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By Miles Hunter, July 22, 2010

July 22nd, 2010

Add warmth to your garden with Echinacea!

Echinacea, or Coneflower, are one of the most popular perennials. Every garden should have at least one variety. Echinacea love full sun and lots of heat. They have large, showy flower heads, blooming from early to late summer. Many varieties bloom until frosts in the fall. Some varieties can be used for herbal or medicinal purposes. They work well at attracting butterflies to your garden. There are many varieties for you to choose from including:

purpurea

This is the most common form of Echinacea which has large purple flowers and grows to 24 to 36 inches high. Click here for more information.

purpurea ‘Magnus’

This is a classic purple coneflower. Beautiful rose-pink ray petals with a coppery-brown, spiky central cone comprise the huge, flat flower heads. They flower from midsummer thru fall. Click here for more information.

purpurea ‘Ruby Star’

This variety has larger, more vibrantly coloured flowers than the regular purpurea species. From a central brown cone the deep carmine-pink petals are held flat, rather than drooping. Click here for more information.

purpurea ‘Coconut Lime’

This variety is the first ever double-flowered, white Echinacea. The flower heads feature a ring of white petals surrounding a large pom-pom of pale green florets. These blooms are big, but the stems are strong enough to hold them. ‘Coconut Lime’ not only looks great in the border but also is a distinctive and very long-lasting cut flower. It’s as easy to grow as any traditional Coneflower. Click here for more information.

‘Pixie Meadowbrite’

This hybrid is a vast improvement over other dwarf Coneflowers on the market. Flowers are midsized, with flat medium-pink petals surrounding a cone that begins greenish-pink, maturing to deep crimson. Deadhead regularly for continual blooming into the autumn. Click here for more information.

 ‘Maui Sunshine’

This variety has large bright yellow flowers, that are sweetly scented. This variety is well-branched with strong, upright stems. Showy orange cones with green backgrounds (great for cutting and drying). Click here for more information.

‘Tomato Soup’

This variety has warm, tomato-red flowers that grow to 6″ wide. It grows to 32” tall and nearly as wide. Flowers cover the plant till frost. Plants are well branched and show excellent vigor. Click here for more information.

‘Big Sky’ – series

There are many new varieties including a group of new Echinaceas that belong to the Big Sky™ series. The Big Sky™ series currently has five members, all of which are sweetly scented. The varieties include; ‘Sunrise’, ‘Sunset’, ‘Twilight’, ‘Matthew Saul’ (Harvest Moon™), and ‘Evan Saul’ (Sundown™). These varieties all have large green leaves, strong branching stems, wide flower petals, and profuse blooming tendencies.

All photos courtesy of www.perennials.com.

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By Miles Hunter, June 1, 2010

June 1st, 2010

Delight Your Senses with Lavender

Lavender (Lavandula) is a romantic flower and every gardener should have at least one in their garden. They love a sunny location with good drainage. Two of the hardiest and best know varieties are ‘Hidcote’ and ‘Munstead’. Both produce wonderfully fragrant blue-lavender coloured flowers during the summer. Lavender is extremely drought tolerant once it is established but should be watered regularly when young.

Another newer variety of Lavender is the Spanish Lavender variety ‘Anouk’. This variety produces a consistent display of flowers from June through September. To encourage them to repeatedly bloom is it best to cut them back after they produce their first set of flowers to encourage the second bloom.

You can choose from ‘Hidcote’, ‘Munstead’, ‘Anouk’, and many other varieties to add that extra fragrance to your garden this summer. 

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By Miles Hunter, May 24, 2010

May 24th, 2010

Grow the “Perfect Peony”

Peonies are beautiful sun-loving  perennials which can be very long-lived in your garden. They are extremely hardy, easy to grow, and easy to maintain. They do their best when grown near the middle or back of full sun borders or beds. There are two main types of Peonies, herbaceous peonies and tree peonies. The more common herbaceous type die back to the ground every fall and come up again every spring. The tree types leave a woody stem exposed during the winter months.

There are many beautiful varieties to choose from with a rainbow of colour choices. Come in today to see these beautiful plants in bloom. 

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By Miles Hunter, February 5, 2010

Winter Blooming Perennials!

There are many perennials in bloom during the winter. The cool weather can help the flowers last longer. Plants like Hellebore can bloom from December to March continuously. We have many long blooming varieties of Hellebores including Ivory Prince and the NEW Vancouver Medallion.

We also have a great selection of winter blooming heather to fill any garden with beautiful reds, pinks, or white flowers. Heather is great in a flower bed or in pots and planters.

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By Miles Hunter, December 1, 2009

There are many resilient perennials that can put on a show during the winter months. One of the best by far are the Helleborus family. Also known as winter rose or Christmas rose these beautiful plants come in a variety of colours including white, cream, purple, reds, and even a few yellow varieties.Most are just starting to produce buds right now but those buds will open to full blooms in January and bloom right through to March.