florida and after receiving his graduate degree, he worked in a tissue culture laboratory in California before returning to Holland.

Arie is an extremely friendly guy and is passionate about his breeding work with Echinacea. I’ve had many opportunities to sit down and talk with Arie and I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to visit his seedling fields this summer!

Arie began breeding Coneflowers in 2002 and started in his backyard. A few of his initial goals were to breed for very sturdy, vigorous garden plants with a heavy flowering tendancy.

Echinacea Pink Double Delight was Arie’s very first introduction and he hit it out of the ballpark!

This bright double pink Coneflower has multitudes of large 2-3″ flowers held atop very strong stems that don’t flop in the dirt. Plants are very well branched and produce a flower show from mid-June until September!

Arie’s second introduction was Echinacea Coconut Lime. His breeding goal was to produce a full double-white coneflower and he greatly succeeded!

Coconut Lime Coneflower is extremely floriferous with large 3″ flowers of white which turn a pleasant lime-green as they age. Its strong stems and heavy flower count make it a perfect subject for cut-flowers.

Many people don’t realize that DOUBLE Coneflowers will last over 2 weeks as cut flowers indoors. And, many are highly fragrant…which adds to the show!

Then along comes the FIRST-EVER DOUBLE Orange Coneflower with Arie’s Echinacea Hot Papaya! WOW!

When I first saw Hot Papaya Coneflower, I could not believe how tremendously STRONG the stems were! They were like thick pencils! This interspecific cross (a cross between 2 species) has produced this amazingly colorful hybrid with its giant 3″ flowers of brilliant orange and fully double.

Hot Papaya Echinacea also has wonderfully fragrant flowers and I had them last over 18 days as CUT FLOWERS in our offices of Great Garden Plants.

I have the extreme privilege of calling Arie Blom my friend! He is a very passionate plantsman with a willingness to share with others!

Stay tuned NEXT WEEK when I’ll show you his BEST new Double Coneflower for 2011!!! You won’t be disappointed! Chris

“What’s Old is New Again!” This is the case of Mum Matchsticks – an exciting New Sun Perennial! I was visiting with Kevin Hurd over at Walters Gardens and he asked me if we had ever considered selling this unusual-looking Chrysanthemum. I, personally, am not a huge fan of Mums…you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. BUT, when I went to their growing field and saw the extremely unusual flowers on this plant I knew we had a huge winner!

Striking QUILLED flowers are about 2″ across with bright yellow centers & hot red fluted flower tips. I’ve never seen anything like this! This hybrid has been around for 20-30 years so you know this is a very long-lived garden Mum.

A vigorous grower, Matchsticks Mum produces a compact plant 20″ tall and 24″ wide and is LOADED with dozens of these colorful blooms which require NO staking!

And, we’ve had them last over 3 weeks as cut flowers! What more could you ask for in a ultra-hardy Garden Mum?

I often get asked by newbie gardeners that have a combination of sun & shade in their perennial garden how to go about determining what to plant.  A number of years ago, I planted a number of sun loving perennials beneath a tree that had not leafed out yet – then wondered why I didn’t have very many blooms on my plants later that summer.

Because light angles & intensity varies throughout the season it is best to assess your site during the summer months (particularly when trees are fully leafed out)  to determine whether you have a shaded or sunny site.

Every spring I would set aside a day or so just to move plants that did not bloom well the previous year because they were in too much shade.  I would be sure to mark all my plants with a  painted stake the year before so I knew which plants needed moving. One thing I learned is that Hydrangeas can grow in full shade – but really need some sun to flower well.

Don’t Hesitate to Move

To bad I can’t get frequent flier mileage every time I moved a plant.  I’d be flying free for the next ten years.  Bottom line, don’t give up on your plants if they are not blooming or performing well. There are factors such as soil & moisture that affect a plants overall performance but chances are if the foliage is burning – they are in too much sun.  If they are not flowering well or at all – they are probably in too much shade.

When to Select Shade Loving Plants

If part of the garden is in morning sun and afternoon shade – select shade loving plants.  Often times shade loving plants need some sun to flower well and achieve good foliage coloration (such as Hostas & Heuchera)  Shade loving plants just don’t like the hot sun ALL AFTERNOON. A few hours of hot sun is probably fine depending on what part of the country you are living in.

When to Select Sun Loving Plants

If part of the garden is in morning shade and afternoon sun – select sun loving plants.  Sun loving plants  take some shade and if you have a combination of both – just make sure that you have at least 4-5 hours of sun during the day

Spring is a good time to move a majority of  perennials. After all, you are making room for all those NEW plants you must have and can’t live without.