Add colour to your winter garden with Witch Hazel!

Witch hazels, also known as Hamamelis, are excellent deciduous shrubs to add to your winter garden. Known best for their colourful flowers and beautiful fragrance no garden would be complete without at least one variety of Witch Hazel. The flowers are beautiful during late winter and early spring from December to February.

The stems of this plant also add structure to your garden. During the summer the green leaves provide an excellent backdrop for other flowering shrubs or excellent shade for your hosta’s or other shade plants.

Witch hazels are hardy to zone 5 (-15 F, or -23 C) and most will grow to 8 to 12 feet high and 6 to 8 feet wide. They are easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. They flower best in a sunny location. They prefer moist, acidic, organically rich soils and can tolerate heavy clay soils.

As they grow it is important to remove sucker shoots that grow from the root system to prevent them from spreading. For general pruning give them a light pruning in spring after flowering to control shape and size.

The x intermedia hybrids (H. mollis x H. japonica) are large deciduous shrubs which typically grow 12-20′ tall and feature mid to late winter flowers.

The witch hazels rarely have serious insect or disease problems. They occasional get insect galls (caused by small wasps) on the foliage. Japanese beetles may chew on the leaves in some areas.

You can choose from the following varieties this year:

• Hamamelis intermedia ‘Arnold’s Promise’ - bright yellow flowers
• Hamamelis intermedia ‘Diane’ – bright orange
• Hamamelis intermedia ‘Jelena’ – vibrant yellow flower
• Hamamelis mollis ‘Pallida’ – pale yellow flowers
• Hamamelis intermedia ‘Sunburst’ – bright yellow

Add colour to your winter garden with Primula!

If you are looking to add a little colour to your winter garden a fresh delivery of Primula have arrived. Also known as Primrose these hardy plants are great for adding colour to your pots, containers, and gardens. With a range of colours from Pink, Purple, Red, Yellow and White you can be sure to find the right colour for your garden. They make a great planting over your spring bulbs as they will not get in the way when your crocus, tulips, or daffodils grow through them. Be sure to stop by and check out the colours we have available for you.

Heavenly Helleborus!

Helleborus, or Christmas Rose, are an easy to grow perennial that bloom continuously for many months. Some varieties start in early December and can bloom until March. They grow best in a dry shady location. They are fairly disease resistent, drought tolerant, and deer resistent. For more infomation about growing Helleborus click here.

For 2011 you can choose from a number of the “Helleborus Gold Collection” (HGC) varieties as well as several varieties that have proven their worth over the years:

• Cinnamon Snow (HGC) – pink buds open creamy white
• Double Queen Mix – double flowers
• Ivory Prince - an excellent cream colour that blooms profusely
• Jacob (HGC) – pure white blooms, slightly fragrant
• Josef Lemper (HGC) – upward facing cup shaped pure white flowers
• Pink Frost (HGC) – burgundy and white blooms
• Silver Dollar - Corsican type with silver foliage
• Winter Bliss (HGC) – creamy white flowers with pink centres

Start your Amaryllis now for Christmas Blooms!

If you are looking for some beautiful flowers to bloom in your home for the holidays look no further than Amaryllis. These bulbs provide your with weeks of colour through the holiday season, often blooming well into January. Taking about 6 to 8 weeks from the time you plant them they can produce multiple flowers stems with 3 to 6 blooms per stem. For 2011 we have 10 varieties to choose from including:

• Apple Blossom
• Charisma
• Exposure
• Minerva
• Mont Blanc
• Nymph
• Orange Sovereign
• Papillio
• Red Lion
• Red Pearl

It is time to Start your Paperwhites for Christmas Blooms!

Paperwhites is the name given to these easy-to-grow Daffodils, also known as Narcissus. Paperwhites grow and bloom indoors very easily. They require little care but reward you with a long period of fragrant indoor flowers. They are great near an entrance way to greet your guests or in your living or dining room to add a sweet fragrance.

Paperwhites can be grown in a pot with soil, but do just as well in rocks with water. To grow them in soil find a suitable pot and plant the bulb so that the top third of the bulb is visible above the soil. Water them until the soil is evenly moist. To grown them in water place an inch or two of rocks or glass beads in the bottom of a vase. Place the bulbs on top of the rocks an fill the vase with water until it touches the base of the bulb. Place the pot or vase in a bright sunny window to encourage the bulbs to grow. Regularly check the pot or vase adding water as needed. It is best if you plant the bulbs in the soil or rocks and place them in a cool room for 2 to 3 weeks to let them develop roots. Then move them indoors where it should take 4 to 6 weeks to bloom.

Field Grown Winter Pansies have Arrived!

Don’t miss out on the best pansies you can grow. When these pansies are grown in the field they develop greater tolerance to the cold temperatures that winter brings. Their extra strength ensures that they produce the biggest and best blooms that any Pansy produce. Their cold hardiness ensures that they bloom all winter long and well into the spring. They may even continue to bloom through the following summer.

Plant you spring bulbs underneath them and the bulbs grow through them in the spring. Colour coordinating your bulbs with the pansies ensures a strong impact in your garden next spring. Try Purple Pansies with Yellow Daffodils, or Yellow Pansies with purple crocus, or white pansies with red tulips. There are many great combinations to try.

Bigger Bulbs Produce Better Flowers!

When it comes to bulbs size matters. Bigger bulbs produce more flowers and at David Hunter Garden Centers you can find the largest Allium, Tulip, and Daffodil bulbs. Our selection of bulbs for 2011 include the Jumbo Allium ‘Large and Purple’, three varieties of Jumbo Tulips; Red Impression, Maureen, and Big Smile and the Jumbo King Alfred Daffodils.

For the Tulips Red Impression is a deep red, Maureen is a clean white, and Big Smile is a bright yellow. The flowers on these Tulips are produced on a strong sturdy stem and will be the size of a large hand. These bulbs will bloom in May and June and each flower can last for weeks. Be sure to add Evergro Bulb Food (3-15-8) to the soil when you plant and again in the spring when the bulbs begin to emerge.

Celebrate the Beauty of Spring – Plant Dazzling Daffodils!

Daffodil bulbs, also known as Narcissus, are one of the most spectacular bulb to plant in your garden. They have cheerful yellow blooms in spring, they are perfect to grow in pots or on your garden, and they are squirrel and rabbit resistent. A group of Daffodils can bloom repeatedly in your garden for months in the spring. If you plant them in a sunny location with well drained soil Daffodils will return to bloom again for many years. Our selection still includes over 30 varieties of Daffodils for you to choose from.

The most popular daffodil has to be the King Alfred Daffodil. This variety is indeed the King as it has one of the largest blooms. Growing to between 12 and 16 inches (30 to 40 cm) tall they will produce an abundant grouping of flowers in mid spring (March and April).

Here is a complete list of Daffodils that you can choose from right now:

• Avalon
• Bridal Crown
• Canaliculatis
• Cool Flame
• Double Campernelle
• Double Poets
• February Gold
• Flowerdrift
• Fortissimo
• Full House
• Gigantic Star
• Golden Ducat
• Ice Follies
• Irene Copeland
• Jack Snipe
• King Alfred
• Lancaster
• Las Vegas
• Little Gem (Mini King Alfred)
• Mount Hood
• Pacific Coast
• Pink Parasol
• Pipit
• Poeticus Recurvus
• Precocious
• Quail
• Rynveld Early Sensation
• Sailboat
• Tahiti
• Tete a Tete
• Yellow Cheerfulness

Winter Pansies are Ready to Plant!

It is hard to believe that fall is here but even harder to think that it is time to plant your winter pansies. As your summer annuals finish blooming it is time to start replacing them. Pansies make a great filler for winter adding colour to your garden beds, planters, or pots. You can choose individual pansy plants in 4 inch pots or get a better value buying them in a pack of six plants.

Pansies come in a variety of colours including shades of yellow, purple, lavender, mauve, orange, and black (dark purple). When you are planting your pansies be sure to plant your fall bulbs underneath them. You can create colourful combinations with pansies and fall bulbs like yellow crocus with purple pansies. Or try white hyacinths with purple pansies. The combinations are endless.

Add Fall Colour to Your Garden with Mums!

Mums are a great addition to your garden for fall. They provide colour from August to October. They are a great combination plant with Pansies, Kale, or other fall perennials. They are excellent in the garden or in pots and containers. Mums are sold as annuals but they can be left in the garden to flower again next year, just cut them back in the winter and they come up again next spring.