In the past few years, “branding” of plants has become important in the nursery and gardening business. “Proven Winners”, the largest U.S. plant brand, was formed in 1992 by plant propagators to introduce new, unique, high-performing plants, and has really taken off. Plants are selected for the Proven Winners brand after 2 to 3 years of rigorous testing and determination that they are virus free; then patented. Proven Winner plants have always been labeled with their tag, but now might be sold in pots carrying the Proven Winners logo.
Whether branded or not, it is always exciting at this time of the year to read about new plant introductions for the upcoming gardening season. There are hundreds; I will tell about a few interesting plants for our climate.
Bailey Nurseries, a large grower of hardy plants in St. Paul, Minnesota, brands the plants they develop “First Edition”. One of their First Edition introductions is an ornamental tree called Spring Wonder Sargent Cherry. Finally, a pink flowering cherry hardy enough to withstand our winters! About the size of a flowering crabapple, this tree has delicate, single, pink flowers and small, reddish-black fruit. In the fall its leaves turn shades of yellow, red and orange.
We are anxious to try the Proven Winner shrub, Black Lace Elderberry, which has finely cut, intense purple-black foliage. It has huge creamy pink flowers that contrast with its dark leaves. Like any elderberry—its nutritious fruit can be harvested for wine or jam or left for the birds to eat. This shrub can grow to over 8 feet and will make a stunning accent to landscapes.
Although new pink and blue flowered hydrangeas have been introduced for northern climates, the white-flowering hydrangeas (Hydrangea arborescens) still are the easiest to grow here. Our white Annabelle hydrangea thrives in the shade; I like to harvest and dry its flowers when they start to turn from white to light green in late summer. It would be hard to improve on Annabelle, but Proven Winners Incrediball is a new hydrangea of the same species as Annabelle with up to four times as many huge blooms up to 12” in diameter. Incrediball will be a great small shrub for a shady spot!
Included in the many new perennial flowers released this year, there are new Echinaceas for sun, and new Heucheras and Hellebores for shade. Delphiniums have always been a mainstay to give height to the old-fashioned cottage garden. New Millennium is a series of delphiniums that is long-lived and more heat tolerant than the old Pacific Giants, but just as cold hardy. New Millennium delphiniums have stronger stems, important where the wind can blow these tall perennials over. The new Red Caroline Delphinium has coral-red flowers, a rare color for delphiniums.
Baptisia (common name: false indigo) is a perennial flower that doesn’t get much attention, but should. It was named the 2010 Perennial Plant of the Year. I have had one planted in my perennial garden for years; it thrives in partial shade with no extra care or attention. It is a tall plant (over 3 feet) with a clean look and indigo-blue flowers in early summer that develop into interesting seed pods. (Baptisia is in the pea family.) Deer leave it alone. Some new selections of Baptisia include Solar Flair with yellow flowers, Twilite, with purple flowers with a yellow edge, and Starlite, with periwinkle-blue flowers.
New annual flowers include a white allysum called Snow Princess. I like to plant white allysum for the border of my annual bed because it is quick to fill in and has a wonderful, sweet fragrance. Snow Princess has larger flowers and better vigor and heat tolerance than other white allysums. A new petunia, Pretty Much Picasso, is bright pinkish-purple with a lime green edge, sure to be a stand-out in any flower bed or container.
Innovative Iseli Nursery near Portland, Oregon, has been a pioneer in the development of dwarf evergreens. This year we are trying their dwarf bristlecone pine called Sherwood Compact that grows in a perfect conical shape to 4 feet, with a dense, formal appearance, unlike the irregular form of the common bristlecone pine. Sherwood Compact bristlecone pine grows slowly, so will make a great substitute for those who like the compact form of dwarf Alberta spruce but need a plant that is less susceptible to winter burn.
These are just a few of the many new and improved trees, shrubs, and flowers for 2010, some with a brand, others not. Chose those hardy for our climate and add something new to your landscape this spring.
They often get a bad rap, but junipers deserve a place in our landscapes. Junipers are native to Montana, found from Ekalaka to Troy, Plentywood to Lima. From the sites where they’re found growing native, you know they tolerate drought and poor soils. Junipers’ slow rate of growth makes them a good foundation plant; they prune easily and fit well into our native mountain landscapes. Junipers’ unique texture, range of colors, and blue berries add interest to any landscape. Deer usually avoid junipers.
At least three species in the genus Juniperus are native to Montana. Huge native specimens of horizontalis, a low-growing, prostrate species, are found in Eastern Montana. Some are as big as 30 to 50 feet in diameter. Prince of Wales is a dark green, hardy horizontal juniper selected on the Prince of Wales Ranch in Alberta, Canada, north of Browning, Montana, whose tips turn purple in the winter, a trait that is common with many junipers. In our own yard, we have a Prince of Wales juniper planted that grows gracefully over a three foot retaining wall to the ground below. Blue Chip, another good, low-growing horizontal juniper, keeps its outstanding steel-blue foliage all year.
Common juniper (Juniperus communis), a taller (3 to 4 feet) species of juniper growing in the mountains around Bozeman, is seldom sold for landscape use, although common juniper’s unusual, course, texture is interesting.
Driving west on Interstate 90, just past Butte, you can’t miss the native, upright junipers growing there on either side of the road. These junipers are called Rocky Mountain Juniper, (Juniperus scopulorum ‘Butte Hill Variety’). Popular grafted selections of scopulorums include hardy Medora, originating in the Badlands of North Dakota. Blue-tinged Medora grows to 10 to 12 feet with only a 2 to 3 foot spread. Cologreen juniper is another upright with greener foliage. Not all scopulorums have a pyramidal shape, however. Table Top Blue juniper, an beautiful selection with silvery-blue lacy foliage discovered near Helena by Clayton Berg, a local nurseryman, is tall (5’), but with a flat top and wide spread.
Hardy species not native to Montana include chinensis. Chinensis are taller, spreading, vase-shaped junipers. Fifty years ago, Pfitzer junipers (Juniperus chinensis ‘Pfitzer’) were planted in practically every landscape in North Dakota and Eastern Montana. Today, new, improved varieties of Juniperus chinensis are sold, such as Mint Julep, selected for its graceful, arching branches and mint-green color.
Another spreading species, sabina, includes the selection, Buffalo, a hardy, low-growing juniper that keeps its deep green color year round. While the centers of some of the old types of junipers often became bare with age, Buffalo retains its foliage in the middle. Few junipers are as hardy as the Savin juniper. This old selection is still planted in spots where hardiness and a bit more height (3-5 feet) are needed.
No plant is completely disease and insect free, including junipers. In a wet June, upright junipers can develop orange globules on the foliage from a fungal disease called Cedar Apple Rust. These unsightly globs don’t kill the plant, but can weaken it. Avoid planting upright junipers close to apple trees, since they are this fungi’s cohost. Tiny spider mites attack upright junipers and, if left unchecked, can weaken or kill the plant. Hard-to-control voles eat the bark of junipers in the winter.
The many species of junipers provide different shapes, textures, colors, and uses in our landscapes –screening, ground cover, bird habitat. Junipers don’t require any special care. They grow well in full sun with minimal water. Upright varieties keep their neat, pyramidal shape by pruning them in June. Spreading junipers look more natural left unpruned.
Besides junipers’ landscape uses, their hard, fragrant wood is used for unusual furniture pieces, lamps, and fence posts. Juniper berries are used to flavor gin. Whether you plant only natives in your yard, or just want an interesting, water-wise landscape, you can’t go wrong with junipers.
It’s fun to watch birds out your window, especially in the winter. If you provide adequate food, shelter, and water for them, you can attract a wide variety of birds to your yard. Many species of birds are found in Bozeman and the surrounding area. Sparrows, finches, chickadees, cedar waxwings, grosbeaks, even Hungarian partridge, ruffed grouse and pheasants are some we have seen in our yard. Here are a few ways to attract more birds to your yard in the winter—and summer, too:
Food: A bird feeder filled with oiled sunflower seeds will attract finches and chickadees. We once added thistle seed to our feeder, but found that the birds dropped some seed which emerged into thistles next spring. ‘Nyjer’ is an imported nutritious substitute for thistle seed, higher in calories and oil, and heat sterilized to prevent germination. Suet, hung near your bird feeder, is also a good source of heat and energy for birds in the winter.
It is better to buy individual kinds of bird seed rather than a mix; the birds will just toss the seeds they don’t like in the mix on the ground.
Provide bird food at different levels to appeal to different kinds of birds. Bird seed doesn’t have to be in a bird feeder. We sprinkle seed on our deck rail; and on the ground for pheasants, grouse, and partridge.
Plants for the Birds: Besides buying food for your bird feeders, plant trees and shrubs that produce seeds and fruit. Native plants provide food and shelter that the birds are accustomed to. Serviceberry, dogwood, silver buffaloberry, skunkbrush sumac, wild rose, alder, Douglas hawthorn, chokecherry, snowberry, yellow currant, and junipers are all native plants that will make the birds feel at home.
Flowers with abundant seeds, both annual and perennial, like sunflowers and purple coneflower, will attract birds. Don’t be too quick to dead-head flowers that are done blooming; let them go to seed.
Small, fruit-bearing trees, such as mountain ash, flowering crabs, Russian olive, alder, and hawthorn, provide good food and nesting habitat for your feathered friends. A flock of cedar waxwings or grosbeaks will swoop into a mountain ash tree in the winter and eat every berry. Many of the newer varieties of flowering crabs have fruit which is ‘persistant’, in other words, the fruit hangs on the tree until eaten by the birds; it does not drop on the ground and make a mess.
Large shrubs like serviceberry, high bush cranberry, arrowwood viburnum, buffaloberry, Nanking cherry, cotoneaster, and honeysuckle, provide food for birds. Avoid severe pruning of these shrubs—the birds will like them better if you let them grow tall and natural. Currants and gooseberries are smaller shrubs with good fruit for birds (if you don’t use their fruit yourself). Shrub roses are great for birds, providing protection and edible rose hips.
Both Virginia creeper and dropmore scarlet honeysuckle are vines that produce fruit for the birds, plus their tangled vines can provide hiding and nesting places.
Shelter: While bluebirds need a nesting box, most birds just need shelter from the elements and a place to hide. Evergreen trees provide good shelter both winter and summer. The large, old Techny arborvitaes surrounding our deck provide wonderful shelter for shy chickadees. Spruce and upright junipers also make good shelter. Tall shade trees provide a necessary canopy for the birds in the summer. Maples and birch trees have the added bonus of seeds.
An impeccably manicured yard with lots of mowed grass is not the ideal landscape for birds. Birds prefer a wild, natural environment. An unmowed field of wildflowers and native grasses can provide food and cover for many birds. Dead trees left standing and brush piles may not be beautiful to our eyes, but they can provide nesting places, food, and cover. If you live in the country, you may want to leave your yard a little rough around the edges for the birds.
Water: Birds need water—they especially like running water. Heaters can be purchased for bird baths in the winter, providing necessary shallow water access. Always keep your bird bath filled with water. A pond, big or small, located near protective cover, gives the large birds someplace to go. Ducks might stay all winter if your pond has open water.
Provide food for the birds, plants that give them shelter, and a water source, and you will have birds of all kinds in your yard—this winter, and next spring, summer and fall.
]]>By now, if you were going to plant spring-flowering bulbs in your garden, hopefully, you have completed that task. But, many of us like to plant bulbs in pots and “force” them to bloom early for flowers and color indoors during the winter. It is not hard to force bulbs, but a few steps must be followed for success.
WHAT BULBS TO FORCE: Hardy tulips, narcissus, hyacinths, and crocus all force well. Flowers with shorter stems work better; they won’t tip over as easily. When you purchase them, look on the label to see if they are “good for forcing.” Plant only one variety per container. Tender paperwhites narcissus and amaryllis are for forcing indoors only, since they will not survive our winters in the ground outside.
PLANTING: Any pot can be used for forcing bulbs. If your pot doesn’t have drainage holes, put gravel in the bottom to help with drainage. Use any bagged potting soil. The noses of the bulbs should be exposed; do not bury the bulbs. You can plant bulbs closer together in a pot than you would in your garden. A six inch pot can hold up to 6 tulip or daffodil bulbs or 15 crocuses.
WATERING: Water your pots immediately after planting; then keep the soil uniformly moist during the cold treatment period and after, when they are brought in the house.
COLD TREATMENT: Bulbs need a cold temperature treatment of 35 to 48 degrees for 10 to 12 weeks or more. A dark crawl space or garage that stays cool but doesn’t freeze works well for this. During this time the bulbs grow roots. After their roots are well formed and the shoot has started to emerge, bring them into a slightly warmer location for a couple of days, then into the house. The bulbs will flower in 3 to 4 weeks.
FORCING IN WATER: Crocus, narcissus, and fragrant hyacinth can be forced in water in clear, glass vases made for this. Place water in the bottom of the vase and the bulb in the top. Water should come just to the base of the bulb; the roots will reach down into it. Never submerge bulbs! Hardy bulbs like hyacinths will still need a chilling period in a cool, dark room, for 8 to 12 weeks for the root system to develop. You will know it is OK to bring the bulb into the warmth of your home when the shoot is 2-3 inches high. You can also use pebbles, gravel, or marbles in a decorative container; the pebbles will support the bulbs.
PAPERWHITES: The ‘force in water’ method also works well for non-hardy, wonderfully fragrant paperwhites. A short, 2 to 3 week, chilling period is recommended for paperwhites, but they will do fine with no chilling. You can also grow paperwhites in a flower pot with soil.
AMARYLLIS: The huge flowers of amaryllis are striking in any home. Amaryllis need no chilling time. Plant them in a pot in sterile soil so 1/3 to ½ of the bulb is exposed. Keep in a warm spot in your house, water, and in 6 to 8 weeks, you will have flowers. Once the flowers have developed, a cooler location will prolong flowering time. Amaryllis can also be forced in just water.
For Christmas, force bright red amaryllis or clear white paperwhites; pink amaryllis are pretty for Valentine’s Day; yellow narcissus for Easter. Whatever bulbs you force now will turn the inside of your home into a flower garden for the long winter months.
]]>We tell kindergarten students when they tour our nursery that plants “go to sleep” in the winter. This is a simple explanation that small children can understand, but what does dormancy really mean? What happens to plants in the fall? Dormancy is a state of “rest” plants enter to survive the freezing temperatures of winter. Some plants will also go dormant in periods of drought. For instance, a Kentucky bluegrass lawn will turn brown, but survive in a dormant state, if you don’t water it; cactus in the dessert can survive months of drought by going dormant.
Deciduous trees and shrubs: The brilliantly colored fall leaves of deciduous trees and shrubs are the first signs of dormancy. During the spring and summer, green chlorophyll in the leaves of plants absorbs energy from sunlight that is used to transform carbon dioxide and water to carbohydrates for the life of the plant. In the fall, triggered by shorter days and lower temperatures, chlorophyll in the leaves starts to break down, the green color of the leaves disappears, and yellow and orange pigments (carotenes and xanthophyll), also present in the leaves, become visible. Quaking aspen and birch show only yellow pigments. Other chemicals changes can occur to form anthocyanin pigments which produce the red and orange leaves of maples.
This fall, our drastic low temperatures in early October (Some places broke the record low by 13 degrees!) prevented the leaves of most trees and shrubs from turning these beautiful colors. Instead, the leaves seemed to ‘freeze dry’ on the trees and turn brown.
When these extremely cold temperatures occurred, our trees and shrubs had not reached full dormancy yet. There may be damage, but we won’t know for sure until next spring how much damage. Flower buds, formed in the summer, are the least able to stand cold and, therefore, the first to be hurt. The low temperature a plant’s flower buds can tolerate before they are damaged varies with each plant. For instance, a lilac’s flower buds could withstand lower temperatures than, say, a forsythia’s; a hardy Norland apple tree’s flower buds could withstand lower temperatures than a peach tree’s. Leaf buds, also formed in the summer, can be damaged by cold, especially if the cold occurs before the bud develops a protective hardened scale around it. Severe cold can even ‘freeze back’ the tree’s branches.
In the fall, when the plant reaches its full dormancy or rest, it will not grow, even if the weather turns warm, until it completes its required time of dormancy, different with different plants. When this time of dormancy is completed and the weather warms up, the plant can begin growth. Winter injury of trees most often occurs when the dormant period has been met, we get a warm spell, and then it turns cold again. Warm Chinook winds, common here, can be hard on our trees.
We can never totally protect our trees from weather changes in the winter that might damage them. But, wrapping their trunks up to the bottom branch in the fall with a light-colored tree wrap will reflect the sun and keep it from warming the bark too much on a sunny day. When the bark is warmed to above freezing during the day, followed by colder nighttime temperatures, the cells can burst and cause injury.
Although they slow or stop growing in the winter, roots are the most susceptible plant part to cold damage. Conveniently, the ground acts as an insulator for roots. Snow cover adds more insulation to the plants’ roots. The roots of plants in a pot (above ground) are easily hurt by cold temperatures.
Evergreens: Even though evergreens are always ‘green’, they do lose some needles every year; needles stay on evergreens for 3 to 4 years before the needles closest to the trunk drop, called ‘fall needle cast’. Evergreens sustain winter injury in a different way than deciduous plants because the needles on the tree continue to transpire. Dry winds and cold ‘desiccate’ or dry out needles in the winter. Because the ground is frozen, moisture cannot be replaced up from the roots as it would be in the summer. Also, freezing and thawing of the needles can burst needles’ cells, turning them brown. To prevent this ‘burning’ in evergreens, plant tender varieties such as dwarf Alberta spruce, arborvitae, and yews in shady, sheltered spots. Or construct a shade out of burlap between posts to protect the south and west sides of the trees in the winter. Anti-desiccant sprays such a Wilt Pruf put a protective barrier on needles to keep them from drying out. Apply them once in late fall and again in February.
All landscape plants, trees, shrubs, evergreens, and perennials, benefit from a deep watering in the fall once they have gone dormant, around November 1, so the roots freeze in moist soil. Dormancy is nature’s way of protecting your trees and shrubs from our harsh winters. You can aid this process by protecting and watering your plants this fall.
Every year’s weather and growing conditions are unique and 2009 is no exception. After a number of years of hot, dry summers, 2009 was neither hot nor dry. In fact, March was one of the coldest and wettest in over a decade after a February whose average temperatures were actually warmer than March’s. Then, April was the wettest April we have ever experienced with 50 inches of snowfall (4.5 inches of liquid precipitation) at the MSU weather station.
The rest of the summer proved more of the same. A short stretch of warm weather in late May warmed the soils so we had quick germination of seeds in our vegetable garden and bedding plants got off to a good start. Temperatures, although above the long-term averages, were cooler than they have been for the last few summers. The Belgrade airport had above average precipitation for June, July and August. It finally turned hot and dry in September, with no killing frosts until September 21.
How did all this affect growing things? Most plants, from lawns to vegetables to trees and shrubs, thrived in this cooler, wetter weather. Keeping all our plants watered was easier with all the help from Mother Nature. This year we didn’t have brown spots in the lawn where our sprinkler system misses.
My husband, Jerry, planted sweet peas on April 22. By July 6, they were blooming and we kept picking them so they continued to bloom profusely all summer and didn’t dry out later in the summer like they usually do. Annual flowers grew nicely, so by August 1, our son Mike’s wedding, my bright annual flower garden of zinnias, allysum, cosmos, osteospermum, and verbena looked gorgeous! My batchelor buttons that always reseed themselves usually fizzle out as the summer gets hot, but this year, late in the season, they still look good. I love bachelor buttons’ intense blue color in a cut bouquet.
Small fruits like strawberries and raspberries did well. Our Boyne raspberries bore more than we had time to pick. And even the strawberries we just planted this spring in our raised bed produced well. Our 30-year-old meteor pie cherry continues to amaze us with its production. Jerry has made 27 cherry pies from this tree since Aug. 1. Our apple crop looks good along with most other apple trees in the Valley. We have picked and are eating the early apples-Norland, Goodland, Hazen, State Fair, and Chestnut and Whitney crabs. The later ripening apples will benefit from a good frost before we pick them. Unfortunately, this was the worst year in a long time for fireblight, a bacterial disease of apple trees, pears, hawthorns, and cotoneaster.
The September meeting of the Gallatin Gardeners Club entitled “What worked and what didn’t in this year’s gardens” was led by Don Mathre, who said it was the best gardening year for a long time. This year’s proceeds from sales at the Farmers’ Market from the Garden Club’s huge garden were the best they have ever had. The money they make at the Farmer’s Market is donated to local charities and scholarships.
Members had many vegetable garden experiences to report. Cool weather crops such as spinach, lettuce, and broccoli were fantastic. All garden vegetables, even tomatoes and sweet corn, did well, too. We can attest to that. Our sweet corn (we grew 6 different varieties) was great although a lot of it ripened at once. Fleet and Trinity are two new, early varieties of sweet corn we tried that produce big, sweet ears. We have never had as many ripe tomatoes as we do this year. I have frozen many for use in chili, spaghetti, and stew this winter. Sungold, a yellow, cherry tomato, is as sweet a tomato as I have eaten. Our Northern Delight tomato plant has produced what seems like hundreds of small tomatoes. The bigger varieties of tomatoes like Big Beef and Parks Whopper are very big this year!
Some members of the garden club have built cold frames to extend their season, others, greenhouses. Some of the members growing tomatoes in greenhouses had trouble with diseases or herbicide damage.
Again this year, many of the garden club members were challenged by deer, voles, and rabbits eating their vegetables. Rabbits seem to be more plentiful this year. Slugs were worse because of the wetter weather.
In 2009, the mountain pine beetle caused the death of hundreds of Scotch and Ponderosa pines in our valley. Responsible homeowners have removed their dead pines and disposed of them properly. To save remaining pines, most homeowners sprayed and/or installed Verbenone patches to keep the beetle off their trees. Hopefully, those measures will work and we’ll have less pine deaths next year.
There is still plenty of time this fall to plant bulbs, garlic, perennials, trees and shrubs. Remember to protect your trees from deer, rodents, and sunscald and deep water trees late this fall before the ground freezes. You’ll be on your way to another great gardening year in 2010!
]]>ECHINACEA—PURPLE CONEFLOWER –HERB OR PERENNIAL FLOWER? by Jan Cashman 8/20/09
Echinacea can be classified as an herb or a perennial flower native to North American. Echinacea’s herbal uses go back to the Native Americans, who used various species of it for medicinal purposes to aid ailments such as snakebite and anthrax and for pain relief. Today, herbalists claim Echinacea can ward off and/or shorten the duration of the common cold, boost the immune system, even fight infections such as bronchitis. Health food stores are full of extractions of Echinacea, some taken from the root, others from the flower or whole plant.
Most of us are not growing or using Echinacea for its herbal qualities, but plant it in our perennial flower gardens for its beauty and ease of growth. Echinacea purpurea or purple coneflower is a tall (24-36”) perennial flower with a pronounced central cone. It is hardy and blooms from mid-summer into fall. The standard variety has purple flowers (really pinkish-purple), but the blooms can also be white and lately new colors have been bred. Purple coneflowers are good for cutting, and attract hummingbirds and butterflies. They will tolerate drought, heat, and wind. They have few pests and deer don’t like them. They thrive in full sun as long as they have well-drained soil.
The name ‘Echinacea’ comes from the Greek work ‘echino’, which means ‘spiny’ because the central disk of the flower is spiny. In some places, the Echinacea flower was nicknamed ‘Droopy’ because the petals of this daisy-like flower tend to droop. There are ten species of Echinacea; all are native to the eastern half of the United States.
NEW VARIETIES: Along with Heucheras , Gaillardia, and upright Sedums, purple coneflowers are trendy these days, and, because they are so popular, plant breeders have developed many new varieties. Some new varieties are shorter, more compact plants. Others have new flower colors, are double, or have unusual shapes with less petal drooping. Many of these new Echinaceas are wonderfully fragrant. Here are some exciting and interesting new varieties:
Magnus is one of the best new Echinaceas because of its rosy-purple blooms that don’t droop. It has a dark rose-colored center. Magnus was the 1998 Perennial Plant of the Year.
Little Magnus is shorter, growing to only 18” for smaller gardens.
Big Sky Series: This series of Echinaceas has fragrant flowers with large blooms in unusual colors. Some hardiness may have been lost in this series; their hardiness zone is listed as 5. Some of my favorites from the ‘Big Sky’ series:
Sunrise has large, bright yellow, fragrant flowers with a golden green cone and drooping petals.
After Midnight has dark reddish-purple blooms with a huge, black cone.
Twilight is a favorite of mine because of its coral-colored petals and red cone. It has a rose-like fragrance.
Doubledecker Echinacea has a bizarre appearance with two layers of petals, one around the top of its large, orange cone and one around the bottom where the petals usually are.
Cone-fection Series-This new series of Echinacea is cleverly named after foods. Hopefully, the Cone-fection Echinacea will prove to be as hardy as the standard.
Coconut Lime has an unusual shape with a double, creamy-white pompom flower and a pale lime green cone.
Mac and Cheese is another beauty with a great name! It has huge flowers have pure, golden-yellow, spidery-thin petals.
Tomato Soup-has huge flowers that are a stunning red-orange color.
You don’t have to be an herbalist to plant hardy, sun-loving Echinacea in your perennial garden. With all the new varieties, you can find the color, shape, and height you want and enjoy this beautiful, trouble-free plant.
Observations on the Garden Tour, July 10 & 11, 2009- by Jan Cashman
This year, all except one of the gardens on the Emerson Cultural Center Garden and Home Tour were in the old part of town, with small lots that had mature trees, therefore, plenty of shade. The old neighborhoods of Bozeman are peaceful, quiet, and friendly. What a great place to live and garden! Although every garden was unique, these gardens had a lot in common.
Many of the gardens on the tour grew their vegetables in raised beds. Some of the raised beds were made with wood sides, others with brick or rock. Raised beds have become popular for Gallatin Valley gardeners, and for good reason: you can control the soil mix, the soil warms up quickly, and their height makes them easier to work. One gardener on the tour had made removable covers for her raised vegetable beds, a practical solution to late and early frosts and hail in our climate.
Perennial flowers were the mainstay of most of these gardens. Many of them used old-fashioned varieties of perennials, such as peonies and delphinium, to fit with the period architecture of their homes. Although the gardeners named a wide variety of perennials as their favorites, shade-loving hostas were mentioned often. Other shade-loving perennials, bleeding heart, baptisia (false indigo), and columbine, to name a few, were found in their gardens. Shade-loving ground covers like sweet woodruff and snow on the mountain were commonly used. Clematis vines were planted in many of these gardens. Clematis needs the right spot to grow—a spot where the roots are cool but the top of the vine gets some sun. One of the homes on South 6th had over 60 varieties of clematis!
Most of the gardeners had flowering shrubs interplanted with their perennials. Dwarf spireas, lilacs, and honeysuckles are good shrubs to plant with perennials if you have a large flower bed to fill. Carol Mackie Daphne was a popular shrub with these gardeners who have plenty of shade and shelter. This Zone 4 small shrub has a strong, sweet fragrance from its pink flowers in May. The variegated foliage is striking. Carol Mackie needs cool soil and not too much moisture to thrive. Unlike a lot of shrubs, it prefers our alkaline soil.
Roses—climbing, shrub, and hybrid teas–were in full bloom and a staple in many of the gardens on the tour. (People in the middle of town don’t have to worry about deer eating their roses.) The fact that these gardeners are growing tree peonies, Japanese maples, rhododendrons, and tender hydrangeas tells us just how mild the climate is in this protected part of town, compared to outlying areas.
Lila Bishop took me inside her home to show me the view of her flower garden from her large dining room windows. From the onset, her garden was designed to be viewed from inside. What a good lesson in garden design! Stand inside and look out your windows before you plant anything—trees, shrubs, or flowers.
A few of the gardeners on the tour were artists and their creativity was reflected in their gardens. Susan Dabney has her eclectic art intermingled with her plant collection. Another artist/gardener had a unique way to label her plants—next to each plant she placed a small rock with the name of the plant painted on it.
Beautiful containers and hanging baskets full of spectacular annual flowers put the finishing touch on all the gardens. A high phosphorous water soluble bloom booster seemed to be the fertilizer of choice to keep these containers growing so well.
Most all of the gardeners, when asked whether they mulched and with what, said they used soil pep (ground–up bark) and most said they couldn’t get along without it. A hint of from one of the gardeners: wait to put down soil pep until late spring after the soil has a chance to warm up. Goat manure from the Amaltheia Dairy was popular with the gardeners—it is a good quality, pure, local product.
Where ever you live, I hope these hints from the expert gardeners on this year’s garden tour will give you ideas to improve your own garden.
In the heat of the summer, a shade tree strategically planted on the west side of your house can keep your house a lot cooler. But which tree would be the best to plant? The only native trees that grow tall enough to provide some shade are quaking aspen and cottonwoods. However, there are many shade trees introduced from other parts of the U.S. and the world that will grow well here. A favorite of ours is the linden.
American (Tilia Americana) and littleleaf (Tilia cordata) are two species of linden that are available here. American linden has large, heart-shaped leaves, and is native to North America from Minnesota north into Canada and east to the Atlantic coast. My father, a Minnesotan, called this tree ‘Basswood’. In researching the common name, ‘basswood’, I learned that Native Americans used the fibers of the tree for sewing or ‘basting’, and over time, the name evolved to basswood.
Little leaf lindens, shorter than the American linden with smaller leaves, are native to most of Europe. Europeans called them ‘Lime trees’ although they are not related to the citrus, lime. The common name ‘Linden’ evolved from the word ‘lime’. Littleleaf linden is the national tree of the Czech Republic. It was planted on avenues in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries; one famous example is Unter den Linden in Berlin. Linden’s flowers were a traditional herbal remedy considered to be of value for many ailments. The wood of littleleaf linden is used for refined woodcarvings because of its density.
There are many reasons why lindens make exceptional shade trees: *They are relatively disease and insect free. *They have a symmetrical, pyramidal shape. * They are long-lived. *They do well in poor soils and are somewhat tolerant of alkaline soils. * They have fragrant, yellow flowers in mid-summer. (Supposedly, both the flowers and young leaves are edible.) *Their shape and bark color makes them attractive in the winter.
Another important reason to plant lindens, or any other variety of shade tree not so commonly planted here, is to diversify our urban forest. There is a danger of planting too many of the same tree. Years ago, Midwestern communities like Minneapolis lost most of their urban forest to Dutch elm disease. Today, our green ash, the most commonly planted shade tree in Bozeman, are threatened by the emerald ash borer, an insect devastating to ash, introduced into Michigan from Asia in 2002, that today has made its way west as far as Minnesota.
There are many improved selections of American and littleleaf lindens, selected mostly for their shape and symmetry. ‘Boulevard’ is a narrow, pyramidal selection of American linden. ‘Frontyard’ is a dense, symmetrical American linden. At Cashman Nursery, we sold the American linden called ‘Redmond’ years ago, but don’t sell them anymore because many Redmond lindens here died due to winter injury. ‘Greenspire,’ the most commonly planted selection of littleleaf linden, has a perfectly straight trunk and leathery, dark green leaves.
Although lindens have many pluses, they are not the perfect tree for everyone. They grow rapidly in more humid climates that have a longer growing season, but here they grow slowly. And they do not thrive in some of our higher elevations or harsher outlying areas. If you live west of Belgrade, or up Bridger Canyon, a linden might not be the best tree for you. Where ever you live, think about planting a tree to shade your house and keep it cooler. When deciding on which tree to plant, consider a beautiful, symmetrical linden.
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Everyone loves the color and fragrance of lilacs in the spring. They are truly the favorite shrub for northern climates because of their fragrant flowers in May and June and their cold hardiness. Here are a few interesting facts about lilacs:
* Lilac’s genus, Syringa, is taken from the word Syrinx, meaning a hollow tube or pipe, because lilac’s stems were easily hollowed out to make reed pipes or flutes.
*The common name lilac is from the Persian girls’ name Lila, meaning evening (because of their purple color.)
*Lilacs are native to Europe and Asia.
*Lilacs were brought to the United States in the 1750’s by settlers from France and Holland. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both had them in their gardens.
*By planting different varieties of lilacs, you can have lilac blooms for up to 6 weeks.
*Lilacs bushes can live for hundreds of years.
*Rochester, New York, has a lilac festival, as does Spokane, Washington. Lilacs are the state flower of New Hampshire.
*There are over 2000 varieties of lilacs. France pioneered hybridizing lilacs, hence the name French hybrid lilacs.
Most lilacs grow tall, up to 12 to 15 feet. Once they get that tall, they often have few leaves at their base and can become out of scale in the landscape, especially in a small yard. But there are a few lilacs that stay compact without a lot of pruning and make great plants for any size landscape:
Miss Kim (Syringa patula ‘Miss Kim’), one of the best dwarf lilacs, was first grown from a seed collected by an American horticulturist stationed in Korea in 1947. Miss Kim’s mature height is 6-7′ and width is 5-6′. Its pale lilac-colored flowers are extremely fragrant. Late-blooming Miss Kim is one of the few lilacs whose leaves turn reddish in the fall. It is also one of the few that grows well in the South.
Minuet lilac (Syringa x prestoniae ‘Minuet’) was introduced in 1972 by Dr. Cumming, a Canadian. Plant breeders in Canada have crossed late-blooming lilacs to create a cold-hardy series called Preston hybrids which bloom about two weeks later than common lilacs. Minuet is the smallest of these, growing to only 6 feet in height and 5 foot spread. It has large, dark green leaves and is a denser shrub than most lilacs. Minuet’s light purple flower buds open to single, soft white-pink blooms.
Truly one of the best all-around shrubs for our climate, Dwarf Korean (Syringa meyeri ‘Palabin’) is the most compact of the hardy lilacs. It is named after Frank Meyer who discovered it in a garden in Beijing, China, in 1909 and sent cuttings home to the United States. It has small leaves and blooms profusely at an early age with small pale lilac-colored, heavily scented flowers. If dwarf Korean lilacs’ flowers are dead-headed after they bloom, they will sometimes rebloom in the fall.
These three dwarf lilacs are not as susceptible to powdery mildew and bacterial blight as are other lilacs. All lilacs can be grown in most any soil type. Plant them in full sun for the most blooms. The best time to prune lilacs is after they bloom. But don’t prune too heavily or you might not get blooms next year.
Consider planting a Miss Kim, Minuet, or Dwarf Korean lilac. They won’t outgrow their space but will still give you the beauty and fragrance of lilacs in the spring.
DWARF LILACS by Jan Cashman 5/30/09
Everyone loves the color and fragrance of lilacs in the spring. They are truly the favorite shrub for northern climates because of their fragrant flowers in May and June and their cold hardiness. Here are a few interesting facts about lilacs:
* Lilac’s genus, Syringa, is taken from the word Syrinx, meaning a hollow tube or pipe, because lilac’s stems were easily hollowed out to make reed pipes or flutes.
*The common name lilac is from the Persian girls’ name Lila, meaning evening (because of their purple color.)
*Lilacs are native to Europe and Asia.
*Lilacs were brought to the United States in the 1750’s by settlers from France and Holland. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both had them in their gardens.
*By planting different varieties of lilacs, you can have lilac blooms for up to 6 weeks.
*Lilacs bushes can live for hundreds of years.
*Rochester, New York, has a lilac festival, as does Spokane, Washington. Lilacs are the state flower of New Hampshire.
*There are over 2000 varieties of lilacs. France pioneered hybridizing lilacs, hence the name French hybrid lilacs.
Most lilacs grow tall, up to 12 to 15 feet. Once they get that tall, they often have few leaves at their base and can become out of scale in the landscape, especially in a small yard. But there are a few lilacs that stay compact without a lot of pruning and make great plants for any size landscape:
Miss Kim (Syringa patula ‘Miss Kim’), one of the best dwarf lilacs, was first grown from a seed collected by an American horticulturist stationed in Korea in 1947. Miss Kim’s mature height is 6-7′ and width is 5-6′. Its pale lilac-colored flowers are extremely fragrant. Late-blooming Miss Kim is one of the few lilacs whose leaves turn reddish in the fall. It is also one of the few that grows well in the South.
Minuet lilac (Syringa x prestoniae ‘Minuet’) was introduced in 1972 by Dr. Cumming, a Canadian. Plant breeders in Canada have crossed late-blooming lilacs to create a cold-hardy series called Preston hybrids which bloom about two weeks later than common lilacs. Minuet is the smallest of these, growing to only 6 feet in height and 5 foot spread. It has large, dark green leaves and is a denser shrub than most lilacs. Minuet’s light purple flower buds open to single, soft white-pink blooms.
Truly one of the best all-around shrubs for our climate, Dwarf Korean (Syringa meyeri ‘Palabin’) is the most compact of the hardy lilacs. It is named after Frank Meyer who discovered it in a garden in Beijing, China, in 1909 and sent cuttings home to the United States. It has small leaves and blooms profusely at an early age with small pale lilac-colored, heavily scented flowers. If dwarf Korean lilacs’ flowers are dead-headed after they bloom, they will sometimes rebloom in the fall.
These three dwarf lilacs are not as susceptible to powdery mildew and bacterial blight as are other lilacs. All lilacs can be grown in most any soil type. Plant them in full sun for the most blooms. The best time to prune lilacs is after they bloom. But don’t prune too heavily or you might not get blooms next year.
Consider planting a Miss Kim, Minuet, or Dwarf Korean lilac. They won’t outgrow their space but will still give you the beauty and fragrance of lilacs in the spring.