January 31, 2019

Plant of the Week: Lo & Behold® 'Ice Chip' Buddleia


Hello from blizzardy-cold Michigan!

This week Jane brings you a beautiful white butterfly bush appropriately named 'Ice Chip' and she makes a case for white gardens.

Entrance to the Moon Garden
This took me back to the 2018 Austin Garden Bloggers Fling and the beautiful Moon Garden at Skottie O'Mahony & Jeff Breitenstein's Tanglewild Gardens. The image on the right is of three Balinese goddesses that beckon you inside. They designed the space using plants and flowers that are white or otherwise pale-colored, and that are at their most glorious in the moonlight. It was daytime when we visited so we couldn't get the full effect, but I thought how wonderful to be able to design garden spaces that wake up at night!

Tamara Paulat also wrote a nice post about this garden with more photos on her blog site Chickadee Gardens.

Enjoy this plant of the week, and if you're in the same boat as we are...stay warm!

- Natalie 


Icy Patch... 

So, we've had a bit of ice around here. Also some snow. Many of you have had the same - probably more than us. By the end of February, even the hardiest winter sports fans are dreaming of summer's warmth.
Lo & Behold® 'Ice Chip' Buddleia

What if I told you that come August you'll be wanting a frosty little plant? It's Lo & Behold® 'Ice Chip' Buddleia.

Petite, long-blooming Lo & Behold® 'Ice Chip' is one of the non-invasive Buddleia varieties developed by Dr. Dennis Werner of NC State University.

Like the other Lo & Behold® plants, it will flower all summer without deadheading and stays quite small: about 2' x 2.5'. It will want full sun and well-drained soil. If you're in the northern part of its range you should try to plant it earlier in the season rather than later.

The case for white plants.
We know that white flowers typically don't sell as well as brightly colored ones in most places. That's too bad because white blooms can add a lot to gardens, particularly if they're planted en masse.

The nice thing about a little shrub-like Lo & Behold® 'Ice Chip' is that it looks just great in a patio container. It can be used to create a small space for evening contemplation, maybe with some Bobo® Hydrangea and White Album® Euonymus nearby?

An all-white garden is at once a bold statement and a calming retreat. After all, many of us don't actually get to enjoy our gardens until the daylight is fading. By then reds and pinks lose their punch, but white glows. Add the fragrance of a butterfly bush like Lo & Behold® 'Ice Chip' and you've got the perfect place to sit down and talk about your day with the family.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles.

January 25, 2019

Plant of the Week: Purple Pillar® Hibiscus syriacus


Hello and happy winter! It's finally full-on cold and snowy here in Michigan. As write this, I can look out the window and see the snow falling gently on the evergreens across the road here at Spring Meadow Nursery - it's beautiful. But also nice to be inside!

This week Jane brings a little color to the blog with a gorgeous, tall, rose of Sharon from our Pillar® series of Hibiscus.

Enjoy!

Natalie 

We're nearing the end of January, and now is when you have an idea if those New Year's resolutions are going to stick as a permanent lifestyle change or were just an excuse to buy some new sneakers.

What if I told you that you could get lean without going Whole 30 or signing your life over to the CrossFit disciples? Here is an easy way to get lean in 2019:

  • Lean plants

Lean plants are popular. They can be used to screen a backyard in a crowded subdivision or grown as a container plant on a patio. Purple Pillar® Hibiscus syriacus does this plus has the adaptability we expect of a rose of Sharon.

Heat, drought, poor soil - it's no problem for this long-blooming plant.

Purple Pillar® hibiscus is hardy to USDA Zone 5 and grows 10-16' tall - but only 2-3' wide! Wow!

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles.

Note from Natalie:
Purple Pillar® hibiscus is an award-winner! Winner of the Green Thumb award from the  Direct Gardening Association; and Silver Medal winner, Plantarium 2016.

Long blooming, heat tolerant, drought tolerant, deer resistant, and attracts pollinators - this plant is just waiting for your garden.

Until next week...stay warm!

January 17, 2019

Plant of the Week: MANTS Wrap up and Fire Light® Hydrangea paniculata

Last week I was at the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (MANTS) in Baltimore and was thrilled to see many of my favorite garden communicator friends, and I got the chance to make some new friends as well!

Here we all are! The GardenComm group.
Vendors show their wares at the press breakfast.

Thursday morning of the show, MANTS traditionally hosts a special press breakfast, which gives a few lucky presenters the opportunity to pitch their new products to the press and garden communicators, plus it gives our group a great chance to meet up and get some fun photo ops.

This year there was a purveyor of wrapping paper that is filled with wildflower seeds, a portable, indoor hydroponic growing system, and a new blight-resistant boxwood cultivar.

Lunch bunch.
I have to toot our own horn here as well, Proven Winners® ColorChoice®  Sprinter® and North Star® Buxus have also been identified as blight-resistant cultivars by NC State University Cooperative Extension and have been tough performers in landscapes for years. Don't believe me? Check out this video from Laura at Garden Answer!

Thursday lunch was across the street at the "Southern Kitchen" buffet where a smaller group of us spent an hour or so making introductions, exchanging business cards and learning about what's new and fun in the garden communicator world.

At the lunch, I learned a little more about square foot gardening from Kim Roman, met a new friend, John Boggan from DC Tropics, Kathy Jentz, Peggy Ricco, Nancy Robson, Katie Elzer-Peters, Jackie Gorski, Kirk Brown and another new friend from Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Herb Frazier, rounded out the group.

It was really a whirlwind trip for me, only one full day in Baltimore, but that one little trip caused me to miss my first weekly post on this blog since I took it over a year ago!

So let's get back on track with Jane's Plant of the Week which also happens to be the 2019 Proven Winners Hydrangea of the Year:


Not just hot - it's on fire! 

Fire Light® Hydrangea paniculata
Fire Light® Hydrangea paniculata is one of our most popular plants, and it's easy to see why.
Fire Light® Hydrangea paniculata

It has large, full, white flowers that transform to pink and finish the summer with a rich pomegranate-red color. The thick stems hold those flowers upright so everyone can see just how fabulous they are in the garden or when cut for an arrangement.

When you have show-stopping flowers on an easy-to-grow plant, you've got a winner. That's why Fire Light® is our 2019 Hydrangea of the Year. It was also the 2015 Shrub Madness® Champion.

Fire Light® grows 6-8' tall and wide, so give it some room to show off. It's hardy to USDA Zone 3, and will grow in full sun or partial shade. In Michigan, we find that the flower color is more intense in full sun.

We are big fans of H. paniculata. Winters in Michigan can be severe (although we've been pretty so lucky so far this season). Many of you in milder climates have been getting a taste of what we experience most years: snow, ice, more snow, and temperatures that have you doing an inventory of your toes at the end of the day. So maybe everyone will appreciate H. paniculata all the more this summer.
  • It's cold hardy.
  • It flowers every year - on new wood.
  • It's forgiving of untimely pruning and rogue snow plows.
Just plant it, and go. For a good review of the various kinds of hydrangeas and how to be successful growing them, check out our Hydrangeas Demystified flyer. This continues to be our most popular educational piece, and we're happy to share it with you and your customers.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles.

See you next week!

January 4, 2019

Plant of the Week: Low Scape Mound™ Aronia

This week Jane brings you a fun little landscape plant that also happens to be our 2019 Landscape Shrub of the Year! Even though it's marketed as a landscape plant, I think this little shrub has great potential in home gardens, too - since I've yet to meet a gardener that doesn't like a few group plantings that are beautiful all season and absolutely worry-free.

Enjoy!    - Natalie 


Low Scape Mound™ Aronia
We have a lot of plants. Seriously, A LOT of plants. So we like to highlight a few really special ones each year to be sure that folks know about them. This year's Landscape Shrub of the Year is an exciting new variety of a genus that may be kind of new to you as well, at least for landscaping. It's Low Scape Mound™ Aronia melanocarpa.

Low Scape Hedger™ Aronia
Low Scape Mound™ chokeberry is smaller than other varieties - it's just 1-2' tall and wide. This makes it a great size for many landscape uses. (If you need something a little bigger, check out its sister plant, Low Scape Hedger™).

Low Scape Mound™ Aronia fruit
While Aronia breeding has historically focused upon fruit production, the Low Scape® plants come from a breeding program that pursues the ornamental appeal of the genus. With its pretty flowers and bright fall foliage, there was a lot of potential there, and we're very happy that Dr. Mark Brand of the University of Connecticut developed this outstanding plant.

Why get excited about Aronia melanocarpa?

Where should I begin? Truthfully, much of our excitement about the plant comes from the fact that it checks a lot of the boxes for our customers:
  • Compact
  • Adaptable to most soils, including wet, dry and somewhat compacted
  • Salt tolerant
  • Can be planted in sun or partial shade
  • Hardy - USDA 3-9
  • Multi-season interest
  • Native
  • Supports wildlife populations - the birds like the fruit although they may not get around to eating it until later in the season
One thing about wildlife: although this isn't at the top of the deer menu, they do like the flower tips and may nibble those in some areas. If you aren't concerned with berry production hopefully you will be OK. If you're looking for a plant for fruit production you'll get better results with a variety developed for that purpose, like 'Viking'.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles.

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