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!

Hostas and Late Summer Bloomers

Hello again,
It's been a very cool week, hasn't it? It's turning into pants and a t-shirt weather, and I love that! I am however, starting to see fall color develop on some of the plants here. I'm not sure I'm ready for Corylus americana, or American Hazelnut, to start putting on her fall clothes. We should be in for a great fall color season with the cool temperatures. As long as the rain holds off when they turn, we could be seeing some of the best colors in a long time. Onto the plants!

I've become smitten with Hosta once again. I thought I was over them, but once again, I've taken a turn for the worse. I just love these foliage plants. I think I could really go native one day, but there would be some Hostas hiding around the corner for me to look at. These are some of the ones that look especially nice right now.

Hosta 'Guacamole'
This is truly a plant that you must see in person. Not only for the great foliage, but the flower is quite fragrant as well. 'Guacamole' was named Hosta of the Year in 2002 and for good reason. It's subtle color changes in its leaves are excellent. The plant is almost always the one that people stop and ask what it is.

Hosta 'Patriot'

This is an oldie but goodie. Hosta of the Year in 1997. This sports wide white margins on super clean foliage. Chris Darbo says, "This is the first Hosta that ever made me pay attention to the flowers!" They do don purple flowers in mid summer. This is an excellent choice for dark shade.

Hosta 'Paradigm'

This is Hosta of the Year in 2007. I didn't like this plant as much when I first saw it. As it matures, it becomes a very nice plant. I'm figuring out that Hostas do get better with age. This is in a good bit of sun in a couple areas of the landscape, and has looked very nice in both of them. So I would consider this a top of the line sun tolerant Hosta.

Real quickly, I'd like to tell you the merits of Anemone 'Pamina'. This is a great looking plant for late season color. Not only does it have these spectacular semi-double pink blooms, but the stems are black as oil. Pink on black is very showy. Here they were planted with Geranium 'Espresso' which did not fair as well and they are not very visible in the picture because of that.

This is our new hedge of Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'. It is starting to put on some pink coloration and looks stunning right now. What a great hedge. In a couple weeks, I'll show you the Corylus hedge that we have started once they show some fall color.



Coreopsis 'Sienna Sunset'

I just planted this recently. I'm really excited about the color, but I do not know of its hardiness. I'll let you know next year on this one. But do you like the color? You know what to do if you do. Email me please!

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Verbena hastata

Finally a token native. This plant is great. If you have a large area, and especially if that area is wet, this is a plant for you. The only drawback is it's propensity to reseed. Otherwise, this is an erect 6' tall beauty for the rain garden. It's flowers are vibrant purple and attract all sorts of good bugs! It also provides winter food for birds including the Junco.

Thanks once again for reading. I hope you have a fabulous September! Until next time, have a great day!