Posts Tagged ‘Posts by Mary’

Hakonechloa Aureola - the most elegant shade groundcover ever!

Hakonechloa produces a gorgeous mound of narrow, arching leaves  that is useful for bringing bright color to the shade garden. It has a graceful, almost tropical like habit and is considered by some to be one of the most stunning groundcovers for the shade garden. Two of the more popular varieties include  bright gold leaf All Gold and Aureola which has gold leaves with stripes of bright green.

I’ve known gardeners that have been  successful with growing Hakonechloa and others who struggle growing this shade loving groundcover.  Essentially, this is a slow growing shade perennial that takes more than a couple of years to become mature.

Design Tips

Hakonechloa works well in so many shade settings as a foliage plant. Use it singly, in containers, or mass as a ground cover in front of a shady border.  For inspiring design ideas & photography check out  Design Ideas with Hakonechloa –Elegant Shade Ground Cover. Since you get 3 seasons of foliage color it combines terrific with various colors of Heuchera.

1o Tips on Growing the most beautiful Hakonechloa ever!

1)     Soil. It thrives in a rich, somewhat acidic soil in well drained site. If you give them average soil, they will be small to average in size.

2)     Planting. Dig a hole 3 times the height & width of your container and fill in with good organic matter.  Take the time to do this because it will make a difference

3)    Exposure. Full sun to part shade.  Hakonechloa grows well in full sun (in the north anyway) Protect from the hot afternoon sun.

4)    Water. Hakonechloa require lots of moisture. Water frequently the first year. If you have an irrigation system – terrific.

5)    Keep away from tree roots. Best to plant near but not directly under trees or large shrubs. Depending on the type, tree & shrub roots are moisture & nutrient robbers.  Plants often will stay small and often struggle if competing with neighboring roots.

6)    Keep roots cool. Plant in a location where they will receive shade during the hottest part of the day.   Use 3” of mulch after planting to keep roots cool until plants become established.

7)   Feeding. Use a slow release fertilizer such as Osmocote according to package directions.

8)    Don’t cut back in the fall. If you are in a northern climate, wait until spring to either cut back or rake away previous year’s growth.

9)    Winter protection. My friend, Barb is a landscape designer in Minnesota (Zone 4) and use LOTS of Hakonechloa is in her garden design.  She uses pine boughs as a winter mulch. She has always been successful overwintering these plants.

10)   Planting & Spacing. I’ll often space Hakonechloa closer than other groundcovers (8-10” apart).  That way they fill in faster.  Plant in the spring so roots can establish themselves and be patient.

Container Growing

My friend Jayne, grows Hakonechloa in containers in her Zone 4 garden.  Here are her tips for container growing:

• Use drip irrigation  (keeps the plants  evenly moist)
• Slow Release liquid feed
• Replace soil every 2 years
• Bury the pots & cover with pine boughs for the winter

Growing Hakonechloa is a bit like reading Tolstoy’s War & Peace.  It is a bit of an undertaking, but don’t  let these proven  growing tips intimidate you from growing this magnificent shade loving groundcover in your perennial garden.

Where to Buy

Daisies for long lasting color in your garden

There is nothing that speaks of summer than the iconic daisy.  Shasta Daisy Becky (Leucantheum superbum) which stands upright with pristine white flowers. The yellow gold flowers of  Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia Goldsturm) extends the bloom time  in this combination  by flowering a bit later. Fragrant pink Coneflower (Echinacea Kims Knee High) is nestled in the middle. You got to love this eye catching color that last for months and the fact they are perennials that come back year after year makes this a sound investment.   If you are looking to fill your empty vases with something cheerful – don’t forget the daisies.

Easy Care Blue Combo of Stokesia & Caryopteris

There is nothing like the fresh summer blooms of Stokesia.  Stokes Aster is a easy care perennial. Chris & I are particularly fond of the variety Peachie’s Pick because of their large almost daisy-like blooms which flower well in heat & humidity.  Stokiesia Peachie’s Pick is easily grown in full sun

Blue Mist Shrub - Caryopteris makes a long lasting cut flower

Stokes Aster is paired here with drought proof  & long blooming  Caryopteris Grand Bleu.

Both are EASY CARE garden plants that thrive with good drainage and make a terrific cut flower.  They both add a punch of color often needed in the mid-late sun perennial garden.

Burning Hearts Bleeding Heart

Red flowers & Blue foliage are stunning!

Dicentra Burning Hearts is one of the BEST FLOWERING SHADE PERENNIALS to make its way on the market in recent years.

I’ve  seen a few different Dicentra in my day  (my father patented Dicentra Luxuriant way back when)  and this is one of the best one ever.

So many of you ask.….what flowers  all summer in the shade? How about Spring-Fall?  Give it was it loves, consistent moisture and good, well-drained soil  along with protection from the hot afternoon sun and you are on the way.

This attractive fern-leaf Bleeding Heart is a cross between D. peregrina, D. formosa, and D. eximia from Japanese breeder Akira Shiozaki. D. peregrina has intensely beautiful blue foliage but difficult to grow so he crossed it with eximia from North America.  So what does this all mean? Where other Dicentras melt down or go summer dormant, Burning Hearts continues to grow robustly even in the HEAT of  summer looking mighty fine and blooming its lovely heart-shaped head off until fall.

Dicentra Burning Hearts is a must have perennial that will add some sizzle to your shade garden.

Welcome to Great Garden Plants blog

Mary & Chris with their Jumbo Size Perennials at Garden Writers Symposium

After graduating from college in 1977 with a political science degree, I worked in retail management for awhile before finding myself back on home turf and working at my family wholesale perennial business, Walters Gardens, Inc.  I started packing plants and worked a few months in a tissue culture lab wanting to know what made this business tick and learning as much as I could about perennials. I even spent year study botany and organizing a wholesale catalog – thus began my horticultural & marketing career.

Mary & long time assistant Laurel Hall - Race for the Cure to fight Breast Cancer

I feel grateful to have had such a learning opportunity, especially gleaning  business & plant info from my father.   I was blessed with a great assistant, Laurel Hall who is a breast cancer survivor.  The two of us helped to develop programs where proceeds when to Susan G Koeman Foundation to help fight breast cancer. 

Joseph Campbell  once  said  “We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”  I found myself meeting up with my business partner Chris at a Trade Show in 2006 and starting Great Garden Plants in 2007.  It’s been truly an amazing & growing experience.  One of the things Chris & I were determined to do was to make gardeners happy by providing  a quality size  plant that they would enjoy.

When Chris & I started talking about a blog – we asked ourselves, what are we going to be blogging about?

As a gardener for over 25 years, I plan to share a lot of my successes and failures that will help you become a better gardener. I’ve planted many plants, killed not as many, moved more than I originally planted,  gave a lot of plants away, and surprised neighbors with various theme gardens (such as a laundry room theme).  I’m not very good at training my wanna-be gardener puppy, Chloe (a goldendoodle) who is determined to dig  holes in all the wrong places. 

I’m not a great writer, not even a good one – but I write as I see & feel it – not using some borrowed copy off the internet.  

As a horticultural photographer, you’ll see see a host of garden photos that I hope will inspire,  kindle an idea, or just make you smile.

Please join us on our gardening  adventure. We look forward to your comments!

Here’s to the glorious world of gardening!

Mary