Drought Tolerant Plants

Hello again,
We caught a glimpse of wetness coming from the sky yesterday.  It lasted a whole minute!  On Saturday of last week, we received less than an inch, but it's better than nothing.  As dry as we are in the Chicagoland area, some plant are thriving and looking great.  Most of what looks the best are native the region as well. Below are some of the best for the worst of droughts.

Dalea purpurea

I've always been a fan of Purple Prairie Clover.  My only problems have been in the years that we have wet springs. Last year, this wasn't the nicest plant in the garden.  This year, all Dalea are looking quite spectacular.  The white species, D. candida are also blooming their little hearts out.  The only other thing to note on this plant is that rabbits adore it.  So mixing it with plants like Allium and Calamintha are good ways to keep the rabbits off of it.  And they are both drought tolerant making them nice companions in the garden.

Asclepias tuberosa
Butterfly weed thrives on drought.  This is one of those plants where you want to make sure you have the best drainage possible to ensure livability.  I see these growing in Michigan frequently where the soil is mostly sand.  Asclepias in general are the host plant for monarch butterflies, so this type of plant is one that is necessary for your butterfly garden.

Ruellia humilis
Wild Petunia is late to leaf out. These usually emerge in mid to late May.  This year I started to see them in the first week of May.  This plant does reseed profusely and can even move its way into the lawn.  For me, I like that it has become the Violet for the sun in our lawn.  Others may not like it as much as I.  In some of our gardens, it climbs the stems of other perennials and blooms atop them.  This is especially effective with the Liatris aspera.

Allium senescens var glaucum with Stachys minima and Mazus reptans
This is the perfect combination for the trendy fairy gardens.  All plants in this combo are less than a foot tall and contrast very well with one another.  The pink flowers of the Stachys have been here for a couple weeks already and if the cool air persists, it could last for a couple more.  The Allium have yet to bloom but will be soon offering up tasty nectar to Painted Lady Butterflies everywhere.  The Mazus blooms earlier in spring and sometimes re-blooms in fall.

I hope everyone is still staying busy and able to keep all their plants watered.  We still are desperate for rain around here.  It's gotta come soon right?  Until next time, I hope you have a great day.

Plants getting Cooler!

Hello again,
In 14 years in this business, I've never seen a spring kick into full gear this fast. It was rapidly approaching the acceleration of a Dodge Viper. And then...we get frost. This should come as no surprise to any of us, as this is quite typical of this time of year. It's just hard to take after weeks of summer like temperatures in March. While the heat may have sped up the flowering times of Amelanchier, Magnolia, and Forsythia, the cool has slowed down the likes of Crabapples and Redbuds. Hopefully we can continue to enjoy their sweet scents for longer than normal.
Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost'
Jack has become a yearly topic for me on the blog, and it's because I think he's great. For years, we were always concerned about the price tag that gets attached to this plant. Liners are pricey. However, it has proven to be worth every penny. Green foliage, frosted white, with brilliant blue flowers. It likes dry shade but yet can handle some sun if properly watered. In our gardens, I've tried mixing it with Aster divaricatus or now known as Eurybia divaricatus and they behave very well together. They both prefer some shade, and bloom at opposite sides of the growing season which makes it a more lasting combo.
Mazus reptans
This is one of my new favorite groundcovers. It's not "new" by any sense of the imagination, but new to me. We've carried it for many years and I always had trouble keeping it alive. It was at the bottom of a slope, and I believe the moisture run off was killing it. In the pictured area, it is between a rock and a hard place, otherwise known as pavement. It is super dry right here and not the greatest of soil. Yet here it performs excellently. A little frost this morning didn't deter it from having a great day either. This one only grows an inch or two tall, and does most of it's flowering right now. Some sporadic blooms will come later in the season but may not make you ooh and ah. Just a nice mat forming groundcover for those tough areas. Here it is in half day sun and shade.
Dicentra spectabilis
I have a soft spot in my heart for bleeding hearts. This has always been my moms favorite flower. This year, they started to bloom much earlier than normal. But the cold came right after they began so the flowers have stayed. For all the mothers out there, this hearts for you!

Exochorda Snow Day™ Surprise
I have to admit that I don't know a lot about this plant until now. I really like it. It's a very interestingly shaped flower. The shrub grows 3-4' tall and wide. The habit seems to be very rounded, which is an improvement over the straight species. It says in the literature that the plant can grow in full sun to part shade, but our Pearlbush seems to like more sun if available. Branching on this plant leans a little toward the sunny side of the garden. This is currently just a trial for Midwest Groundcovers. If you are interested in us growing this plant, please send a note and ask for it. We love to know the demand.

Thanks again for reading. I hope everyone is enjoying a successful April. Until next time, have a great day!

Alternative Groundcovers

The past few years we have been removing some of the traditional groundcovers from our site and planting newer varieties. When we started doing the Jeepers Creepers brand of plants we did find a lot of plants that were down low and fun to grow as the slogan says. Here are a few that have been more than just a little exciting. All three have been used in places where salt has been thrown, and they've all worked very well. Some have had snow piled very deep above them. Most notably the Mazus reptans. In fact, we had a customer slip around a corner in our entrance and drive right over the Mazus. So not only is it tolerant of snow piles, but heavy trucks as well. The customer was not hurt in the slip up. But I did ask him to drive a little slower.
Mazus reptans

This is one that I wasn't so sure about the first year we planted it. We had it at the bottom of a hill and as it turns out, the Voles found the roots delicious. So while the plant never really succeeded, it wasn't its own fault. So after being moved to the area you see in the picture, it has flourished. It does exactly what I ask of it, creeping right up to the drive way in one direction and butting up to the rock in the other. The white you see in the picture is from the Zumi Crabapples dropping their flowers, not the cultivar 'Alba'
Veronica 'Waterperry Blue'

I've been a fan of this for years now it seems. This is an area that used to be Euonymus fortunei 'Coloratus'. That was removed so that we could do some promoting of my favorite groundcover. This was done as a monoculture, but if you've seen any pictures from years prior, you'll know that I like to put Amsonia and Anemone sylvestris in the middle of it so that it adds height and textural differences. This plant has proven to bloom twice a year if irrigated. It will not bloom again in the fall in drought years unless given some moisture.

Potentilla neumanniana 'Nana'While not always as bright and cheery as it is today, this has also proven to be a great plant. Native to the arctic circle, this creeper actually forms small undulating mounds of lush foliage. I think this plant is the best substitute for the invasive Polygonum reynoutria 'Nana', that many people still inquire about. It can also withstand the horrible areas like parking lot islands, and is very salt tolerant.

Hope you enjoyed this weeks segment. It seems as though Spring is back today as the temperatures have plummeted, so stay warm and until next time, have a great day!