Plant of the Week: Spring into Syringa

Happy spring!

(Bloomerang® Purple lilac)

I'll be in California for the spring trials for the next couple of weeks. This week we are setting up our plant displays so I'm sending you this wonderful post about lilacs from Jane. Next week, pictures and posts from CAST will start to come in!

So for now...enjoy spring, it's here!

- Natalie

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Plant of the Week: Spring is here!

Scentara® Double Blue Syringa

Not meteorological spring (that was March 1) or nursery grower spring (the first sale of the season), but astronomical spring, which was Wednesday.

What could be more fitting for a spring celebration than lilacs? Show me someone who doesn't like lilacs and I'll show you a bitter retiree who's discovered that she can't have a lilac at her Miami condo.

That's actually one of the most frequent questions we get on the Proven Winners® feedback site: why can't I get a lilac in Florida? Hint: the reblooming Bloomerang® varieties typically do quite well in warmer climates since they flower on new wood.

If you're looking for that classic farmhouse lilac with outstanding fragrance (and not so much powdery mildew), here's the plant for you: Scentara® Double Blue Syringa.

This plant gets 6-8' tall, like the one at your grandma's house. But it has unique doubled flowers and a nicer habit than old-fashioned common lilac. And there is the aforementioned mildew tolerance.

As with any lilac, it will want full sun to be at its best. Let it shine in a nice sunny, exposed border - that makes it easy to cut some flowers for bouquets.

This beautiful plant is hardy to USDA Zone 2 - it's the north country's reward for making it through another winter.


Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles

Plant of the Week: My Monet® weigela

Hello and Happy Friday!

For the last couple of weeks I've been reminding you about Shrub Madness, and that's still going on... You can still get in on the voting and you can still get the prizes that will be distributed at the end of each round! I hope you decide to give it a try.

Now let's get back to the Plant of the Week, this week Jane wrote about the three beautiful varieties of My Monet® Weigela. Named after my favorite painter!

After the plant of the week post, be sure to check out the information about the brand new Proven Winners® Garden Book. Written by Thomas Christopher and the fabulous Ruth Rogers Clausen, who was one of the very first people I met at my first GWA (now Garden Comm) mixer. I was in the lobby of the Lord Baltimore hotel, feeling quite out of my element and she motioned for me to come over to where she was sitting in a comfy sofa, welcomed me to sit down, introduced herself and said "tell me about you." She made me feel right at home.

Enjoy this week's plant, My Monet® Weigela.

The original My Monet® Weigela is an interesting plant. The variegated foliage will often acquire pink coloration as the season progresses.

My Monet® Sunset weigela

My Monet® 'Sunset' (right) goes in a different direction as its foliage is fiery sunset hues of orange and red.

This year we have a third My Monet® weigela to offer you: My Monet Purple Effect™. As the name implies, this weigela has a purple tone in both the foliage and the flowers.

I think that having the three plants with such different color palettes really suits the name My Monet. One of Claude Monet's most famous works is the series of paintings of Rouen cathedral. It's the same subject, painted multiple times, but in different lights.

My Monet Purple Effect™ weigela

All of the My Monet® Weigela are dwarf plants that can be used more as a low-growing mass planting than in the traditional border filler role that we expect of a weigela. While the original My Monet® and My Monet® 'Sunset' grow 1-1.5' tall and wide, My Monet Purple Effect™ weigela will get a little bigger: 1.5-2.5'.

My Monet Purple Effect™ weigela is also faster growing than the original, and more heat tolerant. It produces purple-pink flowers in spring, and then the variegated foliage stays nice and bright up to frost so you have quite a long season of color.

Hardy into USDA Zone 4, My Monet Purple Effect™ will grow in full sun or partial shade. The original My Monet® is also hardy to USDA Zone 4, but My Monet® 'Sunset' goes into USDA Zone 5.

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

Looking for a good book?

The gardening season is still weeks away for many people, so they must content themselves with planning for the upcoming spring.

While websites are great for learning about new plants, many people still like the feel of a book. There's something relaxing about turning real pages rather than clicking through screens.

Proven Winners® Garden Book is a nice addition to any gardener's library. If you'd like an autographed copy to give to a special gardener in your life, or maybe offer as a door prize at an upcoming event, you can order one here.

Soon enough we'll be able to garden in real life!