Greetings friends and fellow gardeners.
Recently I have been putting together ideas for sharing some new plant material with you all, and have compiled this following list of some new introductions and some old time favorites that I feel will brighten up your spring time garden.
Spring time is always a great time of the year, a time for creating new ideas, a fresh start on old plans halted by the onslaught of winter and preparation of course to ready your tools and take inventory of seed selections, new plants for the garden, and anything creative to make the coming months exciting.
So...
Since time is of the essence, let's get started.
When I lived in California, I can remember driving down a back road to my home, and coming upon a spectacular grouping of Alcea, or Holly Hocks as the novice knows them, and taking camera in hand shot a wonderful photo of them.
In scanning my current supplier's catalogs, I have added these varieties as some to look for this spring.
I hope you like them as I do.
Be sure to look them up on your search engine of choice and enjoy the beauty of these great selections.
1) Alcea ' Crème de Cassis This variety offers very showy flowers and has a raspberry/red center with a yellow throat.
Amazingly this plant has one unique feature, in that is has both single and double flowers upon a single stem.
This stately plant is a biennial or short lived perennial.
Keep in mind that Holly Hocks do self seed and come up the following year.
Flowers mid summer.
2) Alcea 'Summer Memories' This variety is a seed strain that is hand picked by one of my vendors, which comes as a color strain of single mixed specimens.
Comes in colors of light yellow, white, rose, deep red, burgundy, and orange.
All flowers come on very tall stalks during the mid summer months.
3) Brunnera ( macrophylla ) 'Looking Glass' What a find! This extraordinary plant has wispy panicles of blue forget-me-not flowers which seem to hover above the foliage.
Brunnera has large, heart-shaped mature leaves, which are silver and tend to fall cup shaped downward.
This plant in perfect for bringing brightness to any shade garden.
4) Campanula ( persicifolia ) 'La Belle' Peach leaved Bellflower Quite tall upright stems offer a beautiful bouquet of double, deep blue flowers that have a silver gloss to them.
The plant forms a mound of leathery, evergreen, dark green leaves and will last quite long as a cut flower.
5) Clematis 'Veronica's Choice' Clematis Veronica is unique in that it is a repeat bloomer.
The first round of flowering offers pale lavender to near white flowers with wavy, frilly petals and large blossoms 6" across.
Second round of flowers are single.
This one is a wonderful mature specimen friend.
6) Helleborus (Lenten Rose) 'Ice Follies' This plant is a most floriferous and robust member of the genus.
Up to 100 flowers on a mature plant! Large 3" crème to light yellow flowers are heavily spotted with burgundy to red flecks.
I think this is a great starter series, and I will be following up with another grouping as the season unfolds.
Just to keep you in touch with the gardening world, I wish you all a great spring (if we ever get out from under all this snow).
Until later..
...
Happy gardening...
Your humble horticulturist...
Chet Stentiford
Recently I have been putting together ideas for sharing some new plant material with you all, and have compiled this following list of some new introductions and some old time favorites that I feel will brighten up your spring time garden.
Spring time is always a great time of the year, a time for creating new ideas, a fresh start on old plans halted by the onslaught of winter and preparation of course to ready your tools and take inventory of seed selections, new plants for the garden, and anything creative to make the coming months exciting.
So...
Since time is of the essence, let's get started.
When I lived in California, I can remember driving down a back road to my home, and coming upon a spectacular grouping of Alcea, or Holly Hocks as the novice knows them, and taking camera in hand shot a wonderful photo of them.
In scanning my current supplier's catalogs, I have added these varieties as some to look for this spring.
I hope you like them as I do.
Be sure to look them up on your search engine of choice and enjoy the beauty of these great selections.
1) Alcea ' Crème de Cassis This variety offers very showy flowers and has a raspberry/red center with a yellow throat.
Amazingly this plant has one unique feature, in that is has both single and double flowers upon a single stem.
This stately plant is a biennial or short lived perennial.
Keep in mind that Holly Hocks do self seed and come up the following year.
Flowers mid summer.
2) Alcea 'Summer Memories' This variety is a seed strain that is hand picked by one of my vendors, which comes as a color strain of single mixed specimens.
Comes in colors of light yellow, white, rose, deep red, burgundy, and orange.
All flowers come on very tall stalks during the mid summer months.
3) Brunnera ( macrophylla ) 'Looking Glass' What a find! This extraordinary plant has wispy panicles of blue forget-me-not flowers which seem to hover above the foliage.
Brunnera has large, heart-shaped mature leaves, which are silver and tend to fall cup shaped downward.
This plant in perfect for bringing brightness to any shade garden.
4) Campanula ( persicifolia ) 'La Belle' Peach leaved Bellflower Quite tall upright stems offer a beautiful bouquet of double, deep blue flowers that have a silver gloss to them.
The plant forms a mound of leathery, evergreen, dark green leaves and will last quite long as a cut flower.
5) Clematis 'Veronica's Choice' Clematis Veronica is unique in that it is a repeat bloomer.
The first round of flowering offers pale lavender to near white flowers with wavy, frilly petals and large blossoms 6" across.
Second round of flowers are single.
This one is a wonderful mature specimen friend.
6) Helleborus (Lenten Rose) 'Ice Follies' This plant is a most floriferous and robust member of the genus.
Up to 100 flowers on a mature plant! Large 3" crème to light yellow flowers are heavily spotted with burgundy to red flecks.
I think this is a great starter series, and I will be following up with another grouping as the season unfolds.
Just to keep you in touch with the gardening world, I wish you all a great spring (if we ever get out from under all this snow).
Until later..
...
Happy gardening...
Your humble horticulturist...
Chet Stentiford