Perennial Late Summer, Fall Blooms

With September around the corner I have started to sell mums and asters.  Otherwise the greenhouses are pretty much empty.  It's Aug. 30 and here is what is blooming now.

Helianthus 'Happy Days' - Shorter than most helianthus and rated zone 5, 

but it made it here in zone 4.  It reminds me of a dahlia.

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Lobelia Siphilitica ('Blue Cardinal Flower')

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Sanguisorbia Canidensis  - Always welcome in the late summer as an addition 

to bouquets.  It's a spreader, is about 4' tall and has nice scalloped foliage.

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Silphium perfoliatum (Cup flower) in the back ground is 8' tall this year. 

 In the foreground is a dark-leaved cimicifugia (now renamed actea.)

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One of my favorite summer phlox varieties, 'Laura', is a heavy bloomer this time of year.

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Artemesia Lactiflora is one of the few artemesias that prefer moist soil.  It's like a very tall (4-5') delicate astilbe covered with plumes of creamy white flowers.

Vermont Perennial SALE

My sale of perennials in 4 and 1/2 inch deep pots continues -  Buy two at $3.99 and the third one is free.  There's everything from campanula to clematis.  Here are some of the phlox offered.  I concentrate on mildew resistant varieties.

Daylily Sale!

Buy Three at the regular price ($7.99) and get a fourth one (your choice) FREE.  We have more than 100 varieties.

Below is 'Early Snow' which has a huge (7 inches across) flower with strong substance.  We have other whites, like 'Gentle Shepherd,' 'Joan Senior,' and 'Sunday Gloves,' but this may be my new favorite white.

EARLY SNOW

Then we have 'Moses Fire', a cherry red double.

MOSES FIRE

And one of many "eyed" daylilies, 'Wineberry.'

WINEBERRY

There are so many terrific daylilies out there - and what an easy perennial to grow.

Inside the Greenhouse - July 8 - SALE

Yes - all annuals are on sale now and ...  it's all looking good.  In the following photo are solenia begonias.  The color is "orange", but it looks more like an apricot to me.  These begonias can take full sun.

Next are the popular nonstop begonias for shade.  Usually red is the preferred color, but this year folks leaned towards yellow.

 Below is a wall pot for shade waiting for the customer to pick it up.  Yellow non-stops and lobelia and German Ivy.

I've always liked signet marigolds (marigold tagetes tenuifolia).  They have pretty foliage and a lovely scent.

The white marigolds are fun for a change.

And below are photos of Harlequin Dahlia, grown from seed.  Usually I only plant the Figaro series, as they are pretty and dependable.  But next year I will do more Harlequin, as the blooms are really flashy and unusual.

Last photo is a dahlia grown from cuttings - Hypnotica Lavender.  It's quite perfect in form.

Perennial SALE

Buy two - get the third one free.  At the regular price of $3.99, 

that makes three of them $2.66 each.

They are nice healthy hardy plants in 4.5 " pots.  Most have been overwintered.

Achillea ‘Moonshine’ (Yarrow - yellow)

Alcea ficifolia ‘Antwerp’  (Hollyhock  ‘Antwerp’)

Anemone sylvestris (Snowdrop anenome)

Aruncus (‘Goats Beard’)

Aster - Purple Dome

Aster - Woods Light Blue

Aster - Woods purple

Baptisia australis  (‘False Indigo’)

‘Blue Clips’ Campanula

Clematis ‘Sweet Autumn’

Perovski atripilicifolia   (‘Russian Sage’)

Phlox paniculata ‘Peppermint Twist 

Phlox paniculata ‘Star Fire’

Salvia ‘May Night’

And there are others!

HEIRLOOM TOMATOES

I have been beyond busy, but finally put together a list of heirloom tomatoes I have on the benches.

HEIRLOOM TOMATOES - Individual plants - $1.79 each   Warning - For most of the varieties I only grow 6 - 10 plants because of space constraints. 

Alpine:  “Early”, Ind, Oblate, red flesh, outstanding yields. Fruits average 6 to 8 oz. Nice sized fruits of high quality.  

Bounty - 70 Days. High yields of red globe large salad fruits. 

Aunt Molly’s Ground Cherry - Also known as ''Husk Cherry'. An heirloom variety from Poland prized for its flavor. Golden-yellow 1/2" fruits - excellent for pies, preserves, jams and fresh eating with a strawberry-like flavor. Productive plants 18" tall and 24" wide start fruiting in late July.

Black Cherry - 75 Days. Look like large, dusky purple grapes. Rich flavor. Large vines yield very well. 

Black Prince:  mid, Ind, 6 to 8 oz., grey-brown, semi-sweet, globe-shaped fruits.

Pink Brandywine (Suddeth Strain) - 80 Days. The most popular heirloom vegetable.   

Burgess Crackproof:  75 Days.  Ind. “Plants are unbelievably productive with an abundance of 6 to 8 oz., red globe fruits which are almost 100% crack free.” 

Burpee Gloriana - 70 Days. Globe-shaped fruit, 6 to 8 oz. A+ yields. 

Cabot - 75 Days. Excellent flavor and performance, 4 to 6 oz. red globes.  

Cherokee Purple - 80 Days. An old Cherokee Indian heirloom, pre-1890 Large sized fruit. “Real old-time tomato flavor.”  

Cosmonaut Volkov - 75 Days. A smooth and attractive, medium-large red tomato that has a full, rich flavor.     

Earl of Edgecomb - 70 Days. High yield of 6 to 10 oz. globe fruits of vivid orange, usually blemish free, assertive, delicious taste. 

Early Glee - 60 Days, 10 - 16 oz. fruits on the acidic side.

Early Rouge - 70 Days. Huge yields of top grade, uniform 6 to 8 oz. globe red tomatoes. 

Fargo:  early, Det, RL, medium size, productive red slicer from NDSU.  

Koralik - 65-70 Days. Det.  Russian 1“ cherry tomato is bright red and borne on heavy trusses of 6-8 fruit, which are sweet and flavorful.    Meaty pale yellow 1 - 2 pounders. From Indiana.

Manitoba:  “Early”, Det, 6 oz. red tomatoes, excellent yield.   Developed by Morden Experimental Station in 1956

Mountain Magic produces high yields of 2 oz., bright red, round salad tomatoes with very sweet flavor.  Some early and late blight resistance.

Moravsky Div - 60 Days. Golf ball sized fruit. Deep red, and cold tolerant. Rich flavor. Smooth and globe-shaped, 6 oz.

Moskovich:  early, SD, 10 oz. red fruits, round globe shape.

Mule Team:  75 Days.   Ind,  large set of globe fruits near one pound, usually blemish free, “great taste.” 

Olomovic:  “Early,”  SD, uniform 4 to 6 oz. tomatoes, a Czech variety, huge yields. Originally introduced by Abundant Life in the 1980's. 

Orange Minsk - 90 Days. Huge meaty orange beefsteaks. 

Paul Robeson -  early, Ind, RL, greenish red-brown fruits about 6 oz.  

Peacevine - 78 Days. Almost identical in fruit size and growth habit to sweet 100. “Bears gazillions of sweet clusters each with 8 or so 1" fruits.” Has the currant tomato in its ancestry.  

Prudens Purple - 72 Days. Some say Prudens is superior to Brandywine It is is earlier .  A great sandwich tomato. 

Ras:  mid, SD, RL, flat, ribby, bright scarlet red fruits, high yields, Spanish heirloom.   

Riesentraube - 76-85 days. This old German heirloom.  The sweet red 1-oz fruit grow in large clusters, and the name means "Giant Bunch of Grapes" in German.  

Rosabec - 60 Days. Nice, 6 to 8 oz. pink fleshed tomato from Quebec. Tart tasting, excellent yields. 

Rose de Berne - 80 Days. French émigré could be considered the Brandywine of continental Europe. Not quite as large, but same great flavor. 

Russian Bogatyr:  80 Days, Ind, 1 to 2 pound beefsteaks, sometimes slightly oblong globes, excl taste, great yield.  

Soldacki - 80 Days. Excellent large pink sandwich tomato. Originally from Krakow Poland.

Taxi - 65 days.  Heavy yields mild,  nonacid YELLOW tomatoes.   Det.

Urbikany:  70 Days, Det, 6 to 8 oz., red-fleshed fruit, above average yield. Another Czech variety

Washington Cherry - 60 Days.  1 1’4” Meaty and Flavorful.

Whippersnapper:  “Very early” , Det, pink/red cherry, plants seem to have more fruit than leaves.

Yellow Brandywine - 90 Days. Some say more delicious than pink Brandywine. 

Yorkbec - 60 Days. Red globe fruits, 4 to 6 oz. size from Quebec.

NEW New Guinea Impatiens

Plant breeders have put a lot of energy into developing new varieties of New Guinea impatiens, many of which can now tolerate sun.   Impatiens downy mildew swept across the country (and the world) a few years ago, decimating many plantings of seed grown (walleriana) impatiens.  New Guinea impatiens are immune to this disease.   Typically impatiens grown from seeds have more flowers and a lower and more spreading growing habit than New Guinea impatiens.

Impatiens 'Bounce Pink Flame' is a winner of All American Selections (AAS) for 2015.  It looks like an Impatiens walleriana in habit, flower form and count, but is completely downy mildew resistant. Breeders promise "...a massive amount of stunning, bright pink bicolor blooms with tons of color to brighten your garden, be it in shade or sun."

BOUNCE PINK FLAME

(Selecta Photograph)

'Florific® Sweet Orange' is the first bicolor in seed-raised New Guinea impatiens.  This one prefers the shade.  It is a showy, full plant with huge flowers that present nicely above the foliage. Its color ranges from deep orange to light orange.  

FLORIFIC SWEET ORANGE
(Syngenta Photos)

I like variegated leaves on New Guineas (and on any flowering plant) and am offering 'Strike Orange' this year.  It is a more compact grower.

STRIKE ORANGE

(Danziger photo)

Customers like the "Sunpatiens" series of New Guineas, which thrive in sun or shade  and this year I will add 'Spreading Pink Flash'.  Spreading SunPatiens can grow 18-36" tall and 24-36” wide in the garden.  Their aggressive spreading nature allows you to plant further apart (14-24” spacing) and increase your coverage versus traditional annuals.

SUNPATIENS SPREADING PINK FLASH

(Sakata Photo)

New Guineas will let you know when they are too dry by kind of collapsing.  They look like they have "had the radish" in that situation, but with a watering they bounce right back.  New Guinea impatiens are excellent choices for containers and hanging baskets.  

  

And MORE New Flowers for 2015 - "Million Bells" (CALIBRACHOA)

Customers often ask me for "Million Bells" petunias, which shows how good marketing pays off. "Million Bells" is a brand name one company gave to their line of calibrachoas, a close relative to petunias. Calibrachoas have smaller blooms than petunias and more of them.  So when someone comes in and asks what I have for "Million Bells" I show them all the different calibrachoas.  So here are some million bells  calibrachoa that I will grow for the first time this season.

I am trying 'Noa Papaya' this year from the Danziger company, because 'Noa Blue Legend' always does so well.  (And I think the two will be pretty in combinations as well.)

Noa Papaya by Danziger

Another new calibrachoa in the Noa series I will grow this year is 'Noa Purple Black'.

Noa Purple Black by Danziger

Another nice calibrachoa I saw last year that filled out baskets is 'Callie Light Blue.'

Callie Light blue by Syngenta Breeding

And lastly, from the Proven Winners series,  'Pomegranate Punch'.

Pomegranate Punch

MORE New FLOWERS for 2015

Part of the reason I love the greenhouse business is that I have an opportunity to try out new varieties and then share them with my customers.  Some of my customers just want geraniums and marigolds, and that's fine.  Others are ready to try just about anything.

There's a new yellow, short (8") cosmos,  "Limara Lemon," which may be a good alternative for folks who want yellow in their containers or gardens, but don't like marigolds.

Cosmos Limara Lemon - Photo from Benary Seeds

On the other hand, if the gardener wants to try some unusual marigolds,   I like the photos of "Bambino" and "Alum Vanilla Cream" and will be growing them for sale.

BAMBINO

ALUM VANILLA CREAM

I think of red salvia as "the poor man's geranium," because you can buy a six-pack at a good price and get that splash of red that many are looking for.  This year, besides the salvias in 6-packs, I am  trying a new salvia grown from cuttings.  "Saucy Red Salvia" is a sterile hybrid, and the hype promises a super-strong and flashy salvia.  Here in Vermont our winters seem so long and the summers so short, gardeners appreciate bright, bold colors.

SAUCY RED SALVIA

NEW PLANTS for 2015 - Crazy Petunias

Here we go again.  There may be four feet of snow on some of the barn roof, but the seeds and rooted cuttings are ordered.  (Yet ...  it's not too late to make requests.)

I will start this year's blog with pictures of some unusual vegetatively grown petunias now offered. The advantage of root-grown petunias over petunias grown from seeds generally is that they are more vigorous and they never need dead heading.  Some of the new seed varieties, like the 'Tidal Wave' series, or the 'Opera' series, are challenging the rooted cuttings.

                                   

                                                                    Crazytunia Pulse


The disadvantage is that these rooted cuttings are patented and we growers pay a lot for not just the cuttings, but the royalties and the tags we are required to buy to go with the plants.  Of course this is seen in the eventual cost for customers.

In recent years a company in Germany, Westhoff, started pushing the possibilities of vegetatively grown petunias with their "Crazytunia" series.  I will be growing the four new varieties shown in this posting.

Crazytunia Red Blue

Crazytunia  Star Jubilee

Crazytunia Mandeville