Author: Elisabeth Ginsburg

Born into a gardening family, Elisabeth Ginsburg grew her first plants as a young child. Her hands-on experiences range from container gardening on a Missouri balcony to mixed borders in the New Jersey suburbs and vacation gardening in Central New York State. She has studied horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden and elsewhere and has also written about gardens, landscape history and ecology for years in traditional and online publications including The New York Times Sunday “Cuttings” column, the Times Regional Weeklies, Horticulture, Garden Design, Flower & Garden, The Christian Science Monitor and many others. Her “Gardener’s Apprentice” weekly column appears in papers belonging to the Worrall chain of suburban northern and central New Jersey weekly newspapers and online at http://www.gardenersapprentice.com. She and her feline “garden supervisors” live in northern New Jersey.

Harvesting and Storing Herbs

Garden herbs ready for harvest. (photo by Jessie Keith)

In early fall, fresh herbs are among the abundance of riches available every day in the garden. Snipping savory leaves as needed throughout the summer and early fall is the best way to enjoy them, but with the end of the growing season approaching, the supply of available herbs may well outstrip the immediate demand. Fortunately, there are lots of easy ways to save some of that herbal bounty to brighten up your cooking and home during the cold weather months.

Bringing in the Harvest

Basil is best frozen for winter use. (photo by Jessie Keith)

How and when you harvest herbs depends on the herb variety and the plant parts you want to preserve. Leafy types, like basil, thyme, oregano or parsley, should be harvested just before the plants flower. Snip off one third to one half the length of each stem to keep plants productive until frost and ensure that you have a good supply of leaves to preserve. If you are harvesting edible flowers, like late-blooming lavender or calendula, clip blooms just after they open. To gather seeds, including dill or coriander, wait until after the green stage, as seedheads begin to dry. Placing bags over the seedheads ensures that nothing will be lost and the bags can hold the seeds while they dry. Roots, such as echinacea and horseradish, should be dug and harvested late, after one or two frosts.

The best time for harvesting leaves and flowers is in the morning before the full heat of the day has set in, but after the morning dew has dried. Hosing off the plants the night before guarantees clean leaves, stems, and flowers.

Up in the Air

Lavender flowers are best dried by hanging in a cool, dry place.

Air drying is an easy, time-honored and effective way to preserve many herbs and flowers. Tie up small bunches of stems and leaves and hang them upside down in a cool, airy space. Garages, attic rafters, drying racks or screened porches are good for this purpose. The herbs are dry when the leaves crumble easily. Separate dried leaves from stems of large-leafed varieties, like catnip or lemon balm, and discard stems. To use dried thyme and other small-leafed varieties, simply crumble leaves and stems together.

Leaves can also be placed on towel-lined trays or in wicker baskets and left in cool, well-ventilated places to dry. If dust accumulation is a worry, place the stems and leaves in paper bags with small ventilation holes and set aside.

Drying Equipment

Dill weed can be dried for winter and the seed collected and used as a spice. (photo by Jessie Keith)

Herbs, including parsley, can also be dried very quickly in a microwave oven. Drying times depend on the plant variety and the power of the microwave, but Stephen Orr, author of The New American Herbal, suggests testing your oven by starting with a single sprig of a particular herb and microwaving on “high” for 10 seconds. Experiment and adjust timing as you go along. Large quantities of herbs or roots can also be dried in mechanical dehydrators used according to manufacturers’ directions. Generally, roots should be cleaned and cut into small pieces before drying. Electric ovens will also dry herbs, if the ovens can be set low enough—80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Again, experimentation is the key to determining the right time.

Salt of the Earth

Less in fashion than it once was, salting is also a good preservation method for fleshy herbs like basil that sometimes respond poorly to drying. Choose a glass jar and alternate layers of clean, dry leaves with coarse salt, making sure that you top the jar with a salt layer and a tight-fitting lid. The leaves will stay fresh for a minimum of several months.

The Big Chill

Mints retain their flavor beautifully when correctly dried. (Image by Jessie Keith)

Herbs destined for use in fall and winter stews and soups can also be frozen in small bunches. Place these in plastic freezer bags or other containers. Use directly from the freezer. Alternately, freeze herbs like rosemary, basil, and oregano in olive oil or water. The easiest way to do this is to use an ice cube tray, placing small amounts of the herb in each cube space. Top up the spaces with olive oil or water and freeze. These cubes can also go directly from freezer to stockpot or sauté pan.

Storage

While frozen herbs will happily spend the winter waiting in the freezer, dried herbs are a different story. No matter which drying method you choose, store the herbs in glass containers, preferably dark-colored, with tightly fitting lids. Keep them out of direct sunlight. Most important of all—use them. Any dried herbs left over by the time the growing season rolls around again should be discarded.

Gardening with Children

Kid in the garden — The combination of kids, seeds, dirt, and simple tools creates the best kind of growth.

What is better for growing children than the act of growing plants? Kids have relished digging in the dirt for millennia and shoveling mud is really only a short step from planting and tending a garden. The combination of kids, seeds, dirt, and simple tools creates the best kind of growth—in the garden and in the children.

Children's garden — This children’s garden is full of kid-friendly plants!

The benefits of youth gardening are clear. Children who garden plug into the environment and unplug from omnipresent technology. Horizons expand as young gardeners develop relationships with the natural world and the creatures that inhabit it. Growing edible plants also teaches kids where food comes from, which in turn fosters healthier eating. Ornamentals offer lessons about beauty, pollination and the cycles of life. Moving around outdoors also helps reduce childhood obesity–no matter what kind of plants sprout in the garden.

Inspiration: Children may or may not listen to what we say, but they often do what we do. If you are a gardener, let even your youngest children see you tending beds or containers. Even if they seem uninterested, the act of gardening will appear natural to them. If you are not a gardener, never fear. You and your offspring can learn side-by-side and the discoveries you make together will enrich your relationships.

Raised bed garden with edible flowers — This raised bed garden for kids is full of edible flowers.

Grab inspiration from the nearest available source. Visit nearby school gardens. Check out local botanical institutions, which may have children’s gardens, complete with child-size features, kid-friendly layouts, and interactive activities to get the little ones engaged. Look into classes offered by those same institutions, as well as the local 4-H Club, Master’s Gardeners or other groups. Your kids will be taught by people who are passionate about gardening and that kind of enthusiasm is likely to be contagious.

Get Growing: Start something at home. If you have an outdoor garden space, give your kids a small area where they can grow anything they want. If you are an apartment dweller or don’t have any in-ground space, let each child have his or her own container on the porch or terrace. Spring is a great time to start, but you can get growing at any time of the year. Many herbs, flowers, and even vegetables can also be grown indoors under the right conditions. In late summer, plant greens to harvest in the fall. In mid to late fall present children with big amaryllis bulbs, which are easy to plant, require minimal care, grow rapidly and bloom spectacularly.

Two young girls in Lavandula angustifolia 'Munstead' — Children who garden plug into the environment and unplug from omnipresent technology.

If you don’t own garden tools, invest in a few simple ones, including a trowel, spade and watering can. Some manufacturers make small-size garden tools designed for kids, but most children can do just fine with standard size tools. Give young gardeners’ young plants the best chance of success by using quality planting media, like Fafard Natural and Organic Potting Soil and good soil amendments such as Fafard Peat Moss.

Spoiled for Choice: Let children grow what they like to eat and they will be more likely to tend to plants. Do your children like to pick flowers? Help them plant easy-to-grow varieties like nasturtiums or sunflowers. Once the plants bloom, let young flower lovers pick and arrange the flowers themselves. Display the bouquets prominently and praise them lavishly. A little encouragement is the best fertilizer.

Fafard Natural & Organic Potting Soil with RESILIENCE pack — Natural & Organic potting soil is a great choice for gardening with children.

Help Is At Hand: Resources abound for parents and grandparents who want to get growing with children. One good one is a book, Sunflower Houses: Inspiration From the Garden – A Book for Children and Their Grown-ups, by veteran garden writer Sharon Lovejoy. The American Horticultural Society offers a host of ideas, plus a directory of gardens with kid-friendly features. Find it at the Society’s website. The National Gardening Association sponsors kidsgardening.org, a website that promotes family, school and community gardening efforts.

Remember that the ultimate goal of gardening with children is to have fun. As with all things garden-related, the end result—whether tasty vegetables or bright blooms—is less important than the process.

Stay Cool and Hydrated in the Garden

During the long winter months, we dream of summer’s warmth. On hot summer days, when temperatures and humidity levels are somewhere north of eighty, we dream of holing up in a cool place.

But we are gardeners and that means we also can’t resist the siren song of the soil. Besides, everyone knows that crabgrass doesn’t care how hot and sticky it gets. In fact, it and its other weedy confederates redouble their evil schemes when gardeners are too hot to go out and pull them up. Winning at summer gardening means finding ways to beat the heat while tending the plants.

Work At Cool Times

Working in the garden — Start work in the garden early, before the days heat up, and try to work in shade.

There’s a yin yang to successful hot weather horticulture. At sunny times of the day, always work in the shade. During cloudy intervals, tend non-shady areas. Wear sunscreen no matter what, because ultraviolet rays get through cloud cover even when it is overcast. Garden early, before things heat up and return to the garden late in the day, when temperatures descend. Longer hours of daylight make early evening gardening a pleasure. Garden chores are also a good excuse to let someone else do the dinner dishes.

When temperatures are high, keep the effort level low. Take a look at the five or seven- day weather forecast and save the heavy pruning, mulch spreading and hole digging for cooler days.

Water Wisdom

Child using a hose on a sunny day — Sometimes a spritz with a hose is just what a gardener (or your kids) need to keep cool.

Beat the heat—or at least its worst effects—by keeping yourself hydrated while you work. Buy a fabric sun hat that you can soak in cold water, wring out and then wear in the garden. Make sure to wear loose, lightweight, light-colored clothes. Garden fashion should always start with common sense.

Take advantage of nature’s generosity and work in the rain. As long as you avoid thunderstorms, you will be fine. It is also nice to take advantage of the hose or sprinkler for a quick refreshing spritz. Playing in the sprinker has never lost its charm with kids either. Placing a clean tarp beneath a sprinkler will keep their feet clean, and if set in close proximitiy to a bed, you have doubled the benefit.

Weeds pop our more easily during and just after heavy irrigation and rainstorms, so digging and dividing plants takes much less effort. Planting is easier too. Walk around beds and borders rather than through them, to avoid compacting wet soil.

Right Chores, Right Place

Gardening tools — When it’s too hot to work in the hot sun, do other garden chores, like cleaning and sharpening your tools.

If you must work outside on a hot, sunny day, garden in small time increments. If tools are close at hand, you can accomplish a lot in ten or fifteen-minute spurts. This strategy works well for most garden chores and is especially good for those you hate.

If it is too hot to even move, think about what you can do indoors in an air-conditioned place. Repot container plantings or root cuttings in cool comfort. Store necessary tools and supplies like Fafard Ultra Container Mix With Extended Feed With Resilience™ indoors in a plastic tub. When you are ready, cover the designated work area with newspaper or oilcloth, bring out the supply tub and create some beautiful containers. When you are finished, simply drop the tools and supplies in the tub, shake out the newspaper or oilcloth and return the plants to their outdoor locations.

Cool, indoor locations are also good places to clean and sharpen tools, wash out plant containers and make plant labels. This is also a good time to clean up potting benches and organize garden supplies.

Another good activity for hot days is garden planning. When it was chilly last winter, you snuggled under an afghan and paged through online and print plant catalogs. Now, you can sit in the shade or the air conditioning and plan your fall containers, bed schemes, and vegetable plantings. By the time those plants arrive, it will be cool enough to get them into the ground.

Fanciful and Fun Container Gardening

Used shoe of galoshes as container of succulents — Used shoes of galoshes make very cute containers for flowers and succulents. (image by Maureen Gilmer)

Gardening, no matter what or where you plant, should be fun. Container gardening has an overwhelming fun quota because experimentation, creativity, and even mobility are part of the experience. Planting in pots is also a great equalizer. The smallest children can start seeds in paper cups, as can seniors, the disabled and just about anyone else. The idea that some people are born with a green thumb is a myth. The contagious fun of growing flowers or edible crops in interesting containers has been known to turn even lifelong black thumbs bright green.

Find It

Interesting containers, like interesting people and ideas, are everywhere. Look around the house, apartment or garage. Are you harboring an out-of-commission tea kettle? Fill it with boiling-hot-colored portulacas. Up to your eyeballs in plastic detergent containers? Cut them off to form bright-colored oval planters and pot up some of the currently fashionable succulent plants like hens and chicks (Sempervivum). Put a miniature African violet in an orphaned teacup from the local antique shop. In some parts of the country, people have been making “crown tire” planters out of bald tires since rubber began hitting the road. The tires can be decorated to suit your fancy. If your neighbors will be offended by a front-yard tire display, put it in the rear.

Shell container with pink Kalanchoe blossfeldiana — A pink Kalanchoe blossfeldiana looks seaside-ready in a turquoise shell container.

Avid container gardeners are always on the prowl for unique planters. Yard sales are a good source, as are dollar stores. Check out local curbsides on bulk pick-up days. People discard an amazing number of plant-worthy containers.

Repurpose existing receptacles. A picnic caddy, designed to hold plates and cutlery for outdoor dining, also makes an interesting, portable herb planter. Make an ultra-fashionable statement by making a container garden in an old purse or insulated lunch sack. Plant a gaudy croton in an old wastebasket. Once your mosquito-repelling citronella candle has burned down, take out the leftover wax and use the candleholder as a plant pot.

Doing It Right

Picnic caddy with ornamental herbs — This old picnic caddy is filled with fragrant, ornamental herbs.

Once you have found your planter, get your supplies. Create simple temporary plantings by sinking nursery-potted specimens into imaginative containers lined with plastic. Disguise unsightly edges with sphagnum moss. For more permanent plantings, check the bottom of the chosen container. If it already has drainage holes, you are all set. If not, and the vessel can withstand being pierced, create holes in the bottom. If making drainage holes would ruin the container, create drainage room by covering the container’s bottom with a one-inch layer of fine gravel before adding the potting medium and plants.

Good potting mix is essential. Most plants benefit from an excellent all-purpose medium like Fafard® Ultra Potting Mix with extended feed with Resilience™. Depending on the types of plants in your containers, you may need specialist planting media, like Fafard® African Violet Potting Mix or Fafard® Cactus & Succulent Potting Mix. Differences among the various potting mixes are determined by the amount of drainage material incorporated into the mix, as well as the addition of nutrients specific to different plant types.

Picking Plants

Cactus fountain — An old fountain is repurposed as a beautiful succulent container garden. (photo by Maureen Gilmer)

Pick plants for containers the same way you select garden plants—right plant, right place. Container specimens in small to medium-size vessels are easy to transport, so it is sometimes easier to match light requirements to plant types. Sun-loving plants, including most flowering varieties and many edibles, require full sun, which means at least six hours of direct sunlight per day. Shade lovers, like begonias, can get by with as little as a couple of hours of dappled sunlight.

No matter whether you plant a miniature blueberry bush in an old spackle bucket or an entire small vegetable garden in a leaky wheelbarrow, be sure to water regularly. Container plants tend to be more thirsty than those grown in-ground. Fertilize regularly as well, especially if your plantings are nutrient-hungry annuals.

Small-Space Gardening

Profusio Zinnias and Swiss chard — Compact Profusion Zinnias and Swiss chard are great choices for smaller gardens with less space.

Small-space gardening is the triumph of inspiration over limitation. Space is the limitation. Inspiration, which is free and universally available, trumps space limitation every time.

Fafard Ultra Container with Extended Feed RESILIENCE pack — Fafard Ultra Container with Extended Feed is a great choice for small space container gardening.

You can plant a garden in an old washtub, grow it up a trellis or cultivate intensively in a two by two-foot raised bed. Small-scale landscapes can be housed in boxes perched on porch railings, bags or planters hanging from walls, or grow bags on asphalt driveways. They are perfect for the minuscule ribbons of earth surrounding a townhouse. Combine any small site with appropriately scaled plants, a little effort and quality soil like Fafard ® Ultra Container Mix With Resilience™ and a garden is born.

Choices, Choices

Getting down to the business of small space gardening requires a few choices. What do you most want to grow? If you have sunny space—six hours of direct sunlight per day—you can raise an array of edible crops, not to mention ornamentals and herbs. You can even mix those categories as long as you group plants with similar cultural needs. Light shade limits choices a bit but does not preclude any kind of small-scale gardening. Bear in mind the small-space gardening mantra—“no ground—no problem.” Find a container that will hold enough soil to grow your choice of plants and your garden is on its way.

Space limitation also means choosing plants that give “bang for the buck”—high-yielding fruits and vegetables, and/or flowering varieties that rebloom regularly during the growing season. Colorful or variegated foliage helps maintain visual interest between flushes of flowers.

Pick the Right Edibles

Many popular vegetable and fruit varieties are available in compact or even dwarf sizes. Cherry tomatoes—either standard size or dwarf–are a flavorful option for tomato lovers on a space budget. Stake or trellis them for space-saving vertical culture. Many zucchini and other squashes come in tidy, compact bush forms. Bush beans, sometimes known as “string beans”, also work well in small gardens.

Fruit lovers with large containers or small plots can grow dwarf blueberry varieties like ‘Top Hat’, which rises to only 24 inches tall and produces several pounds of blueberries per season at maturity. Strawberries will thrive in raised beds or pocketed strawberry jars. Dwarf apple, pear, and plum trees are well suited to large pots or can be trained (espaliered) to grow against walls or other supports.

Coreopsis Li'l Bang™ 'Daybreak' — Coreopsis Li’l Bang™ ‘Daybreak’ is a wonderful summer perennial for small spaces. (image care of Skagit Gardens)

Vest Pocket Blooms

Getting lots of flowers from a small space used to mean buying annuals every year. You can still go the annual route with free-flowering compact forms such as the many-colored zinnias in the Profusion series. An array of modern, smaller perennials will do the same job, and save labor by returning from year to year. Try a reblooming daylily (Hemerocallis), like little ‘Black-Eyed Stella’, which is yellow with a contrasting central “eye” and a maximum height of 12 inches. Another good perennial choice is one of the small-scale tickseeds (Coreopsis), like those in the bright-colored Li’l Bang series. Vertical growers like annual morning glory and perennial clematis use little ground or container space as they clamber up trellises or tuteurs.

Miniature Roses

Miniature roses, at 12 to 24 inches tall, feature all the traits of their larger relatives, minus the gangly stature. Fragrant, apricot-pink ‘Barbara Mandrell’ for example, boasts the high-centered flowers typical of hybrid teas. Miniatures are also available in the climbing form, which is handy for those with more vertical than horizontal space.

Made for Partial Shade

Container gardening is a great option for gardeners with little space or time.

Partial shade does not have to mean dashed hopes for space-conscious gardeners. Lovers of baby greens can grow mesclun in spaces with dappled shade and only about two hours of sun per day. Pots of parsley or oregano will be fine with only a few hours of sunshine. Try annual wishbone flower (Torenia fournieri) for purple or cream flowers in small borders, window boxes or containers. It thrives in shade and grows only six to 12 inches tall and wide. For foliage color, look for variegated-leaf perennials, like blue and cream Hosta ‘Frosted Mouse Ears’, which catches the eye and grows only six inches tall and 12 inches wide.

Succeed With Succession Planting

Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost Blend pack — Top dress small plots with Fafard Premium Natural and Organic Compost.

Get maximum growth out of small, sunny spaces by using succession planting. When spring bulb-grown plants, like tulips and daffodils, fade seed in annuals, such as nasturtiums, cosmos, or compact zinnias, in the same spaces. When cool weather returns, incorporate cool-season annuals for fall, like nemesia, pansies, or diascia.

Troubleshooting

Intensive cultivation of small spaces can lead to nutrient depletion. Top dress small plots with amendments like Fafard Premium Natural and Organic Compost, which can also be mixed into container medium. Small spaces—especially containers and window boxes—tend to dry out quickly, so check for dryness and make sure to water every day in hot weather.

Fantastic Fragrant Garden Flowers

Paeonia lactiflora 'Sarah Bernhardt' — Peony ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ is an old-fashioned pastel pink bloomer with a heady sweet fragrance. (Photo by Jessie Keith)

By the end of winter, gardeners long for the sweet scents of flowers. Some of us take solace in cut flowers from the florist or supermarket while thumbing plant catalogs and indulging in flowery daydreams. Convert those daydreams to reality by planning a few fragrant garden flowers to your beds, borders and containers.

Scents of Early Spring

'White Pearl' Hyacinth — The ultra-fragrant ‘White Pearl’ is an exceptional hyacinth for the spring garden. (Photo by Jessie Keith)

Daffodils (Narcissus spp.) are the essence of spring and some varieties are delectably fragrant. ‘Campernelle’ is one of them, a multi-flowered yellow species narcissus that blooms early and gracefully. Towards the end of the daffodil season, luxurious ‘Rose of May’, a double-flowered white bloomer, lives up to its name, exuding a sweet scent.

The legendary courtesan, Madame Pompadour, loved hyacinths (Hyacinthus orientalis) and nearly three centuries later, they still carry the fragrance banner into mid-spring, with stocky heads of highly scented florets in an array of Easter egg colors. At about the same time, intensely fragrant lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis) scent shaded places with their unique “Muguet des bois” aroma, long a favorite of perfume makers. If you already grow lily-of-the-valley, dig up a budded clump, pot it up with some Fafard Natural and Organic Potting Soil and enjoy the fragrance indoors while the flowers last. Afterward, return the clump to the garden.

Late Spring Fragrance

Deep purple blooms of sweet pea 'Cupani' — The deep purple blooms of sweet pea ‘Cupani’ offer spicy fragrance from late spring through summer. (Photo by Jessie Keith)

In pots or trained against walls or trellises, old-fashioned annual sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) send out a ravishing scent. The maroon and purple Cupani types are among the most fragrant, but all varieties please the nose while tantalizing the eye with delicate orchid-like flowers. Get a jump on the season by starting sweet pea seeds indoors in trays or cell packs filled with Fafard Natural and Organic Seed Starter.

By late spring, fragrant garden peonies (Paeonia lactiflora) command center stage, with tall stems, handsome dissected leaves, and big, bountiful flowers. Older varieties, like the rose-pink double, ‘Sarah Bernhardt’, offer winning fragrance and make excellent cut flowers as well. Well-tended peony plants will live for decades in the garden.

Summer Scent Extravaganza

Sweet scents abound in summer. Biennial stocks (Matthiola incana) are sun lovers that grow one to three feet tall and bear colorful, dense clusters of spice-scented flowers. Carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus) echo that clove fragrance, with familiar ruffled flowers in single and bi-colored combinations of reds, whites, yellows, pinks, and purples. Both stocks and carnations can be grown from seed started indoors eight to 12 weeks before the last frost date, but are also available from nurseries in starter packs.
Standing tall at the back of the early summer border, nothing perfumes the air like Oriental lilies (Lilium spp.). Hybridized from several different Asian lily species, Orientals grow three to four feet high and may require staking. The effort is worth it to support the enormous scented trumpets that are borne in profusion on mature plants. Freckled pink ‘Stargazer’ and pristine white ‘Casa Blanca’ are among the best-known Oriental lilies.

Evening Stars

Nicotiana 'Domino White' (DOMINO SERIES) — The Nicotiana alata hybrid ‘Domino White’ scents the air on summer nights.

Fragrant night-blooming plants open their petals in the evening hours to attract pollinators. One of the best is flowering tobacco (Nicotiana alata), which bears long tubular flowers that flare into white or yellow-green trumpets. Look for the fragrant species form, rather than unscented hybrids, and plant near seating areas or paths where evening visitors can enjoy them.

Fall Scents

Fragrance is harder to find as the growing season winds down, but plants that provide it are worth seeking out. Perfume shady spots with cimicifuga, sometimes known as black cohosh or bugbane (Actaea racemosa). Rising four to six feet tall, Cimicifuga bears elegant, deeply dissected foliage. Sweet-smelling white flowerheads, each one bearing scores of tiny fragrant blooms, wave high above the leaves in the early fall.
Dahlias are great garden and cutting flowers, but are not known for fragrance. It pays to plant the few that combine beauty and scent. ‘Honka’ is one. Thriving in sunny spots, the single flowers sport eight narrow yellow petals apiece. The combination of beauty, scent, and hardiness won ‘Honka’ the Royal Horticultural Society’s coveted Award of Garden Merit.

Location is Everything

Position fragrant flowering plants strategically throughout the garden and combine them with a selection of shrubs, trees and foliage plants that also exude distinctive scents. Even weeding seems easier when the fragrance of flowers hangs in the air.

Many Dianthus are highly fragrant. (Photo by Jessie Keith)

New Flower Introductions for 2015

The best way to survive winter is to dress warmly and dream of spring. And the best way to dream of spring is to get acquainted with new plant varieties. For maximum spiritual uplift, start with flowering annuals and perennials.

If you were conjuring up the perfect flowering annual or perennial for 2015, it would possess all the traits that gardeners have come to expect over the last few years. The ideal plant would feature a compact growth habit, making it suitable for both in-ground and container gardening, and it would bloom continuously or rebloom regularly throughout the growing season. On top of all that, the ideal plant would be fragrant, adaptable to varying cultural conditions and resistant to pests and diseases. Shade-loving paragons of perfection would feature interesting foliage or conspicuous flowers, or, ideally, both.

The following are some of the picks of the 2015 introductions crop.

Annuals

Superbells Cherry Red in pot — Superbells Cherry Red Improved gets top ratings from Proven Winners customers. (Image by Chris Brown)

Millions of Petunias: Petunias and their smaller relatives, Calibrachoa, abound among this year’s introductions, with breeders bringing out new colors, forms, and expansions of existing lines. Vivid red-and-yellow striped ‘Caloha Double Trouble’ from Cohen Propagation Nurseries features double flowers and a trailing growth habit. Proven Winners adds to the Super Bells series of single-flowered calibrachoa with the vivid cerise ‘Superbells Cherry Red Improved.’

Foliage Drama: Coleus continues to dominate among annual shade plants. New entries include Ball Seed’s maroon and green ‘Coleosaurus’ and ‘Box Office Bronze.’ Rex begonias also come on strong with the introduction of the Jurassic Series from Ball Ingenuity. The plants feature lobed foliage variegated in shades of green, red, white, bronze, purple and silver.

The impressive Osteospermum ‘Blue-Eyed Beauty’ is a floriferous new introduction from Ball Seed. (Image care of Ball Seed)

Tougher Impatiens: For those who have given up impatiens because of disease issues, help is at hand in the form of Selecta’s Bounce and Big Bounce series. Bearing flowers in an array of colors, these impatiens are disease-resistant interspecific hybrids that are able, according to marketers to rebound from fungal disease.

Crazy Daisies: With their colorful petals and blue-tinted centers, floriferous daisy-form osteospermum, native to South Africa, are wonderful for containers and garden beds. New varieties include ‘Blue-Eyed Beauty’ from Ball Seed’s, with golden petals surrounding a blue-purple central eye.

Perennials

Uptick in Tickseed: American’s love affair with Coreopsis or tickseed continues unabated with many new varieties of this daisy family member. Veteran breeder Darryl Probst of Walter’s Gardens makes a big noise with his compact Little Bang series, including ‘Enchanted Eve,’ which is yellow with red centers; rosy ‘Red Elf’ and white-petaled ‘Starlight,’ which also features rosy centers.

The soft colored blooms of 'Candy Love' Hellibore come in shades of pink and primrose yellow. (Image care of Plants Nouveau) — The soft colored blooms of ‘Candy Love’ Hellebore come in shades of pink and primrose yellow. (Image care of Plants Nouveau)

On the Rise: Vertical gardening continues to thrive everywhere and this year’s clematis introductions take it to new heights. ‘Fireflame’s red flowers grow as large as 6 to 8 inches, appearing as single or double forms over the course of the growing season. With raspberry-pink petals edged in white, ‘Maria Therese’ is a compact, large-flowered variety introduced from Pride of Place Plants. Planted in containers in-ground, ‘Maria Therese’ combines big visual impact with a manageable size.

Early and Often: Shade-loving hellebores have caught the fancy of many breeders and gardeners, providing bloom and color in late winter and early spring. Color ranges have increased, with breeders also working on new leaf colors and shapes. One of the better varieties from Plants Nouveau is called ‘Candy Love’ and has blooms in delicate shades of pink and yellow.

Compact and long-blooming, Geum 'Sun Kissed Lime' is a superb introduction from Terra Nova Nuseries. (Image care of Terra Nova Nurseries) — Compact and long-blooming, Geum ‘Sun Kissed Lime’ is a superb introduction from Terra Nova Nurseries. (Image care of Terra Nova Nurseries)

Geum Generosity: Cheerful, low-growing geums have come into their own because they suit plots or pots and rebloom over the course of the growing season. One of the most vibrant of the geum tribe is the new ‘Sunkissed Lime,’ from Terra Nova. The 9- inch tall plants feature eye-grabbing lime green foliage and vivid orange flowers. ‘Sunkissed Lime’ offers garden smooches in sun or light shade.

Butterfly Magnets: With plentiful flower spikes that attract butterflies and garden visitors, while repelling deer, ornamental salvias have long been mainstays of the sunny garden. New varieties abound for 2015, including Salvia nemorosa ‘Blue Marvel’ from Ball Seed. The color is similar to old favorite ‘Mainacht,’ but the flowers are larger. The Color Spires series from Proven Winners expands the Salvia nemorosa color range and includes three new varieties: ‘Crystal Blue,’ ‘Violet Riot’ and ‘Pink Dawn.’

Clematis 'Maria Therese' hybrid from New Zealand — Clematis ‘Maria Therese’ is a spectacular new offering from Pride of Place Plants. (Image care of Pride of Place Plants)

With daylight on the increase and green thumbs beginning to tingle for another year, get a good start on the gardening season by making lists of interesting, newly-introduced plants that might work in your garden. Stock up on necessary garden components like Fafard Natural and Organic Potting Mix for containers and Fafard Garden Manure Blend to build soil fertility. The last frost date will come sooner than you think.

Variegated Evergreens for Winter Landscaping

Daylight starts its annual return with the Winter Solstice, but cold gray days continue well into the New Year. Gardens, shorn of flowers and deciduous leaves, are stark. In winter, evergreens make all the difference. And variegated varieties, their leaves edged, striped or splashed in contrasting tones, add zest and color to the landscape. With choice specimens available in many sizes and shapes, the only constant is variety.

Variegated Holly

English holly (Ilex aquifolia), brightens landscapes and winter arrangements with glossy green leaves and vibrant red berries on female plants. Variegated varieties include ‘Argenteomarginata’, with white leaf edges and ‘Aureomarginata’, featuring yellow borders. Both can be grown as large shrubs or small trees, reaching up to 20 feet tall and 12 feet wide, with a pyramidal habit. Variegated English holly thrives in full sun to light shade. Nearby male varieties provide necessary pollination for female plants.

‘Golden King’ is one such male. It is an English holly hybrid (Ilex x altaclerensis) that features slightly more rounded leaves than its parent and golden variegation on the leaf edges. Developed at England’s Highclere Castle, home to TV’s “Downton Abbey”, it grows up to 24 feet tall and 12 feet wide.

Variegated Winter Daphne

Winter or fragrant daphne (Daphne odora) is aptly named. The fragrant flowers appear very early—in late winter or early spring. With leathery leaves and a mounding habit, shade-tolerant winter daphne makes a good hedging or specimen plant, especially in alkaline soil. Tempting variegated varieties include ‘Aureomarginata’, with yellow leaf margins, ‘Rubra Variegata’, featuring rosy-pink flowers and white-edged foliage, and ‘Variegata’ with soft pink blooms and bright yellow leaf margins.

Variegated False Holly

It’s easy to mistake false holly or holly olive (Osmanthus heterophyllus) for the real thing. The dense, spiny leaves resemble those of English holly, though the leaves are smaller and denser, and false holly does not produce its namesake’s bright red fruits. Osmanthus is a densely-leafed, upright shrub that grows into an oval shape and usually tops out at 8 to 10 feet tall and wide. It can also be clipped into standard form.

Variegated false hollies abound, including ‘Aureomarginata’, with yellow leaf edges, the eye-catching ‘Goshiki’, bearing foliage marked with flecks of gold, cream and green, and ‘Kembu’, featuring white leaf margins and flecks, and ‘Variegatus’, with white-edged leaves.

Variegated Euonymus

Variegated Wintercreeper — Variegated wintercreeper is one of the easiest in the group to grow.

The large euonymus genus contains many variegated evergreens. Wintercreeper (Euonymus fortunei) is one of them. Some of the best-known varieties are low-growers, less than 12 inches tall, with small, dark green or blue-green leaves. With its spreading habit and adaptability to varying light situations, wintercreeper works as a groundcover, rock garden subject, low wall cover, or erosion controller. Among the many variegated varieties are ‘Emerald ‘n Gold’, with yellow leaf margins on leaves that turn pinkish in winter, the taller ‘Gold Splash’, which grows to 3 feet tall and wide, ‘Moonshadow’, with green-edged yellow leaves, ‘Silver Queen’, featuring yellow margins that age to white, and ‘Sunshine’ with its gray-green leaves edged in gold.

Use wintercreeper carefully. It has been reported as invasive in some areas. One way to keep it in check is to grow it in large pots and trim as necessary. (It can take very heavy pruning so shear and shape it at will.) Give containerized wintercreeper a good start by using a quality potting mix, like Fafard Ultra Outdoor Planting Mix.

Japanese Euonymus (Euonymus japonicus) is a shrubby plant, topping out at 10 to 15 feet tall and half as wide. Like most euonymus, the species bears shiny green, ovoid leaves. Variegated varieties of this rather formal hedging plant include ‘Albomarginatus’ and ‘Aureomarginatus’, bearing white and gold leaf edges respectively. ‘Latifolius Albomarginatus’ also features leaves with white margins, but has broader leaves than ‘Albomarginatus’ and gray-green leaf centers.

Variegated Spotted Laurel

Spotted Laurel 'Variegata' — The spotted laurel ‘Variegata’ is a gold-flecked female variety, originally introduced in 1783.

Shade-loving spotted laurel (Aucuba japonica) is easy to spot. The hardy plants, often used for hedging, grow up to 10 feet tall, with a nearly equal spread. Spotted laurel leaves are somewhat leathery and up to 8 inches long. Purple spring flowers are an added bonus, giving way to red fall fruits on female plants. ‘Mr. Goldstrike’, a male plant that can serve as a pollinator for female spotted laurels, is dramatic and generously dappled with golden speckles. ‘Variegata’ is a gold-flecked female variety, originally introduced in 1783 and known as the “gold dust plant.” Another notable spotted laurel is ‘Goldieana’, featuring a solid splotch of gold on each long, green leaf.

Evergreens provide the horticultural music in quiet winter gardens. Variegation makes that music swing.

Growing Miniature African Violets

Miniature African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha hybrids), look and act very much like their larger violet siblings. The big difference is the small size. Minis feature a basal leaf rosette that is only 3 to 6 inches in diameter, making them perfect for limited growing space, terrariums and other special situations.

African Violet History

African violets are not true violets, but members of the Gesneriaceae family. Their wild ancestors were first collected in 1892 from forests in what is now Tanzania by Baron Walter St. Paul, a German colonial official, and amateur botanist. St. Paul sent the specimens to his father in Germany, who passed them on to Hermann Wendland, Director of the Royal Botanical Garden, who first described them. Eventually, the new genus was christened Saintpaulia, after Baron St. Paul. The species name, “ionantha” means “violet-like,” in honor of the purple flowers.

The violets arrived in New York in 1894. They caught on with plant lovers and by 1946, they were so popular that a group of enthusiasts formed the African Violet Society of America (AVSA). The society, which is also the registration authority for new violet varieties, now describes itself as “the largest society devoted to a single indoor plant in the world.”

Red African Violets — Petal edges may be exuberantly ruffled.

African Violet Sizes

As the vogue for African violets grew, breeders created new varieties, expanding the range of flower and leaf forms and colors, as well as plant sizes. Miniatures are one of a handful of recognized size categories. The others are micro-miniatures (less than 3 inches in diameter), semi-miniatures (6 to 8 inches), standard (8 to 16 inches) and large (over 16 inches). Minis, micro-minis, and semi-minis are genetically predisposed to small size, but may occasionally grow larger than the dimensions that define their categories.

African Violet Flowers and Leaves

Like their larger relatives, minis may have single, semi-double or double flowers. Traditional single flowered varieties feature five petals, with the two on top slightly smaller than the bottom three. Petal size is more uniform on varieties with single, star-shaped flowers. Petal edges can be flat, slightly wavy or exuberantly ruffled. Color possibilities include shades of white, pale green, pink, red, yellow, purple and blue-purple, as well as combinations of those colors.

Miniature African violet leaves are sometimes as interesting as the flowers, with variations in shape, size, texture, leaf edges and color. Some varieties bear bi-colored foliage with contrasting variegation in shades of green, tan or cream.

Pink African violets — Semi-double varieties may feature bi-colored petals.

Miniature African Violet Care

Beautiful minis need loving care. This starts with a free-draining, soilless potting medium like Fafard African Violet Potting Mix. Good drainage is essential to violet health because too much moisture causes deadly crown rot. Once potted up, minis should be watered whenever the surface of the soil feels dry to the touch. Feed the plants each time you water with a diluted solution of balanced fertilizer (for example 20-20-20), following manufacturers’ directions, or using one 1/8 teaspoon fertilizer per gallon of water. If you water from the top, avoid the leaves, as water droplets cause unsightly leaf spotting. Water from the bottom by filling the saucer and allowing the plant to stand for an hour before emptying out the remaining water.

Indoors, minis need bright, indirect light from east or west-facing windows. South-facing windows may also provide good light in the winter but need to be covered with sheer curtains in summer to prevent leaf burn. Promote balanced growth by turning the plants about 90 degrees each time they are watered. Plants may also vacation outdoors during the growing season, as long as they are positioned in light shade.

Grooming African Violets

Groom miniature African violets by removing dead or dying leaves. To promote flowering and maintain the plants at the optimum size, do not allow them to produce more than five horizontal rows of leaves. Rejuvenate overgrown specimens by removing the lowest row(s) of leaves and repot, if necessary, using fresh potting mix. Minis and other African violets flower best when they are somewhat pot-bound.

For more information on minis and other African violets, contact the African Violet Society of America, 2375 North Street, Beaumont, TX 77702-1722, (409) 839-4725.

Funky Fall Container Gardening

Small pumpkin teacup with flowers — A small pumpkin makes a whimsical “ teacup.”

A “funky” fall container planting is any combination of container, plants and other materials that is unusual, quaint or full of unique character. Just about any vessel can serve as a planter, from old shoes to hollowed-out pumpkins. Add further funkiness by filling with unusually colored or fancifully arranged seasonal plants and enhance the display with interesting elements including fruits, vegetables, dried flowers, and even garden implements. Imagination is the only limit. The cost of these container arrangements varies widely, depending on the choice of individual elements, but in reality, funkiness is priceless.

Consider Containers

To find unusual containers, look around your kitchen, garage, cellar or attic. Anything that can hold soil can hold plants. Think about the fall theme and use an old trick-or-treat bucket, wooden fruit basket or an assortment of canning jars. With a little paint and/or stencils, a terra cotta plant pot can take on bright fall hues or vivid patterns. Hot glue ears of decorative Indian corn all the way around a straight-sided plastic plant pot for an inexpensive funky effect.

Watering can as a planter with flowers — Anything that can hold soil can serve as a planter.

If you don’t want your container of choice to serve as a permanent plant pot, simply place the plants in a slightly smaller plastic pot and drop into the container. Use sheet moss to disguise the edges of the plastic pot, if necessary.
Hollowed-out pumpkins and gourds, available in many sizes and shapes, also make excellent temporary planters. When you are carving pumpkins, clean out an extra one and use it to hold an ornamental cabbage, an arrangement of pansies, mums and curly willow or multi-colored dyed cattails. A carved pumpkin looks especially funky with ornamental grass “hair” emerging from its open top. A large, swan-shaped gourd is transformed into an unusual container when you hollow out its middle and insert trailing variegated ivy.

Plant Choices

Ornamental cabbages in pumpkin — Big, bold ornamental cabbages pair well with bright orange pumpkins.

For a funky take on a traditional favorite, seek out and combine unusually-colored mums. Vibrant tropical stalwarts, like crotons (Codiaeum variegatum var. pictum) and calathea or peacock plant (Calathea makoyana) amp up the color quotient and might be paired with brightly colored pansies or dahlias for eye-catching container displays that will last outdoors as long as nighttime temperatures stay above the low fifties.

Ornamental cabbages and kales are a great choice for funky fall container plantings. By themselves, they resemble giant green, white, purple or variegated roses. A purple cabbage planted in a large, hollowed-out pumpkin makes a neat contrast with orange and yellow pansies or mums. A hollowed-out acorn squash might make a one-of-a-kind planter for multi-colored coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides).

Prepping the Planters

If planters will remain outdoors in below-freezing temperatures, make sure that both containers and plants can withstand the rigors of the climate. For permanent and temporary container arrangements, start with a quality potting medium, like Fafard Natural and Organic Potting Mix. Make sure containers have drainage holes. Firm soil around plants and water well before inserting decorative elements such as curly willow branches. If you are using hollowed-out pumpkins or gourds, drop in containerized plants or line each pumpkin or gourd with a plastic bag before filling with potting medium. This makes it much easier to relocate the plants once the pumpkins have passed their prime.

Pumpkins and gourds, when displayed outside, may also attract the attention of squirrels or other hungry animals. To discourage destruction of your unique creations, spray the finished products with an organic deer/animal repellent.

October is the perfect time for a final horticultural hurrah before the cold weather sets in. Celebrate plants and imagination by creating some funky fall container arrangements.

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