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I love Heuchera's for their foliage, a big plus in a shady spot or in winter when all my other perennials are cut back. They form evergreen clumps of roundish leaves with scalloped edges. The flowers form on wiry stems in the spring, are hummingbird attracting and are long lasting in floral arrangements. |
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Amethyst Mist |
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Flower color ranges from reds, corals and pinks to white. The new introductions, and believe you me, there are several every year, are grown more for their leaf color than their floral display. You can get gold, chartreuse, red, purple, silver and green, and that's just the top side of the leaf. Many more have solid colorful undersides as well. |
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Harvest Silver |
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Heuchera's like morning sun to dappled light here, which is why they are a wonderful addition to the shade garden. I like them in containers too on the east of north facing side of the house. Divide your clumps every 3-4 years in spring or fall and replant. They are fairly easy to grow from cuttings, too. They are considered to be deer resistant, but I would not count on it.
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Hercules
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Here are some of the varieties to choose from at Star Gardens this month:
| Variety |
Description |
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Amethyst Mist |
dark with silver |
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Snow Angel and or Hercules |
variegated |
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Harvest Silver |
green with silver |
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Harvest Lemon Chiffon |
yellow green foliage |
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Prince of Orange |
purple, bronze, gold |
November Specials
30% off of Roses
30% off of Fruit Trees
30% off of Crepe Myrtles
All Iron Baskets, Trellis, Arches, Benches, Fences and Garden Art are 20% off for the month of November!
We will be getting potted living Christmas trees from Oregon and other sources this year!
What's New This Month
November 1st- the 10 day forecast is calling for no frost and sunny weather in the 70's. I can't ask for better weather than that.
Winter hours are in effect. We are open 10-4 six days a week- closed Wednesday. We will be closed Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day through January 22nd, 2010. Last year the weather was so nice in January we did open some of the weekends anyway. During our winter vacation we can be open by appointment also.
FREEZE AND FROST PROTECTION
Although the weather is beautiful now, I know the cold days of winter lie ahead. To prepare the nursery for the worst of winter, I spray an anti-transpirant over the entire nursery around the 1st of December. This seals in moisture in the plants, cutting down on the drying out that frost and cold weather causes.
Anti-transpirant is a liquid mixed with water. We have several options here at the nursery. The two brands to choose from are WiltStop and Cloud Cover. WiltStop is a natural product made from pine resin and Cloud Cover is a biodegradable polymer. They come in RTU spray bottles, quart and gallon concentrate you can mix yourself, and the handy hose-end sprayer that is ready to use (RTU).
I have found these products to be particularly useful on oleander, citrus and young annuals and perennials. My oleanders look great in the spring, with hardly any winter kill. I wish I could say the some for the citrus, which needs the added protection of 'frost cloth'.
'Frost cloth', or 'plant and seed blanket' is a light weight fabric that lets moisture and light through, but helps to insulate cold sensitive plants. Many use it to extend the vegetable garden growing time. It is very handy for protecting citrus in the winter. In stock are plant protector bags (2 per pkg.), rolls of plant and seed blanket (6x20) and packs of Nsulate (12x10). You can also cut the seed blanket and Nsulate easily with scissors to a desired size.
DORMANT SPRAY
Dormant time spraying is still considered to be one of the best natural preventatives to disease and insect infestation. November is the recommended month for the first of your 3 sprayings. If you had a serious problem with a 'pest' (this includes disease) of any kind, then I encourage you to consider the dormant spray. Although there are combination concentrates out there, we sell the oil spray and copper or sulphur spray separately. The oil spray smothers overwintering insect eggs and is the 'insecticide' portion. The copper or lime/sulphur kills overwintering bacteria and fungus, and is the 'fungicide' portion of your spray program. Remember to spray the ground around your plant or tree and that you need to have a 24-36 hour window of no rain (or sprinklers for that matter) after the spray application. Many savvy gardeners dormant spray their fruit trees and roses to prevent serious problems in the future, even if they did not experience problems this year.
OVERWINTERING GERANIUMS
I just read an interesting article about overwintering your common geraniums, Pelargonium x hortorum. I remember my grandmother would take cuttings and try to get next years plants that way. The article I read has a different solution. Dig them up before the first frost. Shake all the dirt away from the roots. Now you can either hang the entire plant upside-down, or cut the stems down to 3 inches and store them upside-down in paper bags, hanging from a cool, dry and dark ceiling, ideally between 45 and 50 degrees. Check them once a month, and if too shriveled soak roots for an hour in warm water. In March, remove the dead branches from the plants that were hung whole. The pre-trimmed plants should be showing signs of growth. Go ahead and plant.
PANSIES/VIOLAS
Although many people are looking for large-faced pansies, the smaller violas and pansy/viola crosses perform better in the cold and last much longer (sometimes all winter) into the heat. I love the 'Panola' series of pansy and 'Ola' for viola. Others I have found to be great in the cold are 'Melody Blue and Gold', 'Baby Bingo', and 'Splendid Blue and Yellow'. One of my favorite violas is 'Tigers Eyes' but the 'Ruby Face Red and Gold' is also excellent.
See you soon,
Tanya
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