Fall Colors in Illinois

Hello again,
Fall is the time for forgotten flowers and fabulous foliage. I think that fall reminds most people of Asters and Chrysanthemums. For me, while I find them both beautiful in their own right, I find that Anemones are the most stunning. This years avoidance of frost has allowed our Anemones to flourish.
Anemone 'Pamina'
This is growing in full shade below a 50' tall Picea abies, Norway Spruce. In this deep shade, it is also forced to live with strong drought conditions. Other plants that have done well under this tree include Brunnera and some Boxwoods. Otherwise, it has proven to be a difficult area to get things to grow. I had previously tried Geranium maculatum with little success. 'Pamina' grows 24" tall and similar width. This is something difficult to beat for fall flower.

Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'
This Anemone is also growing here showing off her cheery white blooms with yellow stamens.
Also known as "Windflower", these blooms dance around the tops of the plants with the slightest breeze. Bumblebees still visit the heavy pollen producing flowers if the temperature remain in the 70's like we are seeing these last few days. This is a little taller than the 'Pamina', growing to 30" tall but remaining around 24" wide. Imagine this mixed in a bed of Carex 'Ice Dance' and watch the combination of variegated foliage from 'Ice Dance' blend ever so nicely with the flowers of this gem.

Aster laevis and Aster novae-angliae
In one of our native garden spaces, these two plants have provided a fantastic fall display. Neither plant were actually installed here, but they existed in other parts of the garden and reseeded here. I am quite impressed how they have come together to form a picture reminiscent of a Monet painting. This just proves that sometimes nature is the best landscape designer.

Corylus americana
Finally a little fall color to finish the blog. American Hazelnut has become one of my favorite plants for fall color. Oranges, yellows and reds mixed into one plant and growing up to 15' tall combined with some funky looking nuts, this has so many fun things to look at. In spring the catkins are interesting as well making this a true 3 season plant.

Thanks again for reading the blog. Until next time, have a great day and enjoy the amazing weather we are having!

Section Three of Piet Oudolf Garden

This is round three of the renovation.

I wanted to start this post with something that has worked very well in the garden. This combination of Stachys 'Hummelo' with Coreopsis 'Golden Showers' has been very nice to look at the past couple weeks. The fine texture of the foliage on 'Golden Showers' also contrasts well with the more coarse 'Hummelo'. The colors together make a great contrast and the foliage textures will look great together well into fall.

In this area, we removed a large patch of Amsonia x 'Blue Ice'. The area in which is was planted was starting to get too big. We are going to cut the large swathe into pieces and plant Scabiosa 'Pink Mist' and Monarda bradburiana in the areas that are removed. We currently don't have the Monarda, so that will go in later. I also refrained from cutting out the other piece of Amsonia until we have the replacement plants. Originally, Geranium 'Jolly Bee' climbed over the top of the Amsonia, but eventually, the 'Blue Ice' took over the area and smothered the 'Jolly Bee'.

In this section, we used to have a large Amsonia hubrichtii seedling, that I was very fond of. If you've ever been on a tour of the gardens, I probably pointed it out to you. However, Piet did not like the height that it had, so we removed it. It was the plant collector in me that wanted to keep it there. But I do see his point, that it didn't quite fit. We will replace it with the real Amsonia hubrichtii.

Other changes in the garden include removal of Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'. While there is no question that it is a beautiful plant, it struggles with the dry soils that we provide in this garden, and often gets hit by frost right as the blooms start to break bud. They will be replaced by Liatris spicata. We also removed a large chunk of Sorghastrum nutans 'Sioux Blue' as it didn't really fit where it was. It will be replaced by Allium 'Summer Beauty' and when we have it, Geranium soboliferum. Thanks again for taking the time to check out the blog. Comments are always welcome, so keep them coming. Hope you are having a great summer, and until next time, a great day!

The First Day of Autumn

The first day of Autumn has come and there are some amazing plants in the landscape.

Physostegia 'Vivid'

Last year we made a change from 'Pink Bouquet' to the much more requested 'Vivid'. Judging solely on landscape performance, this was a good decision. These plants just bloom their little hearts out. I have not seen this plant to be overly aggressive in the landscape. It's surrounded by plants that could easily be overtaken by an invasive, but they have stayed still. Last year I photographed this plant in December with blooms on it. There are more blooms on it now then their were last year, but this is just to say that it has a long bloom time. Especially if you are looking for fall blooms.

Sisyrinchium 'Lucerne'

Being a member of the Iris family, this plant has grass-like foliage that offers a really nice texture to a dry location in full sun. Here they are planted at the front of the border with Mazus reptans as a groundcover in front of it. The texture changes are quite nice to the eye. In the summer, the purple flowers attract bees and small butterflies.

Anemone

I look forward all year to when the Anemone start to bloom. The display garden has a nice grouping of 'Pamina', 'September Charm', 'Honorine Jobert, 'Robustissima' and 'Prinz Heinrich'. 'Robustissima' is about done, but the others are just starting to look their best.

Gentiana 'True Blue'

They've begun to bloom! This is new to our product line this year. It is very exciting to be able to offer a Gentiana to our customers. It is a hybrid and not a native variety, but that is what allows us to have success growing it. Plants are fully budded and will make a great impression at your garden center or in the landscape. This plant in deer resistant and attracts late season butterflies and according to some websites, hummingbirds. It can be grown in full sun to part shade.

Calamintha nepeta ssp nepeta with Aster laevis

The cooler our night time temperatures get, the more blues that come out in the Calamintha. Combine that with the light purple flowers of native Aster laevis, and you have a brilliant combination. This would be a very nice option for a dry location keeping in mind that the Aster doesn't look like much until now.

Sedum display

Our Sedum display is 90% done. I need to get the labels out there and there are two varieties unavailable at the time of planting. Currently, 28 of the 30 groundcover Sedum we sell are displayed in this location. We had done this in the past and the competition ended with Sedum kamtchaticum being the most vigorous. Everything was torn out and replanted so that we could again show you the differences between these excellent drought tolerant plants. I hope you are able to come out and take a look.

Thanks again for reading. Until next time, have a great day!

Hot September

Hello again,
Back like I promised! Today we have some very interesting shrubs and some other star-worthy plants. This summer has been brutal to many plants. Whether it be the very wet and rainy month of July or the super dry conditions of August. Plants have been put to the test. Here are some of the most beautiful plants in our landscape.
Cotinus Golden Spirit
This is a very showy shrub that has now been in our landscape for four years. Bright yellow foliage proceeds excellent fall colors of oranges and reds. For this plant, we pruned it back to the ground this spring in order to flush out larger foliage. When left unpruned, the foliage will tend to be smaller, but you'll get the "smoke" flowers that the plant is commonly known for. Smokebush does not produce those blooms when cut back, but it does produce larger, more lush foliage. After pruning to 12", this is now 5' tall.

Flower Carpet® Pink Supreme
I've been really impressed by the performance of this groundcover rose. At first, I was sceptical about how different it truly would be from Flower Carpet® Pink. But it is. The flowers are a richer pink, and the foliage much cleaner. The bloom time seems to be better as well. The next generation of Flower Carpet® roses have really performed up to the marketing. It's not always that the plant is as good as the hype, but these pass the test.


Hydrangea Little Lime™
So, I'll do a little hyping of my own here. This is a very cool plant. When I first saw this at Spring Meadow Nursery, in Dale Deppe's yard, I was very impressed. That was three years ago. It's really hard for a plant geek to wait that long. I believe this plant is worth the wait. And, isn't it refreshing to know that they made sure the plant was going to be great before releasing it! The flowers on this star are never white according to Spring Meadow. These plants will always have a touch of green. A dwarf version of the best Hydrangea paniculata to ever hit the market, 'Limelight', this one is sure to please everyone who lays eyes on it. The largest plant I've seen on this was about three feet tall.
Rudbeckia subtomentosa 'Henry Eilers'
I think every year this has bloomed in our garden, I've shown a picture. Does this fall under the perennial that's too tall category? It does grow to 4' tall and could flop if not surrounded by friends. But knowing that, we can lend support to 'Henry Eilers' and give him friends like Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' and Eupatorium 'Little Joe'. Who wouldn't want to hang with Henry, Joe and Karl? Phlox 'David's Lavender' also looks stunning with the flowers of 'Henry Eilers'. That's if you prefer to have a party of four.
Aralia racemosa
I always forget the common name of this plant when people ask me, so I'm going to publish it here so that it hopefully stays with me. Spikenard. Can you see why I'd forget that? The fruit of this plant is to die for. It is not poisonous, so you will never die literally from it. The fruit is really what people who visit our gardens love. The plant itself is attractive and gains interest, but when the fruit is there, it's hard to walk past. I've used it in cut floral arrangements and it holds up well.

Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'
When I think of the movie, The Last Samurai, I'm reminded of the Samurai who was always looking for the perfect flower. In the battlefield, at the end of the movie, he is dying and looks up at the flowering cherries that surrounded him and says, "They're all perfect". When I think about how this flower comes so late in the year and has a pure white color to it, I'm reminded of that line. This simple flowers of this plant are perfect.


Hopefully you've enjoyed this weeks rendition of the blog. Check in next week to see the projects that we are currently installing. I'd have shown them today, but didn't want my camera to get soaked. Until then, Have a great week!

Labor Day Week!

Hello all,
It's always great having a short work week. But it usually means there is more to do on Tuesday when we get back. Either way, those three days off are welcome and can come back whenever they please. This week was particularly interesting for me, because we hosted our first ever Landscape Contractor Day. Attendance wasn't great, but the group that did come was fantastic.
The day started off with Jim Kleinwachter from Conservation Foundation, followed by Auggie Rodriguez from Unilock and presentations from Midwest Groundcovers staff on our recycling program(at left) with Catalino Mendoza, Stan Schumacher talked about PP&O Nursery who grows trees that we sell for pick up customers, and myself doing a landscape walk. Overall, I hope those that came, walked away more informed. Thanks to those of you who were here, and to the people that were not, I hope to see you the next time!
Centranthus ruber 'Coccineus'
Thanks go to Martie Brennan for teaching me about this plant a couple years ago. The color is very different than anything else blooming at this time, and the foliage still looks very clean. A nice landscape plant that can be paired with Geranium 'Jolly Bee' or Sesleria autumnalis.


Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'
Who doesn't like white Anemones. I used to think that they were a fairly boring bunch. I even once said, "It's just an Anemone!" Well, Dave Meyer put me in my place, and today I love these plants. 'Honorine Jobert', 'Pamina' and 'September Charm' are all fall flowering Anemones I would recommend for any gardener. They are a great, cheery fall surprise.


And then the fog rolls in!
Many mornings in the past month it has been very foggy coming into work. I've either not had my camera with me, or the mornings have been too busy to take pictures. This morning, I came in early hoping to get a couple of good shots. I think I did alright! Both pictures take place in the Piet Oudolf designed garden. This one has a beautiful grouping of Calamagrostis brachytricha, otherwise known as Korean Feather Reed Grass in common circles.

In this picture, Hydrangea 'Limelight' in a large container is in the foreground with Panicum 'Dallas Blues' and many others in the background. I just love the fog in the morning. In another setting, this could be spooky, but at Midwest Groundcovers, it is very peaceful.

Anticipation:
One of my favorite parts of winter is the anticipation of spring. I think I look at more plant catalogs in winter than any other time of the year. I know there are a lot of you that don't like winter and wish summer could stay forever, but the anticipation of the first Hamamelis vernalis(Witchhazel) to bloom is so exciting that I couldn't live without it. Well, I found a couple things that almost rival the anticipation I feel for spring.
Allium 'Ozawa'

This would be a plant that I have been watching for several weeks now. The more time that passes, the more interesting the plant becomes. I just can't wait for the flowers to pop open and display their bright pinks! I'll show a picture once they do open. This plant is nice because it does reseed, but it's so small and blooms at such a unique time, that it can wander through your garden and be a very welcome visitor. The rabbits don't like her either.

Gentiana andrewsii
This plant I can wait all year for. It is the most exciting thing to me in the landscape here at St Charles. I enjoy seeing it in the wild as much if not more, but it is fun to watch this come out from under the Salix purpurea 'Nana' in our landscape. Every year I get to show him off, and every year there are oohs and aahs. My favorite story to tell about this plant is about the pollination of it. Bumblebees are the primary insect that works with these plants. The top of the plant does not open so that smaller insects that don't have as much success cannot get in. The bumblebee knows when the flower is done with pollen when the tips of the flowers go from purple to white. When they are white, they have been cleaned out. That is quite interesting isn't it?

Anticipation and nervousness are very similar. I tell my wife when she gets nervous to turn the nerves into positive anticipation and everything will be alright! It doesn't always work, but..... Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this weeks column. Until next time, have a great day!