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

Winter Plant Profiles: Planning for the Spring

Gardening success is often less about the work you do after a plant goes into the ground, and more about the thought and planning that happens before a plant is purchased. We wanted to take some time this cold and quiet winter to share some of our favorite plants, as well as the conditions in which they thrive.

We will organize the profiles into the same categories that we organize our nursery: Sun, Shade, Deer Resistant Sun, and Deer Resistant Shade. Within those categories, we will highlight other characteristics, such as wet-tolerant plants for uses in marshy, stream side areas, salt-tolerant plants for roadside locations, and we will also highlight low-maintenance plants (work horses of the garden that thrive on neglect!)

Hopefully these plant profiles will give you lots of ideas on how to fill in or fix up problem areas on your property, maybe we will introduce you to a new plant that inspires a winter plan for new garden bed come spring - dream of green, while the world outside is covered with a blanket of white.

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Merry Christmas Happy New Year

Victoria Gardens would like to thank you for your support and enthusiasm – we are proud to be a part of your gardening success. We wish you a safe and happy holiday season.

We are now closed for the winter.

We will be open by appointment through the winter and reopen for regular hours March 2011.