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Summer Hours
Starting Monday June 27th:
Monday - Friday 7 am - 4:30 pm
Saturdays 7 am - 1 pm
(FYI: Tomorrow is the last 2 pm Saturday at both locations)
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Perennials...
There's always room for a few more
| Blue Hobbit Sea Holly, Cathedral Windows Hosta and Splendens Sea Pinks |
The perennial sections are filled to the brim with many of your go-to favorites, cool new varieties and a few that have been brought back into production. These three caught our eye: Eryngium planum 'Blue Hobbit' - Sea Holly adds spiny texture to full sun borders, and this dwarf variety is a star for up front. When in bloom it will only top off at about 12". It's a fan of sun baked landscapes and poor sandy soil - too much fertility and moisture will cause it to sprawl. It's also good to know that they have a tap root, so site them well to begin with to avoid transplanting.
Hosta 'Cathedral Windows' is an awesome tetraploid variety with a white flower growing 20" high x 36" wide. It has tough corrugated leaves with a big splash of chartreuse in the center. This Hosta is new for us this year along with 'Humpback Whale' and 'Blue Umbrella'. All three are big growers with Humpback Whale being the champ at 3' high x 7' wide! Plant these big varieties with companions that will stand up to their bravado and not get lost. Astilbe 'Bressingham Beauty', Bugbane ( Cimicifuga racemosa/Actea), Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola') and Golden Ray (Ligularia) to name a few.
Armeria maritima 'Splendens' - Sea Thrift is sweet mound of grass-like foliage that sends up slim stems in spring that hold up a pink pincusion flower. It only grows about 6" (12" in flower). Plant in rocky, poor soil with good drainage in a full sun to partial shade site. A good choice for rock gardens, on top of stone retaining walls and troughs. Plants like Blue Fescue, Lavender and Lamb's Ear also do well in those same conditions.
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News from Watertown
Perennial Parings
The early summer blooming perennials are full in their pots, showing color and ready to brighten up your perennial gardens. I love to plant gardens with color schemes: echoing colors with different flowers, leaf forms, sizes and shapes.
Here are some suggestions of perennials in bloom now with similar, harmonizing color tones to add to an established garden or a new garden in the making. Purples and pinks - top left c. clockwise: Achillea 'Oertell's Rose', Liatris 'Kobold', Dianthus 'Silver Star', Dianthus 'Vampire', Armeria 'Splendens', Lupinus 'Gallery Blue' and Salvia 'Purple Rain' in the center.
| Red-orange combos including Achillea 'Paprika', Alstroemeria 'Inca Ice', Lillium 'Matrix Red' & 'Matrix Orange', Coreopsis 'Mercury Rising', Trollius 'Golden Queen Globe' and Lupines 'Gallery Red'. Sylvie is in the center on red Case tractor! |
-Marnie
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What's that blooming along the roadside?
Elderberries!
| | This Elderberry has no problem growing on top of this beaver dam down the street in Newtown. | |
Not many people realize that this shrub even exists until they're seen along the road in full bloom! Sambucus canadensis, also called American Elderberry, is one of those shrubs that's either loved by native plant aficionados or demanded by town Wetland Commissions - and not so much in between.
It's a fast growing, rounded shrub typically found along the edges of ponds and wetlands, roadside drainage areas and forest edges. It leafs out early spring with compound leaves and is followed by large, flat-topped, white lacey clusters of flowers late June. The flowers develop into black edible berries (think jam, jelly and wine!). No need to mention, birds love them!
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3 gallon Elderberry
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They're happy along a pond or low areas in the landscape. Plant in full sun or partial shade in moist soil. They do not want to be planted in water, but because they have a shallow root system they can be planted at the high edges of ponds and wetlands. Now, don't feel restricted by the mention of 'wetlands', they're pretty tolerant of dry soil once established and could look great in the shrub border, as an informal hedge or along a driveway. Prune early spring as they flower on new wood to keep its size in check if you need (they will get 6-12' h x w) and cut out any suckers to encourage an arching vase-shape. They're one flowering shrub that comes through winter after winter with no issues - hardy Zone 3-8.
There are many other Connecticut natives that double as great landscape plants. Check them out and give us a call for availability!
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NOW! Incoming This Week: Weed Mat, Oakleaf Hydrangea and more large Ornamental Grasses!
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It's not all beautiful flowers around here. Rolls of black weedmat came in for those tough, weed-prone areas and other projects. We are fully stocked with 3, 4, 6 , 8 & 12' rolls. Need the staples? We have 6" metal sod staples in bundles of 12 or boxes of 1,000.
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We have a nice choice of 10 & 20 gallon shrubs including Upright Japanese Holly, Inkberry, Butterfly Bush, Endless Summer Hydrangea, Ivory Halo Redtwig Dogwood and others. Check them out as you head down our main road in Newtown.
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Deciduous Trees & Shrubs
| | Hydrangea anomala 'Annabelle 10 gal. | Smoothleaf Hydrangea | Hydrangea macrophylla 'Endless Summer', 'Sister Theresa' 10 gal. | Bigleaf Hydrangea | Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' 10 & 20 gal. | Panicle Hydrangea | Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snow Queen' 10 gal. | Oakleaf Hydrangea |
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More fresh Boxwood in this week - Specimen, Hedge Grade, and varieties like 'Green Velvet'. Deer resistant, evergreen and a staple in residential and commercial landscapes.
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Broadleaf and Specialty Evergreens | | Buxus sempervirens specimen and hedge grade, 'Green Velvet' 18-24", 24-30" | Assorted Boxwood | Chamaecyparis pisifera 'King's Gold' 10 gal | Goldmops Cypress | Ilex crenata 'Chesapeake' 25 gal. (4') | Upright Japanese Holly |
| What better place to lay out your plant palette - right at the source! |
Ornamental Grasses (large sizes, limited quantities) | | Leymus arenarius 'Blue Dune' 7 gal. | Blue Lyme Grass | Miscanthus sinensis 'Gracillimus' 7 & 10 gal. | Japanese Maiden Grass | Pennisetum orientale 'Karley Rose' 3 gal. | Fountain Grass |
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Weekly Plant I.D.
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Last Weeks ID
Sisyrinchium angustifolium
Blue-eyed Grass
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| | This Weeks ID |
Blue-eyed Grass is a small, clumping grass-like plant that's in the Iris family. It has delicate blue flowers at the tips of flat stems in spring and is a native plant of the southeast. It's generally found in wet meadows, so moist soil and full sun is best, but it can take partial shade. Growing 12-18" high makes it good for the front of the border, rock gardens and containers. Use mulch lightly keeping it away from the crown.
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