Archive for the ‘Disease resistant’ Category

Seven Step Care Tips For Container Roses

You can grow beautiful roses in containers on your patio or deck. All you need is an adequate container size and a growing area with plenty of sunlight. The life of container roses is short,usually 2-3 years. Each spring, plants should be transplanted every year into a new container. Container size is very important. Follow these 7 steps: […]

Best Annuals Of 2017

Each year Greenhouse Grower* magazine compiles a listing of the best annuals selected by field garden  staff and garden visitors to 19 public and seed company trial gardens across the U.S. Talleying the resuts, thirty-five (35) varieties appeared more than once, with Salvia ‘Mystic Spires Improved’ and Alternanthera ‘Purple Prince’ appearing five times. Before proceeding further, keep in mind […]

Seven Shrubs That Bloom In February*

  If you garden in zones 6 to 8,  there are a number of shrubs that bloom in the wintry month of February. Usually, a warm period lasting a few days to a week may spur flower buds to open. Nightly lows may cause some flower injury, but additional flowers soon follow. All seven listed below […]

Small Landscape Tree – Try Chinese Pistache

Chinese pistache tree (Pistachia chinensis) is an underplanted small 30-35 foot landscape tree native to China, Taiwan and the Philippines (USDA hardiness zones 6b-9). It is related to the edible nut pistache tree (Pistachia vera). Foliage consists of pinnate compound, dark green leaves (to 10 inches long), each leaf typically having 10-12 lanceolate leaflets (to 4 inches […]

Four Top Rated Coreopsis You May Not Know

In 2016, Mt. Cuba Center in Greenville, Delaware reported the garden performance of 13 different perennial coreopsis (tickseed) species, hybrids, and related cultivars native to the eastern U.S. Over a period of three years, plants were assessed for their habit, floral display, disease resistance, and longevity. In the trial many popular tickseed cultivars performed poorly […]

Crypts (Cryptanthus) Are The Easiest Bromeliads To Grow

Crypts (Cryptanthus spp.), members of the bromeliad family, are an ideal low care choice for house plant collectors. Currently, there are over 1200 varieties of Cryptanthus species and hybrids available today. Compare to other bromeliads, which grow in trees or rock outcropping, crypts grow in soil or rock ground.   Plants prefer an airy, porous, moist soilless media favored by most […]

Five Evergreens For Small Garden Spaces

The following five evergreen shrubs are smaller versions of the larger growing species. They make a better fit in smaller urban gardens. Gyokuryu Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica ‘Gyokuryu’) is a fast-growing, broadly conical selection with coarse bluish-green evergreen foliage. The needles are highly ornamental and remain bluish-green through most of the winter in zone 6 and […]

New: The Bushel and Berry Collection Of Patio Fruits

Back in late 2016 Star® Roses and Plants* purchased the company formerly known as BrazelBerries®. In 2017 they have rebranded the plant offerings into the new Bushel and Berry™ Collection. Beside the old favorites, a new collection of edible berry plants are available at participating garden centers nationwide. I have successfully grown two varieties on the sunny portion of […]

Euonymus ‘Moonshadow’ – A Ground Cover For All Seasons

Many so-called shade perennials such as hostas, astilbes, brunneras, and coralbells (Heuchera spp.) actually excel in areas that are bathe mostly morning sunlight. In these areas ‘Moonshadow’ euonymus (Euonymus fortunei ‘Moonshadow’) makes a great companion shrub with these perennials (USDA hardiness zones 4-8).  Moonshadow has become a favorite ground cover euonymus of mine. ‘Moonshadow’ euonymus is […]

The Glorious Katsura Tree

Katsura Tree (Cercidophyllum japonicum) is a medium to large tree indigenous to China, Korea and Japan (USDA hardiness zones 4-8). Fossil imprints indicate that Katsura Tree has existed over 1.8 million years and flourished throughout Asia and North America.  Katsura’s genus name Cercidophyllum translates to “leaf (phyllum) like a red bud (Cercis)”. A mature tree can reach […]