Coastal Current   
   

 June 2014   Issue #54  

  

  

It's That Time Again!   

Come to think of it, there's not a day in the year when you can't say that. It's kinda like "season's greetings," which works no matter what season is in season. 
But this time, "that time" = catalog crunch time. We're getting down to the wire and getting pretty excited about the new stuff you'll find in our 2014-2015 edition. 

  

Here's a scoop:
Our Echinacea selection has more coneflower flavors than Baskin-Robbins has ice cream cone flavors.


 

 

SUMMER TRADE SHOW CIRCUIT

Warm summer breezes always tend to blow us around the country. In coming weeks and months, here's where you'll find us touching down:

* Darwin Perennials Day, The Gardens at Ball, West Chicago, IL June 18 http://www.darwinperennialsday.com/default.aspx

   

* NEW: Star Roses & Plants Open House, West Grove, PA June 26


* Cultivate '14 (the erstwhile OFA Short Course), Columbus, OH July 13-15. Come to Booth #1905-07 and collect your still-warm copy of that new catalog! http://cultivate14.org


* Perennial Plant Association Symposium, Cincinnati July 29 & 31. Booth #10 Join us in the Queen City for leading-edge plant education, great garden and nursery tours, and a Mark Twain-worthy riverboat cruise. http://perennialplant.org/index.php/events/national-symposium

* FarWest Show, Portland, OR August 21-23. Booth #17058 http://farwestshow.com/visitors.shtml 

  

 

 

DOWN ON THE FARMS

Florida  
Spring is rapidly turning to summer in the Panhandle. Among the many crops that have roused themselves to lush life after an unusually unpleasant winter, we're particularly keen on our numerous varieties of Gaura lindheimeri (a.k.a. Oenothera l. - see below). Whether you like the new compact varieties or the more traditional rambling, weaving types, you'll find them in ECG liners. 



Also coming along nicely are the combo planters you'll see in our booths at Cultivate '14. Created by our in-house diva of design, Pamela Straub, they're reason enough all by themselves to come by & say Hello.
 
 
Pamela Straub
 

 

 

Pennsylvania
Veronica Mauve Moody Blues

The MidAtlantic world is green and flourishing. Back from deep dormancy in the trial garden: Nepeta Junior Walker, the Veronica Moody Blues series, and Achillea Moon Dust, all from Star Roses & Plants; our own Muhlenbergia 'Fast Forward', Panicum 'Hot Rod' and Stokesia 'Divinity'; and many more grasses and perennials. It's been a beautiful spring - and we earned it. The aforementioned Star Roses event takes place in the ingenious open-air Star Pavilion, designed by old friend Simple the Roving Garden Artist. We'll anchor one ray of the five-pointed structure as a licensee of Conard-Pyle genetics, like those listed above. Come and party under the Star!


Achillea 'Moon Dust'


 

  

 

 

RANDOM EXASPERATING FACTS DEPARTMENT

Those wacky taxonomists (Motto: If it ain't broke, break it) have struck again. Gaura lindheimeri has been redubbed Oenothera lindheimeri. Those who make such decisions explain it thus: "The long-recognized genus Gaura was shown recently to be deeply nested within one of two major clades of Oenothera."

 
We hate to see the nattering nabob nation nitpick this nifty North American native, but hey, who can argue with a major clade? Besides, this switch honors the tradition of replacing familiar, pronounceable nomenclature with tongue-twisters, e.g. Aster/Symphiotrichum. But science marches on. We learned Tritoma/Kniphofia and Cimicifuga/Actaea. This too shall pass.

 

 

Gaura 'Crimson Butterflies'

 

 

 

 

Bring on the heat-loving grasses!

We're heading into the perspiring period, when warm-season ornamental grasses really thrive. Build up your inventory of Andropogon, Miscanthus, Panicum, Pennisetum, Schizachyrium and Sorghastrum now to have hefty honkin' gallons & larger on hand for summer sales.


Andropogon 'Rain Dance'

 

 

 

HORTISCOPE

Gemini: 2014 marks the golden anniversary of your namesake NASA missions, a vital leg in our journey to the moon, when astronauts first docked vehicles in orbit and walked in space, all while wearing diapers. We tip our helmets to those potent pioneers.


Cancer: If you accept the twins' invitation to a cookout, everyone will be happy to see you. But you might find yourself in hot water shortly after you arrive.


 

TRAY BON!

Echinacea
Nothing says summer in America like a cheerful stand of purple coneflower, especially now that it comes in so many other colors. Breeders worldwide have worked their magic on this prairie native, and we've got 18 varieties in multiple shapes & shades ready right now to bring that magic into your perennial selection. There's large, bold Big Sky 'Harvest Moon', compact 'Dixie Sun', and cute little 'Butterfly Kisses', to name just a few. Check our always-fresh Availability for the full listing.

 

Echinacea Hot Papaya

 

 

EPILOGUE  

It's that time again, that sweet season when sliding a boat into my river no longer inspires the neighbors to question my sanity, as they are wont to do all winter. Recently, under cloudless blue skies, I watched from my kayak as a red-tailed hawk engaged a bald eagle in a dogfight. Grudgingly, after elaborate skirmishing, the much-larger bird yielded and flew off upriver, ceding the hawk's territory. Moral: No matter how small you are or how big they are, you can successfully defend your turf.


 

 

  

John Friel  

Marketing Manager    

[email protected] 

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