Gardendelightsnursery’s Blog
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a good time to plant
It is often recommended that fall planting is the best time to plant new things for the garden. I do not dispute this dictum, but wish to remind gardeners that ANYTIME you get a plant and plant it immediately, it begins growing in your garden. If you get a plant in summer, and plant it when you get it home, you automatically take advantage of this seasons growing circumstances. And when fall comes later, your plant will already be in the ground and growing and can take even more advantage of the “fall planting” season since it is already growing. More roots and shoot growth will occur than a newly planted specimen since it was planted earlier in summer, spring, etc. whenever you got it!
So containers allow any gardener to have a plant immediately start to establish itself as soon as you plant it.
Summer is also a good time to look for plants, since it is often less busy at nurseries, the days are longer, and you can make several trips besides stopping in at your favorite local nursery. You can take your time and search out new goodies for you garden. There will be things in bloom, things that have already finished blooming, and so much more..don’t forget you can also order in advance those special plants too.
The summer period is a great time to shop for maples. They are in full flush of growth and are showing summer leaf colors, often quite different than spring leaf colors. Often they are putting on a second flush of growth, so you can get a larger sized plant before they get potted on to larger container sizes.
Summer is a great time to see flowering shrubs like hydrangeas (the shade loving types(H. macrophylla, H. serrata, H. aspera) as well as the sun loving typesH. paniculata grandiflora 9H. p. g. Pinky Winky is a hot new one with a large cluster to 12″ and bicolor inflorescence, older cluster is pink and tip is white!) others like H. arborescens ‘Annabelle’, and H. quercifolia are sun – shade tolerant depending on climate and exposure and watering), indigofera incarnata (I. decora)(*This is the wonderful little bush that looks so much like its cousin wisteria, but can fit anywhere, containers, borders, etc. as it is small growing), agastache, Calylophus drummondii, Hibbertia paniculata, Calendrinia spectabilis, the newer Abutilon hybrids (smaller growing shrubs with more profuse flowering and improved colors), Taro/elephant ears (Colocasia spp. and cvs.), flowering gingers (alpinia, hedychium, zingiber spp.)
Exotics like bamboos, and the unusual conifers(variegated pines, spruces, etc.) are also full and lush at this time of year.
Deciduous flowering shrubs are also in prime growth, full foliage and have full plant branching.
Deciduous azaleas are in full leaf (and they take full sun too, and bloom better in full sun!)
Many wonderful things await the gardener at this time of year. Asking questions of your nursery professionals for new items/plants can often influence what will be on the buying list for the coming season.
Fruit trees as well are just wonderful to buy now. If you are lucky, you may find trees in fruit! and can taste them this year without having to wait for fruit wood to form in later years while they grow.
Right now plums, pluots, and some very early peaches and nectarines are in season.
Still not too late to plant a few veggies such as beans, parsley, carrots, squash, pumpkins, if you hurry, get them sown or put out small plants ASAP so they can grow fast in the warm soil and begin to set fruits/ crops.
plants in bloom
At this time of year, the winter blooming plants are finishing or done. Now we have a second flush of blooms with other plants. These include camellias, both the better known C. japonica selections and C. reticulatas as well as the early hybrids of them. There are, however, many more hybrids of recent development which include not only those two species, but others as well. Additionally, we have other species which are either rare, and often fragrant. Many of these lesser known camellias are of exceedingly lovely appearance and make choice specimens for the garden. There are unusual sorts such as the black flowered cvs., unusual foliage forms, some variegated leaf forms, weeping and contorted varieties. Fragrance has been brdd into another line of these hybrids. Of the choicer species, C. assimilis, C. caudata, C. chekiangoleosa, C. cuspidata, C. fraterna, C. lutchuensis, C. nokoensis, C. synaptica, C. transokoensis, C. transarisanensis, C. tsaii are among the more interesting and choice species, making fine garden subjects. There are fine textured hybrids such as ‘Baby Bear’ which is also dwarf, Koto no Kaori, pink single fragrant, Minato no Akebono, pink also fragrant, Scented Gem light pink anemone and fragrant. In these small flowered examples, you get a profusion of blooms all over the plant and exceedingly fine foliage, giving a lacy texture to the plant.
Michelia yunnanensis is the first to bloom for me. Shortly after are the large ivory fragrant blooms of M. doltsopa and its variety ‘Silver Cloud’. Other species follow, all are choice and many are rare but worth the effort of obtaining them for the garden.
Early magnolias are often of the star magnolia group, M. stellata being best known. While others such as the hybrid group M. loebneri have several varieties and the larger species M. kobus and M. salicifolia are also early bloomers in white and fragrant.
Forsythias are beginning to bloom as well and we now have quite an array of choice from which to select for the garden. There are weeping forms, dwarf low growing cvs, several in differing shades of yellow, fringed leaf and even variegated foliage forms.
Small bulbs such as crocus and galanthus(snowdrops) are well known, there are blue star flowers(ipheon) which is usually sky blue, but there are deeper blue (Rolf Fiedler)and white (alba)selections. Freesias (the typical old fashioned hybrid ‘Alba’ or the species are much preferred for their rich fragrance and profuse multiplying capabilities over the hybrids with larger blooms, less fragrance, and additional color range.
Osmarea burkwoodii (Osmanthus burkwoodii) is a basic easy care shrub for sun to shade and now blooms with tube shaped white flowers, slightly fragrant. it can be left to its own devices or trimmed to almost any shape.
Flowering currants (Ribes spp.) are now in full bloom and quite showy. There are whites(White Icicle), pinks(Claremont), and reds (King Edward, Barrie Coates)in R. sanguineum glutinosum cvs. and deep lantern shaped small red flowers in the very spiny R. speciosum. Additionally here, you will find attractive lobed foliage and long red stamens like tassels beneath those blooms.
Many daphnes are also blooming now. Most well known is D. odora and its varieties, but there are others.
Soon we will have the beginnings of Spirea prunifolia and S. thunbergii, while the double S. cantoniensis flore plena (S. cantoniensis reveesiana) and S. vanhouttei are beginning to show their first flower bud clusters.
And we should not forget the evergreen azaleas. There are hundreds of them but the ones I favor are the very long blooming season cvs. These are just as showy as the once bloomer, but have the advantage of and extremely long bloom season, sometimes year round. There are also some very interesting forms such as the gchartreuse green flowered ‘Green Glow’, and strap petalled cvs. such as Koromo Shikibu, Polypetalum, Kinsai, etc.
