Plant of the Week: A Fine Time.

Quite fine.


Fine Line® Rhamnus is one of our older plants, but it's still going strong. Now, I know you see "Rhamnus" and are all ready to fire off a nasty-gram. Hold onto your keyboard - this variety is not invasive. You will see some berries, but they aren't viable. A university study showed less than 3% germination vs. 98% for the species. Anecdotally, I've never seen a seedling.

Fine Line® is a tremendously useful landscape plant. It's adaptable, durable, and fits into tight spaces like the sidewalk shown above. What dad wouldn't like a nice grill and a protective screen of Fine Line® hedging to keep the neighbors from spying on his top-secret BBQ rub? Even dads who grill on the patio can have a Fine Line® since it does very well in containers, too.
 
Fine Line® is hardy to USDA Zone 2 and will grow in full sun or partial shade. It will take most any soil, and pretty much whatever the weather throws at it. It grows 5-7' tall and about 2-3' wide. That narrow columnar form is just wonderful, and the fine texture proves that plants don't need flowers to be appealing.

Plant of the Week: Hydrangea

A perfect fit. 

Bobo® is the smallest Hydrangea paniculata on the market (3' tall and 3-4' wide). That's noteworthy in its own right, but the really special thing is that it opens up a lot of possibilities for landscapers and gardeners.

Typical H. paniculata get pretty big - 8 or 10' tall. They're good for hedges, or as a high impact specimen in a larger bed. But Bobo® can be used as a foundation planting or en masse. It can be tucked into a smaller border, and even used in container gardens. Since it's a super hardy USDA Zone 3 it gives cold-climate patio gardeners a beautiful new option for their planters.

Another cute little hydrangea is Invincibelle Wee White®, a dwarf form of 'Annabelle'. Dwarf 'Annabelle', you say? Yes - you already know how to use this little guy. You've probably been laying awake at night dreaming of the day that you had such a hydrangea - and here it is!

Invincibelle Wee White® grows 1-2.5' tall and wide. Normally I don't recommend H. arborescens in containers. They're plants that really like to be in the ground. But this little plant seems to do OK in a planter. It's certainly hardy enough - USDA Zone 3.

Both Invincibelle Wee White® and Bobo® hydrangeas will grow well in full sun. They will do OK in partial shade, but you will likely see more flowers in full sun, especially as you go farther north.



Plant of the Week: Roses

 
Let's grow some roses!

As the name suggests, our Oso Easy® roses are easy to grow: disease-resistant, low-growing, and long-blooming. They look great in a container, and are an excellent mass planting. Give them full sun and regular water and these little blooming machines will go all season long without a stop.

The only difficulty will be deciding which color to plant. I'm partial to the 'Peace'-like coloration of Oso Easy® Italian Ice® (top), but last weekend's 3 am roadside revelry by some recent high school graduates has me thinking that Oso Easy® Urban Legend® (bottom) looks pretty good.
Like all roses, Oso Easy® varieties will do best in full sun. Most varieties are 1-3' tall and wide and hardy to USDA Zone 4, although Oso Easy® Paprika, Hot Paprika™ and Peachy Cream will go into USDA Zone 3.
 

June is National Rose Month! 
A whole commemorative month was probably unnecessary: roses are the winners of pop culture horticulture. Songs, sonnets, ugly wallpaper - roses are one plant that everyone recognizes.

But roses are pretty fabulous. Beautiful as well as tough, it's no wonder that they have inspired so much art and romance. So we might as well admit that we like roses, too, and join the party.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles