Hostas and Ferns
Northwest Arkansas is known for having an abundance of lush beautiful trees covering the landscape. This allows for many of us to have areas in our gardens that require shade plants. I like to mix my shade plants for varying textures and colors. I especially fond of variegated foliage. Some of my favorite perennial plants for the shade include the Hosta, Astilbe, Ferns, and Solomon’s Seal.
Pink Peony
One of the oldest domesticated plants know to man with written records dating back to 4000 BC, the peony continues to be splendid as ever. The Peony was named for the Greek physician Paeon, who first used the plants for medicinal purposes. The Peony is a long lived perennial that blesses us each Spring/Summer with a array of blooms ranging from large lush double blooms to exquisitely delicate singles. There are many varieties with different colors of blooms ranging from white to a deep cherry red, Many also emit a fantastic fragrance that will fill the summer air. The personality of the blooms change throughout the day, starting off reserved in the cool hours of the morning to later unfolding with a burst of full bloom and beauty as the the day warms. Continue reading
Bradford Pear Tree
We were blessed with a very mild winter but now the plants and trees seem to be confused as am I! Are we done with the freezing weather? Will it be an early Spring? Who knows but the plants are feeling the warmth from the sun and starting to bud out, form leaves and blossom with color. What is blooming at the Ranch right now? Join me in a tour. Continue reading
Purple Sandcherry Blossom
Want to add some color to your landscape? The Purple Sandcherry (Prunus x cistens) is the one for you as its outstanding color would makes a great focal point or as an accent by an entranceway. Plant in mass for a colorful hedge or as a specimen planting to add color and structure. This upright shrub has striking red-purple to maroon foliage that emerges each Spring and maintains that strong color all summer. Springtime display is a profusion of light pink flowers emerging as the foliage is unfolding. The dark purple leaves will transition to a red-bronze as fall approaches, only to fall off for winter. Small cherry like fruit forms in fall which is often missed by all but the birds as they love them! Continue reading
Dappled Willow
That beautiful shrub sporting “flamingo” inspired deep pink new growth each spring is known as the Dappled Japanese Willow (Salix integra “Hakuro-nishiki” ). This light, airy shrub is quickly becoming one of the more popular colorful plants for landscapes today. Whether working to curb erosion near streams or to hide your yard from prying eyes as hedges, the Dappled Willow will bring the weeping elegance of rain gardens to your landscape. New growth on the Dappled Willow is a pretty pink color bursting forth each Spring and is often mistaken for flowers. This colorful foliage eventually fades to a striking mix of white, green, and pink as the summer moves on. The limbs tend to grow long and have a nice arching effect. I was so impressed the first time I saw a Dappled Willow and loved how it was so colorful, cheerful and different. I’m always looking for something different to add to my landscape so I had to have one! Continue reading
Butterflies Love Them!!
Loved by Butterflies
Hardy Tall Phlox (phlox paniculata) Butterflies and humming birds are captivated by the spicy scent and large, colorful flower heads. This dependable perennial will bring you loads of bright color during the middle of summer – just when other things are looking kind of droopy. The huge 5-6 inch flowers are fragrant and showy, with brilliant, non-fading color lasting for months. The foliage is dense and compact with deep green lance shaped leaves.
These plants will die to the ground each winter, only to reappear every spring – stronger than ever!
Dwarf Flowering Almond
Ready for spring blooms bursting with color? I know I am! This is the featured plant of the week- Dwarf Flowering Almond (Prunus glandulosa). This beautiful flowering shrub is one of the unsung heroes and a great way to add color to your landscape. The showy bright pink blooms in Spring are always a welcome sight after the gloomy days of Winter. This shrub is one of the first things to bloom each Spring, along with Forsythia. Dug these from the “Grow Beds” this week to pot up for Spring sales and they look great, tiny buds already starting to show ready to spring. Continue reading
Autumn Fern Grow Bed
With this crazy weather, it is hard to stay on track when it comes to the garden. Mid February to March is when we are digging dormant plants out of their “Grow Bed” or “Nursery Bed” in order to pot them up for this years big plant sales. We changed our practice last summer by placing rooted cuttings directly into a “Grow Bed” to finish growing out and develop healthy root systems. To my surprise, these baby plants quickly took off and grew 3 times faster than those rooted cuttings put directly into containers. Most plants grown in the “Grow Beds” are requiring root trimming and pruning just so they can be planted in a one gallon container. Even with that, some just won’t fit so they have to go into 2 or 3 gallon containers. Oh well, that is a nice problem to have! What were baby rooted cutting last year are beautiful healthy plants this year, totally acclimated to our Northwest Arkansas climate. Eager to show them off this Spring. Continue reading
Creeping phlox with Spring Tulips
Spring is Springing! By the time Daffodils are starting to bloom, I am usually suffering with a horrible case of ‘cabin fever’, just itching to get out in the garden and get my hands dirty. By the time the tulips and creeping phlox are blooming, we are having some nice beautiful days but still have the threat of a late frost. This is when we start getting ready for our first Spring Sale. Tulip bulbs were planted during fall the year before and have been in the cold to frozen ground all winter. They require this cold time in order to give us beautiful blooms come spring. Very few other plants are blooming at this time – maybe Forsythia and Quince but not much else. You need some creeping phlox to brighten your spirits until spring really starts kicking in with color! Late frost, they tolerate fine Continue reading
Nellie Moser Clematis
Clematis is the most popular blooming vine you find in Gardens today. They are not as hard to grow or prune as you may think ! There are some easy guidelines to follow to turn your Clematis vines into beautiful features in your garden. Clematis are great for any size garden and live for many, many years. Don’t be intimidated by these beautiful vines, they are very hardy and will bless you with a profusion of blooms every year. If you have an old mailbox, trellis, or fence you’d like to spruce up, the Clematis is your plant!! Continue reading