Archive for March, 2010

Paeonia suffruticosa ‘Hanakisoi’ Tree Peony

A beautiful, ruffly pink beauty, has been born.

Paeonia ‘Hanakisoi’ features enormous apricot-pink semi double blooms in late spring. The beautiful flowers are fragrant and elegantly ruffled. ‘Hanakisoi‘ is wonderful as a cut flower! Tree Peonies differ from garden peonies in that they have a woody stem like a shrub. The woody branches do not die back to the ground in the winter and should not be trimmed back.

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Does this sound familiar to you? There are a few factors that may come into play with this statement that I will try and help you with. The first is, most people underwater their hanging baskets and planters. When you water your baskets/planters you need to make sure that you see a constant drip of water coming from the bottom of the pot. If you do not see the water flowing through that means that the water has not soaked all the way down to the bottom of your soil. If you soil does not get completely wet this will lead to the plant drying out faster. Another factor is wind and heat. When your planters are exposed to a windy location this will tend to dry them out faster. Also the heat from the hot sun will deplete the water much faster. And lastly there are some plants that are just plain thirsty! If you have Bacopa or Lobularia for example you will want to keep your baskets well hydrated for to keep them looking good.

The i3 planter can help you keep your baskets irrigated all summer long for great looking baskets. And as an added bonus they also have lights to keep your beautiful plants light up at night to show off to all your neighbors.

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Catalina® Gilded Grape Torenia

I am so excited to find a place for this new Proven Winners variety in my combination planter. There are not many yellow varieties that grow well in shade to part shade locations. I can see mixing this with the purple Torenia varieties along with pink or red impatiens.

Catalina® Gilded Grape Torenia starts blooming early and blooms through the Fall. Catalina® Gilded Grape is a deep yellow color with dark purple throated blooms. The unique trailing/mounding habit makes this a great choice for both hanging baskets and planters. Torenia is another choice for part shade locations.

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Clematis ‘Malaya Garnet’

Clematis ‘Malaya Garnet’ is pretty in pink and a real show stopper! This clematis has large 4-6″ flowers with pale pink petals that add a pop of color with a contrasting crimson central bar. ‘Malaya Garnet’ blooms first in May – June and then again from September – October making it a double delight to have in your garden!

Clematis ‘Malaya Garnet’ is part of Prune Group 2 which means – Prune lightly above the new leaf buds in early spring and remove any dead or weak stems. Early flowers appear on the previous season’s growth while late summer flowers appear on new growth.

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Dicentra spectabilis ‘Gold Heart’

Spring color is such a welcome site! For those of you who have shade and dark places in your garden you may consider Dicentra  ‘Gold Heart’ to brighten up your day. Dicentra ‘Gold Heart’ is a  stunning gold-leaved form of the old-time favorite common bleeding heart! Arching peach-colored stems carry chains of deep pink heart-shaped flowers above the dramatic metallic gold leaves. The fern-like foliage appears early in the spring and provides a colorful point of interest in the shade garden. Like other Dicentra spectabilis, ‘Gold Heart‘ will go dormant during the heat of the summer. We recommend planting near hostas or ferns that will fill in the area after the Dicentra foliage dies back.

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Graceful Grasses® Scirpus cernus ‘Fiber Optic Grass’

‘Fiber Optic Grass‘ has proven to be a real head turner. Over the past few weeks we have had a few tour groups come through, and every time we walk by this Graceful Grass® the ladies always stop and ask “What is that plant?”. I tell them it is a new Proven Winners  plant that Garden Crossings is carrying this year.  The next thing the women say is “I can really see that is a combination Planter!” And I totally agree, I can envision planting petunias or million bells to drape over the container and having the ‘Fiber Optic Grass’ for some height. Graceful Grasses® Scirpus ‘Fiber Optic Grass‘ is part of the Proven Winners® Graceful Grasses® collection. The bright green grass-like plant has small, fluffy, white flowers at the tip which look like fiber optics. Graceful Grasses® ‘Fiber Optic Grass’ does well in almost any location from deep shade to full sun, it prefers a moist location and is an excellent choice near ponds.

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Spring is officially here! So with the spring weather right around the corner it is time for us to get out and do some spring cleaning. To start with I recommend going through your gardens and removing any excess leaves and debris that may be laying around and covering your plants. Now is also a good time to thin out any unwanted plants from your garden. And if you have perennials that are getting to big for their location or simply are not performing the best because of size go ahead and divide them to either more to a new location or share with a gardening friend.Another spring cleaning necessity is to trim back your ornamental grasses that you left for winter interest. Find a handy helper to hold the grass clump together and then take a large trimmers to cut through. Make sure that your little helper continues to hold the grass tops as you are cutting for clean and easy removal.

Another thing that we recommend is to prevent the weeds before they start! Our product of choice is ‘PREEN’ simply sprinkle over your garden and let it take care of preventing the weeds.

But for those of you who the weeds already have the best of, take this simple tip from our neighbor and get out the ‘Round up’! ‘Round up’ can be used on weeds that are coming up in your flower gardens, but be careful and make sure that you do not get any on your plants coming up. One thing that I have done in the past is taken kids sand buckets and placed them over any of my plants that were starting to emerge. This protected the plants but allowed me to spray the weeds around them.

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Empress™ Clematis ‘Evipo 011′

This is the first time that I have actually seen Empress™ Clematis ‘Evipo 011‘ bloom. I was amazed at how beautiful it was! I took this picture and then went back 3 days later and the center antlers were opened up even more and I was even more amazed by its beauty and size of the bloom!

Empress™ Clematis is a charming clematis that will impress with a profusion of pink. This vine produces large double flowers that have pink petals with darker pink center bars. The inner petals sprout spiky pink “hair” and the plant blooms from May through June and again in August. Empress™ is a compact, free-flowering plant that displays well in containers.

Empress™ is part of Prune Group 2 which means- Prune lightly above the new leaf buds in early spring and remove any dead or weak stems. Early flowers appear on the previous season’s growth while late summer flowers appear on new growth.

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MiniFamous™ Double Lemon Calibrachoa

I can just imagine myself sitting on the patio enjoying a fresh glass of lemonade while taking in the views of all my beautiful flowers. MiniFamous™ Double Lemon is a great selection for your patio containers. The soft yellow, double rose bud shaped flowers of  Double Lemon are a very strong bloomer and can easily fill out a 10″ hanging basket. MiniFamous™ are a self cleaning variety and keep coming back for a striking impact.

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Brunnera ‘Mr. Morse’

Brunnera come in several variations, but one thing that does not vary often, is the flower color. Brunnera ‘Mr. Morse’ is a one of a kind with it’s white blooms. The crisp white flowers contrast nicely with the silver overlay on the foliage. Brunnera ‘Mr. Morse’ is an elegant white flowering version of the popular Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’. The exquisite foliage consists of dark green heart shaped leaves that are frosted with a silver overlay. Green veins of the leaves give a crackle-like finish to the silvered foliage. ‘Mr. Morse’ offers three seasons of interest with pearl white flowers in the spring and dazzling deer-resistant foliage that looks great right up to frost!

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