When creating a garden, it is important to not only design based on beauty and bloom time but also to include pollinator-friendly plants that will bring the butterflies and bees to your garden. There are a few plants that really stand out to me as my Top 5 must-have plants for a garden that is a pollinator’s dream come true.
Spring gardening tasks might not be the most glamorous or fun things to do in the garden, but they can be the most rewarding when you see the results. Let’s take a look at ten things you can do now to get your garden off to a great start this spring.
Garden Crossings has a reputation for being a reliable source for new plants every year, and this year is no exception. After trialing and growing dozens of new varieties, see which three Heidi and Rod each chose for their Best New Plants of 2018.
Get ready for an amazing year of gardening blogs! This year, our friend and colleague Susan Martin will be sharing all sorts of tips, ideas and inspiration with you each month. She’ll be sure to cover many of our most frequently asked questions on the blog and offer easy solutions for you to follow. We’ll announce her new posts in our emails and on our social channels, so you won’t miss a single one. Let’s get started by having Susan introduce herself to you.
Gardening in small spaces require plants for small spaces, The 2018 Landscape Plant of the Year- SPILLED WINE® Weigela maybe the perfect choice for you. Bright pink spring flowers with additional interest coming from is deep plum/black foliage all season long. Perfect for borders, and container gardens alike.
2018 Perennial of the year is..PRIMO™ Black Pearl Heuchera! The deep black foliage is amazing, especially when mixed with other perennials to show off its color.
Introducing the 2018 Annual of The Year…. Supertunia® Bordeaux™ ! One of my favorite annuals to use in Hanging baskets and in container combinations. Easy to care for and mixes well with other annuals to create stunning combinations.
Perennial Plant of The Year- Asclepias tuberosa, what a great choice! With all the hype these days over the Monarch Butterfly this orange Milkweed is a perfect selection to be named Perennial Plant of the Year 2017.
There is a new Angelonia that will be making its appearance in gardens and containers this spring, it is Angelface® Super Blue Angelonia ( Super pink and Super White). You may be thinking ‘Why does it have the word “super” in its name?’ I am here to tell you it is because this is a ‘super’ exciting new offering!
If you love using Argyranthemum in container designs as much as I do, you are going to love the new Pure White Butterfly™ as an option. The large, crisp white daisy looking flowers explode with beauty and are a perfect choice for a thriller in annual container designs.
Gardening brings out all kinds of emotions and memories, one shrub that is sure to create a pleasant memory for you is Abelia Sweet Emotion™. Walking through the greenhouse this past spring there was this amazing scent that was drawing me in. Once I located the plant offering that spicy sweet scent I was hooked. Sweet Emotion™ starts off in the spring with bright red buds that burst open in late May resulting in creamy white flowers that are arranged in a nice cluster.
I love to add a new “Friend” to my butterfly garden each year. Sometimes it may be two or three. This year I added Bloomerang® ‘Pink Perfume’ Lilac. I heard that the blooms were so fragrant that I had to give it a try. Bloomerang® ‘Pink Perfume’ Lilac did not disappoint. This shrub is so compact in size, 4-5 feet, but really performs like the big guys. ‘Pink Perfume’ begins blooming in May with an abundance of gorgeous pink blooms. By mid-June the first round of flowers begin to fade. At this time you may trim the spent blooms. This will encourage more abundant flowers as it reblooms in late-July. ‘Pink Perfume’ will continue blooming through the summer. The lilac bush also makes for a great hedge or boarder for you garden. For those of you that love the wildlife, all the Syringa Bloomerang® series are Deer resistant.