Oregon-based Terra Nova Nursery has come out with a ‘Soda Series’ of coral bells that include cultivars named ‘Root Beer’, ‘Ginger Ale,’ and ‘Cherry Cola’. We bought ‘Cherry Cola,’ a compact plant with rounded leaves that morph between red and chocolate brown (more red), this year. It grows to be about 6 inches tall and 14 inches wide making it well suited for a container or the front of a border.
But what really distinguishes Heuchera ‘Cherry Cola’ from other colorful coral bells is its flower. In the spring it produces a rich display of cherry red flowers that cover the plant and creates quite a sensation. It is also fairly winter hardy and the deer tend to place coral bells fairly low on their menu. It is happiest in part shade but can handle sun and shade.
Mums and Japanese Anemones in Fall Flowers of Japan
We are celebrating the fall this year with Fall Flowers of Japan in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. As you walk into the Conservatory you are greeted by color, ranging from the blues and purples of gentians, to the autumnal bronzes, yellows, and reds of chrysanthemums.
Texture and form abound; the orchid-like flowers of toad lilies (Tricyrtis) are speckled, Japanese anemones (Anemone) feature cup-shaped flowers and fuzzy seed heads, and Japanese burnet (Sanguisorba) provide height with their burgundy bottle brush spires.
For the opening weekend I conducted a demonstration on how to recreate a little piece of Fall Flowers of Japan at home in the form of a fall container display or border. Today I am going to share some of my favorite plants for making a display of this nature with you.
Weather generally has the upper hand when it comes to gardening. There are lots of things we can do to foster the care of our plants, but ultimately we end up at the mercy of Mother Nature. This year was no exception. The New York-area had a wet spring, baking hot July with no sign of rain, and then a record-breaking, near-constant deluge in August.
And now we’re seeing the effect of this weird weather around the Garden; many of our fall bloomers are one to two weeks behind schedule, most notably our late September rose display and our chrysanthemums. It has also been a lousy year for tomatoes.
In July, when the temperatures rose into the high 90s and we lacked any rain, our plants responded by shutting down. This is a protective response which helps them survive difficult times. If the plants had continued to push growth under these conditions they would have lost too much moisture and wasted a dangerous amount of energy. In this respect, plants are just like people; they get sluggish and slow down in the heat.
For answers to some of the questions that have been left in the comments see this follow-up post.
Ed. note: Earlier this week I went for a walk in the Conservatory courtyard and spotted a beautiful Mandevilla vine growing vigorously in a container. I tweeted a picture of it, and almost immediately we got a reply from Twitter-user Jacqueline Lewis asking what is the best method for over-wintering this beautiful vine. It seemed like a really good question, so I put it to Gardener for Public Education, Sonia Uyterhoeven. Her answer is below. ~ A.R.
Mandevilla (Mandevilla splendens) is native to Brazil. It has glossy leaves and striking trumpet shaped flowers. It is generally grown as a vine but can also be pruned to maintain a shrub-like upright shape. Mandevilla (Mandevilla x amabilis) is a hybrid that grows to be a large vine reaching 8 to 10 feet tall. They are generally grown on trellis.
Both the species and the cultivated variety love light and good drainage. Wait until it starts to dry out before you water. Fertilize your mandevilla every other week with a liquid fertilizer when it is actively growing. Unlike many tropical plants, mandevilla does not like to be pot bound so give it room to grow.
Mandevilla are not hardy in our area, USDA Zone 6, so you have two options if you would like to over-winter your vine. The first option is to bring it into your home. If you have enough space and a bright sunny window then move the container inside once the weather starts to cool down.
We have all heard that ‘cabbage is king’ although I doubt many of us know why.
It is certainly a stately vegetable, its elegant heads outshine all other vegetables in an ornamental vegetable garden. And in past centuries, it was a staple in many diets; it stores well and can easily feed a large family. It also had a reputation for ‘medicinal’ properties. Cabbage is high in vitamin C and fiber, has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties and historically was used as a cure for ulcers and cancer. But are these reasons for such a regal appellation?
I read on the news recently that a retired dentist, Steve Hubacek, won first place in the Alaska State Fair for the largest cabbage. His entry weighed 126 pounds and measured four feet tall and seven feet across. This year’s entry was just shy of the Guinness World Record, already held by Huacek, of 127 pounds.
I have no idea what you would do with all that cabbage, or if the mammoth beast would even taste good (World Record-holding pumpkins certainly do not). I like sauerkraut but that’s a lot of sauerkraut even if you stretch it out over six months (which is generally the length of time that you can keep homemade sauerkraut).
Even if you’re not planning to compete at the State Fair, you should still consider growing cabbage in your own garden.
Many people think of June as the month for roses. And while it’s true for many, here at The New York Botanical Garden we generally have two peak seasons for our roses. They first come into their glory in late-May, with both the repeat flowering roses and the one-time blooming old-fashioned types exploding with color and fragrance throughout June.
The repeat blooming roses take charge for the rest of the season; some of them flowering almost continuously, while others take a four to six week hiatus before re-flowering.
We expect a lot from the roses in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden so we pamper them as much as possible. They are fed multiple times during the growing season with an organic rose fertilizer in April, again in late June immediately following flower, and one more time in early August. Compost tea is used as an additional foliar feed throughout the season.
Cow manure and Epsom salts are added to soil in the spring, and compost and worm castings are added later in the season to create a fertile growing environment. A loyal troop of volunteers come to the Garden every week, and under the careful supervision of the Rose Garden Curator, Peter Kukielski, they weed, deadhead, mulch, water, and fertilize the flowers in this beautiful, historical garden.
At this time of year we are confronted with a surfeit of zucchini. The deluge begins in July increases momentum in August, and by September we’re all exhausted by this prolific vegetable.
But make no mistake: Zucchinis are great. They make the beginner gardener feel like a veteran grower. They grow as soon as you turn your back on them, maturing sometimes in just days after flowering.
An indispensable addition to any late summer garden is the hummingbird mints (Agastache). They are magnets for butterflies and hummingbirds and generally flower from July well into October.
They are heat tolerant candidates for your garden that thrive in xeric gardens with low fertility. They are in the mint family but are the well-behaved cousin that doesn’t run all over the place. With their fragrant foliage, they are deer and rabbit resistant.
We have several cultivars of Agastache in our Trial Bed Garden in the Home Gardening Center. At the end of the Trial Bed we have a tall upright cultivar called Agastache ‘Heatwave’. It reaches between 3-4 feet tall and has deliciously fragrant blue green foliage. It is covered at this time of year with raspberry colored tubular flowers. Based on its growth habit it is an ideal candidate for the middle of a border.
At the other end of the bed is a more compact hummingbird mint named Agastache ‘Acapulco Salmon & Pink™’. It is part of a popular Acapulco series that come in a variety of colors. As the name suggests it has a pretty blend of salmon and pink flowers. The shape of this hummingbird mint is reminiscent of a catmint (Nepeta) and it sprawls to form a low-growing mound that produces colorful spires of flowers.
After several spates of sizzling summer weather, many gardeners were left looking for drought tolerant alternatives to lush perennial garden plantings. One perennial that has been a stalwart of my garden has been tickseeds or coreopsis.
The odd common name of tickseed comes from the fact that people used to think the seed head looked like a tick. There are a number of species of tickseed but one of the most popular and drought tolerant species is the thread-leaf tickseed, Coreopsis verticillata.
Tickseeds are in the Asteraceae family. They tend to form 1-2 foot mounds that are covered with daisy-like flowers. They are tough customers that don’t shy away from the summer heat and have the added bonus of being deer resistant. Many cultivars flower from June through September–and sometimes into October–and are known for their flower power.
The Home Gardening Center features a number of cultivars which include a few winners in the world of coreopsis. One of my favorites is ‘Route 66’. It is an interesting alternative to your predominately yellow tickseeds. This cultivar has a red eye that bleeds into the yellow petals to produce a brilliant contrast.
Ed. note: Hurricane Irene looks set to blow through the greater New York-metro area this weekend. It may be hard to focus on your garden and plants at this point in time, but an ounce of prevention could save you from a lot of work in the future. Also, clearing your garden of anything that could become a projectile is a very important safety measure. Read more from Plant Information SpecialistDorrie Rosen below.
Hurricane Irene as seen from space - Credit: NOAA/NASA GOES Project
Hurricanes, the most powerful storms on Earth, are vast engines of wind and rain. As a storm reaches shore, the surge of huge waves causes flooding in every direction. Salt spray whipped up by the wind can be felt as far as 50 miles inland. Wind gusts also sand blast homes and plants.
Most importantly be prepared, especially if you have large trees with broken or dead branches. Trees close to homes, buildings, and power lines can cause serious damage. Seek out a certified arborist in your area to handle trees that pose the most immediate danger. These certified professionals can be located through the International Society of Arboriculture.
Prior to storms, remove all free-standing outdoor furniture and lightweight plantings in containers as the winds can turn them into dangerous weapons.
After storm damage it may be possible to save some trees with living branches so wait before you prune. Cover exposed roots and keep them damp. You may be able to save partially uprooted plants even after some days or weeks. If formerly shaded plants are now burning in sun, provide temporary shelter.
Wind-borne salt spray damages foliage, producing symptoms of scorching and burning. As soils become inundated with salt water, salt-sensitive plant root hairs absorb water and the accumulated salts destroy plant cells. Too much salt will remove moisture from the leaves in a process called exmosis. It will be helpful to rinse off foliage with water to remove salt water residue and lessen the probability of scorching.
Perhaps the best defense is offense–establish windbreaks with wall, fences, and hedge plantings. Choose more plants that are salt-tolerant especially those with tough, waxy leaves and grey, woolly foliage.
