Monthly Archives: January 2019

Early Spring-Blooming Perennials

When winter is long and dreary, it can seem like your precious flowerbeds will never burst into life again. Early spring flowers, however, are precious proof that winter is on its way out, and some can even bloom in bright, cheerful colors right through lingering snow. Yet we often forget these beauties, overcome with the bold, familiar bulb displays of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and more. This is unfortunate, because many of these perennials have a subtle charm that complements bulbs and shrubs which bloom in early spring, and they add even more variety, texture and color to your landscape.

Perennials for Early Spring Blooms

When choosing the best plants to be a stunning early spring display, the amount of sun or shade the location receives is the most critical factor for the plants’ success and the gorgeousness of their growth.

For a sunny location, opt for…

  • Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus)
  • English Daisy (Bellis perennis)
  • Mountain Pinks (Phlox subulata)
  • Rockcress (Aubrieta)
  • Candytuft (Iberis)
  • Wall Cress (Arabis)

For part to full summer shade locations…

  • Pasqueflower (Anemone pulsatilla)
  • Bleeding Heart (Dicentra)
  • Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia)
  • Columbine (Aquilegia)
  • Dead Nettle (Lamium)
  • Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis)
  • Creeping Phlox (Phlox stolonifera)

Planting Perennials for Early Spring Blooms

When you choose which early spring bloomers to add to your landscape, consider the plants’ overall mature size, soil requirements and both watering and fertilizing needs to be sure they can reach their full potential. If you choose to plant them in fall, take extra care to protect tender roots and give the plants time to thoroughly establish themselves before the first hard freeze. Good compost and mulching around the new plants can help protect and nourish them through the first winter, and they’ll be ready to burst into colorful bloom in just a few months.

Many of these plants are good mid-level bloomers ideal for flowerbeds. They can fill in around other small accent trees and shrubs and provide a lush background for other blooms or mounding plants in front of the bed. They can fill in around trees for a more naturalized look, and can be great in borders. Just be sure to plant at least a few where you’ll have a good view of their beauty from indoors and you’ll be able to enjoy the beauty of their early blooms even if it’s a bit too cold to be outdoors in your garden!

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Design a Raised Landscape That Works

Raised beds have been around for years, but have become increasingly popular recently because they make the landscape orderly, organized and easy to maintain. You can readily reach over and pull weeds as they appear, plant more comfortably and enjoy the new tiered depth and dimension of your lawn and garden. Raised beds are also particularly helpful if you are working with heavy soils that drain poorly, or if you have mobility limits that make getting down to ground level more difficult.

If you’re just getting started with raised beds, it’s easy to successfully bring your gardening to a higher level:

  1. Define the bed lines with a rope or hose. Consider the overall bed size, as well as the size and shape of your building material. You may want to position the bed along a fence or in a corner for more dimension and support.
  2. Dig a 4-6” deep edge along the perimeter. Don’t worry if this line isn’t as neat as you would like, because it will be more refined once you construct the bed frame.
  3. Remove existing sod/grass from the bed. You can compost the removed material, or use it to patch other spots in your lawn or turf as needed.
  4. Place concrete blocks, wall stone or other edging along this new bed line to build your bed frame. Wooden railroad ties or planks can also be used, but be aware that they may warp or decay in time. In general, stone or other sturdy materials are preferred.
  5. Build up your flower bed approximately 6-8” with top soil, mixing in peat moss for better drainage and compost, leaf mulch, cow manure or similar organic material to adequately nourish the soil.
  6. Compact your soil mixture as you build up each layer. This will help keep the bed from settling excessively as you plant and water.
  7. Increase the visual impact of your flower bed or gardening area by planting at different levels. Arrange shorter, lower growing plants in front, followed by medium and then tall plants in the back. You might consider some “spiller” plants along the sides and front if desired. Choose plants carefully to match the size of the bed, avoiding plants that will quickly outgrow the smaller, more confined space.
  8. Apply a 2-3” layer of mulch or stone and thoroughly soak your new landscape feature. Sprinkle Miracle Gro Weed Preventer or a similar product over the area to provide an invisible layer of protection against germinating weeds.

Before you know it, your new raised bed will be thriving and will quickly become the centerpiece of your landscaping. Then it’s time to construct another!

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Helleborus – A Perennial for the Ages

When selecting new additions for the perennial garden it is almost impossible to find one that will provide year round interest. This difficulty is further compounded when you need a shade-loving perennial. Well, what was once considered impossible for a perennial is now possible with the Helleborus!

About Helleborus

Although there are many species of Helleborus, the most popular is the Lenten Rose (H. orientalis). Bred especially for its unusual range of color, this cultivar is a low maintenance, long blooming, shade loving, evergreen perennial.

  • Habit
    The neatly mounded form of the Lenten Rose grows approximately 12-24” high by 18-24” wide.
  • Flowers
    The nodding flowers of H. orientalis resemble a single rose and are about 2-2.5 inches across. They are available in range of colors that include white, cream, lemon, chartreuse, lime, pink, rose, maroon, plum and almost black. Many varieties can even be speckled. Flowers appear in early to mid-March, while most other perennials are still sleeping, and last well into May. This plant has the unique ability to bloom in freezing temperatures often with snow still on the ground.
  • Leaf
    The Lenten Rose boasts a large, glossy, leathery, evergreen, compound leaf. Each leaf is made up of 7-9 serrated leaflets borne at the end of the leaf stalk, producing an umbrella like effect.

Helleborus in the Landscape

This perennial works well near a walkway so that it can be easily enjoyed before the garden season even begins. Elevate the plant for a better view of the face of the nodding flowers. Use all Helleborus as specimens in a small garden or near a pond, in mass as an evergreen groundcover or to provide textural contrast in the mixed border. At home in a woodland garden, Hellebores work well with hostas, ferns, brunneras, snowdrops, pulmonarias and winter aconites. It can be attractive surrounding a tree, tucked next to a deck or in a rock garden.

Growing Helleborus

Hardy in zones 4-9, Helleborus orientalis grows best in heavy to light shade. It prefers moist, well-drained soil, rich in humus and organic material, and is pH adaptable for a wide soil range. Tolerant of summer heat and humidity, the Lenten Rose is adaptable to drier soils, and competes well with tree roots once it is established. Mulch well to retain moisture and fertilize in early spring before the flower stalks begin to lengthen. By the end of the winter, leaves can often become tattered or scorched. Simply cut off any unsightly leaves and fresh new leaves will soon replace them.

If you wish to divide H. orientalis, do so in the late summer to early fall. Make sure that you dig a generous root ball and provide plenty of water until established. The Hellebores do not like to be disturbed and are slow to recover when moved, so be gentle. Helleborus orientalis may be propagated from seed, however, seeds take six months to germinate and the young plants take three years to bloom so patience is essential – but well worthwhile for the stunning results.

Hellebores are not prone to any pest or disease, and these plants are deer resistant.  

Other Popular Hellebores

While the Lenten Rose may be the most popular of the Helleborus plants, it is not your only option. Other popular Hellebores include:

  • H. foetidus – Stinking Hellebore
    The flowers of this Hellebore are light green, and the evergreen leaves are more deeply lobed and sharply serrated than those of the Lenten Rose. The flowers of the Stinking Hellebore are said to be slightly malodorous.
  • H. niger – Christmas Rose
    Similar in appearance to the Lenten Rose, this Helleborus must be vegetatively propagated and blooms earlier in the season the Lenten Rose. It can be a great option for extending the blooming season in your shade garden.

No matter which Helleborus you would like to try, you’re sure to love the results when you add these shade-loving perennials to your landscape.

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Attracting Birds to Your Garden

One of the benefits of a garden is the wildlife it attracts, and birds are some of the most popular garden wildlife. Most birds are voracious eaters that are glad to keep the insect population down, and may eat 500-1,000 insects in one afternoon. This makes them ideal for natural (and free!) pest control. Anything you can do to attract birds will make your garden healthier and you’ll be entertained by their feeding antics along the way.

Fortunately, it is easy to attract birds to your garden if you meet their needs for food, shelter, water and overall habitat variety.

Food

While birds will certainly eat insects and may munch on seeds, berries and fruits in the garden, consider placing a variety of bird feeders in your garden to entice even more birds to visit. Platform feeders attract ground birds, hanging feeders are for perching birds and suet holders attract insect-eating birds. Suet is especially important during the winter as this helps birds maintain their body temperature by adding fat to their diet. Hang plastic mesh bags of suet or pinecones dipped in suet (or peanut butter) from the limbs of trees.

For your other feathered guests, white millet and black oil sunflower seeds will attract the most common seed-eating birds and can be sprinkled directly on the ground or added to feeders. Add other species-specific seed like Nyjer (thistle) seed (to attract goldfinches, pine siskins and purple finches) or peanuts (to attract chickadees, jays and tufted titmice) to your buffet. Various gourmet seed mixes are also available like Lyric Supreme, Delight, Chickadee, Woodpecker and Finch Mixes, each of which is blended with specific birds in mind and includes the foods those birds like best.

Shelter and Nesting Sites

Birds feel more secure if they have shelter to protect themselves from the weather and other predators. Plant native trees and shrubs birds will easily recognize as suitable shelter. If your landscape is young and doesn’t include much shelter for birds, don’t worry. Consider building a brush pile or adding a loose woodpile to the yard and birds will happily take advantage of it.

You may also want to add nesting boxes or bird houses and other materials for birds to raise their young. This should be done in late winter or early spring just as birds are beginning to look for nesting sites. Clean houses or boxes after each nesting season.

Water

One of the most important things to include in your bird-friendly garden is water. This is especially true during the winter months. Use a bird bath heater to keep water from freezing. Ideal water sources are 2-3 inches deep and 3 feet off the ground to keep visiting birds safer from prowling predators. Moving water is a magnet for most birds and will attract them from great distances for a drink or bath. A mister, dripper or circulating pump can be added to a bird bath or other water feature during most of the year, but take care to winterize the equipment properly so it does not freeze and break during the coldest months.

Habitat Variety

Because birds live in many different habitats, the variety of plant material you can offer in your backyard will determine how many birds are attracted to your garden. Consider native plants, plants with berries, fruits, sap and nectar for year-round food sources as well as nesting materials. Plan your landscape in tiers and flowing, connected beds so birds can move around easily, and include a variety of both deciduous and evergreen plantings so birds can find the habitat useful year-round.

We carry a complete line of bird feeders, houses, seed mixes and suets as well as garden accents; all the accessories and plants you will need to start attracting birds to your backyard. Stop by today!

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