With a rated size of 18″-24″, Magic Carpet Spirea is very useful in smaller spaces in the landscape.  In very good quality soils, Magic Carpet may grow a bit larger, but it is very easy to cut back aggressively in the spring to keep it as manageable size.

Each spring Magic Carpet Spirea starts out as a bright reddish burgundy shrub that lights up its part of the landscape.  Over a period of weeks, the burgundy new leaves change to gold, and soon violet / pink flowers cover the whole plant.  Once the blossoms fade in mid-summer, you can re-create the burgundy to gold color phases by lightly pruning enough to remove the spent blossoms.  New burgundy growth will push out and a light second set  of blossoms often follow.  The third color phase takes place in fall when the leaves that have aged to a gold/chartreuse once again become a vivid burgundy.

Magic Carpet Spirea  will  grow in a wide variety of soil  types and has its best color when planted in a location with 1/2 day to full sun.  An “old standby” shrub – it’s economical and will perform well.  (Photo courtesy of Bailey Nurseries)

Cardinal Red Twig Dogwood grows to  8′-10′ tall and is  a selection made by the plant research program of the University of Minnesota.  Hardy to  frigid zone 3, Cardinal’s green leaves turn to a pleasing purple-red in fall.  When the leaves drop they reveal the twigs which  have turned from summer green to  flaming scarlet.  Cardinal Red Twig dogwood is also very versatile with  a demonstrated ability to  grow in soils from poorly draineed to well drained upland soils.

Plant some Cardinal Red Twig Dogwood now, enjoy it now and wait for the magic to start this fall!

Here’s wishing a Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms, Grandmas, and the other special women in the lives of all of us!   Have a wonderful day!

A big thank you to little Belinda for such a beautiful pot of flowers she gave me!

Rob Taylor, of Taylor Truck Line in Waterford Township graciously agreed to donate the cost of shipping the trees from our Northfield nursery to Minneapolis.  The Tree Trust is providing assistance and training on planting and care techniques that will help assure successful establishment and the eventual return of cooling shade and beauty to a community in need.

At Knecht’s Nurseries we are pleased to have this opportunity to continue our long standing tradition of giving something back to the larger community of Minnesotans who support our nursery.  It’s always a good thing to help neighbors in need, and we consider oruselves fortunate indeed to have gained so very many friends who support us and travel with us as we explore the wonderful world of beautiful plants.

A medium sized hosta – it will sport light lavendar flowers atop purples scapes in mid-summer.   It was selected in 2011 to belong to the Proven Winners line of plants.

Hosta continue to be a leader in perennials and with thousands of varieties available on the market, it’s hard not to find some that strike your fancy.  If you’ve been thinking of starting a collection – or simply adding one – think about hosta ‘Wheee!’.

We have a limited supply of ‘Wheee!’ – these won’t last long!

Every once in a while, you need to step outside the box when considering landscape plants.  At the end of February, we toured several of our nursery suppliers on the west coast and were awe struck at the Iseli Nursery in Boring, Oregon.  We just received our shipment of creative evergreens this week and they are definitely amazing. 

Whether you are thinking tall and skinny evergreens, contorted shapes, shorter, slower growing, whatever – we now have the evergreens needed for that special spot. Definite conversation starters for sure!

To the top left, you’ll see the ‘Uncle Fogy’ Contorted Jack Pine!  Wildly, undulating, pendulous branches give unique character to every plant of this distinctive form of Jack Pine.  The plants bend and swoop to create a curvy, living sculpture.  This is definitely a collector’s plant!

One that is absolutely beautiful (and a little more traditional) is the ‘Cupressina’ Norway Spruce.  This is an upright narrow form that makes it a must have for urban lots where size is a definite consideration.  (see previous blog)

Perhaps one of the most impressive plants that we saw in the massive display beds at Iseli was the Weeping Norway Spruce – pictured here on the right.  We saw a mature plant that reached nearly 30 feet in height and was perfect in every way.  Incredible.  The dark green, Weeping Norway Spruce is trained into an outstanding upright specimen or can even be trained to become a undulating groundcover. 

These are just a few examples of what we have for “Creative Evergreens”.   Quantities are limited in these varieties so if this is something that gets your imagination going – don’t delay in stopping in and “stepping outside the box”.

This year at Knecht’s Nurseries, we are featuring a brand new line of extra large cell annuals that are locally grown.  We’ve already seeing really nice extra growth response from these large cell annuals in the baskets potted up on Kid’s Planting Day!

Stop in today to check out these great performing locally grown annuals!

Now we are seeing that many of these plants are putting out a second push of new growth where frost “fried” the first flush.  We are also seeing some plants just barely starting this process, but it looks like for certain varieties the appearance of new growth after frost damage might take longer.  Don’t give up on plants that seem dead, at least until June.  You might be pleasantly surprised.

We had a lawn mower that had it’s motor bite the dust and I saw a container gardening opportunity.  Once the motor was removed – an inverted black container, and what else – ornamental grass – and vines will make for a container that will definitely be a conversation piece. 

Come and let your imagination run wild!

(This blog was submitted by our retail manager – Heidi Brosseau)

Prairie Rose Flowering Crab

The Prairie Rose Flowering Crab has to have the most stunning flowers of any crabapple tree!  These rose like flowers bloom just a little after the other flowering crabs put on their color show.