Frau Zinnie

Floral Friday

The flowers have taken over the front garden and it is obvious that this is the season where my garden looks its best. The bearded irises are showing off this week along with the clematis, the poppies and the roses.

What's blooming in your garden?

Chris Valley from Prides Corner Farms, Inc. describes a hydrangea
blossom during an informational meeting at Country Flower Farms.

MIDDLEFIELD, Conn. - Need an excuse to splurge? There are several new plant introductions being offered this year to the Connecticut market.

Chris Valley of Prides Corner Farms, Inc. (Lebanon, Conn.) recently visited Country Flower Farms to talk about 50 highlighted plants the wholesale nursery offers to retailers. Valley said he is part of the "what do we grow" team, which this year includes more than 200 varieties.

Out of his 50 choices, I narrowed it down to these selections.

A slide from Valley's presentation. Click to enlarge.

Trees
Valley kicked off the slideshow with a tree: the coral-bark Japanese maple, which can grow 20 feet tall and is drought tolerant once established. Most people choose Japanese maples due to their red leaves, but with this tree, the bark overshadows the fall foliage factor. "It has spectacular bark color - a fiery red color - that stands out," he said. The leaves start out green and then turn gold in the fall.

The Purple Prince Crabapple is a fast-growing tree which will eventually reach 20 feet tall and wide. It has rosy pink flowers and half inch diameter maroon fruit. "It doesn't get all the diseases apples typically get," said Valley. The purple leaves will fade to a bronzy green as the season progresses.

Hydrangea
The Strawberry Sundae Hydrangea grows up to 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, so it's a good choice for smaller gardens. "You can tuck this into a lot of spaces," Valley said. In addition, the florets on this hydrangea are "much more packed in" then other varieties. The flowers start off white, then progress to pink and finally turn to strawberry red. The stems also have a red hue. It does best in full sun.

Valley said that Let's Dance Rhapsody in Blue Hydrangea is the "truest blue flower in all the hydrangeas we have. It produces twice as many flowers as Endless Summer." In addition, the flowers have a "neat geometric shape" contrasted with deep green leaves. It grows up to 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide.

The Little Quick Fire Hydrangea blooms a month before other paniculata varieties."Quick Fire is one of the prettiest paniculatas we grow. Flowers open all white and then turn to pinkish red. It has a nice mound of little flowers," Valley said. "It's perfect to tuck in next to your steps." The bush grows 2 feet tall and wide.

Rose
The Sweet Spot Decorator Rose is a new introduction that has a distinct look. "They're not like any other rose that's ever been," said Valley. "You use it like an annual, but it's hardy. It flowers all summer through fall. It's perfect for containers and they don't get diseases. They seem to be the thing to have." There will be four colors available: calypso (pink with a yellow center), peach, ruby and yellow. To view more photos, visit the flickr gallery here. (Personally, the flowers remind me of Malva sylvestris Zebrina.)

Azalea
The Bloom-a-thon Reblooming Azalea has two new colors this season - lavender and white. "The lavender has the biggest flower out of all four," he said. The previous two introductions were in red and pink. These azaleas bloom in April and then begin to flower again in July and continue until the fall. "There is a short window to prune it - right after it blooms in fall," he said. "The white is the slowest growing of all four." The azaleas will grow up to 4 feet tall.

Butterfly Bush
There are three colors in the InSpired Butterfly Bush: violet, pink and white. Valley noted that butterfly bushes can be invasive in most parts of the country, but this variety's flowers won't produce seeds. "We decided to go with the seedless butterfly bush. These are a little more fragrant. They have all of their foliage toward the bottom. It's a nice full plant all around and flowers all summer long." The violet version is the heaviest flowering of all the butterfly bushes they carry. "I've seen this in person -it's a crazy flowering machine," he said. The bushes can get up to 8 feet tall.

Beautyberry
The Purple Pearls Beautyberry (Callicarpa Purple Pearls) is a new release from Proven Winners. "This is one of my favorite new introductions," he said. " This is great for that late season color. And deer do not like this plant." The bush produces tiny pink flowers that turn into purple berries that stay on the plant throughout the fall. "The entire thing is purple - the leaves are tinged in dark purple. From afar, the whole plant looks pretty. This is a great plant. You should all have one." This callicarpa takes full to partial sun.

Mockorange
The Snow White Mockorange is a repeat flowering bush. "When you see the flowers, it's remarkable," said Valley. "It has a nice sweet fragrance you can smell from afar." It will need at least half a day of full sun and will get to be 6 feet tall and 5 feet wide. Bonus: it also attracts butterflies.

Blueberry
Blueberry Glaze is a new variety from the Brazel Berries line, which Valley said is perfect for the home gardener. "Now we are trying to incorporate them more into where you spend your time. It looks like a boxwood when not fruiting," he said. Growing to a maximum of 3 feet tall and wide, this edible can be grown in a large pot or as a hedge in the garden.

What's blooming in your garden?

Examples of container gardens in Wilmington, Vt.

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - A common misconception about container gardening is having to toss the potting mix every few years. But Michael Ruggiero, horticultural expert, has used some of his potting mix for 20 years.

"I never throw potting mix out," he told members of the Connecticut Horticultural Society during their May meeting. "Just add a little compost, fertilizer and potting soil. [Then] mix it in with the old."

"Buy new plants - don't buy new potting mix," he said.

Ruggiero is the former senior curator of horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden and has authored several books, including Annuals with Style.

When creating large container gardens, Ruggiero uses empty water bottles on the bottom of his pots to prevent them from becoming too heavy. Next he adds a filtering paper, such as landscape fabric, so the water will flow through, but not the soil. This also prevents the drainage holes from becoming clogged.

Ruggiero prefers to use a potting mix without perlite, and never uses garden soil, which can be too dense for container plant roots. "I always buy potting mix that has no fertilizer, than I add 1/4 good compost. I mix it in before I plant." Compost not only adds nutrients to the potting soil, but it holds fertilizer better. He recommended Coast of Maine's lobster compost. Next he adds a granular fertilizer, such as Espoma ("doesn't burn") to the container. He then feeds every two weeks with a liquid fertilizer at half strength.

"Fertilize at half strength - it's better to do it less," he said. "If you over fertilize, you can't take it out. Don't try to beat the system."

Plants in containers need 70 degrees Fahrenheit soil temperature to be able to absorb the fertilizer nutrients, which in Connecticut happens toward the end of June. "In containers, fertilizer leaches out quickly. Feeding them is very important. I take this seriously."

"You have to feed them silly," he said. "They don't have next year. Annuals are sprinters. If you don't give them what they need, they won't grow. You can't feed them enough."

Hide the Ugly, Show off the Pretty
While Ruggiero is not a fan of whiskey barrels, unless the plants manage to hide it, he said anything can be used as container to grow plants.

"If it's nice and expensive, don't hide it. If it's ugly, hide it."

Some containers can be disguised to look more expensive then they really are. One example is a clay-colored Styrofoam container hidden with trailing plants, which can give the illusion of looking like a clay pot.

You can plant anything, he said, while showing a photo of a dumpster planted with flowers. Other creative containers include old boots, truck tires, wagons, wheelbarrows - even an extreme example is an old car, as shown in one of Ruggiero's slides. "You can plant [in] anything," he said.

Planters - or "coffins" as Ruggiero likes to refer to them due their shape - should have two liners in rotation. In the spring, start planting in one liner with cool weather plants (think pansies and lettuce). The second liner will be the home to warm-season plants that can also be started early on when they are smaller (but out of sight).

When it's time to switch to plants that can tolerate warmer temperatures, lift the first liner out and drop in the second liner, already filled with warm-season plants. "You go into mature [plants] immediately," he said, without having to rip out big plants and start with smaller ones again. The first liner can then be prepped for fall planting.

Here's an example: start off with tulips amongst other smaller plants. When the tulips are spent, replace with a hydrangea. For the fall, use ornamental grass. In wintertime, put an evergreen shrub in. "You can really do anything you want," said Ruggiero. "If you feed them properly, you won't see that coffin at all."

Change it up

There are so many plant combinations that can be created in containers, that it is possible to never use the same plant twice. Ruggiero even suggested using houseplants outside during the summer. "They are plants that can tolerate your house but do better outside."

Another idea is incorporating containers in your garden landscape, not just along paths. "I want color, and I want moveable color ... it becomes artwork in your garden," he said.

Another moveable feature are hanging baskets. "Baskets can go anywhere and you can pack them," he said. "I like baskets, but when you buy them, they are so root bound." Ruggiero suggested moving the plants into larger moss-lined baskets which can give the plants more room to grow and better regulate water moisture.

Ruggiero even suggested going to the plant nursery frequently and getting a new plant to put in your container to replace one that may be looking past its prime. He stressed that container gardening should evolve with the seasons, not be planted once in spring and left alone.

"Planters can evolve from spring to summer to fall," he said. "You should have color all year long. We don't live long enough to have some dips in the action."

Floral Friday

The flowering trees and shrubs are stealing the spotlight this week, and it's easy to understand why. My Kwanzan cherry tree is in bloom, and every year it seems to get more flowers than the year before. (I explained why this tree is so special to me in this post from last year.) It's also the beginning of lilac season on my street, with my neighbor's (we think - 15 year old) bush kicking off the floral party.

What's blooming in your garden?

Mid-May Gardening Chores

Somehow I am halfway through the month again and my to-do list for the garden is constantly increasing. I'll leave the specific chores for my garden out, but here's a guideline to keep in mind for the rest of May. (Are we having fun yet?)

Cut off dead flowers from bulbs but do not
remove the leaves until they wither away.

Invasives
Be on the lookout for invasive plants in your garden before they take hold. For me, that means I need to watch for garlic mustard and wineberries. Usually both pop up around my compost pile, situated in the back corner of my property (behind my fence is untended land).

Cleanup
Are you still trimming perennials? If not, good job, because I am! I noticed my hydrangeas and butterfly bushes did not fair well over the winter with a lot of dead wood. To check that it is really dead, my garden center has advised me to scratch the stems and see if it is green underneath. If not, cut it off.

Bulbs
Trim off spent blossoms so the bulbs do not waste time in producing seeds. Do not remove the leaves - this is the plant's source of energy for next year. Even though they become unsightly, leave them in place until they wither away.

Seeds
I start warm season flowers like zinnias, tithonia, calendula, cosmos and marigolds now. Flowering vines such as morning glories can also be started.

It's time to harden off the seedlings that have been growing indoors. For me, this means New Guinea impatiens, wax begonias, geraniums, tomatoes, peppers and coleus.

Fertilizer
It's time to fertilize fruit trees and roses now.

Hummingbirds
Lure them to your garden by setting up feeders and offering plants they like. I boil 4 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar together, then let it cool before I put it outside. Flowers like salvias, calibroachia - basically anything trumpet-shaped - will also attract them to your garden.

Mulch
Order it in bulk! Who wants to drive home bags of mulch anyway? It's usually cheaper when you have it delivered. And stay away from the dyed colored mulch. That is so not earth-friendly.

Onward!

Butterflies, Birds Benefit from Native Plants

HAMDEN, Conn. - When choosing plants for your landscape, it's not all about looks.

Versatile native plants can provide valuable food for butterflies and birds. Native plants are also low maintenance and, once established, use less water, according to Andy Brand, nursery manager of Broken Arrow Nursery, located in Hamden, Conn.

"Native plants are very popular - sales of native plants have gone way up in the last 10 years," he told members of the Connecticut Butterfly Association during their spring meeting. (Brand is also the past president and one of the founding members of the Connecticut Butterfly Association.)

"Cookie cutter landscapes attract very few birds and insects," Brand said, showing a slide of a large front yard with a tree dotted in the middle. "You won't find a lot of butterfly species feeding on lawns. It's tough to complete a life cycle for a caterpillar if a lawn mower is going over them once a week."

When gardening for insects and birds, more native plants increase the likelihood that they will visit. Even weeds can be host plants for butterflies to lay eggs. "It sounds nuts, but let some stinging nettles grow up," he said.

A slide from Andy Brand's lecture shows the curled leaf
of a spicebush and a close up of the spicebush caterpillar.

Double Duty Plants

The black cherry tree benefits both butterflies and birds. "Most people don't pick it because of fruit, but because of the beautiful white flowers in the spring," said Brand. Eastern Tiger Swallowtails and Coral Hairstreaks both lay eggs on it. Birds eat the fruit.

"If I was going to pick a plant that I would almost guarantee you'd have success with rearing caterpillars, it would be lindera, or spicebush, in your yard," Brand said. "You will find spicebush swallowtail butterflies." All parts of the plant have a spicy aroma. It will tolerate at least a half day of shade as well. "I get excited when I see spicebushes [lindera] being chewed up by spicebush caterpillars," he said.

"The leaves will fold over and inside is a very 'menacing' caterpillar," Brand said. This is how the caterpillar protects itself from birds. If a bird does happen to turn the leaf over and find it, it will be in for a surprise. "If a bird sees false eyes staring at it, the bird will get scared," he said. The bird will not eat the caterpillar due to its appearance. "It's one of my favorite caterpillars - it's very distinct."

Spicebush does form red fruit that will be eaten by birds later in the season.

Another bush that makes bright, red fruit is red chokeberry - the fruit is sour but as the winter goes on, the berries become more palatable to birds. Black chokeberry is the more common variety planted, with fall color that really stands out. "This is a great substitute for a burning bush," said Brand. (Burning bush is on the list of invasive plants in Connecticut.) Highbush blueberry also makes a good replacement for burning bush. "Why plant an invasive species when you have fall color, birds will love fall fruit and butterflies will get nectar from it?" (Visiting birds include orioles and catbirds.)

Plants That Will Feed Birds
The fruit on bayberry is nutritious for birds. Bayberry plants are male and female, so you need one of each to get fruit. "It will sucker and form a pretty good colony over time. Yellow warblers like them," Brand said.

Winterberry also needs a male and female plant in order to produce fruit. "You need to have the appropriate male winterberry holly for the female," he said "It's important to go to a nursery and look for appropriate male and female set."

"Winterberry is my favorite plant to put in for attracting birds," he said. Robins, catbirds, hermit thrushes and more will feast on the berries from December through January. They can reach 8 to 10 feet tall, but a shorter variety, called Red Sprite, will only grow 5 feet tall.

Many moths feed on Virginia creeper, such as the Pandora sphinx moth and the eight spotted forester moth. "Fall color is spectacular on Virginia creeper," said Brand. And the fruits from the vine also feed the birds. (Brand said underneath a Virginia creeper that has climbed its way into the trees is a great spot to be in for birdwatching.)

Native viburnum is a shrub that benefits butterflies and birds. The little wood satyr is one butterfly that visits the white flowers in the spring. Viburnum Arrowwood provides larval food for butterflies and moths and has blue fruit in the fall that feeds the birds. "The more you have, the more fruit [you will have], then lots and lots of birds fighting for them," such as catbirds, he said.

American holly will tolerate a little bit of shade, but is not an easy plant to work with due to its sharp, prickly leaves. "We get flocks of robins that will start in one corner and will go from tree to tree until all the fruit is gone," said Brand. This bush is popular with robins, cedar waxwings and bluebirds.

Butterfly Food for All Seasons

Wild geranium is one of the best nectar sources for early butterflies, specifically early skippers, according to Brand. It will reseed in the garden.

A slide from Andy Brand's lecture shows a wild geranium
blossom and an eight spotted forester moth.

"If I had to plant a particular plant that would be nectar and host plant for monarchs, I'd pick milkweed," said Brand, "There's a milkweed for every habitat we have." Monarchs only feed on milkweed.

Common milkweed is rich in nectar. If you have moist areas, swamp milkweed is a perfect choice. Brand's favorite is the asclepias tuberosa, or butterfly weed, because it grows in a wide range of soils.

Goldenrods are also an important nectar source for butterflies, including monarchs, because they provide food late in the season. "If you get into a patch of goldenrod, you can spend hours watching the species it attracts," said Brand.

Brand said gardening for biodiversity requires a different approach. "It's a different mindset - the more diverse the plant materials, the more diverse the insects."

Follow Brand on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/seeing.nature

Floral Friday

It's definitely spring when the bleeding hearts begin to appear in the garden.

Bleeding hearts grow best in partial to full shade areas with moist soil. When the plant is located in a spot it likes, it grows in size each year. This photo is from a plant that has been in my garden for about four years.

What's blooming in your garden today?

Tricia's Great White Trillium in late April.

Happy National Wildflower Week!

How appropriate is it that today I conquered my fear of dividing a large trillium plant?

My friend and neighbor, Tricia, has been asking me to divide her Great White Trillium for the last month. She's unable to be in her garden at the moment, so the task fell to me.

The trillium, a wildflower found in Connecticut, is a beautiful spring ephemeral. It completes its entire life cycle before the trees leaf out and block the sunlight from reaching the ground. It usually disappears and becomes dormant when the weather gets hot.

Trilliums grow best in shady, rich soil. Their native habitat is woodlands, so try to recreate that type of soil to grow them in your garden. There are many different varieties of trillium but they all share three common characteristics: three leaves, three petals and three sepals.

The plants spread by underground rhizomes and form big clumps. I've divided other plants in the past, but I was really concerned about dividing this plant and inadvertently causing its death. So, I deferred to my gardening idol: Margaret Roach. On her website in a 2012 post, Roach gives the encouragement needed to divide trillium. She recommends a rainy day to do the dividing. It was overcast today when I headed over to Tricia's house with my shovel and pots. That would have to be close enough.

I first dug underneath the plant in a circle. The trillium grows along her house amongst hostas, so it was difficult to dig up the back part of the plant. I decided to just try and separate the rhizomes from the front of the plant instead of excavating the entire trillium. I was able to pull off the front half of the clump away from the mother plant.

This is the remainder of the mother plant that I left in its original spot.

Next, I teased the rhizomes apart from each other. I didn't even need my shovel to do this. They came apart easily in my hands.

I began to separate the rhizomes from the clump. Each piece is a new plant.

I potted up the ones that would be finding new homes and planted my share (a reward for my hard work!) in my garden. I dug a hole about 2 inches deep and placed the rhizome and roots inside. I lightly covered it with soil. At first, I wasn't sure if I should let the top remain exposed as iris rhizomes need to be, but after checking how my little red trillium looked, I decided to cover it up.) The transplants will need some attention until they settle in (for example, not letting the soil dry out).

If you are like me and are lucky enough to have a generous friend share her gardening spoils with you, great! Otherwise, trilliums can be purchased in reputable garden centers. They should never be taken from the wild.

Learn more about wildflowers blooming in Connecticut now from my previous post.

Willows Add Bee-Friendly Structure to Your Landscape

WETHERSFIELD, Conn. - There's more to the world of willows than what you might think.

Weeping willow. Pussy willow. That's it, right?

Michael Dodge, founder of Vermont Willow Nursery, gave the Connecticut Hardy Plant Society insight into the various varieties he cultivates on his 50 acres of land in Fairfield, Vt.

Michael Dodge spoke to the Connecticut Hardy
Plant Society during the group's April meeting.

He and his wife, Sonia, moved to Vermont in 2005 with retirement in mind. A trip in 2006 to the Montreal Botanic Garden changed his retirement plans when he viewed the living willow structures. Dodge realized his wet, loamy soil was perfect for growing willows.

"Most people think of willows, they think of weeping willows," he said during the group's April meeting. "I'm up to 250 different types of willows. I became an addict."

Now the nursery, in its third year, sells and ships its willow cuttings that range in size from 10 inches to 92 inches. "I ship 92 inch rods by FedEX ground - that's the maximum I can ship," he said. Searching through Dodge's website is a treat for the eyes. There are endless beautiful photos that make picking just one or two for the garden very difficult.

"Willows hybridize very easily. They are very promiscuous," said Dodge. "It's tough to be around them," he said with a smile.

His highlighted varieties:

Sageleaf willow, a Vermont native, makes a great ornamental shrub. "It is such a well-behaved willow. Everyone should grown them in their garden," Dodge said. "When I say use it in your garden, use it in your garden."
Japanese pink pussy willow which starts out pinkish-red and turns to gray, back to pink and then yellow in the spring.
Rubykins is another species that is native to Korea. "I cut mine back very hard every year," he said. It can reach 12 feet tall.
Snake curly willow is the "most jade-colored plant I know," he said.
Black pussy willow is unique because there are not many true black flowers in the plant world. It is recommended as a cut flower in late winter.
Rosemary willow "is just gorgeous." (Enough said.)

A slide from Dodge's presentation shows a living willow
structure on his property in Vermont.

Willows like sun, not shade. For planting, you just stick rods in the ground - at least a foot. "Willows are remarkably tolerant of conditions," he said. "[Many] willows will grow in standing water." However, because willow roots actively search out water, do not plant them near a septic system or a foundation.

Willows are bee-friendly, because they flower earlier than other plants and provide nectar and pollen. Several varieties are deer-proof and even make great living fences (called fedges - half fence, half hedge).

"Willows are very versatile," he said.

* Before I found out Michael Dodge was visiting Connecticut to give a lecture, I had actually purchased willow cuttings online a week prior. My choices? Winter green, cordata, Continental Purple and Rouge Ardennais. Of course, I chose mine because I plan to take cuttings and feed them to my house rabbits, who devour dried willow leaves when given the chance.

Floral Friday

It's all about tulips. They are the show stoppers in my front garden right now. When I planted 200 of them along my new path in November, I was worried if they would make it over the winter. Would squirrels dig them up? Would the voles tunnel through and eat them? But when they started to emerge about a week and a half ago, I knew they were doing just fine.

Last night with the sun setting, the warm soft light in the garden made them glow. Enjoy these Floral Friday photos!