What's your favorite plant?

Hello again,
We are starting a new segment where we will introduce Midwest Groundcovers employees and their favorite plants. I always find it interesting when people discuss their favorite plants, so here it is.
Our first entry is from Brent Gustason. Brent Gustason has been a member of the sales team since 2003. He serves Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota regions. Brent has over 25 years of nursery production, management and retail sales experience to share with his customers. He is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls and currently serves on the Iowa Nursery and Landscape Association Board of Directors.

One of my favorite plants would be Viburnum sieboldii ‘Ironclad’. This is a plant that will make a statement in the landscape either as a specimen plant or it can be used as a hedge or screen. This plant provides at least 3 seasons of appeal with the white umbel flowers in May, producing fruit in late summer that start out white, turning to pinkish/red, and finally black that will persist until the birds clean them off with the unique red petioles that remain on the plant into the winter. It has a nice golden yellow fall color with gray bark in the winter. It prefers full sun to partial shade and tolerates most soils as long as they are well drained. It can be used as a middle plant in your landscape and under planted with smaller scale shrubs and perennials to provide a sustainable landscape. It does not have any disease or insect issues due to the larger, coarse, somewhat glossy, and pubescent underside of the leaves. I recommend under planting with grasses like Molinia to soften the size but also can be utilized with a combination of perennials or smaller shrubs to provide seasonal color and texture.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Bird's Eye View

One of the great things about the McCormick Place in Chicago is that they almost always have a place to photograph the events from above. Here is an attempt at a panorama from the food court. It has been made official that MIDAM will be moving back to Navy Pier in 2011. Better food choices and a much more enjoyable scenery all come with a show at the Pier. If you did not come this year, you missed out. Traffic was above average. Make sure not to miss the 2011 show at Navy Pier! Until next time, have a great day!

Welcome to MIDAM

Hello everyone,
Have you ever wondered what MIDAM is like before you get there? Well, I've got some pictures to show you on how we do setup. Years ago, Midwest Groundcovers had a gazebo, and loads and loads of plants in every last possible spot on the show floor. Those days required two full days of preparation and very hard work putting the displays together. At the end of the show, breakdown lasted well into the night, deconstructing the gazebo and all the other functions of the booth. We are working smarter nowadays, and we don't construct large gardens or large wooden structures anymore. These displays lacked focus and while they looked beautiful, were a little distracting. There was never enough space to stand and talk to a customer and newer attendees may have been a little wary of coming into such a large structure like our gazebo was. This week we have made room for you, our customer, to walk right in and have a great conversation with us. We've even added two tables and chairs for you to take a break from all the walking and for placing an order with us, of course! Keep reading to see why you should come and place those orders!
When the day started on Tuesday, we were lucky to have the skeletons in place. We do still come down for two days of setup. It's just that those two days are much easier and shorter than in the past. So here, our booth is arranged like we planned, but the plants and highlights are not yet in place.


Then we put the fabric on our benches to make the plants really pop. We set up different sections of the booth with themes. Like the center island here is for new plants.

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Here is another view with some signs in place.

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Literature stands are placed where you can help yourself. You are always encouraged to talk with us, because we'd love to see you. But if you are in a hurry, catalogs and informational handouts are available throughout the booth. As you can see above the bright green bench, we have show specials. It is definitely worth going to the show for these great discounts!

The final product. Well, actually, the booth will look very different once the show floor carpet is rolled out. But as of right now, or Tuesday afternoon, it was not in place, and we didn't want to wait into the night for that to happen. I'll post again come Friday when I'll be at the show again.

Customer Service people are there all three days. If there is someone you'd specifically like to see, here is the current schedule.

Wednesday: Brent Gustason, Grace Koehler, Janice Guiborat, Beth Guimon and Kim Kaczmarek

Thursday: Brent Gustason, Kim Kaczmarek, Amber Ulmer, Nikki Melin and Grace Koehler

Friday: Chris Darbo, Catalino Mendoza, Elfego Machuca and Kevin McGowen

Thanks again for reading. I hope you all go to the show and check out our show specials. We have some great plant material on display that should brighten up your day! And this year more than ever, with many vendors not showing at MIDAM, you will find that those who do, are very interested in you. Stop by and talk to them. Especially us of course. Until next time, have a great day!

Happy New Year

Midwest Groundcovers would like to wish one and all a Happy New Year! These are some of my favorite pictures of the year.

Calamagrostis brachytricha

This was a Saturday full of fog. I couldn't resist the puffy plumes of this Korean Feather Reed Grass.

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Echinacea 'Tiki Torch'

Close ups of Echinacea are always attractive. I liked the fresh colors of Tiki Torch when it first came to flower.

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Hydrangea paniculata Quick Fire™

I've always been a big fan of the paniculata Hydrangeas. This year, when Quick Fire™ first started changing to pink, it was delightful. I can't wait for the Hydrangea trials to be full grown, because it is a site to see. Varieties in our trial include 'Unique', 'Pink Diamond', 'Tardiva', Pinky Winky™, 'Little Lamb', Quick Fire™, 'Limelight', and Little Limelight™.

Aesculus parviflora

This is obviously a close up of the flowers. When in bloom, our stand of 18 plants is pretty spectacular. This year I found green bees who seemed to enjoy the pollen of these shrubs.

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Ligularia 'Little Rocket' in front of Ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford'
These two plants are remarkable in my eyes. They were planted four years ago and still have done well in a full sun location on top of the hill. These are not given extra water, which goes to show these are great garden plants. They would still prefer more shade and much more water, but they can handle some rough situations.

Once again, Happy New Year, and I hope all of you success and happiness in 2010.

The Second Snowfall

Hello again,
It's been a while since I was last writing to you, and I apologize for that. I kept looking for something to write about and was having trouble. Yesterday, I was excited by the first snow, but I didn't want to be cliche and talk about the first snowfall. So here I am today talking about the second snowfall. That's unique, right? I really couldn't keep myself from bringing the camera out two days in a row. It's just too darn beautiful to do that. So here are some images that are seen at Midwest Groundcovers today.
Echinacea
Can you imagine cutting these back before they look like this? It's a travesty to think that so many people do not want to see this. Why? I could get all philosophical and say that people in general are afraid of death. But look at the life in these gals. They look ready to go with their white stocking hats firmly attached to their heads. Winter is amazing to perennials if you leave them be. At Midwest Groundcovers, we cut down our perennials in late March.
Linden allee
This is our allee of Lindens that are seen as you drive into our facility. There are a couple times a year where I'm excited to get this picture. The day they begin to bloom, they are remarkably fragrant. The first day of a hoarfrost is also pretty spectacular. But walking this road today gave me a sense of peacefulness the other two times don't express. I suppose the fragrance would be peaceful if I wasn't dodging vehicles at that time of year.
Sedum
Even Sedum can look nice in winter. If left unpruned, each spent flower gives you a frosty bouquet.






Picea abies 'Pendula'
How can one not enjoy snow when it can create such dramatic images? I love this plant year-round, but it's this time of year when the drama is at its crescendo. Snow dripping from the needles mimicking the branches themselves. Sigh. If nothing else, it adds to an otherwise dreary winter garden.


Thuja Nordic Spire™
Peter's introduction from the A-Plant group. This conifer is stunning throughout the year with its pendulous branches and bright green needles. This is deer resistant because it has Thuja plicata as one of the parents. Come see ours next year as they mature into a loose hedge to divide the perennial gardens into two rooms.

Crataegus phaenopyrum
The architecture of the Washington Hawthorn with snow nestled upon its limbs is like the first steps into a well done Japanese Garden. It's a very tranquil sight. When looking closer at the Hawthorn, tranquility passes and fears of falling into the wretched thorns begins. On this day, I kept my distance and the emotion remained positive.

The view of the building from our Perennial Island. Imagine if we cut back the Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' like so many landscapers do. This picture would be boring and the landscape would feel incomplete. Winter interest is so important in doing a large design like this. Nobody likes looking at a sterile mass of cropped plants. Perhaps the practice of pruning in fall is why people take the beauty of winter for granted.

Panicum 'Dallas Blues'
When I walked past this grass, I thought it was reving up to throw some snowballs my way. It didn't. But I took a picture anyways. I was most impressed that the weight of the snow didn't topple this beauty. He's hanging in their pretty well this year. Wouldn't kids just love having this plant around. There's a stockpile of snowballs just ready to grab and chuck. And building a fort would be much easier, because they could just hide behind the grass.
Piet Oudolf Garden
When people come out here for tours, I always explain that Spring is the quietest season for this garden. You can clearly see why this time of year is not. Winter is perhaps my second favorite month for this garden. The structures of these plants in winter is a beauty far too often ignored. The same reasons why these plants look great together in summer are still apparent now. Spikes with umbels. Horizontal seed heads with grasses. Great contrasts from an amazingly gifted designer. How lucky are we that we get to enjoy this garden day in and day out?
Conifer Island
Our conifer island is a sight to be seen as well. Snows dusting the branches of Juniperus 'Maneyi' add marvelous details to the structure. The large Douglasfir is very pretty as well. You can see the very tip of the Seuss-like Picea pungens 'Pendula' in the background. That is one of my favorites on the island. If you have not encountered the conifer garden here, maybe you should. All our Junipers and Thuja that we sell reside here. There is nothing like seeing an established specimen to know for sure whether you like it or not. My guess is, you may not like everything, but there is something up there that will knock your socks off.

Happy December everyone. I hope this holiday season will treat everyone nice. Until next time, have a great day!