Plant Profile: Geranium 'Rozanne' - Blooms and blooms in every garden!

GERANIUM 'ROZANNE'

DEER RESISTANT SHADE OR FULL SUN PLANT - LOW MAINTENANCE
zone 5
12 - 18" tall and wide
blooms: June - September

Longest blooming perennial geranium!

The Many Faces of Euphorbia

EUPHORBIA POLYCHROMA 'BONFIRE'

DEER RESISTANT SUN OR SHADE PLANT - LOW MAINTENANCE - DROUGHT TOLERANT
zone 5
18 tall and 36" wide
blooms: spring but foliage great color all season long





EUPHORBIA POLYCHROMA (EPITHYMOIDES)


DEER RESISTANT SUN OR SHADE PLANT - LOW MAINTENANCE - DROUGHT TOLERANT
zone 5
18 tall and 36" wide
blooms: spring but foliage great color all season long





EUPHORBIA AMYGDALOIDES VAR. 'CRAIGIEBURN'


DEER RESISTANT SUN OR SHADE PLANT - LOW MAINTENANCE - DROUGHT TOLERANT
zone 5
18 tall and 36" wide
blooms: spring but foliage great color all season long





EUPHORBIA AMYGDALOIDES VAR.'ROBBIAE'

DEER RESISTANT SUN OR SHADE PLANT - LOW MAINTENANCE - DROUGHT TOLERANT
zone 5
18 tall and 36" wide
blooms: spring but foliage great color all season long





EUPHORBIA MYRSINITES

DEER RESISTANT SUN OR SHADE PLANT - LOW MAINTENANCE - DROUGHT TOLERANT
zone 5
6" tall and 36" wide
blooms: spring but foliage great color all season long

Plant Profile: Aquilegia canadensis 'Little Lanterns'

AQUILEGIA CANADENSIS 'LITTLE LANTERNS'

DEER RESISTANT SHADE PLANT - LOW MAINTENANCE - ATTRACTS HUMMINGBIRDS
zone 3
10 - 12" tall and wide
blooms: April - May

Plant profile: Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost'

BRUNNERA MACROPHYLLA 'JACK FROST'

DEER RESISTANT SHADE PLANT - LOW MAINTENANCE
zone 3
12 - 15" tall and wide
blooms: mid-spring to late spring

The blue blooms of Brunnera are similar to those of forget-me-nots, but even after the blooms have faded the silver veined foliage will continue to add color and texture to your shade garden all season long. Can tolerate part sun to full shade. Pair with painted ferns, pulmonaria, and other silver leafed shade plants.

PHOTO COURTESY OF

Early Spring Bloomers: Hellebores

We have been big fans of Hellebores for many years, because they are hardy, deer resistant shade plants, and they are one of the first perennials to bloom late winter/early spring. Many varieties push their delicate blooms up through the snow, and the evergreen foliage is a welcome winter sight. Lucky for us, this year our growers are offering a myriad of new and exciting varieties.

Multiple varieties of hellebore should be in everyone’s garden, after all, who isn’t in desperate need of some landscape color at the end of a tough, brutal winter?

Although they have been very popular, but we still have some of the early spring ladies in stock, 'Rachel', Mary Lou', and 'Rosemary.' Plus we have 'Ivory Prince', 'Josef Lemper', and 'Royal Heritage.' We are getting a new delivery of Hellebores this week, so stop by to make sure you pick up yours.

Large scale evergreen shrubs: Pieris 'Scarlet O'Hara', Pieris x 'Karanoma', and Pieris 'Summer Hill'

Large scale, spring blooming, deer resistant, shade-loving evergreen Pieris shrubs offer privacy and screening in shady spaces, where other shrubs would struggle.







Pieris 'Scarlet O'Hara': 8 –10’ tall and 4 –5’ wide. Prominent flower buds all winter. White flowers in April. Reddish bronze new growth.




The hardiest of all Pieris, Karanoma grows quickly to 10' x 6'. Offers upright panicles of white flowers and handsome evergreen foliage year-round.




Pieris 'Summer Hill': 9-12’ tall by 6-9’ wide. Thick, lustrous leaves emerge brick red - excellent branching, fast grower. White flowers.

Medium-large scale evergreen shrubs: Pieris japonica 'Mountain Fire' and Pieris japonica ‘Valley Valentine‘

These two shrubs are two of Victoria's favorite Pieris varieties. The young foliage emerges bright red and then turns green as it matures, displaying shades of pink peach, yellow and every shade in between.



Pieris 'Mountain Fire': 6’ tall by 4’ wide. Brilliant red new foliage turns dark green with maturity. Drooping clusters of showy white.




Pieris ‘Valley Valentine‘: 6- 7’ tall by 4- 5’ wide. This shrub has brilliant, saturated pink blooms and the sweetest springtime fragrance.

Medium scale evergreen shrubs: Pieris japonica ‘White Cascade‘, Pieris japonica 'Dorothy Wyckoff', and Pieris japonica 'Variegata'

Pieris ‘White Cascade‘: 4- 5’ tall by 4-5’ wide. Unlike most other Pieris, it will quickly drop any browned flowers. Super easy!






Pieris 'Dorothy Wyckoff': 5’ tall by 5’ wide. Produces reddish-purple buds, which open as soft-pink blooms, and then mature to white.





Pieris 'Variegata': 5’ tall by 5’ wide. Best known for the attractive leaves that are green with white margins. Flower clusters are white.

Small scale evergreen shrubs: Pieris japonica 'Pygmaea', Pieris japonica 'Spring Snow', and Pieris 'Purity'

Pieris japonica 'Pygmaea': 3- 4’ tall by 3- 4’ wide. This is a very cool Pieris with very fine, feathery leaves. Pinkish buds open pure white in spring. Slow growing.








Pieris japonica 'Spring Snow': 4’ tall by 3’ wide. Pink buds open to bright white flowers.








Pieris 'Purity': 4’ tall by 4’ wide. Light green foliage with white flowers.

Spring Blooming Pieris Varieties From Small to the Large

Deer Resistant Shade, Evergreen, Flowering Shrub: Spring Blooming Pieris Varieties From the Small to the Large

In gardening, size matters. It is especially important when planting trees and shrubs, because they are not as easy to dig up and move around once they’ve grown to their mature size. It may be cute in its pot now, but how big will it be in ten years? At Victoria Gardens we love the early spring bloom Pieris shrubs because they have it all. Flowers? Check. Evergreen? Check. Deer resistant? Check! And shade loving? Yes, that too.

Pieris (common name: Japanese Andromedea) has lustrous, delicate evergreen foliage, but when in full bloom you can barely see the foliage beneath the trusses of downward-facing bell-shaped blooms. Pieris is one of the easiest evergreen shrubs to grow as long as it isn’t too wet or too dry. It is highly disease resistant, and besides a treatment of Holly-tone fertilizer in May, the plant is very low maintenance.

Pieris 'Pygmaea': 3- 4’ tall by 3- 4’ wide. This is a very cool Pieris with very fine, feathery leaves. Pinkish buds open pure white in spring.

Pieris 'Spring snow': 4’ tall by 3’ wide. Pink buds open to bright white flowers.

Pieris japonica 'Purity': 4’ tall by 4’ wide. Light green foliage with white flowers.

Pieris japonica ‘White Cascade‘: 4- 5’ tall by 4-5’ wide. Unlike most other Pieris, it will quickly drop any browned damaged flowers allowing fresh new blooms to steal the show. It is a slow grower, generally only putting on about 4 inches of growth a year.

Pieris 'Dorothy Wyckoff': 5’ tall by 5’ wide. Produces reddish-purple buds, which open as soft-pink blooms, and then mature to white bell-shaped flowers.

Pieris japonica 'Variegata': 5’ tall by 5’ wide. This one is best known for the attractive leaves that are green with white margins. Cascading chains of flower clusters are white.

Pieris japonica 'Mountain Fire': 6’ tall by 4’ wide. Brilliant red new foliage turns dark green with maturity, displaying colors ranging from pink, peach, and a spectrum in between. Drooping clusters of showy white spring flowers.

Pieris ‘Valley Valentine‘: 6- 7’ tall by 4- 5’ wide. This shrub is slightly upright and rounded, has brilliant, saturated pink bundles of downward facing blooms, and has the sweetest springtime fragrance.

Tall and thin proportions, just like Vivian Leigh, Pieris 'Scarlet O'Hara': 8 –10’ tall and 4 –5’ wide. Pendulous clusters of white flowers in April. Prominent flower buds all winter. Reddish bronze new growth turns green at maturity.


The hardiest of all Pieris, Karenoma grows quickly to 10' x 6'. Offers upright panicles of white flowers and handsome evergreen foliage year-round.

Pieris 'Summer Hill': 9-12’ tall by 6-9’ wide. Thick, lustrous leaves emerge brick red - excellent branching, fast grower. Features dainty chains of white bell-shaped flowers hanging below the branches in early spring.

Plant Profile: Pieris japonica 'Valley Vallentine'

Pieris (common name Japanese Andromedea) are a species of shrubs that have everything. They are evergreen, low-maintenance, flowering, deer resistant, and shade loving. Pieris thrive where Rhododendrons mights get ravaged by the deer or where sun-loving evergreens might suffer from lack of light. Varieties range in size from 3 to 4 feet tall and wide to 9 to 12 feet tall and 6 to 7 feet wide, so be sure to check the mature size of what ever variety you bring home!

'Valley Valentine' is a medium-large scale Pieris, growing 6 to 7 feet tall and 4 to 5 feet wide. This shrub has brilliant, saturated pink blooms and the sweetest springtime fragrance.


PIERIS JAPONICA 'VALLEY VALENTINE'

DEER RESISTANT SHADE PLANT - LOW MAINTENANCE
zone 5
6' - 7" tall and 4' - 5' wide
blooms: early spring





The downward-facing cascades of flowers attract bees and other pollinators. Some of the first flowers in the landscape, Pieris shrubs are often "a-buzz" with busy bees, starved from the long winter.

Plant Profile: Spireae thunbergii ‘Ogon’ (Spirea 'Mellow Yellow')

Spireae thunbergii ‘Ogon’ (Spirea 'Mellow Yellow')





The wispy spreading branches of the 'Ogon' are covered with thousands of tiny white flowers in early spring - and last for a few weeks - just before the showy golden yellow leaves appear. And in the fall, the foliage color is almost psychedelic - shades of gold, rusty red and orange.



(Forgive the blurry image, but above is Spirea 'Mellow Yellow' turning colors in the early fall and below is the final fall show!)



Grown in sun or shade, drought-tolerant, and all-around tough plants - all varieties of Spirea are the kings of low-maintenance plants. We joke that you just can't kill these shrubs! However, a good shearing after the 'Mellow Yellow' is done blooming will keep the shrub compact and neat looking (The flowers bloom on old wood so try not to prune it in the summer or fall.)



If you leave the shrub unpruned, it has arching, wispy branches covered with fine textured chartreuse foliage in the summer, and the shrub will reach 3 to 5 feet tall and wide.

It attracts butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.


SPIREA 'MELLOW YELLOW'
DEER RESISTANT SUN PLANT - DEER RESISTANT SHADE PLANT -
LOW MAINTENANCE - BLACK WALNUT TOLERANT
zone 4
3' - 5' tall and wide
blooms: early spring

Plant Profile: Primula polyantha 'Francesca'

PRIMULA POLYANTHA 'FRANCESCA'

DEER RESISTANT SHADE PLANT - LOW MAINTENANCE - -WET TOLERANT - CLAY SOIL TOLERANT
zone 5
4' - 6" tall and 6' - 8' wide
blooms: early spring to early summer (and sometimes beyond)


Primula polyantha 'Francesca' exceeds all expectations in the garden! This delicate, diminutive and fragrant primrose blooms and reblooms:

Plants that were in the shade and well watered were still blooming in August - outstanding for any plant, but especially for a primrose. 'Francesca' has unusual ruffled flowers of lime green with a yellow center and make a stunning companion plant to Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola' and other chartreuse shade plants.

Our grower says, "Native to bogs, moist meadows and woodlands, they are perfect for damp or poorly drained soil. Try under a rain downspout, next to your water feature, pond or stream. With adequate moisture, it also performs well in a border."

Primrose in general are so wet-tolerant that they can even be planted in stream beds. The garden at Inisfree has some stunning mid-stream plantings - well worth the visit.

Plant Profile: Helleborus hybridus 'Blue Metallic Lady'

HELLEBORUS HYBRIDUS 'BLUE METALLIC LADY'

DEER RESISTANT SHADE PLANT - LOW MAINTENANCE - BLACK WALNUT TOLERANT
zone 4
14' - 18" tall and wide
blooms: early spring to April


Helleborus hybridus 'Blue Metallic Lady'is newly developed by Helleborus breeder Gisela Schmiemann of Cologne, Gemany:

This "lady" is a knockout! Striking dark purple-blue flowers with a metallic sheen bloom above dark and handsome foliage. This is a very new hybrid, so there may be some color variations between crops. If you need a very specific hue of blue choose a plant that's blooming to be sure - although the promise and allure of this plant may be enough for the more adventurous of us to commit to this "lady" sight-unseen!

Plant Profile: Helleborus Foetidus

HELLEBORUS FOETIDUS



DEER RESISTANT SHADE PLANT - LOW MAINTENANCE - BLACK WALNUT TOLERANT - DROUGHT TOLERANT - CLAY SOIL TOLERANT
zone 5
18" - 24" tall and wide
blooms: early spring to mid-May


Helleborus foetidus is one of the first perennials of the season to bloom. Pale green maroon-edged flowers and bracts on tall stalks contrast the lower dark foliage:

Helleborus foetidus is also called the "stinking" or "bear-foot" hellebore, but don't be dissuaded by the unromantic name! (It's not noticeably odorous unless you really put your nose in the plant.) It more than makes up for its name with its superb evergreen foliage, its reliable early blooms, and its ability to self propagate. (Ants apparently are mainly responsible for carrying these seeds through your garden, so when you see them marching around, remember they're working for you!) Two or three plants can produce a colony in matter of years. It also is a favorite among honey bees, which makes sense, being the first available pollen after a long cold winter!


Helebores.org also says, "Few hellebores are as magnificent during the coldest days of winter prior to blooming. The foliage can be breathtaking when little else in the garden is visible...Leaflets are narrow and neatly serrated. At or near ground level leaves are typically absent. Individual stems live but a short time; often they grow for one year and bloom the following year before fading. If cut back, they are soon replaced with new growth. Like other caulescent hellebores, it is fairly quick (by hellebore standards) from seed to bloom, often blooming in its second year."

We also have a new variety coming this year, Helleborus foetidus 'Gold Bullion'. Our grower says this new variety has "outstanding, chartreuse foliage with yellowish gold new growth and red tinged stems. Keeps its good looks through the winter months with attractive, greenish yellow flowers blooming late winter/spring from 20" tall stems. Slow spreading, clumping habit. Brightens up a shady spot! Can tolerate clay soils."

Sounds like a winner, right?

Plant Profile: Helleborus orientalis ‘Royal Heritage’

HELLEBORUS ORIENTALIS 'ROYAL HERITAGE'

DEER RESISTANT SHADE PLANT - LOW MAINTENANCE - BLACK WALNUT TOLERANT
zone 4
24 - 36" tall and wide
blooms: early spring to mid-May


Helleborus orientalis ‘Royal Heritage’ is one of our favorite hellebores and it is one of our grower's showcase plants:

"You always remember those plants that tell you that a long winter is coming to a close and that spring is just around the corner. The most memorable of these plants has to be Helleborus orientalis ‘Royal Heritage’, a great selection of the Lenten Rose that every gardener with a strong desire for spring weather should grow.

Hellebores are a group of plants that have been known to gardeners for many years but have not been the easiest plants to come by mainly due to propagation issues. ‘Royal Heritage’ is a breakthrough in this area due to its relative ease of propagation. Even better, this selection is remarkable in its ability to bloom over a long period of the late winter and early spring while providing an array of colors that will melt the chilled heart of any gardener.

Tough and tolerant with Zone 4 hardiness, ‘Royal Heritage’ presents a formidable profile in the garden with 24” height and a 24 – 36” spread of dark, lustrous, deeply lobed evergreen foliage with serrated edges. Its vigorous nature carries through to its strong flowering habit as a multitude of buds emerge at the first late winter or early spring mild spell ready to open up at the first hint of sustained early spring warmth. When those buds open, your heart will be warmed to the melting point by the nodding, 1.5 to 2” diameter flowers that span a range from white to pastel pink to red to nearly black in color. This amazing rainbow of bloom continues through the early spring and into mid-May.

‘Royal Heritage’ should be in everyone’s garden, after all, who isn’t in desperate need of some landscape color at the end of a tough, brutal winter?? This selection is quite easy to grow needing a partial to full shade spot in the garden, moist, well drained soil, and a good layer of surface mulch to keep it happy and ready to signal spring’s arrival. Plant some today and let ‘Royal Heritage’ be your lasting memory of the joys of spring’s arrival." -from Prides Corner Farms