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@jdiber
starting the exit ramp
Getting ,old I hear, is a fine thing. There are confliction hardships of us entering retirement age. I can’t imagine not being in a greenhouse; yet I could garden in my yard non stop. I like training , trainable people. it’s fun to share, because I’m remembering the basics again. us, lightbulbs go on in there faces. the growers that have been growing for years that are the hard ones. if they…
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Tissue Culture
Upon receiving them from a lab, examine the tubs or bags for ugly rot! We bring in tissue culture from all over the world and from many different labs. Tissue culture plantlets come ex-auger, in vacuum packed bags and in tubs. The auger is a proprietary blend of auxin and nutrients to encourage division and rooting. Auger can be in various colors also. I make notes on three aspects of the…
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garden coach
I’m thinking of a retirement plan here. Being available to coach people wishing to garden or learn how to tend their landscape, or plant perennial s and annuals.
I can be available to answer most plant questions or at least guide one through a yard of intimidation .
I have lots of experience with perennials. With island gardens, water features and ponds, and pruning and weeding.
My experience is…
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see them sedums?
Sedum spathuilifolium’s are a north west native. They like dry to well drained soils.
SEDUM spathuilifolium Carnea
Carnea turns a beautiful purple red in the winter.
SEDUM spathuilifolium Harvest Moon
Harvest Moon a bit greener with this moon like essence over a verdant forest look.
They are both short 4″ high. in humid areas try them in trough or mixed container gardens with well drained soil…
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Perovskia Filigan
Perovskia filigran ….fine- filigreed foliage.
Perovskia are summer time classics, blue flowers on tall spikes. V shaped foliage. Contrasting well with browns of grasses and yellows of rudbeckia. 2-4 feet tall .
our 21 size will plant well into gallon sized. this group is rooted and well branched ready for its second pruning.
Gardeners use this among perennials or grasses, and even a shrub…
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memories 2
Lancaster county Pennsylvania used to be a global contender in carnation and rose production. In the 1950’s you couldn’t go 5 miles with out seeing a greenhouse of carnations.
With the good road systems of america, Florida cut flower growers where able to transport their goods north. With the improved airplane jets systems transports from Isreal and Columbia, SA became a multiple day event. All…
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Black foliage is the new in for a garden connoisseur:
leptinilla platts black, heuchera blackout,astilbe chocolate showgun,tiarella dark star,ajuga black scallop
cimicifuga, geranium espresso
with black curtains on the wall Black foliage is the new in for a garden connoisseur: leptinilla platts black, heuchera blackout,astilbe chocolate showgun,tiarella dark star,ajuga black scallop cimicifuga, geranium espresso
In the white room
In the white room
with snow on the horizon here’s a white out medley:
Hydrangea Annabelle
Sedum ternatum
Astilbe Visions in White
Phlox Minnie Pearl
Epimedium Niveum
Echinacea PowWowWhite
Tiarella Elizabeth Oliver
Salvia Snow Hill
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Geraniums are a flower found all over the world from Wooded areas of North America to rocky mountain Biokova in Croatia. There are at least 250 species of perennial geraniums. Perennial geraniums are called hardy geraniums to separate them from florist or annual types. For us at Creek Hill Nursery as a group hardy geraniums are becoming one of the highest volume sellers. Geranium Rozanne our highest in sales of all perennials has its own web page www.geraniumrozanne.com You can read about her history of being found in a garden in the UK and her being names perennial plant of the year for 2008.
Geranium Espresso…………………….dark coffee colored foliage, with a tight spread of pink geranium blooms about 8 inches above foliage Is one of my favorites!
Now is the time to line up geraniums! Reach for the espresso pot and view our catalog of fine geraniums
max frei
berggarten
karmina
espresso
Espresso is in my garden from a couple summers ago, she always comes back with vigor in the spring. I have it in a shady location. The flowers are pink contrasting nicely with the chocolate foliage, my picture makes them look white, taken with an old cell phone. Espresso represents a north american native selected by North Creek Nursery. Shade and dry soil is ok for this plant that can span Georgia to Minnesota
Biokova the second geranium to hold the award for perennial plant of the year in 2015. Is a good naturalizer with under ground rhizomes that spread, but no worry is not invasive. Biokova can handle dry soil and likes sun to part shade.
I’ve had Geranium Karmina , found out of Biokova, in my yard under the huge white pine in the rockiest ground, i’m sure resembling Croatia, and it lived just fine. part shade to full sun and soil that drains quickly is helpful for hardy geraniums.
Geraniums like Biokova,Berggarten,Karmina, Crystal Rose and Bevans form rhizomes that allow them to spread into unplanted areas around them. Making them a great 6″-8″low profile mulch replacement plant.
Geranium sanguineum types like Max Frei, Lancastriense, form mounding clumps that do spill into areas also, but, have a taller presence of 12″-18″. These types tolerate heat and cold well. Don’t dump mulch on them, they can be the mulch, as they flow in areas between them and other perennials.
Geranium Espresso Geraniums are a flower found all over the world from Wooded areas of North America to rocky mountain Biokova in Croatia.
lobelia cardinalis lobelia Vulcan Red
Perennial planting are not just for summer. Winter brings interest from dried flowers to frosty foliage and Lobelias’ colorful rosettes covering the ground.
Matthias de L’Obel (1538-1616) a Flemish herbalist is who this genus is named after.
Lobelia is found the world around and has had numerous medical uses in moist continents and spawned even theological discussions.
lobelia cardinalis …is a north american native plant found in moist areas and along river banks with rich soil. In the garden, if one has poor soil, one can incorporate compost or manure to improve the soil. red flowers that standing 3′ tall luring the hummingbirds and butterfly of summer. Pure green leaves fill the space between flower stalk and ground.
Lobelia form rosettes to over winter with. Its important to not smother them with mulch! I personally think the rosettes make good “mulch like” ground cover without all that painted woodchippy stuff, now invading american home gardens.
lobelia Vulcan Red
A red leafed form. bringing added garden interest. Live long and prosper with this one. Having these rosettes continue garden beauty in bare spots in the garden is a must. Its a good mulch and weed barrier choice.
lobelia…..intra global wonder lobelia cardinalis lobelia Vulcan Red Perennial planting are not just for summer. Winter brings interest from dried flowers to frosty foliage and Lobelias' colorful rosettes covering the ground.
In the greenhouse business we need coffee in the winter, well all year. Walking in the greenhouses with all the open soil and plants in various stages its a risky situation with an open mug of java. That is its risky, almost a given to have fungus gnats in the coffee.
It used to be anyway. How we commercially battle the gnat free coffee. We use nematodes steinernema feltiae a specific nematode that eats the gnats larvae in the soil before they become adults. We also make sure all new propagation receives stratiolaelaps scimitus, (we call them “strats”) a predatory mite that feeds on fungus gnat larvae.
You can’t have soiless potting media with out fungus gnats unless your proactive. We treat right away within two weeks of placing soil flats in the greenhouse. Doing this has allowed me to safely walk through with an open mug of coffee and have no fear of drinking the adult gnats. It works. the strats live long in the soil feeding on other things, so this is a long term solution, its ok for us to retreat the flats if our scouting for bugs reveals another out break.
Good news is these controls are not just for the commercial greenhouse but are very much available to the home owner wishing to stop harsh chemical usages and maintain the bee friendly practices already started by some of use commercial growers.
Many of us growers are using biological pest initiatives. Its ok to go into the garden canter and ask about their sources if they use biological…if the store attendant rolls their eyes, turn and run. In this day and age the more we can do good to the earth and our health through our plants the better!
gnats in the coffee dang-it In the greenhouse business we need coffee in the winter, well all year. Walking in the greenhouses with all the open soil and plants in various stages its a risky situation with an open mug of java.
Tiarella is called foam flower by many. The white flowers en massed in the under story of a wooded area take on the look of sea water foam as the wind caress the blooms.
Tiarella are one of those easy to naturalize plants that adapt well to many degrees of shade. Tiarella cordifolia is native all over the east of the USA. this fact speaks well to it adapting to your shady spots. A good plant to move among other plants as a mulch substitute or a mass under story display. Good soils rich in organic material and moisture holding abilities are a must for its longevity.
Heart shaped green foliage with dark vienations make tiarella attractive before and after the flowering. Breeding work has been done to develop very stunning dark centers on the foliage and to bring out pink pigments into the flowers.
DarkStar…………..Running Tapestry….Timbuktu………Elizabeth Oliver
We grow these Tiarella plants in cell flats 50’s and 21’s.
Oak leaf is an older variety we also carry. its leaves resemble the oak trees….which themselves have many variations of their own lobed-ness. This young cell doesn’t show the lobed affect the more mature established plants will be showing.
Buy your cells from creekhill nursery as a wholesale customer and rest assured you are part of a bigger picture of stewardship. We use compost tea and beneficial insects and have moved away from harsh chemicals.
As a home owner look for these above varieties at you family owned garden center to enhance your perennial plantings and your mixed containers.
Tiarellas make good mulch substitutes and are good for erosion control on gentle slopes.
Tiarella……Bella Tiarella is called foam flower by many. The white flowers en massed in the under story of a wooded area take on the look of sea water foam as the wind caress the blooms.
When I first got into perennials the Arendsi Astilbes where the main Astilbes offered. Breed in Germany by George Arends,(1862-1952), including varieties like Deutschland 2′(white), Europa, Fanal, Peach Blossom and Red Sentinel. Astilbes where seen as accents in a border and along wild areas or water ways. Now most Astilbe sold today is a result of Arend’s breeding work. Astilbe is looked on as a growing group of garden plants adaptable to almost any area you give it.
Astilbes primarily are field grown in Holland, Japan and Michigan, allowed to go dormant in fall they are dug, cleaned, washed and placed in a freezer. Out of climate and humidity controlled coolers roots are sold throughout the world during the spring months then and potted up spring for summer.
Now, Creekhill has taken care of some of the problems historically associated with the root to pot method. We buy roots and divide, we root out into a cell size 50 or 21 , we bloom them and grow to increase eyes, and cold treat through winter. We flower to make sure varieties are correct and we make sure each cell is rooted and ready to make a quicker 1 gallon pot, then with the root to pot method.
Astilbes ….. a very large and diverse genus. Found almost all over the globe, they adapt to pond side, some full sun, some woods edge and some rock gardens. When the inflorescence are half open they can be dried effectively. In the winter their dried flowers make interest and bird swooping happiness. They don’t like to wilt over all. They like cool roots. Their is diversity in height, from rock garden 8″ to over 4′ under-story woods edge.
Foliage is not just blah green but Astilbe crispa Perkeo has lovely crinkly foliage, Delft Lace has bronzing foliage, Chocolate Shogun has dark brown foliage.
Rock garden varieties like…Sprite,Pumila,Perkeo and lilliput
Tall bald candelabras of inflorescence, like Superba, Amethyst, Purple Rain
The winter look, feeding the birds and giving accent to winter indoor arrangements.
There is a lot of new breeding work on the market today. The Younique Series, bred by Jan Verschoor of Netherland, produce compact plants 12 -16 inches high. Having over seven colors, their flower stem counts are greater then older varieties and well proportioned to the compact foliage. Ideal for containers or the front of a border or in mixed containers. Heat and drought tolerant more so then other varieties these are a beauty to add to the garden.
Astilbe chinensis visions series is another very good Astilbe series. taller the Younique 18-24 inches. They can tolerate more sun being o child of chinensis. They bloom in mid summer and last well into late summer. individual flowers are very full and held well above the foliage.
Both series have dazzling colors and are worthy of your garden.
Astilbes are good pollen makers so a very good food source for pollinators and beneficial insects.
Astilbe …… to be? yes always When I first got into perennials the Arendsi Astilbes where the main Astilbes offered. Breed in Germany by George Arends,(1862-1952), including varieties like Deutschland 2'(white), Europa, Fanal, Peach Blossom and Red Sentinel.
Why is Lamium called dead nettles?
Why not just call it cool Lamium, or cool nettle look alike? So it is suppose to resemble the nettles out in the field that burns a hole in your skin if you touch it. However, I disagree on the look alike thing, yet it has no burn nor irritation of skin as far as I have ever seen.
We grow three types of Lamium maculatum: Purple Dragon, Beacon Silver, White Nancy. Each of these grows about six to nine inches high. Blooming April through September. Yet maintaining their silver foliage … well this year mine will be looking good at Christmas I think. a mild fall with only a few frosts so far. mine are under other plants and receive some frost protection. Two years ago they where covered with snow in November. Growing well in zones 4-8 its a useful plant to incorporate in gardens anywhere. in the southern zones deeper shade is better.
Lamium maculatum come from Asia and Europe,. the Lamium naturally occur in rocky slopes to the edges of forests. Making Lamium adaptable to “almost any where you put” it ability to survive.
https://perennialgrowers.wordpress.com/2015/11/30/naturalized-mulch
Is a blog I wrote about the Lamiums ability to be a mulch substitute, because of its stoloniferous abilities to quickly fill void areas between plants and under taller plants.
You can picture how this silver foliage plant would contrast well around almost any plants , but especially dark leaved plants such as: heuchera- coralbells, or Geranium Espresso and Ajuga-bugle weed and even gaura crimson butterfly.
dead nettles, not….lamium Why is Lamium called dead nettles? Why not just call it cool Lamium, or cool nettle look alike?
Seeming to appear out of nowhere they ravage plant leaves in the summer garden, and they slime up plants we try to sell.
above you can see the slimy black thing heading for the blue bait to kill it, and to the right evidence that the slimy black slug like to destroy lace wing eggs, notice the slime trails on the cards.
lace wings are one of the predators we use to be rid of aphids, their larvae stage looks like dragony alligators that move quickly along to eat soft body guys like aphids. they eat thrips as well…winwin. we buy them on cards like this and set the cards among the plants.
so we came up with these methods of distribution of lace wing . the cards are place hanging in upside down cups, then periodically we tap the cup to dislodge the larvae crawling around. this keeps their eggs from the slugs.
under the foliage canopy in a greenhouse and a garden there is a lot going on. just bug wise, there are slugs,ants,and a huge assortment of crawly bugs, some feed on plants and roots and some feed on other bugs.
tiger slug and strange black slug…..
slug egg, a translucent orb, set in clusters just under surface of soil.
ferocious slugs Seeming to appear out of nowhere they ravage plant leaves in the summer garden, and they slime up plants we try to sell.
Naturalized Mulch
Ajuga Black Scallop
Ajuga is one of those shady, walk-on-able, any soil type low growing ground covers of a perennial. Moist areas are best, shade to filtered light, is fine. Ajuga works its was around other plants to fill voids that other wise become weedy.
Don’t go over board with mulch, plant ajugas. Other shade loving, moist to anything soil, perennials that have low 6-8 inch profiles are…
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A. Millenium
I took this photo at the Cincinnati Zoo. they have quite a nice area devoted to native plants, also, they surround the grounds with great pollinators and beautiful perennials and shrubs.
Some things to notice about this late summer photo are the amount of great- glossy green and multiple, shoots at the base; also the seed heads full, waiting for the right bird or redistribution of its seed. The…
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