Red dahlias, Europeana red rose and red hollyhocks

Ravishing Red   

By Karen Hopson

            Red is opulent, dramatic and ravishing! A favorite of poets and romantics, red evokes passion and the sumptuous richness of royalty.

            As I wander through town I am cheered by the extravaganza of radiant fall colors. My eye is most drawn to the fiery reds of burning bush, Japanese and Red maples, sour gums  and sweet gums. If the sun peeks out their red leaves positively glow! Along Riverfront Park the warm  red sweet spire (Itea) shrubs bring

Red Bishop of Llandaff dahlia, African Queen trumpet lily and purple larkspur.

vibrant color to complement the wonderful textures of ornamental grasses. Later to turn but also radiant are barberries, cotoneaster, smoke bush and spiraea.

            By Thanksgiving the red berries of hollies, cotoneasters, barberries, pyracanthas, crabapples and hawthorns add jewel-like richness to the landscape. The birds that come to feast on their berries are a joy to see. As the leaves fall the polished red stems of redtwig dogwoods and coral bark maples enliven the muted landscape. Also sporting red twigs are many blueberries and the evergreen shrub Drimys. The satiny red blooms of Yuletide camellia, centered with a boss of golden stamens, bring cheer to the season. Try planting red berried Wintergreen or lingonberries at its base.

            As spring arrives lovely red tulips, rhododendrons and azaleas show off their finery. Nuccio's Bella Rosa camellia unfolds layers of silky petals in a beautiful formal pattern.  

            `Showstopping, brilliant red, crape papery petals of Beauty of Livermere oriental poppies are stained sooty black below its fringe of black stamens. Potentilla Gibson's Scarlet and Geum Mrs. Bradshaw both bear pointilistic dots of red. Lucious red roses add fragrance, opulence and romance to the garden.

            By midsummer the garden turns into a tropical paradise of red cannas with lush burgundy foliage, glorious red dahlias, sprays of scarlet Crocosmia Lucifer and spires of Salvia Lady in Red. Towering in the back are the huge purplish palmate leaves of castor beans topped with red sea urchin-like seedheads.

By Kathy Zane

       As we are now feeling fall approaching, I am once again in awe that this time of year has come full circle.  I so look forward to the fall season when the colors, textures and smells of nature fill my senses.  It is also when I start to think more about my indoor living space and how I can make it inviting and cozier for the longer winter days. One of the ways I accomplish this is by bringing the outdoors in.  Another is to tastefully display different sources of lighting all through-out my house to create a feeling of ambiance and warmth. And finally, it's the special seasonal decorations that give my home that final personal touch.

            There are several great ways I like to bring the outdoors in.  This time of year you'll find so many beautiful tree branches with fall colored leaves that look simple yet stunning in a vase. Throw a few small gourds and pumpkins around it and voilá, you've created a lovely fall arrangement.  There are also many evergreen plants with a variety of different textures that would make a lovely arrangement on your mantle, dining room table, or buffet table.  What about a hollowed out pumpkin as the vase?  Put a glass jar inside and you'll find you've created a unique and inspiring arrangement for you and your guests to enjoy. This is also a good time to be thinking about bringing your houseplants inside that have spent all summer on your decks and porches.  Not only do houseplants create a soothing environment, they also help filter the air we breathe of harmful toxins.

            When it comes to ambiance, lighting is everything!!  This time of year there are so many wonderfully scented candles that not only set the mood but also make your home smell amazing.  One of my favorite brands is Legacy by Root.  Their candles are made from a beeswax/soy blend, have 100% cotton wicks, come in great home décor colors, burn long and clean, smell divine, and are made right here in the USA. What more could you ask for in a candle, right?  Besides candles, another favorite light source of mine is lighted sticks.  These sticks have tiny little lights on them called rice lights.  They usually come in a nice bundle and look good displayed in vase or pot. I even like to put them in with my potted houseplants.  Since rice lights are so small they put off a really nice warm glow that is not too bright but can really brighten up a dark spot.  You can even display them outside under a covered porch where an electrical outlet is nearby. These days there are many styles of branches to choose from.  With all those choices you are bound to find a style that goes perfect in your home or personal space. 

Conifers-Living Sculpture in the Garden

                          By Karen Hopson

sawara cypress

            As the ephemeral flowers of summer collapse into mush and the leaves are shed from trees and shrubs, does your garden have enough structure to hold its own through winter? For fabulous forms and textures that hold up through our blustery fall and winter weather explore the amazing array of conifers.

            For upright accents in blue colors try several selections of lawson and sawara cypresses. 'Blue Surprise' lawson cypress forms silvery blue spires that grow slowly to 6 feet, while 'Wissel's Saguro' cypress forms narrow upright contorted  deep blue green columns that grow only 4" a year. 'True Blue' sawara cypress has the softest silvery blue needles on an upright 3 foot cone shaped plant. Two other steely blue selections of cypress include an upright 3 foot column called 'Nymph' and a soft blue globe named "Rimpelaar'.

            Gold is a wonderful color for brightening gray days. For vertical interest  try 'Golden Pillar' cypress with its glowing lime-gold, lemon scented foliage, growing up to 20 feet tall by 4-5 feet wide. An even more narrow column, 'Swane's Gold Italian cypress forms a striking sentinel. 'Gold Cone' juniper is blue green most of the year but  in spring its new growth is brilliant gold on this narrow 8-9 foot column. For soft mounds of gold try dwarf golden threadbranch cyprees or 'Golden Pincushion' moss cypress. For a small space dwarf golden hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa Nana Lutea) is like a living sculpture with its swirls and twirls of scalloped golden fans.

            Pick up red tones with 'Red Star' white cedar, which has lovely star-shaped blue-green needles that develop rich red tones in winter on a 3 foot cone-shaped plant. Cryptomeria  'Elegans Compacta' is another color changing beauty, turning its softly curled, blue-green needles to smoky reddish brown in winter on this15 foot conical plant. The low spreading carpet of lacy,  green foliaged Russian Cypress turns burnished brown in winter.

            Conifers can be used as ground covers, specimens or screening from neighbors or ugly views. They can provide food  and shelter for wildlife. Most conifers prefer at least a half a day of sun but yews and hemlocks are content  in shade. All evergreen conifers prefer good drainage which is easy to provide in pots but in the ground you can add perlite, pumice and compost to your soil to mound it up higher than surrounding soil. Conifers look their best  with some summer watering but many are quite drought tolerant once established.. Conifers prefer a steady slow release of nutrients so Espoma Holly Tone is an excellent organic based fertilizer for them.

            There are so many beautiful conifers to enhance your garden. Come out to Garland Nursery to see their incredible variety or log on to www.iselinursery.com to see some of the many possibilities.