Planters' Choice Weekly Picks!

"I have a question regarding poison ivy growing through a large juniper in front of my business. Just behind is a holly bush and next to it is cypress..."

Check out the answer below. Submit your questions and earn a chance to save!

Coming soon...

Spring flowering bulbs, fall annuals - Mums, Cabbage & Kale and more!
Start planning your spring and fall gardens and containers!

Who can resist?

Echinacea purpurea 'Lucky Star'

Rozanne Geranium and Eupatorium Chocolate

Geranium 'Rozanne' and Eupatorium 'Chocolate'

Just for fun - Native Plant I.D.

I.D. these 8 Names these correctly and we'll give you a big pat on the back!

Scroll down to the bottom for the key.

Question of the Week

"I hope you can answer a question regarding poison ivy growing through my large juniper in front of my business? Just behind is a holly bush and next to it is cypress. I'm very concerned about how to remove it without getting affected by it"

Carole from Design Alternative, Woodbury

Answer: Most materials designed to control brushy vegetation contain 2, 4-d and other compounds that will kill poison ivy and should be listed on the label. The problem is they can certainly do damage to the plant the poison ivy is growing on. I have had success being very careful to direct the spray to the poison ivy and not injure the shrub the ivy is on. This needs to be done with care and there IS potential for shrub damage. The other way would be to look where it is growing from the ground, cut it with a pole saw or pruner and spray the cut. This usually works very well. The coming weeks will be an ideal time for treating Poison Ivy because in the fall plants are sending carbohydrates down to the roots and this helps assure good translocation of the herbicide. If you have a large vine climbing into a tree, cut it, let it flush out the following year providing a large leaf surface area for the herbicide to make contact with.

Remember to always read, understand and follow the label.

Read Dealing with Poison Ivy, a fact sheet from UCONN.

Submit your landscaping question via email to sbarbier@planterschoice.com and you'll be entered in a monthly drawing to receive 10% off your next purchase (pick up only, does not apply to deliveries). Please use "Question of the Week" in the subject line and let me know if you want your name and business mentioned.

Perennial HOT List

Leadwort makes a nice groundcover

Here's a list of great looking perennials - in stock and in good supply - ready for your next job!

Ceratostigma plumb. (Leadwort) Full in the pot and blooming.

Heuchera 'Caramel' (Coral Bells) Great plant for contrasting foliage! Full in their pots.

Lavandula 'Munstead' (Lavender) Full and well budded.

Salvia nemerosa 'Snow Hill' (Meadow Sage) White flowers with a compact habit. Budded and blooming.

Thalictrum roch. (Meadow Rue) Full, budded and blooming.

Thanks Heather!

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Special of the Week:
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Bearberry)

1 gallon containers 10% off 10 or more

1 gallon Bearberry - makes a great groundcover

On SPECIAL this week are our PC Grown Bearberry. A low growing, glossy-leaved, native, evergreen groundcover. Small bell-shaped flowers in spring lead to red berries in fall. Well-drained sites are a must in full sun to part shade. Plant about 18" on center and keep moist until established. Great near the shore as it is salt-tolerant and likes the sandy soil. Effective on stone walls and up against rocks. Read more about them here on the UCONN site.

Valid: Saturday, Aug. 18 - Friday Aug. 24th

Continued specials on:

Magnolia 1 - 10% off, 2 or more - 20% off

Cherry Laurel B&B 10% off

*Price is net. No further discount applies.

NOW!

Incoming this week- fresh stock from our farms plus some fresh boxwood

Trees

Looking good are the Cercidiphyllum japonicum (Katsura)! Both Weeping and non-weeping forms. Offer your customers some apricot-orange fall color and a sweet cotton candy fragrance emitted through the coloring heart-shaped leaves. If Michael Dirr could only have one tree...this would be it! (pg 237, 6th edition, Manual of Woody Landscape Plants)

Rose-of-Sharon tree form taken over at our container farm.

Shrubs

Azalea 'Delaware Valley White, 'Hino Crimson' 3 gal.

Hibiscus s. (Rose-of -Sharon) 'Lucy', 'Red Heart' and others
Kerria japonica (Japanese Kerria) 2 gal.

Dwarf conifers behind 'Mt. Fire' Pieris

Broadleaf and Specimen Evergreens

Buxus (Boxwood) x 'Green Mountain', 'Winter Gem' 3 gal.

Euonymus fort. 'Emerald n Gold', 'Emerald Gaity', 'Moonshadow'

Ilex crenata (Japanese Holly) 'Helleri', 'Hoogendorn', 'Green Lustre'

I. glabra (Inkberry) 'Compacta' 7 gal., 'Shamrock' 3 gal.

I. x mes. (Blue Holly) 'Blue Maid' 7 gal., 'China Girl' 5 gal.

Juniperus chinensis 'Blue Point' 10 gal.

Pieris jap. 'Compacta', 'Dorothy Wykoff' (Japanese Andromeda) 10 gal.

Serbio and the crew

digging Hemlock

Evergreens for Screening

Thanks to the recent rain we are able to start digging evergreens!

Picea abies (Norway Spruce) 6/7' freshly dug, locally grown by us!

T. plicata 'Green Giant' (Western Arborvitae) 6/7' freshly dug from our fields this week

Perennials

Time for some grasses!

Claudia's fall design above will quickly come into its own bringing to the garden some cool blues in both foliage and bloom, bright variegation and winter interest. Consider these for your upcoming jobs - nice on their own and great as a combination. Idea: add some spring bulbs like Narcissus 'Mt. Hood' or 'Thalia' (both are pure white) with bright blue Scilla siberica (Squill).

Amsonia hubrechtii (Blue Star)

Caryopteris x 'Dark Knight' (Blue Mist Shrub)

Miscanthus s. 'Variegatus' (Feather Reed Grass)

Panicum 'North Wind' (Switch Grass)

Pennisetum alopecuroides (Fountain Grass)

P. alo. 'Hameln' (Dwarf Fountain Grass)

Schizachyrium scoparium 'The Blues' (Little Blue Stem)

Looking for something different? Head on over - there are so many perennials to see in bud and blooming!

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Plant I.D. Key...How did you do?

1. Tradescantia virginiana (Spiderwort)

2. Rhus aromatica (Fragrant Sumac 'Gro Low')

3. Sassafras albidum (Common Sassafras)

4. Comptonia peregrina (Sweet Fern)

5. Rhus typhina (Staghorn Sumac)

6. Veronicastrum virginicum (Ironweed)

7. Sambucus canadensis (Elderberry)

8. Liquidambar styraciflua (Sweetgum)

Have a Great Weekend!

As always, we appreciate your business!

Sincerely,

Chuck and Darryl Newman
Planters' Choice, LLC