John's Bulb Tips: Hide That Foliage!

L-r Yarrow, Lady's Mantle, Carex 'Ice Dance' and Japanese Painted Fern up front and Bevan's Variety Geranium and Bee Balm in the back.

One of the main reasons many are reluctant to include bulbs in a landscape is the residual foliage that remains after the flowers have faded.  While some will knot, braid, or even cut down the leaves before they start to brown, this is not recommended since it will impede the photosynthesis needed for the bulbs to replenish their energy for reblooming the following year. One solution that allows the foliage to receive the six weeks of sunlight needed to recharge without marring the landscape is to plant bulbs with perennials whose leaves will grow around and hide the foliage. Two common bulb companions are daylilies for sunny spots and hosta for shady spots. However, other plants will also do the job. The best plants are shallow rooted and not heavy feeders. Here  below are some other recommendations to consider:

Watertown News

Digging Our Locally Grown Evergreens!

8-10' Canadian Hemlock being tree-spaded out of the ground and getting wrapped in burlap, then caged, ready for sale

Perennial HOT Picks!

Looking Good and in Good Supply! 

Honorine Jobert Windflower

Alchemilla mollis (Lady's Mantle) - Lush plants, some are even still blooming! Great for their large, soft foliage.

 

Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'  (Windflower) They are nicely budded and beginning to bloom.

 

Cimicifuga simplex 'White Pearl' (Bugbane) Here's a new one for us - dark stems, green foliage and full white fragrant flowers! (take a closer look)

 

Heuchera 'Citronelle' (Coral Bells) Great lime foliage!

 

Tiarella  cordifolia 'Running Tapestry'  (Foamflower) Another new one for us - rounded lobed leaves with maroon centers! (Read some more) 

  

Spotlight on Larger Specimens - Katsura

Cercidiphyllum japonicum

A beautiful specimen 5-6" Katsura in the Newtown Sales Yard

Here's one beautiful tree to use as a specimen or shade tree. Katsura have small, heart-shaped leaves that make up a dense canopy even in youth. It has a nice pyramidal habit for those who appreciate a little more controlled

Gorgeous color on this Katsura taken last fall!

look and for the ones who like to experience something extra - it emits a fantastic sweet fragrance in the fall as the leaves turn yellows, golds, oranges and reds. Growing 40-60' it needs a site where it can truly be appreciated in all the seasons. Plant in full sun for best fall color. 

Also take a look at the multi-stem form in larger sizes and the C. japonicum 'Pendula' - a nice weeping form that, once mature, is a breathtaking sight! Same great fall color and sweet fragrance. 

Come on over and take a good look!

Weekly Special

Prairie Dropseed + Dwarf Fountain Grass!

Buy 6 or more, Get 10% off (Mix & Match is OK)

Prairie Dropseed

(Prairie Drop Seed) is one cool ornamental grass! It has a fine texture, grows about 15 inches, sends up seed heads above the narrow blades, turns a deep orange in fall then copper for the winter months. It is not a fast growing grass, but once it has been in a few seasons you will notice it is very well-behaved as the centers do not die back. Their habit is neat enough for a formal garden, but great also for the more natural site. If massed you will really notice the fall color and also a wonderful, spicy fragrance, much like coriander, which not many other grasses can boast about.

NOW!

Incoming This Week!

Beautiful Azaleas, Holly and Evergreens!

Front to back - Slowmound Mugo Pine, Dwarf Golden Hinoki Cypress, Kosteri Hinoki Cypress, Dwarf Blue Scotch Pine and Black Dragon Japanese Cedar. Come in and get a closer look at these and discover some others!

Ornamental and Broadleaf Evergreens
Azalea 'Delaware Valley White', 'Pleasant White', A. pouk. 'Compacta'	Evergreen Azaleas
Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Fernspray Gold', 'Kosteri', 'Nana Lutea', 'Verdoni'	Hinoki Cypress
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Gold Mop'	Golden Threadleaf Cypress
Cryptomeria japonica 'Yoshino'	Japanese Cedar
Ilex crenata 'Chesapeake', 'Excelsa Schwoebel', 'Hoogendorn', 'Sky Pencil', 'Soft Touch', 'Steeds'	Japanese Holly cultivars
Ilex glabra 'Shamrock'	Inkberry
Ilex pernyii	West Virginia Pernyi Holly
Ilex x meservae 'Blue Maid' B&B	Blue Holly
Juniperus chinensis 'Blue Point', 'Mountbatten', 'Robusta' B&B sizes	Upright Chinese Juniper
Juniperus virginiana	Eastern Red Cedar limited
Picea abies 'Little Gem', 'Pendula'	Norway Spruce cultivars
Picea glauca 'Conica', 'Pendula	Dwarf Alberta Spruce and Weeping White Spruce
Picea pungens 'Globosa', 'Procumbens'	Dwarf Blue Spruce
Pinus mugo 'Mops', 'Slowmound'	Dwarf Mugo Pine
Pinus sylvestris 'Glauca Nana'	Dwarf Scotch Pine
Pinus thunbergii 'Thunderhead'	Thunderhead Pine
Rhododendron PJM 'Elite'	PJM Rhododendron
Thuja plicata 'Whipcord'	Dwarf Arborvitae

 

Colorado Blue Spruce