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SNOW-TO-GO

HUMMINGBIRD DAY 2010

Sooooo, we knew it was going to be hot on

Hummingbird Day with highs close to 100 and

heat indexes well into the 100’s.

Alley decided we all might be better off and

happier if we had Susan Campbell measure and

tag the hummers indoors this year. Susan was

not unhappy when we told her.

Her helpers were not quite so lucky. They did

manage to find some shade but I don’t think it

made too much of a difference. It was 100

degrees in the shade!

We only managed to “bag” two hummers this year. An adolescent male and an adolescent female.

All and all it was a lovely day!

Victorian Baskets

We received an email a few weeks ago from a customer that visited our nursery this spring wanting to create a victorian hanging basket suitable for the south. One that would be able to withstand our harsh summer sun.

My PIC Peggy helped them pick out plants that would be suitable. They were very well pleased with what they created.

I am amazed indeed that they were able to coax a marigold into cascading.

The Daylilies are Blooming

Our daylily house is exploding with color.

Many varieties are available.

This lovely one is Ruby Stella a rebloomer in the "Stella" family.

Stop by and see what's bloomin.....

Tickled Pink by a new leucantha 'Danielle's Dream'

We are tinkled pink this spring to be able to offer to you, our favorite plant addicts, not only the lovely new Salvia leucantha

'Danielle's Dream'

but also the equally gorgeous

'White Mischief'

I'm talkin a pink...yes, a pink leucantha as well as an all white...yes, an all white Salvia leucantha.

We don't think these are widely available in the U.S., if at all, anywhere else in these parts. Thanks to our fearless leader John we have them here for you.

You didn't know you needed to have them, did you?... but you will...

They are one of the sturdiest leucanthas I have witnessed for pot growing and they are of course touted for that. Even treated as a "southern" fall annual they would be worth their weight in gold for being another blooming annual to add to our fall repertoire.

Planted in your landscape they would be a lovely addition to your fall gardens. We are crossing our fingers about their hardiness.

Plant of the Moment-Hydrangea macrophylla 'Edgy Hearts'

So...my last blog was about a certain order of hydrangea and various other lovelies that recently arrived here at Big Bloomers. In that same order were many hydrangea, about 8 different varieties if my memory serves me well (at random times it does not).

One of the hydrangea in that order was a paniculata called 'Pinky Winky'. I tend to be drawn to the paniculatas since they remind of the lovely tree hydrangea that dotted the landscapes of the beachy areas in Connecticut where I spent my childhood and also because they are much tougher than other hydrangea, able to take more sun and less water than the rest. Prune them early in spring since they bloom on new wood. In my sand they perform well without complaint. Because of my aforementioned preferences I quickly scarfed up a lovely little 'Pinky Winky' and planted it under a cedar that I had recently limbed up.

Hydrangea paniculata 'Pinky Winky'

Today, at work, Judy, one of my cohorts and coworkers brought to me a customer looking for a specific hydrangea. He told me that a friend had brought home a hydrangea that he simply had to have. Its a new one. A hybrid macrophylla named 'Edgy Hearts'. Actually this was not the first time that day I had been asked about it. Earlier another cohort and coworker, Amy, asked me about a hydrangea with heart shaped flower petals. I was busy with customers and thought she said heart shaped leaves. Anyway....I discerned through the gentleman that it was called 'Edgy Hearts' and that his friend was sure she bought it here at BB's.

This very determined and lovely gentleman proceeded to follow me all through the shop, offices and greenhouses to track down this little beauty. Judy had led them through the hydrangea section and they did not find it there so I called John, our fearless leader and he told me to check the invoices to see if we indeed had it, which I did, and found that we indeed had this illusive Edgy Heart somewhere in our greenhouses.

Since they didn't find it in the hydrangea section we checked the flats of unpotted new plants with no luck whatsoever. Then we proceeded to go into the aisles where we will sometimes put unpotted stock until the girls have time to pot them up, to no avail... Finally, I decided to go back and check the hydrangea section.

I passed right by it, but our determined and lovely gentleman customer found it a couple of cultivars down from where I had already passed.

We both had a good laugh about it being right in front of our eyes. He picked out a nice pot and then I looked at him and smiled and picked out one of my own.

I am very happy to have plants serendipitiously put in front of me and actually I am a collector of hearts..after all. My husband makes me hearts of found objects as gifts and I have a very lovely collection of heart rocks, so I am surprised I did not seek this one out myself.

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Edgy Hearts'

I am going to plant this sweetheart where I can enjoy its lovely, edgy hearts and where I have irrigation to keep it happy. Thank you to the determined and lovely gentleman customer for pointing it out to me...and for this reason Hydrangea macrophylla 'Edgy Hearts' is my plant of the moment.

Plant of the Moment-Lespedeza bicolor 'Yakushima'

Had a "moment" today at work. Plant of the moment to be exact.

As a gift to his wife's passion for hydrangea, our fearless leader John, ordered some 'Incrediball' and 'Invincibelle' hydrangea. In order to "fill out" the order he added other plants that tickled his fancy. Among them was Lespedeza bicolor 'Yakushima'. The order arrived today.

Now....I have blogged about lespedeza a number of times on this blog. I can not exclaim enough how much of a fan I am of this plant. Any plant...planted in a year of drought, planted in unamended sand that refuses to yield to the extremes that our summers can bring without any supplemental watering leaves me clapping my hands and jumping for joy.

Anyway, the two I grow tend to be cascading and expansive. Yakushima is not. Its a front of the border sweetie being 12-18" tall and 2-3' wide and its mounding habit lends itself to many situations.

Now don't get me wrong...lespedeza loves clay soil and planted in clay will be more lush and vigorous. Though I have not been displeased with how they have measured up in my sand. Rarely have I been able to plant something with such abandon in this sand that I grow in. This lovely and diminutive lespedeza gives me endless possibilities and for this reason it is my 'Plant of the Moment'.

Heralding in Spring!!!

I haven't done a blog post for quite a long time. I was way too busy, all winter long, whining about the weather and updating our plant list and now of course I'm busy heralding in the spring. Lots of chores to do this time of year in all my gardens as well as the flower farm gearing up for another spectacular spring.

I've listed our new plants for 2010 on the "What's New" tab on our website.

Here's something to whet your appetite.

Melittis melissophyllum 'Royal Velvet Distinction'

This is a sweet little charmer, diminutive in form and flower. I think it will perform best as a woodland or container plant here in the south (morning sun only). Its foliage is honey-scented as an added bonus.

Two More For Fall

Another lovely late summer-early fall bloomer is Lespedeza.  I’ve been growing a lovely hedge row of the cultivar ‘Pink Cascade’  for about three years now.   They are not at all picky about what kind of soil they are growing in (I am growing them in unamended sand) though they tend to be more lush and larger in a heavier soil.  A little bit of water for the first three months after planting and then they pretty much take care of themselves.

Lespedeza is in the lupine family and being so its flowers are very much like a sweet pea on an upright shrub with fountain-like cascading branches strongly held.  They have been one  of the easiest perennials that I have grown, dying back to the ground every winter and coming back strongly every spring.  Lespedeza is a wonderful, hardworking perennial that is definitely worth the “room” holding down a corner of a perennial border or making a lovely hedge row in your landscape.

We carry two cultivars here at Big Bloomers.  Yes…..I know what you are thinking, “What…only two?.  These two  are a little more “well behaved” than the species normally is.

Pink Cascade

‘Pink Cascade’ blooms late summer through fall.  It grows from 3-5 feet tall.

Spring Grove

‘Spring Grove’ is a newer cultivar that blooms late spring and then again in fall.  I’ve been working on a new hedgerow of these in a different area.

Two H flowers for fall

 

Two of my favorite flowers for fall have to be helianthus and heliopsis.  Both helianthus and heliopsis have a very similar look and growth habit.  Though with hybridizing they are continually coming up with some interesting looks.  We carry a nice selection of both in our greenhouses.

Helianthus microcephalus

 This helianthus is 4-5’ tall and blooms August through September .  Its considered “the best of the genus”  The flowers and leaves are small but it tends to grow into a large clump very quickly and is a vigorous bloomer.

Helianthus maximilianii

Maximillian sunflower as it is commonly known is a tall specimen growing 5-8’ or taller.  It blooms in late September or early October.

Helianthus salicifolius ‘First Light’

 

First Light is 4’ tall and blooms in late September into October.

Helianthus salicifolius ‘Low Down’

Low Down is new and unique in that it is short, just 18” tall.  I never thought I would see one this short.  With its short stature it would lend itself well to smaller gardens and container plantings.

Heliopsis ‘Summer Sun’

Summer Sun has lovely semi-double flowers strongly held at 3’ tall.  It blooms late summer through fall.

Heliopsis ‘Summer Nights’

I love this heliopsis with its red stems.  Its a bit more loose in growth and may be floppy in less than full sun.  It tops out at 3-4’.

Heliopsis ‘Bressingham’s Doubloon’

I love this one as well with is fluffy semi-double flowers.  It tops out at 4-5’ and blooms summer through fall.

Fall is for Aster

 

Before I started working at Big Bloomers if you asked me what flower I would first think of for fall it certainly would have been and probably still is the asters.

We currently have in stock 18 different kinds of aster.   Some are trailing, some are tall and gangly and some are low enough to be considered ground cover.  They are all very lovely and I am always very appreciative that they stick around all summer (especially now that I live in the south where the summers can be particularly and gruesomely hot and humid) and grace us with their beauty when most everything else in the garden is just about giving up the ghost.

Like the chrysanthemums, I will list them by height or growth habit and use the cultivar or common name without the species when possible.  No particular reason, I just think it is a bit less confusing not using all those Latin terms.

These five are the tallest.  With the tallest two being September Ruby and Winston Churchill.  Being 4’ and 3-4’ respectively.

September Ruby

Winston Churchill

Next is Lady in Black at 3’ tall.

Lady in Black

These next three are 2-1/2’ tall.

Monch Aster

Patricia Ballard

White Wood Aster

This next group are the intermediates.  Starting at 2’ are

Purple Dome

and

Lovely

Evergreen aster is about 20” tall.

and the next three are all around 1-1/2’ tall.

Wood’s Purple

Peter Harrison

Farmington

Next according to height would be the 15”

Royal Opal

Wood’s Light Blue

and

Wood’s Pink

Professor Kippenburg is just a big shorter, topping out at 14”.

Professor Kippenburg

Snow Flurry is a diminutive little groundcover aster that I love just for the very simple fact that it would rather be dry than wet.  Which I can do big time in my sand.  This one tops out at 6”.

Snow Flurry

and last but not least in a class all by itself is our very own Aster carolinianus.  This one is more of a viney, sprawling aster growing up to 10-12’ WHAT!  Yes 10-12 feet.  Its also fragrant to boot.  Don’t cut this one back since it comes back on the old woody vines and gets longer and longer and longer and longer ha.

Aster carolinianus

I thought this one deserved two pictures.