“Mums” the word! Our first fall shipment of the University of Minnesota Hardy Mums came in this morning. Loaded with blossoms – you’ll find colors in purple, yellows, rust, white, orange and maroon. Mums are heavy feeders – meaning they like to be fertilized almost everytime they’re watered to keep them blossoming as long as possible.
Full sun is preferred, but a little light shade will work as well. The Univeristy of Minnesota Hardy Mums are limited in availability – but when planted in the ground – should come back in the spring to accent your perennial garden again next fall.
We’ll also be getting in some Garden Mums shortly as well, and those are treated like annuals – they won’t survive the winter.
Coneflowers do not just come in purple anymore! Pictured below is a new variety that we have this year called Tomato Soup! The color is just like tomato soup. If you have soup in the kitchen – you need “soup” in the garden! The stems grow to 3′ in height and the flowers will go 5″ across. It will bloom from mid-summer to frost. Believe it or not – there is another new echinacea called “Mac n’ Cheese”. We’re trying to get that on our orders for 2010!
A late season bloomer – what could be prettier than this! This Anemone – called ‘Robustissima’ starts blooming late summer into early fall. Reaching a height of 30″-36″, it graces the back of the perennial bed giving you that spark of color. Windflowers can grow from Zone 3 to Zone 8. These perennials can be found even in the Rocky Mountains where in higher elevations the winters are colder. Anemones prefer partial shade with well drained soil. They can be planted in full sun, but be sure to keep them moist during the really hot periods.
Northfield’s Annual Crazy Days will be held this Thursday – July 23rd starting at 7:00 am!! We will be having over 50 varieties of trees, shrubs and perennials on sale at 50% off!! There will be 30% off regular prices on many other plants as well! And, Leif will almost certainly find some things that he’ll reduce even more! Now is the time to add a tree or two to your landscape – make a new shrub and perennial bed – whatever! The prices will be CRAZY here on Thursday. Stop in early to make sure you get the best selection. We can hold your purchases while you shop Northfield and pick them up at the end of the day!
ese sunny area perennials will steal your heart with their gorgeous colors. 
These are large plants that will reach a mature height of 5′-6′ in height. They need to be planted in good soil so they get a good set of roots established which then enables the plant to produce this nice thick stalk which will hold up the flowers!
One of my favorite shade perennials at home blossoming right now is the Campanula ‘Samantha’. It is tucked in between two of our Ely greenstone boulders and it is full of lavender-blue blossoms. A compact long flowering Campanula with fragrant flowers, it blooms heavily in early summer. It will rebloom with periodic deadheading. I have this planted in an area that gets the morning sun. Depending on the source, it will say it is a Zone 4 or a Zone 5. I have had this plant here for many years so it has proven hardy here in Zone 4.
Heidi Brosseau, our retail manager, made a display this afternoon of all of the different Yarrow that we have in bloom right now. Achillea – Yarrow – is a very hardy perennial. We have seen wild Yarrow growing up in the Boundary Waters during the summer on our camping trips. A low maintenance perennial, it is deer resistant and drought tolerant. At maturity, Yarrow will reach a height of 20″ to 24″ and 18″ wide. It will attract butterflies and is wonderful in bouquets and dried flower arrangements. We have Yarrow in yellow, pink, orange and red.
A shrub for part-shade that virtually glows is the Golden Carousel Barberry. We have several in an arc under our Autumn Spire Maple, with Blue Chip Junipers in front of those. In the very background of this photo, between the barberry, you will see one of our large blue hosta. The hosta gets mostly shade in this location and pulls out the same color blue as the blue chips which capture most of the sunlight in this garden. 
Another hosta variety that is a favorite is ‘Diana Remembered’. This is a medium sized hosta that has a white creamed colored edge with a vibrant blue-green on the inside of the leaf. The leaf is slightly corrugated. Named after Princess Diana, it has a large white flower that is one of the most fragrant hostas that you’ll come across.
Do you have stepping stones that weeds somehow find their way to between the stones? I have a large diameter perennial and annual bed at home with annuals around the outside 2-3 feet and then perennials on the inside of the bed. Instead of stepping between the annuals to do maintenance on the perennials, I installed a flagstone path on the backside of the bed for a walkway so I can access the middle of the bed. This spring with the cool weather – it seemed that every weed in Rice County wanted to grow between my paving stones. Yesterday, I planted several creeping thyme plants amongst and around the edges of the stones. It already looks great. In another few weeks, I’ll post another picture after it has taken hold and starting filling in. 
The Praying Hands Hosta has to be one of the most intriguing varieties out in the marketplace. The upright narrow leaves of this plant gives it an unuual look like no other! Each green leaf is rolled and folded into a tube shape, displaying the prominent vens on the back of the leaf A thin white margin borders the outside edge of the leaf. Certainly a collector’s hosta – for the person who wants something different! 
Gary Powell, the wonderful addition to our retail staff this year, has shared his Rhubarb Dessert recipe with us – in addition to making it for the crew the past two Sundays. It is rhubarb season and you can never have too many recipes, right? My rhubarb patch here at the nursery is plentiful again this year and I have encouraged the employees to take and use what they can. 
