Posts Tagged ‘Posts by Chris’

Breeder Arie Blom & his Hot Papaya Coneflower

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

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!

Echinacea Coconut Lime

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!

Echinacea Hot Papaya

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

Mum Matchsticks - Hardy thru Zone 4

“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.

Matchsticks Mum - Compact & heavy-blooming habit!

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?

Spring Trio of Color

As 2010 winds to a close, we look forward to spring and hope it is right around the corner! My, how time flies when we’re having fun!

You can easily brighten a shady corner of your garden with this trio of colorful shade perennials. You’ve got the brilliant strawberry-peach foliage of Heuchera Georgia Peach combining with the silvery-veined foliage of Brunnera Jack Frost. We used Heuchera Frosted Violet to pull everything together. Early spring brings the added bonus of bright sky-blue flowers sitting atop Brunnera Jack Frost.

The beauty of this colorful Shade Garden Collection is that it remains stunning for over 8 months in the shade garden or patio planter.

Heuchera Georgia Peach in Summer

This image shows Heuchera Georgia Peach in all its summer-time glory. Of all the new Heucheras hitting the market & confusing gardeners, I strongly feel that Georgia Peach has risen to the top & is a phenominally strong grower in the garden.

Her leaves are a stunning strawberry coloration ALL season long, giving over 6 MONTHS of continual color.

Brunnera Jack Frost with Summer foliage

Here’s a picture of Brunnera Jack Frost with its bright summer foliage of silver and green-veined leaves. The foliage remains brilliant all spring, summer, & fall!

Even the deer won’t touch this rugged shade plant!

Helleborus Grape Galaxy

It’s getting to be one of my favorite times of the year as all of my Stock Plant Hellebores begin to come into bloom! These ultra-easy and extremely hardy Shade Plants make superb, long-lived perennials in the garden. Their foliage is semi-evergreen in the North and totally evergreen in the South.

Plus, they are 100% DEER PROOF! I’ve grown Hellebores for over 15 years and have had deer prance thru my garden chewing everything in site, BUT they have never touched a single Hellebore. This might be because their leaves are slightly toxic.

My Hellebores are all in greenhouses in Western Michigan and are beginning their flower show much earlier than plants outdoors. In most parts of the country, they’ll begin their flower show in late winter and continue for over 8 weeks.

Hellebores, with their dark green foliage, make superb companions to shade-loving plants like Heucheras, Hostas, Hardy Ferns, & Hydrangeas.

If you’ve never grown Hellebores, now is the perfect time to start! We’ve got over 13 colorful selections for you to choose from on our website at www.GreatGardenPlants.com !

Happy New Year to All!

Heucheras for the Shade

Here’s one of my favorite groups of Shade Perennials! Heucheras (or Coral Bells) have come a long way over the past 15 years due to the dedicated breeding programs of folks like Dan Heims of Terra Nova Nurseries.

Heuchera Southern Comfort

These colorful shade lovers thrive with little care and provide a wonderful range of color to brighten up even the darkest shade spot in your garden. Heucheras come in an array of colors, sizes, & flowers. From the bright yellow leaves of Heuchera Lime Rickey to the intense peach of Heuchera Georgia Peach. The leaves of Heuchera Southern Comfort can reach an AMAZING 10” across, while the vivid red blooms of Heuchera Rave On create a flurry of color in the late spring garden.

Heucheras are easy to grow and thrive in most garden conditions. They love morning sun until 1pm, but will also grow in heavier shade. I usually fertilize my established Heucheras in mid April with Osmocote slow-release fertilizer (you can buy at any good garden center). I’ve found that 1 tablespoon of Osmocote scattered around each plant will feed them all spring & summer. Watering your Heucheras once a week will also help keep them happy.