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Denny's Soapbox |
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Arbor Day and New Perennial Varieties (Click here for Pictures)
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| Arbor Day is next Friday. The idea was the brain child of Julius Sterling Morton (1832-1902) a Nebraska Journalist and Politian originally from Michigan. He was the Secretary of Agriculture under President Grover Cleveland when he conceived the idea of planting a million trees. He proposed a special day dedicated to planting a tree in Nebraska. A second Arbor Day took place in 1884 and it was made a legal holiday in 1885, using the April 22nd date to coincide with Morton’s birthday. Over time all 50 states have adopted a day for a national Arbor Day the last Friday in April in 1970 by President Richard Nixon. Over time, several states have chosen different days and weeks in April. Ohio and Indiana stayed with the last Friday and Kentucky the first Friday in April. Let’s all add a new tree to our landscape. Since all plants provide the oxygen we breathe and help clean the air, if you don’t have room for another tree, perennials could take the tree’s place. What a sneaky way to introduce some new perennials for 2011. Coreopsis ‘Sienna Sunset’: Tickseed Like it’s parent ‘Crème Brulee’ in habit and size, but with darker, sienna colored flowers that lighten to peach. 16’20” tall Coreopsis ‘Route 66’: Tickseed Yellow blooms adorned with a splash of burgundy-red in the centers. The red centers bleed into the yellow petals, creating an interesting floral display. Grows 24-27” tall. Coreopsis Big Bang ‘Cosmic Eye’: Tickseed Blooming from mid to late-season, with abundant 2” sunny yellow flowers and showy burgundy red eyes. Grows 12-18” tall. Foliage is a mix of C. grandiflora and C. verticillata types Brunnera ‘King’s Ransom’: Bugloss Heart-shaped leaves have a creamy yellow margin with a light frosting over them. The margins fade to a creamy-white by summer, blue flowers. Grows 10-12” Echinacea ‘Hot Papaya’: Coneflower A beautiful new selection producing reddish-orange pom-pom type flowers. Blooms mid to late summer. The flowers are fragrant and make good cut flowers. Grows 30-36” Echinacea ‘Maui Sunshine’: Coneflower Vibrant bright yellow flowers that are fragrant and produced from mid to late season. Attracts bees, birds, and butterflies Grows 2-3’ Helleborus Winter Thrillers™ Series This series contains vigorous varieties bred for pure color strains. ‘Grape Galaxy’: 3.5” grape purple flowers heavily spotted with dark purple flecks. ‘Pink Parachute’: 3.75” bright pink flowers finely covered with dark pink to wine colored spots. ‘Red Racer’: 3.5” velvety deep red flowers ‘Winter Thrillers Mix’: Mix of flower colors in yellow, green, red, purple, pink and apricot. Heuchera ‘Autumn Leaves’: Coral Bells Vibrant red spring foliage that will evolve to a ruby red by fall. Good heat and humidity tolerance. Foliage grows to 8” in part shade and flowers to 18”. Drought tolerant with winter color. Heuchera ‘Midas Touch’: Coral Bells Peach and gold foliage that is deeply veined with a ruffled texture. Foliage grows to 9” with 14” spread. Grows best in part shade, and great for fall color. Phlox Flame® series: Garden Phlox Bred for a compact habit and resistance to powdery mildew. ‘Lilac Flame’: Mildy fragrant bright lilac-purple to pink blooms ‘Pink Flame’: Pretty rosy-pink flowrs ‘Purple Flame’: Showy magenta to purple flowers with fragrance Sedum ‘Chocolate Drop’: Stonecrop Glossy dark chocolate foliage with soft rose-colored flowers. Foliage will spread to 14” and followers stems to 10”. |
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