"Must've Been the Roses!!"

Well, after a long hiatus, back to bloggin'!!!! On a recent hot summer eve, I decided to take a run into Elizabeth Park located on the Hartford/West Hartford line. The roses are in full bloom and looking gorgeous as usual. Sneaking in a visit between the afternoon thunderstorms last week was a utter bliss!!

Think Spring!!

Boy this 'mild' winter weather is giving us Spring Fever!! Come to the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show February 23-February 26 and get psyched for Spring too. There will be lots of new products to see, new plants to learn about and the yummy smell of soil will be in the air!

We hope 2012 is a wonderful gardening season for all and we look forward to seeing everyone in late March, when we re-open for the season!!

http://www.ctflowershow.com/pages/tickets.asp

Summersweet in all its native glory!

Clethra alnifolia, or Summersweet, as it is commonly referred to, thrives in wet soil and as a result, does extremely well along river banks and lakes or ponds. Pictured here is a bank of Clethra in full bloom taken from my kayak in Mansfield Hollow State Park. It's sweetly scented white flower spikes cover the plant in July to August. These native shrubs provide a wonderful nectar source for butterflies and bees. The dense and spreading form of Clethra, in addition to being visually appealing, provides great shelter for many birds. Tolerance of shade as well as a bright yellow Fall foliage show complete the package of a wonderful and hardy native plant.

Hardy Hibiscus...Hooray!!

Hibiscus moscheutos 'Chablis' is pictured here. Also known as perennial Hibiscus or hardy Hibiscus, not to be confused with tropical Hibiscus, this plant is a real winner! It thrives in full sun and fertile, but well-drained garden soil.

Hibiscus have some of the most amazing and huge flower heads out there in the perennial garden. Disc-shaped and generally 5-petaled with oftentimes a second layer of petals, Hibiscus blooms attract the attention of many a bee or butterfly passing by, as well as curious customers!

Chablis is a bright white with a hint of pink in the center and about 10-12" across. The plant itself is very full and compact, achieving 36" in height and about 24" in width. Most definitely, Hibiscus is a very impressive center showpiece or backdrop for any sunny perennial garden. It is hard to believe they reach this size in one growing season, if cut back in Fall!

Hibiscus come in a multitude of colors and varieties with different foliage, some dark red or 'black' and some green, some palmate and some more rounded in nature. We sold out of Hibiscus but have since re-stocked! Fresh plants arrived this afternoon and are looking amazing!!

Wow! Now That's a Big Daddy...Hydrangea!

We've got some amazing looking Hydrangea here in our nursery yard. Looking particularly healthy are our 'Big Daddy' Hydrangea, or Hydrangea macrophylla 'Big Daddy'.

'Big Daddy' has most likely gotten its name from the colossal flower heads which are a magnificent clear blue color. Often the size of a human head, 'Big Daddy' is a big leaf, or macrophylla-type hydrangea which blooms on sturdy stems from early summer through Fall. The leaves are thick and glossy and disease-free. The flower heads themselves are great for cutting and using in fresh or dried arrangements.

As is the case with most hydrangea, a part sun exposure is ideal as well as an acidic, well-drained soil. Feed in Spring with an Aluminum Sulfate or similar plant food to encourage blooms.

Fort Tryon Park, New York

After visiting Fort Tryon Park in New York this past weekend, I am newly inspired to spend time in the garden. Fort Tryon is a lovely spot to spend a day or even just a half-day. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., the son of the renowned architect of Central Park, it was a gift to the city of New York circa 1917 by John D. Rockefeller.

The park houses a gorgeous 'Heather Garden', which includes much more than just Heathers. A fine textural mix of perennials, shrubs and some annuals make a nice summer display. Photos are attached of this lovely garden space.

The Cloisters, perched high above the northern part of the park is a large medieval-style building. It is constructed from the stone of 5 European monasteries and houses close to 5,000 medieval works of art. The Cloisters is considered to be a part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and with its own herb garden and courtyard garden, provides a wonderful spot to spend time relaxing.

The Park grounds including its winding paths and open green spaces, provided for picnicking, sunbathing and hanging out, can be accessed for free. The view of the Hudson River from the Park is unbeatable, with ample bench space and many great viewpoints. Entry into the Cloisters building is a suggested donation of $20 for non-Met members, but any amount is accepted. I highly recommend a visit to this wonderful place!

Snowfountain Weeping Cherry

Pictured here is one of the trademark plants located here on our property along the river. It is a 30-35 year old weeping cherry tree, a Snowfountain Cherry or Prunus x 'Snofozam'. I have admired this tree with many customers and staff members alike. It stands strongly out by the roadside, where it receives ample doses of snow and ice, as well as salt and sand tossed out by town snowplow trucks, throughout the winter months.

This amazing tree has about a 5" caliper trunk and a nice tight habit. It maxed out at about 10' tall and about 6-7' wide. It's large umbrella shape is amazing. With beautiful horizontal striations on the bark and showers of white blooms all the way down the branches, it is a traffic stopper!!

We have the tree underplanted with tulips and various perennials. To me, a weeping cherry is a specimen tree which looks great in Japanese style gardens, as a focal point of a planting bed, or even on the corner of a house. It conveys a sense of safety and harmony due to its umbrella shape and embracing branches. I have actually crawled underneath and sat under its branches at the end of a long day, if only just for a moment.

We have younger specimens of Snowfountain Cherries for sale here at the nursery. In general, Ornamental Cherries need full sun and well-drained soil. Watch for Japanese Beetle damage into June. We carry products to prevent this damage or serve as a curative if needed.

Don't forget to prune suckers off the trunk and give your 'Snowfountain' Cherry a haircut every few years, when branches reach the ground!

Fine-Looking Forsythia!!

Forsythia, long a harbinger of Spring here in Connecticut, is doing its usual thing! Waves of yellow dot the landscape around town and in our nursery. We have 4 varieties of Forsythia in stock, including Lynwood Gold, Meadowlark, New Hampshire Gold and Kumson. Kumson is especially showy with green and gold variegated leaves and will tolerate a bit more shade than the other varieties.

Forsythia are extremely fast-growing and fill in an area of your yard in mostly sun, quite nicely. If left to their own devices, most forsythia will develop long, arching branches which eventually weep over. They are extremely hardy to cold, even at the bud stage in Spring, and are one of the most reliable plants in the landscape.

Remember with Spring flowering shrubs like Forsythia, it is good to practice renewal pruning from time to time in order to have a nice dense-looking plant. Forsythia bloom on old wood, so it is necessary to leave some old growth on the plant when pruning. Not a fan of the Forsythia pruned into a neat hedge, but to each their own!

We have plenty of Forsythia in full bloom to choose from, so add a splash of yellow to your landscape! Come visit us and see!

Survived Another One!

On an all too frequent basis here along the Farmington River, we are experiencing floods on an almost annual basis, since the '100 year flood' of 2007.

2011 has been no exception.

Earlier in March, we were once again deluged. The record-breaking piles of snow melted, the rains came, and we found ourselves underwater once again. Ugh!

We are constantly reminded in this business that we must respect nature and there are some things that we can not control. The river is powerful and we try to respect her and listen to her. We are unfortunately experienced at surving floods... and so we survived another one!

Happily, we are putting that nightmare behind us and gearing up for Spring!!

Brugmansia in Quito

Quito's Botanical Garden is a wonderful place to spend several hours. There is an amazing collection of orchids, succulents, bromeliads, cacti, grasses and other plants from highland areas (paramo) and cloudforest alike found here. All regions of Ecuador are represented and many plants are endemic to Ecuador.

Pictured here are some impressive samples of mature Brugmansia or Angel's Trumpet. The photo on the right is Brugmansia versicolor, a small tree or bush reaching 10-16' in height, bearing flowers that are 12-20" long. These flowers open white and age to pink, peach or apricot.

The picture on the left is Brugmansia arborea. Wow! Loaded with blooms, it was so cool to see these plants in their home country!

Angel's Trumpet is part of the Solanaceae family (tomato family). All parts of the plant Brugmansia are considered toxic and if ingested may prove fatal.

F.Y.I. Brugmansia can easily be grown in Connecticut for an impressive floral show on a seasonal basis (summertime). These plants thrive in fertile soil and average humidity and can survive moderate frosts. They do best in partial shade to full sun. Brugmansia will survive light frosts, moderate frosts will do significant damage to the plant.

Protea

While traveling in Ecuador...a Protea seen in the Botanical Gardens in Quito. Protea is a genus of plants which belong to the Proteaceae family. Named in 1735, Protea are found throughout parts of South America and Southern Africa.

Christmas in Colonial Williamsburg

Pictured here is a typical Colonial Williamsburg-style decorated wreath. This particular wreath is found outside the seamstress shop and is adorned with colorful balls of stuffed fabric. The woman dressed in period costume is a reminder of times past and the hardiness of our ancestors! No North Face down jackets or fleeces in the 18th century! Hope everyone's holidays were Merry!

Support Simsbury

Pictured here is the 2010 Simsbury collectible ornament. It is the second in a series of ornaments, designed by Simsbury resident Susan Singer. The 2010 ornament features a likeness of the Drake Hill Bridge of Flowers just down the way from us here on Riverside Road. We sell the ornament here at the Nursery, as well as the 2009 ornament portraying our fellow inhabitant, the black bear! A portion of the sales of this year's ornament benefits the Simsbury Land Trust!

To us, this bridge symbolizes a couple of different things. Firstly, it memorializes the past...back to the times when Riverside Road was much less traveled and the Drake Hill Bridge could only accomodate traffic from one side at a time. It was a one lane bridge, in other words.

Secondly, now that this bridge is strictly for pedestrians, and filled with gorgeously growing planter boxes and well-tended hanging baskets and perennial gardens during the Summer and Fall, we find it to be a peaceful spot.

The bridge tends to attract active community members who like to bike, walk, boat, or just hang out and enjoy the view from the bridge. More recently, we've seen some wedding ceremonies happening there as well. It represents a peaceful spot, filled with the natural beauty that is found everywhere in our Farmington Valley, with a real community feel!

Christmas!

Our Christmas Shoppe is open and has been in full swing for a few weeks now! Hence, the lack of new posts on this here blog. The Warner's elves are busy decorating, cutting and tying on trees and creating beauty all around them! Our store is filled with goodies...

See here a picture of our first dusting of snow, arriving last Friday night and leaving a perfect light blanket on our greens, trees and wreaths!

The Queen of Japanese Maples?

Fall Foliage Series, Japanese Maples...Part 2, cont. I am featuring Acer palmatum dissectum 'Crimson Queen' in this photo in the foreground, Acer palmatum dissectum 'Viridis' is the yellow foliage behind, as mentioned in my previous post. With its scarlet red fall color and deeper red season-long foliage color, Crimson Queen is one of the most fantastic Japanese Maples on the market!!! I absolutely love this plant.

It will eventually reach 8-10 feet high by 10-12 feet wide, but grows amazingly slow...as is the case with Japanese Maples in general. Being part of the dissectum group of Japanese Maples means the leaves on this plant are very finely cut and contribute to the delicate appearance of the plant as a whole.

This mound-shaped tree is perfect for featuring as a specimen in a special spot in your yard or in a Japanese style garden. Prone to early Fall or late Spring frosts, do not feed your Japanese Maples late in the season, or too early in the Spring. Dappled shade or part shade is ideal as an exposure for most Japanese Maples.

Japanese Maple in the Fall Part I

Up until now, I've been mentioning shrubs in my Fall foliage series. Today I choose a tree! Pictured here is an Acer palmatum dissectum 'Viridis'. This is also known as a green laceleaf Japanese Maple.

'Viridis' possesses a traffic-stopping brilliant yellow foliage in Fall. The very dissected and divided leaves are a medium green all season long, until Fall when they pop with this yellow color. I consider Viridis to be one of the showiest of the dissectum type Japanese Maples.

Maturing at 8-12' x 10-14', Viridis Japanese Maples are a manageable size for a small planting bed or as a specimen in a remote garden. The frilly texture of the foliage creates a delicate effect. Jap Maples look good with many perennials, ornamental grasses and are one of my favorite groups of plants!!

Cabbagehead!

Featured today in my fall foliage series is a favorite plant only seen at this time of year. Brassica oleracea, or Ornamental Cabbage, as pictured here, is a very cool looking and cool weather loving plant.

I choose it as part of this series due to the intensity of color, which increases as Fall progresses. The center of these ornamental cabbage and kale plants are usually shades of purple, pink and white, contrasting with the outer green and bluish foliage. As temperatures drop, this center area deepens in color!

Ornamental cabbage and kale are a seasonal plant in Connecticut. They will generally not survive the entire winter looking good and will not return as a perennial from year to year. However, they do tend to last into December or January looking quite good until they eventually become covered with snow and ice!

In the Spring, they can be pulled out as the ground thaws! Try these cool foliage plants, instead of, or in addition to mums! They last much longer than mums will and they really make a foliage statement!! They are best planted in mass or in containers. They prefer full sun to part shade and will eventually grow 18" tall and wide. Best to plant them after frost as they are less likely to be affected by cabbage loopers and other garden pests!

Fothergilla...Fall Foliage Series, Part 3

Pictured here is a fabulous fall foliage shrub that is also a native to our area...New England in particular. Fothergilla major 'Mt. Airy' achieves a mature height of 5-6' high x 3-4' wide and so it fits nicely into most landscapes, even the smallest of properties!

During the growing season, it's foliage is a cool dark bluish-green, bearing white cone-like flowers in Spring. This amazing plant, as you can see, turns a striking combination of yellow, orange and red through Fall. It is still bearing leaves in early November and generally starts to turn in early to mid-October! Deer resistant and tolerant of most soils.

Cotoneaster...one of the most mispronounced plant names...ever!

Part 2 of the Fall Foliage Series is about...Cotoneaster apiculatus, or Cranberry Cotoneaster, which is a wonderful fall berry-producing plant! However, it is almost always mispronounced. We actually enjoy torturing our new employees by laughing at their mispronunciation of this plant! Kinda fun in a sick plant geek kind of way!

Anyhow, back to the subject at hand...All Cotoneaster falls into the Rose family (Rosaceae). Different varieties reach different sizes, but Cotoneaster apiculatus grows to about 3' high and 3-6' wide. It grows in Zones 4-7, but maintains best color in colder climates.

The habit of this plant is low, wide-spreading and stiff-branching. The foliage is alternate and simple, about 1/4" to 3/4" long and wide. Leaves are dark, glossy green and hold as such all summer long. In autumn the leaves turn an amazing bronzy red to purple and hold into late November oftentimes! Tiny pink flowers form in late May to early June up and down the arching branches.

In addition to the hot fall color on this plant, bright red fruits are borne in August and hold until October. They are often loaded up and can be spotted from a distance due to the heavy berry set and bright cranberry color of the berries.

Cotoneaster in general prefer full sun, well-drained soil, but will tolerate all but permanently wet areas. Cotoneaster is often used along a border or over a rock wall. Good in Japanese gardens and Native to Western China, this is a very useful and strong fall-interest plant!

Salt Marsh Hay Is In!

Time to come and pick up your Salt Marsh Hay today! We have oodles of bales ready to be used to winterize (sorry, I know, it's a terrible thought) your gardens! Salt Marsh Hay is a weed-seed free product which is harvested in Cape Cod.

This particular type of hay is very useful in protecting plants in perennial and shrub beds from being damaged by cold winter temperatures. It provides wonderful root protection for all of your favorite plants. If an entire bale is not needed, keep the hay for overseeding portions of your lawn or for keeping weeds down in the vegetable garden in the Springtime!

On a side note, it will be happily loaded for you by our helpful and friendly staff!