Can't you just feel spring in the air?  We're excited to be getting ready for the Chicago Flower & Garden Show.  We hope to see you there. Weather permitting, toward the end of the month we'll be opening up our hoop houses and getting our sales yard ready.

 

Navy Pier

Chicago IL

This shade garden showcases evergreens, shrubs, ornamentals,  perennials, grasses, and bulbs suitable for low light settings.  The garden path leads through a cedar arbor and gazebo. Hostas, heucheras and other shade bloomers weave a subtle tapestry of color.  The garden features  three large Shona sculptures from Zimbabwe nestled under Japanese maples and tricolor beeches.

 

Some of the softest needles can be found on deciduous conifers, including the genus of larches (Larix).  Every spring clusters of soft green needles emerge from buds all over the bare branches.  Through the summer the needles are a beautiful rich green, and as fall progresses the larch needles turn a resplendent golden color.  Before winter sets in, the larch needles drop off, revealing the underlying branching structure.

    
Larches are native to the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere, and several species are found across Europe, Asia, and North America.  In North America they are often called tamaracks, and are one of the plant species typical of a bog edge.  Visit nearby Volo Bog to see a unique bog ecosystem.  If you happen to travel west in the fall, you'll see two larch species put on quite a show: Western Larch (Larix occidentalis) and Alpine Larch (Larix lyallii).

Cultivars have been developed from many of the species. Larix decidua 'Varied Directions' is a cultivar of European larch with branches angling off in different directions. The Japanese larch selection Larix kaempferi 'Diana' is unique with its curling and contorted branches.  Weeping forms have been selected from both European and Japanese larches (Larix decidua 'Pendula', Larix kaempferi 'Pendula'). Some of the dwarf cultivars of the American larch (Larix laricina) have blue-green foliage, such as 'Blue Sparkler', 'Deborah Waxman', 'Newport Blue', and 'Steuben'.  

There are many wonderful larches to choose from for a sunny garden spot.  Come take a walk and see the spring growth and the lovely new cones.  Which one is your favorite?