Dear gardener,
Are your apples, wisteria, and other spring bloomers reblooming this August? The phenomenon of blooming out of sequence, colloquially known as rogue blooms, occurs after a period of intense heat and/or drought followed by heavy rains. Enjoy the blooms on perennials and ornamentals, but blooms on fruit trees should be removed to reduce stress and risk of disease.
In nursery news, I am delighted to unveil our fall mini-catalog, which includes
twenty-eight new additions brought to you by the extreme heat wave of early July. Sadly, the sustained heat wiped out thousands of recently germinated seedlings that were planned for future years (not to worry, we will still have many exciting new plants to share come January!). Surprisingly, the heatwave had the wonderful effect of pushing hundreds of seedlings well ahead of schedule! I am happy to share twenty-eight precocious new plants that will be ready to plant this fall.
The heat also kept me indoors for a few days, giving me time to create two exciting new features for the website:
Shop by U.S. Native Region and Shop by Bloom Color. This last section is particularly near and dear to my heart as a former designer who spent untold hours sorting fabric swatches by color. Please peruse and enjoy!
I also wanted to take a moment to highlight a few favorite new additions:
CLEMATIS (Clematis sp)
Image credit : I, SB Johnny, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The extreme cold we experienced this winter killed a large number of our woody plants back to their roots. Our variegated boxwood, grapes, roses, beautyberry, and Japanese maples have yet to recover. So we shift our focus to what is working: Clematis! In celebration, we sowed seeds from over thirty different Clematis species this past spring. Germination has been excellent and we are so looking forward to offering these special plants in years to come. For now, consider planting our native
Clematis virginiana, commonly known as woodbine or American virgin's bower. This fragrant climber puts out masses of creamy-white blooms from late summer through early fall. It is a wonderful alternative to the ever popular, yet sadly invasive Sweet Autumn Clematis (C. terniflora). Our plants germinated last fall and are incredibly robust.
JAPANESE WINDFLOWER (Anemone tomentosa)
Image credit:
Emőke Dénes, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This well-known beauty, is not known to be particularly difficult to germinate, yet it took me four years. I am delighted to finally have plants to share!
IRONWEED (Vernonia sp)
Image credit: The Old Dairy Nursery
It's finally the season for my favorite native perennial! Pollinators love the purple flowers of this towering beauty as much as I do. The only thing better than the deep purple blooms is the winter structure.
Finally, an update on happenings in the nursery:
- We will resume shipping as soon as temperatures cool in our location and yours. This can range from the beginning of September for northern locations to the end of October for hot locations (Texas).
- The farm-to-pollinator-sanctuary renovation project continues. This year, we continued work on the health of our fields and began propagating native shrubs, which will be planted out once the soil is deemed safe. Next summer, we will begin installing the perennial meadow!
- This fall we will be installing several large trees in the nursery in an effort to keep our young plants cool, as shade cloth alone is no longer enough. We will also be installing two woodland areas adjacent to the nursery in a further effort to cool the surrounding environment.
- Unfortunately, the heatwave wiped out our Lunaria seed harvest and we will not have enough to share with those on the waitlist. Fingers crossed for better luck next year.
Thanks, as always, for reading!
