Agastache ‘Blue Boa’

If a long blooming perennial is what you are looking for, Agastache should be a high on your list.  Agastache ‘Blue Boa‘ is a beautiful new perennial variety that has bright purple flower spikes that bloom all summer. The tall (2 -3 foot) upright habit of ‘Blue Boa’ and thick colorful spikes make this a great specimen plant. What I have done and recommend doing is planting several Agastaches together in mass to create a colorful long blooming ‘patch’ in your garden. The sweet anise smell is delightful on a warm summer night. Take a few cuts and bring this beauty in the house to enjoy. Agastache ‘Blue Boa‘ is a natural attractor for hummingbirds and butterflies, and because of its lovely scent the deer will stay away.

Be sure to check out our huge list of Agastache to start your long blooming variety list.

Sweet Caroline Raven Ipomoea

There’s a new filler in town! Make ‘Sweet Caroline Raven‘ Sweet Potato Vine your go to plant for filling in your annual combinations. For many years the standard filler/spiller has always been Bacopa, Creeping Jenny, Licorice Vine, etc. , while these all make for a great filler, why not try some thing new and different?  ‘Sweet Caroline Raven‘ has gorgeous, lacy, black  leaves that can trail up to 3 foot if you let them. They intermingle well with Supertunias®, Superbells®, Geraniums and almost any other annual you can envision them with. The dark black foliage really makes other colors ‘pop’ from the contrast. Garden Crossings will be using tons of this Sweet Potato Vine in our baskets this year. Below are just a couple examples of combinations we will be using.

Arundo donax ‘Golden Chain’

Add a splash of sunshine to your landscape with Arundo donax ‘Golden Chain’ . The thick leaves feature a golden yellow stripe on the outside that encases a thick green stripe down the center.  Add some vertical color and motion to your garden or landscape. ‘Golden Chain‘ is a less aggressive variety of Arundo grass reaching 5 to 7 foot tall (7 foot in the south). In late summer in the southern states you will notice a beautiful plume of gold waving atop the beautiful foliage. Arundo Grass is hardy down to zone 6.

INCA ICE™ Alstroemeria

Do you love to cut flowers to enjoy in your home? In my opinion Alstroemeria is one of the nicest, longest lasting cut varieties you could grow. INCA ICE™ is one of those varieties that starts to bloom early summer and is a not stop show until late fall. The beautiful salmon colored flowers and a bright splash of color to your garden. So you do like to cut flowers!? You need not worry about your plant looking bare, the constant blooms and new growth with give you enjoyment indoors and out. INCA ICE™ Alstroemeria has a nice full, bushy, upright habit and stands 2 to 3 foot tall. Grown in full sun to part shade this garden beauty is sure to be a cool new addition to your perennial garden.

Sonic Bloom™ Weigela

The bells shaped flower of  Weigela are a beautiful addition to the spring landscape. But what would you think of the idea of enjoying the blooms all summer long? Well now you can! Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Shrubs has added three wonderful colors of  Weigela that bloom all summer, they are Sonic Bloom™ Pearl, Sonic Bloom™ Red, and Sonic Bloom™ Pink. The Pearl(white), red and pink blooms contrast beautifully with the bright green foliage. These new additions are easy to grow and would make a great hedge. Their reblooming qualities would give you season long color from a shrub. The  Sonic Bloom™ series stand 4 to 5 foot tall and wide. Be on the lookout for butterflies enjoying a tasty treat.

Superbells® Cherry Star Calibrachoa

It was love at first sight when I first layed my eyes upon this new Annual from Proven Winners, Superbells® Cherry Star Calibrachoa. The intense pink color combined with the bright yellow star creates a shocking color combination. Planted alone or in combination, Superbells® Cherry Star is sure to turn a few heads. The mounding trailing habit of Cherry Star makes a statement in hanging baskets, planters and the landscape. Superbells® prefer to be planted in full sun and have well drained soil. To maintain a stunning planting all summer long we recommend using Water soluble fertilizer at least every other week. When your Calibrachoas start to look a little tired, we recommend giving them a slight trim to promote additional branching which will also encourage additional flowers. Try Planting Cherry Star with Ipomoeas, petunias, or other calibrachoa for great combinations.

2012 Is here and so is a HUGE line up of great new varieties for this new planting season.

Over the next month or so we will be featuring several new varieties that Garden Crossings is listing. Many of these new varieties we have had first hand experience with before they had a chance to hit the market. I will let you know what we liked about the products or did not care for. How they performed in our gardens and what we expect for future growth. We value your feedback on the new ( and older) varieties that we carry! Please feel free to leave your feedback on our facebook or Google + page.  We look forward to Seeing you over the next few months as you check back often to see What’s New!!!

If you have a garden I am sure you have some sort of garden treasure in it. My latest find has been a drop down side baby crib. These cribs have been recalled and can not be resold because they have been deemed unsafe. So keep your eyes peeled for people who are wanting to get rid of their cribs. I found mine at the end of a driveway waiting for the trash man to pick it up.

You may be asking why does she want a crib for her garden? I have a slight love for clematis and clematis need to climb! I will be ‘planting’ the crib ends and sides in various locations to let my clematis have something to cling to and get tall in my garden.

Another idea is to make a flower ‘bed’.  Bury the ends and sides down deep enough that you can plant inside of it and have it look like a bed. This is a very cute idea if you have the space.

And lastly, I can for see using the ends as a ‘backdrop’ in the garden. The nice shape and color would be beautiful to ‘plant’ behind a planting of Monarda, Rudbeckia, Daylilies, or even in a shade garden to contrast with Hostas.

Just let your imagination be your guide, that are so many treasures out there waiting to be repurposed!

To Make your Investment Last ALL Season!

In the spring gardeners/decorators/landscapers get excited that the weather is warming up and that they can start to create their beautiful combination planters in the beautiful pots that they have purchased.  For many of you the pots/containers that you use are a pretty good size investment since you were looking for just the ‘right’ pot. Your perfect container maybe made of molded plastic, clay, ceramic, wood, and so on. These containers quite often are the focal point of your yard,  garden, or the front of your house. (Here are some combination ideas if you are interested HERE.)

Once the season turns and fall arrives you may plant some garden mums in your favorite pots for a great fall accent look. But after the first frost and the mums turn brown, your container sets empty and you are done with that container and decorating with it, until spring.  For many of you this maybe what you are seeing right now.

I am here to tell you that the season does not have to end once the frost has hit and the snow fly’s! I was driving to Garden Crossings today and was shocked at all the great winter container planters that I saw.  On my way home I stopped at a few of the homes that I had seen and took some pictures.

Here is a very simple arrangement that almost anyone could put together.  This person just took their         trimmed branches, presumably from their Christmas tree that need to be trimmed down and stuck them   into the left behind dirt. It is very simple, easy to do and as I drove past at 55mph I saw it right away. Nice, Simple & Quick!

The Next house that I drove by and later returned to had this additional twist on their pine branches. They took their dormant grass plumes and added them in for some vertical interest and also this will give the container a little ‘motion’ .  I really like to have a ‘thriller’ that adds motion to many of my personal combination planters.   Below is another combination that I saw at this same residence (when I went to knock on the door and asked if they mined me taking photos) again, using the grass for height and motion and the pine boughs for a filler. Very Nice!

Here is a picture of a combination planter put together by someone who is very creative and used many  dormant plants and flowers, but also added in some of the evergreen shrubs like Ilex and also utilized the bright red berries from the Ilex for an added zap of color. When I took a real close look at what all was in this combination I was surprised to see Milkweed-very neat touch. Also included was dried flowers from Hydrangea, dried seed pods, and a little field grass tops.  Love it!

And finally the last home that I stopped at had another cool decorating idea.  Here the home owner took her welcome planter and filled it with pine branches and berries for that zap of color. For height she took Red Twig Dogwood branches and left some their natural color of red and the spray painted others white. A very stunning touch for some added height and color.  Also on the adjacent corner of her garage she took her urn planter and placed a wreath around the top(with lights) and stuck a big bunch of spray painted white branches for a great focal point planter.

I hope you feel inspired to refresh your containers and make the most out of your investment!

Much of the flower color for the holiday season comes in the form of the Poinsettia.  Poinsettias now come in such a vast array of colors, it is no longer the traditional Red, White, and Pink. They have speckles, have been died, and even come in peach, burgundy, a white and pink mix and so much more. Every Christmas we like to have Poinsettias around for their color and the joy they add to the season. But this year we wanted to add a little spice to the plants that we bought ( yes bought, we do not grow Poinsettias). We found a decorative pot that we carry at Garden Crossings and added a little flare. For the center piece in this combination planter we choose Amaize n’ Blue™ Chamaecyparis.  Amaize n’ Blue™ is an evergreen variety that generally is planted outdoors. The soft silvery blue foliage is very ‘touchable’ as it does not poke. This is a compact evergreen growing only 1-3″, it would make a very cute border plant.  In addition to the Chamaecyparis, we added 4 boxwood plants, 2 of each variety North Star™ & Wedding Ring™. North Star™ Boxwood is an evergreen shrub that has a nice mounding habit and reaches only 3″ tall, little to no pruning is needed with this variety. Also in the mix is the second Boxwood, Wedding Ring™.  Wedding Ring™ has shiny green foliage with a chartreuse green edge, in the summer it turns to gold. A great variegated choice for both planters and in the landscape. Again, this Boxwood only reaches only 1-3″ tall.  All the great shrubs that we used in this colorful combination  A Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Evergreen Shrub.

The reason I wanted to share with you my holiday combination is to just show you that sometimes when decorating( for any season) you have to think outside the box and put together some not so traditional arrangements. The first person who came over to our house and saw this said “Wow! Where did you get that? I want one!”  and that my gardening friends in the comment we all want to hear when we are planting our gardens and containers!

Peace, Love & Joy!  Merry Christmas!

How to Spice Up Your Holiday Arrangemets