Gardening Tips Archives - Page 5 of 7

More Perennial Gardening

June 15, 2010 By Garden Supply

Good morning, everyone! In honor of June being Perennial Gardening Month, I thought I would share a few tips and tricks for successful perennial gardening as well as more of my favorite perennial plants down at Garden Supply. We have so many beautiful plants to choose from, as always, and the display of color coming from the perennial tables is truly a site to behold right now. Guaranteed we have a ton of great choices to inspire some summer gardening at your house, just in time to catch the peek of warm-weather blooming.

Mona Lisa lilium

Dramatic Oriental lilies add interest to the summer garden. Their large flowers bloom atop tall stems with a powerful fragrance that intensifies as the sun goes down. These stunning Mona Lisa lilies offer soft pink flowers with darker pink veins and a deep blush in the center, and dark, showy speckles. The shorter size and prolific blooms of this lily make it an excellent choice for containers. They perform best in full sun in rich well drained soil either in the gardens or in patio containers. They make great companions with other bulbs, perennials and are great butterfly plants.

Lilies can be successfully planted March-September in Zones 3-9.

Sights of Summer dahlia

Isn’t this Sights of Summer dahlia a real eye-catcher? This yellow and red bloomer boasts 4″ blossoms that will light your garden with color. Sights of Summer grows only 20-24″ tall, making it an excellent border plant.

With a blast of different colors, shapes and sizes, Dahlias bring life and beauty to your landscape in summer and into the fall months. The diversity of Dahlias allow you to use them in many different aspects of your landscape design, from low growing border plants to stately background plantings which may reach six feet in height. Dahlias make excellent cut flowers, which typically last about a week in the house.

These tender tubers bloom best in full sun and will tolerate most soil types, but prefer a sandy, well draining soil. If you have a heavy, clay soil try adding sand or peat moss to lighten it. Dahlias are summer blooming tubers which are generally only hardy in Zones 7-11. In the majority of the country, they must be planted each spring and then cut back and dug each fall after the first killing frost.

Blue Stocking monarda didyma

Blue Stocking monarda didyma was chosen perennial of the month in July 1998. Hummingbirds and butterflies can’t resist this plant! It is easy to grow and is mildew-resistant. It can be somewhat invasive in the South, so don’t be afraid to trim it back. The leaves give off a pleasant aroma and can be steeped in boiling water for tea. Monarda is best used in the border in combination with other plants of similar height.

When planted in rich, moist soil monarda are easy to grow and relatively trouble free. They will spread quickly, so individual plantings are encouraged. To control the spread, trim small shoots around the edges of the plant. Deadheading is helpful on young, vigorously growing plants to prolong blooming, but may not be as effective on older plants.

And now here are a few tips for successful perennial gardening for the month of June. Herbaceous perennials are highly prized for their ornamental features and their ease of culture.That, however, does not mean that they require NO maintenance. Adherence to a summer schedule of maintenance duties will enhance the beauty of the garden and allow perennials to flourish.

June is the month to shear the tops of spring bloomers to ensure uniform and ornamental foliage for the remainder of the season. Grass shears can be used for this task. At this time you should also cut back the foliage of spring-flowering daffodils and tulips that bloomed at least six weeks previously.

Early to mid-June is also a good time to cut back by half tall late season bloomers to control height and eliminate the need for staking. Perennials treated in this manner will mature at a shorter height and may flower slightly later than unpruned perennials. Plants that respond to this treatment include aster selections, artemisia, boltonia, Joe-pye weed, rudbeckia and Autumn Joy sedum. During June and throughout the summer season, plan to deadhead spent flowers as the need arises. This practice has the effect of improving the overall appearance of the plant, eliminating an abundance of unwanted seedlings, and promoting a continued bloom period or later re-bloom. Plants that require deadheading include coreopsis, daylilies, garden phlox, and others.

Hope these tips will get you on your way to a successful perennial garden in no time. As always, our friendly experts are on hand 7 days a week to assist you in all your gardening needs. If you’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.

Be sure to mark your calendars for this Saturday, June 19th for our Annual Auction. Join us for a full day of fun at our best sale of the year by participating in our absolute auction. Plants, trees, flowers, pots, urns, iron pieces, fountains and lots of other gift items will be auctioned off. It’s easy, just register and get a number, bid and be competitive, finish up your landscaping and get it all at a great price.

We will be grilling hot dogs and firing up the pizza oven again. Also look for some other great deals throughout the nursery and gift area.

Thanks so much for stopping by everyone! I’ll see you back here soon for more snippets from the garden.

Filed Under: Garden Supply Company, Gardening Tips, new plant arrivals, perennials Tagged With: 'blue stockings', 'sights of summer', activities, annual auction, area, arrivals, Cary, central, Dahlia, discount, garden center, garden centers, Garden Supply Company, gardening, gift boutique, Greenhouse, home decor, June, lilium mona lisa, Monarda didyma, NC, new plants, nurseries, nursery, oriental lily, perennial care, Perennial Gardening Month, perennials, planting, plants, region, schedule of events, shopping for, Triangle

Perennial Gardening Month

June 11, 2010 By Garden Supply

Hello everyone and happy Friday! Is everybody ready to start the weekend? I know we sure are down at Garden Supply. We always love to see so many of you filled with the excitement of working in your yard, and starting tomorrow, we have a little extra incentive for you. We are offering 20% off trees, shrubs, and home and garden decor. (That’s 20% off your entire purchase, not just one item, so if you’ve had your eye on something big, this is the sale for you). Just mention this blog post and you can start shopping tomorrow for the best selection.

This month is very special to us at the garden center, as June is Perennial Gardening Month. June is a perfect month to plant new perennials that will flower in June and beyond into summer and fall. At one time gardeners did most or even all of their perennial planting in the early spring season. Summer environmental conditions were considered too harsh for new plantings. This is not true any more! The use of plastic containers presently sold in the garden center allows plants to be easily acclimated to their new surroundings, as opposed to the past practices of marketing perennials either bare-root or field-dug.

We are celebrating Perennial Gardening Month with a huge selection of plants with a diversity of bright and colorful blooms and interesting foliar texture and variety that are perfectly suited for our tough Piedmont growing conditions. Here is just a small sampling of some of the beauties that caught my eye this week.

David Garden Phlox

This showy, clump forming perennial is prized for the profusion of enchanting white flower clusters that rise above the foliage. This plant is great in borders, rock gardens, formal beds, and meadows. The flowers are fabulous for cutting.

Chapel Hill Yellow Lantana

Chapel Hill lantana will brighten up any sunny area of your garden. Plant atop walls or in containers and allow it to cascade over the edge. Great for a mixed tropical border of vivid colored plants. Can be used as a ground-cover or as an accent plant in hanging baskets. This is a beautiful butterfly and hummingbird attracting plant. Chapel Hill lantana is exceptionally cold hardy and best of all, is deer resistant.

Omega Skyrocket and Color Wheel Stokes Asters

The Stokes’ aster is a tall long-lived perennial with slender, upright stems and blue flowers. These are very striking with silver or yellow plantings. Use Stokes’ aster at the front of perennial borders; the deep green basal leaves are evergreen and, when not covered by snow, provide some color and texture all winter. This is an adaptable and easy to grow perennial, considered by many as one of the most attractive late-flowering perennials. Cut flowers remain attractive for a week or more.

Homestead Pink Verbena

Homestead Pink displays blazing rich pink blooms amplified by deep green lacy foliage. It attracts butterflies and hummingbirds and blooms May through October. Also available in purple.

Homestead Purple Verbena

The Homestead’s low, spreading habit makes it a natural as a ground-cover or perfect as use for edging.

We have lots more gorgeous perennials to choose from down at the garden center. Stop by and have our friendly experts help you make the perfect selections for your home landscape.

Filed Under: Garden Supply Company, Gardening Tips, new plant arrivals, perennials Tagged With: area, arrivals, availability, Cary, central, Chapel Hill Yellow Lantana, Color Wheel asters, David Garden Phlox, garden center, garden centers, Garden Supply Company, gardening, Homestead Pink verbena, Homestead Purple verbena, NC, new, new plants, nurseries, nursery, Omega Skyrocket, perennials, plants, region, sale, shopping for, Stokes Aster, Triangle

Daylillies and Deals From the Greenhouse

June 10, 2010 By Garden Supply

Hello everyone and happy Thursday to you! Hope you’ve all been having wonderful weeks and are gearing up with big plans for your weekend. For many of you with children on the traditional calendar, this week marks the end of this school year and the official beginning of summer! Hope you’ll take a moment to stop in Garden Supply and capture a real burst of the summer brightness and color that is blooming throughout the nursery grounds.

Don’t forget that the 2010 NC Triangle Race for the Cure is this Saturday, June 12th at Meredith College. We want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who joined our Gardener’s for the Cure team to help raise money for breast cancer research. We are so excited to announce that we have met our goal of raising $10,000, and we owe it all to you! We couldn’t have done it without you! For those of you who would like to register still, today is the last day for online registration. Everyone who registers by midnight tonight will receive a special 12% discount card for all your Garden Supply purchases for the rest of this year, and will be entered in our drawing to win a $500 gift certificate from us. It’s our little way of saying thanks. Go here to register for our team.

After today, you can still register for the race at one of the Komen pick up sites. You can see all the important race day information here.

And now I have a burst of summer color to share with you, fresh from the perennial tables down at Garden Supply.

Just look at this lovely selection of daylilies that are just waiting to add a touch of brightness to your summer gardens. Daylilies are rugged, adaptable, vigorous perennials that endure in a garden for many years with little or no care. Daylilies adapt to a wide range of soil and light conditions. They establish quickly, grow vigorously, and survive winters with little or no injury. Each daylily plant produces an abundance of flower buds that open over a long period of time. There are many varieties, a wide range of flower colors, and the flowers continue during the heat of the summer.

Suncrest daylily

The Suncrest daylily grows 3-4 feet tall and produces large butter-yellow blooms that are splashed and speckled with maroon.

Daylilies belong to the genus Hemerocallis and are not true lilies. This Greek word is made up of two parts: hemera meaning day and kallos meaning beauty. The name is appropriate, since each flower lasts only one day.

Rosy Returns daylily

This beautiful Rosy Returns daylily produces masses of rose colored flowers from summer to fall.

Daylilies grow best in full sun. They will tolerate light shade, but flower best with a minimum of six hours of direct sun. Light shade during the hottest part of the day keeps the flowers fresh. Daylilies should not be planted near trees and shrubs that are likely to compete for moisture and nutrients.

KoKomo Sunset daylily

KoKomo Sunset offers clusters of large 4″ wide deep gold flowers with a burgundy-red eye, light ruffle, and a green throat.

Although daylilies are adaptable to most soils, they do best in a slightly acidic, moist soil that is high in organic matter and well drained. Daylilies can be planted almost any time the soil can be worked. Till the soil deeply before planting. Work in well-rooted manure or compost to increase organic matter. Apply fertilizer based on a soil test. Dig a hole large enough for the roots without bending or crowding them.

Landscaper’s Best Purple (left) and Little Wine Cup (right)

Dominic daylily

Dominic has deep maroon-red, almost-black blooms with just a bit of ruffling.

Chicago Apache daylily

Daylilies typically grow one to four feet in height and produce numerous flower buds that are showy over a long period. They are useful in the perennial flower border, planted in large masses, or as a ground cover on slopes, where they form a dense mat in just a few years. And as you can see, we have a fabulous assortment of daylilies to chose from in every color range. Other varieties we have available include Conca d’Or, Stella d’Oro, Ann Warner, My Reggae Tiger, Sunday Gloves, Hyperion, Happy Returns, and Pardon Me. Come talk to our friendly experts on making the perfect selection for your garden.

And now, as promised, a little deal for you from the Greenhouse.

fabulous Tyler candles are now on sale, buy one, get one free! The Tyler Candle Company offers you many great ideas for gift giving regardless of the occasion. The perfect gift for you or someone special, Tyler offers a wide variety of scents to suite every personality. The diverse fragrances and products offered by Tyler Candle Co. will help you to enhance your homes ambiance and aesthetic.

Thanks so much for stopping by everyone! Hope to see you soon down at Garden Supply.

Filed Under: Garden Supply Company, Gardening Tips, new plant arrivals, perennials Tagged With: activities, Ann Warner, area, arrivals, candles, Cary, central, Chicago apache, Conca d'Or, daylilies, discount, Dominic, garden center, garden centers, Garden Supply Company, Gardeners for the Cure, gardening, gift boutique, Greenhouse, Happy Returns, Hemerocallis, home decor, Hyperion, KoKomo Sunset, Landscaper's Best Purple, little wine cup, My Reggae Tiger, NC, new, new plants, nurseries, nursery, Pardon Me, perennials, planting, plants, region, Rosy Returns, sale, schedule of events, shopping for, Stella d'Oro, Suncrest, Sunday Gloves, Tyler Candle Company

Hydrangea Heaven

May 27, 2010 By Garden Supply

Good morning everyone! What a beautiful week it is. It is so gorgeous down at the garden center right now. I hope you all get a chance to stop by and stroll the gardens and drink in the beauty down every path. The roses are blooming, the perennial and annual tables are absolutely bursting with color, and the tropicals from Monrovia are radiant and bright. Everywhere the eye can wander at Garden Supply is a sight to behold, indeed.

Some of you may have noticed on your drives around town that the early Crepe Myrtles are beginning to bloom. Crepe Myrtles are wonderful additions to your home landscape offering colorful and long-lasting flowers along with sinewy, fluted stems and branches with a mottled appearance that arises from having bark that sheds throughout the year.

Zuni Crepe Myrtle

We are pleased to bring you this Zuni variety early-blooming Crepe Myrtle down at Garden Supply. The Zuni is a special introduction featuring larger dark lavender flower trusses, improved hardiness, and handsome peeling bark. A must-have for the garden for early summer blooming.

And if you are ready for some truly gorgeous blossoms, you must come and see our hydrangeas. We have a huge selection of flower type and color, from the standard globe-like mop form to delicate lace caps. My absolute favorite variety and top find of the day is the ‘new for 2010′ Invincibelle Spirit hydrangea.

Invincibelle Spirit

The Invincibelle Spirit has rich pink flowers that bloom from early summer to the first frost. This hardy and native plant even re-blooms without deadheading, and the fragrance is out of this world.

Blushing Bride & Twist-n-Shout

In the foreground here is the Endless Summer Blushing Bride hydrangea. This lovely plant blooms with radiant pure white, semi-double florets that gradually mature to a sweet pink blush. This newest member of the Endless Summer Collection reliably blooms on both old and new growth, producing more blooms all season long. Blushing Brideʼs full yet compact habit makes it an ideal plant for decorative containers, elegant as a stand-alone shrub or combined with other garden plants.

Beyond the Blushing Bride hydrangea in the above photo and below is the Endless Summer Twist-n-Shout. Twist-n-Shout boasts gorgeous season-long blooms, vivid color, sturdy red stems and deep green foliage.

Twist-n-Shout

This stunning lace-cap hydrangea is available exclusively to independent North American nurseries in limited quantities, with European distribution to follow later this year. So hurry in and get your hands on one while they last.

Another outstanding hydrangea is the Big Daddy variety, offering 12 – 14 inch flower heads which radiates blue and pink in tightly-clustered masses of gigantic blooms. Big Daddy features some of the largest flowers of any hydrangea. The plant has strong stems, making the blooms ideal for cutting.

Big Daddy

Or how about the lovely Light of Day which bears green leaves festively edged in white and flattened lace-cap flowers in shades of blue and pink.

Light of Day

The inner blooms are either pink or blue, depending on the soil acidity. Surrounding the inner blooms are bright white flowers. ‘Light O’ Day’ will reach about four feet tall and four feet wide. It prefers moist soil (not wet) in a place with afternoon shade and morning sun. ‘Light O’ Day’ makes an excellent choice for the woodland garden or along the north side of the house or garage. For maximum bloom production, choose a spot that is lightly shaded, has dappled shade or is shaded in the afternoon with morning sun.

For gorgeous repeat blooms look to the Endless Summer the Original hydrangea.

the Original

The repeat blooms of Endless Summer the Original truly offer gardeners an endless summer of incredible color. This hardy plant is perfect for everything from foundation planting to container gardening. They even make an ideal floral arrangement or table setting as cut flowers. And speaking of color – that’s also one of the remarkable aspects of this plant. You can alter the color from pink to blue. LEARN MORE

For a eye-catching white blooming variety, check out the Anabelle arborescens hydrangea.

Anabelle

‘Annabelle’ is one of the most popular hydrangeas, growing under a wide range of conditions. It has very symmetrical large flowers on erect stems. Elegant best describes this plant. Welcomed, mid to late summer flowers are white to greenish-cream and 6-inches across.

Come on down to Garden Supply and see these stunning hydrangeas for yourself, along with all our beautiful plant selections. Our experts are standing by to help you create the yard of your dreams this season. And I’ll be back here soon for more snippets from the garden. Thanks for stopping by, everyone!

Filed Under: Garden Supply Company, Gardening Tips, new plant arrivals, Shade Plants Tagged With: Anabelle hydrangea, area, arrivals, Big Daddy hydrangea, Blushing Bride, Cary, central, crepe myrtles, Endless Summer hydrangeas, garden center, garden centers, Garden Supply Company, gardening, hydrangeas, Invincibelle Spirit, Light of Day hydrangea, new, new plants, nurseries, nursery, plants, region, the Original, trees and shrubs, Triangle, Twist-n-Shout, Zuni

TLC for Container Plants

May 25, 2010 By Garden Supply

Good morning everyone! The gloomy weather continues this week, but that doesn’t slow us down at Garden Supply. We are bursting with activity and beautiful plant selections, with choices to please any gardener, from beginner to expert. Stop by and check out our fabulous array of stunning Knock Out Roses. The Knock Out Family of Roses are easy to grow and do not require special care. They are the most disease resistant rose on the market. They have stunning flower power with a generous bloom cycle (about every 5-6 weeks) that will continue until the first hard frost. All of the Knock Out Roses are self-cleaning so there is no need to deadhead. We are happy to be able to offer the shrubs, as well as gorgeous topiary forms, and even a brand new climbing variety that we are particularly excited about.

Monrovia Knock Out Rose topiary Rosa x ‘Radrazz’

Over the last week, I’ve been sharing tips and techniques for growing outstanding container plantings, and today I’d like to share a little TLC for your container garden. You’ve chosen your plants and planted them in quality potting mix. Now, proper care will keep them happy.

Pots in full sun often require daily soaking, especially in our hot Piedmont summers. Shade pots, however, are easy to overwater. If the soil is wet to the touch, wait another day.

Regularly snip off spent blooms and brown leaves to keep your containers looking in tip-top shape. Deadheading flowers often stimulates extra blooming, as well.

Place pots where they’ll receive the amount of sun or shade appropriate for the plants in them. All the plants in a pot should have similar sun and water needs.

With just these few simple tips, you’ll be growing a fabulous container garden in no time. Our friendly experts are always on hand to answer any questions and help you make the right selections for your yard, too, so come on down and pay us a visit.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I’ll see you back here soon for more snippets from the garden.

Filed Under: Garden Supply Company, Gardening Tips, new plant arrivals Tagged With: area, arrivals, Cary, central, climbing Knock Out Roses, container gardening, garden center, garden centers, Garden Supply Company, Knock Out Roses, NC, new plants, nurseries, nursery, planting, region, roses, TFL for container gardens, tips and techniques, topiary Knock Out Roses, trees and shrubs, Triangle

Outdoor Containers- Basic Design

May 23, 2010 By Garden Supply

Good morning everyone! We sure are getting a spot of rain this weekend, aren’t we? It’s a bit gloomy for us, but just think how happy the dry landscape is right about now. I know that my grass was feeling the strain of the heat already.

Last post I shared with you all a few tips on selecting the right pots and potting mixes for your outdoors containers. Now that you’ve gotten started, here are a few hints on basic design principles to create a stunning impact with your pots.

For a good basic design, just remember three words- thriller, spiller and filler. Combine an upright plant, a trailer that spills down the pot’s sides, and a filler to add fullness and color.

Good choices for your thriller plants include yucca, cannas, fountain grass, and the ‘spikes’ shown here, among others. Try ferns, hostas or heucheras for your shady container garden.

False Dracaena ‘Spikes’

‘Spikes’

Options for the spiller feature include creeping jenny, sweet potato vines, calibrachoa, and bacopa, to name a few.

Callie Brights Calibrachoa

Calibrachoa, available in multiple color choices, provide an abundance of brightly colored blooms all season long. They are easy to grow and very rewarding. Perfect for all kinds of containers, including window boxes, hanging baskets and combination planters.

Giant White (suteracordata) Bacopa

Hundreds of beautiful flowers cover the bacopa trailing plants all summer. The Giant White variety continues to bloom even after other bacopas have stopped, making it another perfect choice for your containers.

Filler plants are available in all different color choices and foliar interest. Look for flowers in the annuals section, any number of which will be perfect for the filler feature.

To make a real impact with your container garden, remember there is power in numbers. Combine three, five, or even more pots in varying sizes and styles on steps, in a corner, or at an entry. Containers that are unremarkable by themselves take on greater impact in groups.

If you’re looking for a real star of the show, know that pots with single plants can be stunning accents. Choose a larger container and a plant with striking features, and this stand-alone will take center stage.

Hope these basic design tips help you create the container garden of your dreams. Remember that our helpful experts are on hand seven days a week to assist with all your planting needs, including tips on choosing the right plants for your containers. I’ll be back soon with hints about TLC for your newly planted pots. See you all soon!