Sleet, snow, and frost, oh my!
Winter is just around the corner, and in the garden, that means most of your perennials are going dormant. With these cold temperatures on their way, it is time to put your perennials to bed for the winter. While it may seem like your garden has gone quiet during these chilly days, a lot is happening underneath the soil. Winter gives plants a time to rest before they can bloom come spring; below the ground, your perennials are growing roots and leaning on the nutrients and moisture from the soil. These winter care tips are all about protecting the roots – otherwise, you may not find your plants healthy and vibrant as spring and summer arrive! With a little love, your perennials can live long and prosper!
Many perennials will die back as we move from fall to freezing; winter prep often starts with pruning back dead leaves and stems. It is important to protect these perennials by cutting back dead foliage to just a few inches above the ground. Your perennials will hide quietly away and emerge victorious when the frost is gone, and spring greets us.
However, it is important to note that there are some perennials that provide a much needed food source for birds during the Winter. Perennials such as Echinacea, Rudbeckia, Sedum and Coreopsis provide food for a wide variety of birds with their dried flowers and seedheads, so consider what you cut before you cut!
Forming an insulating blanket on the garden using mulch helps keep in winter moisture and protects the root system from tissue damage during freezing temperatures. Add a layer of insulation on top of the soil; about 2-3 inches of mulch. Mulch materials should be organic matter; you can even use pruned evergreens, dried leaves, or clean straw as mulch. We all need a warm blanket to snuggle under during those cold days.
Some winter months, we’re waiting for the snow, but it doesn’t come. When the ground isn’t quite frozen during those dry spells, it is good to water your plants at least once a month! Keep a little irrigation going, so they have something to drink while they rest till spring!
*Winterizing your perennials is beneficial for your plants to be nice and cozy as they get ready for their big blooming show next season! For your specific questions or needs please reach out to our Plant Whispering Team for all your winter care tips!
]]>Helleborus, also known as Lenten Rose – an often overlooked, but absolutely essential addition to your landscape – are a plant that have to be seen to be believed! And where better to catch these winter wonders than in YOUR garden? Bower & Branch is excited to highlight two superb varieties this spring – Helleborus ‘Ivory Prince’ and Helleborus 'Merlin Lenten Rose'! To best beat the winter blues here are a few suggestions on how to enjoy the Lenten Rose, trust us, it will quickly become one of your favorite perennial Spirits!
Being a shade loving perennial, the Lenten Rose require copious amounts of, you guessed it, shade! As a result, woodland gardens are the perfect spot for planting. Added bonus? Deer and rabbits need not apply here — bitter tasting compounds in the leaves and other parts of the plant keep your new addition from becoming a salad bar for those pesky rabbits. Tucking them between hostas and ferns will add to the texture of your landscape, while strong (re: long) blooming performance in the winter months will provide true four-season interest!
Hellebores do a fantastic job anchoring that part of your landscape you just can’t seem to find the right plant for. Even when it’s not in bloom, its’ brightly colored venation in the leaves, and its short, wide stature provides the right balance of color and impact. Plant Lenten Rose in an elevated area outside of a well-glazed window, or alongside a walkway where it’s sure to be seen.
Lenten Rose has outstanding drought resistance and while a dry, shady spot seems counter to conventional thinking, such areas do exist. Supplemental watering is necessary while your new plant is stretching its roots and becoming established as with any new addition. The difference here is once rooted it largely takes care of itself – even throughout the summer months – save for a trim pre-Spring to relieve the plant of the previous years’ older foliage.
Helleborus – Lenten Rose cup-shaped blooms work very well in a vase on their own as a single cultivar or as a part of a Hellebore bouquet with different varieties. For best results take cuttings when the blooms are a bit more mature. A good rule of thumb is after the seed pods start to set. Place your freshly cut flowers in water as soon as possible and enjoy the color that can last week after week!
While there are a vast amount of different approaches to making Lenten Rose your own, these considerations are just the beginning. We encourage you to try new and different ways to create your plant palette the way you choose! For more information connect with us through our expert Plant Whisperers! You can chat, call (866) 873-3888 or email them at plantwhisperers@bowerandbranch.com!
For more fun ways to use Lenten Rose in your garden, check out what Laura, at How’s it Growing?, is doing with her Bower & Branch Lenten Roses!
]]>With its two-toned foliage and its colorful blossoms, the Cleopatra Canna Lily is a sight to behold. Plant it in your garden for instant tropical flair that will stand out. And don’t worry—it won’t overwhelm your space. Learn more about this beauty, how to care for it, and why we love it.
Although it won’t overwhelm your garden, the Cleopatra Canna Lily is a Spirit with a mind of its own. Even its foliage—glossy green with eye-catching splashes of purple—is unique. Its stunning blossoms, however, are what will truly bring your garden to life. They start to appear in the summer months and, with the right care, will last until the first frost. Cleopatra is considered a medium-sized variation of the Canna Lily, growing up to four feet tall.
The Cleopatra Canna Lily flourishes in heat and needs all-day sun. This promotes bright and strong growth while imitating its natural environment. Cleopatra also prefers moist and well-mulched soil—as it is accustomed to tropical climates—so you’ll want to water it frequently. Although it does best in zones 7 through 10, you can leave it outside in areas where winter temperatures do not drop below 20ºF. If your winters are a little harsher, simply dig up Cleopatra’s roots after the first frost, store them somewhere cool and humid, and then replant them in the spring to enjoy new growth.
Certainly, Cleopatra is beautiful enough in a pot all by itself. Why not showcase those splendorous blooms for all to see by placing a few around your pool, patio, or outdoor entertaining area? It’s an effortless way to add some festive color to any space! Although Cleopatra relishes attention, it also plays nicely with other flowers—equally bold blooms only further complement its vibrancy. This makes it extremely versatile in flowerbeds, surrounded by bright yellow or red blossoms.
It’s exotic, it’s colorful, it’s versatile…really, what don’t we love about the Cleopatra Canna Lily? As an added bonus, it’s low-maintenance (provided you give it enough sun and water, of course). You can almost just plant it and forget about it—but you certainly won’t want to.
]]>Fabulous, Fragrant, Lavender Phenomenal™
Lavender is known as the “Queen of the Herbs.” It has long been cherished for its silvery green foliage, its lovely light purple flowers, and its heavenly scent. With the new Lavender Phenomenal™, more people than ever can enjoy the pleasures of growing this regal herb. It’s more tolerant of heat and humidity in summer as well as extreme cold in winter.
Lavender Phenomenal™ was discovered in 2007 at Peace Tree Farm, the nursery of Lloyd and Candy Traven, in Kintnersville, Pennsylvania. A chance mutation of a popular Lavender variety called ‘Grosso’, it stood out from the rest of the crop by being tidier and more compact. After observing the new plant for a few years, Lloyd was amazed. In his 30 years of growing herbs, he had never seen a Lavender that performed so well and didn’t die out in the middle, like most Lavenders tend to do over time. It bloomed for an extra-long time, too.
Phenomenal™ will transport you to the south of France. Close your eyes on a warm summer day, inhale its delightful scent, and you may picture yourself in Provence, where Lavender carpets the rolling hills as far as the eye can see. Lavender is grown as a field crop there, covering the landscape with purple stripes and filling the air with its fresh yet calming fragrance.
Lavender is harvested for its essential oils, which are used in a wide array of balms and lotions that give soothing relief to sore muscles, bug bites, and minor burns when applied to the skin. The healing power is real. Research has shown that Lavender oil has antibacterial, anti-fungal, and analgesic (painkilling) properties.
Lavender is also used in aromatherapy to treat a variety of ailments—from anxiety to insomnia to headaches. Breathing in that distinctively purifying scent helps sufferers let go and relax. You can harvest and dry bouquets of Phenomenal™ flower spikes and experience the healing power of Lavender aromatherapy for yourself. A jar of Lavender potpourri on the nightstand will perfume the whole room with its fresh and restorative fragrance. In turn, it will make you feel utterly rejuvenated.
Perhaps it’s soap you think of when you hear the word Lavender. After all, Lavender comes from the Latin word lavare—to wash. Lavender makes a wonderful addition to soaps, detergents, and bath oils. If you grow Lavender Phenomenal™, you can collect flower spikes, dry them, and use them in satchels to impart your clothes or linens with that clean herbal scent. Just tie the satchel tightly and toss it in the washer or drier or keep it in your dresser drawer. You can also add a Lavender satchel to a hot bath for a fragrant soak that will calm your nerves and melt your troubles away at the end of a long day.
You may not think of Lavender as a culinary herb, but those tiny purple blossoms contain a sweet nectar and they add an unexpected gourmet twist to ordinary recipes. You can strip the flowers of Lavender Phenomenal™, dry them, pulverize them, and mix them with powdered sugar to make Lavender sugar, which is sure to bring delightfully unique flavor and color to cookies, cakes, and ice creams. Alternatively, you can layer flowers spikes in granulated sugar and let the sugar soak up the fragrance and flavor of the blooms. Enliven chamomile or Earl Grey tea with an infusion of dried Lavender blooms or steep some lavender petals in lemonade for a sophisticated, grown-up take on this classic refresher. Lavender blossoms are also sometimes included in that staple of French cooking, the herb medley known as herbes de Provence.
Nectar-rich Lavender blooms aren’t just people pleasers, though. They’re a boon for pollinators as well. In Europe, colonies of bees eagerly tend to the Lavender fields and create premium honey from the nectar and pollen that they gather. Bees and butterflies will be attracted to your Lavender Phenomenal™, too, and will flock to it all summer long. It may seem odd to want to attract bees to your yard, but bees are valuable pollinators, and they are in peril and deserve all the help they can get. Having a steady supply of blooms is one of the best things we can do for our six-legged friends. Phenomenal™ will give you a long succession of flowers—particularly if you cut back the spent bloom spikes.
Plant Lavender Phenomenal™ in full sun and in soil that drains quickly. Sandy or gravelly soils are ideal and loamy soils (medium textured) are good, as long as they don’t contain much organic matter. In heavy (clay) soils, you may need to amend with crushed gravel. Planting on a slope so that excess water can run off or planting the root ball a bit higher than the soil line will help prevent moisture from settling in the crown, which can lead to disease. Lavender doesn’t like to be spoiled! A hot, dry, low-fertility environment is what it craves. Too much kindness, in the form of water or fertilizer, can be deadly.
You can trim Lavender Phenomenal™ all summer to shape it as you like or to cut flowers, but avoid any major trimming in the fall. Wait for new growth to emerge in spring before doing any serious pruning.
With its neat, rounded habit and beautiful foliage, Lavender Phenomenal™ makes the perfect edging for your landscape beds. You can also grow it as an accent plant in a decorative container. In any case, you’ll want it within easy reach for clipping when the need arises for some Lavender aromatherapy or a pitcher of Lavender lemonade. Its multitude of uses and its dashing good looks will make Phenomenal™ an indispensable part of your landscape.
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