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Welcome to Tranquil Lake Nursery |
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Spring 2003 Newsletter
The red is found on the stems of dogwood and willow, Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’ and Salix alba ‘Chermesina’. The blue needles of the dwarf blue spruce (Picea pungens ‘Montgomery’) complement the yellow stems of Cornus sericea ‘Silver & Gold.’ Golden Scots pine, (Pinus sylvestris ‘Aurea’) and Yucca filamentosa ‘Gold Sword’ sizzle in the snow. The winter and spring weather blanketed the landscape with an unrelenting frozen white shroud. This persistent snow cover is especially unusual in south coastal Massachusetts. While the benefits of snow cover are many, including protecting buried plants from cold drying winter winds and replenishing water resources, enough is enough! Savvy gardeners plan for the bleak winter landscape by adding a variety of attractive winter accent plants. By February, many fruits of shrubs such as viburnum, holly (Ilex), dogwood (Cornus) and beautyberry (Callicarpa), that were so colorful in the late fall and early winter have been either gobbled up by hungry birds or tarnished by many hard freezes. This same cold weather actually intensifies the pigments of colorful coppiced twigs and evergreen needles. This severe pruning (in spring) of willows and shrubby dogwoods controls their size and produces vigorous wands of new wood that will brighten the winter landscape. Pinus mugo ‘Winter Gold’ has needles that also change from green to yellow with cold temperatures. These combinations of colorful woody plants carry forth well into spring. Even after the vernal equinox, the cold wet ground is devoid of perennials save the hardy bulbs and emerging daylily shoots. The broad gold variegated blades of Yucca ‘Gold Sword’ accentuate Daffodils such as Narcussus ‘Jack Snipe’ and Scilla siberica. Combine these with the early emerging Moor Grass (Molinea caerulea ‘Variegata’) and evergreen Euphorbia myrisintes with its acid green flowers. The trees and shrubs with the earliest bloom season run the risk of their flowers being damaged by frost. In contrast, evergreen shrubs shake off the cold with impunity. We have incorporated this planting scheme in our display gardens. Visit the nursery to see several mature specimens of dwarf conifers mixed with shrubs with colorful stems and emerging bulbs and early perennials. The 40 years old dwarf hemlock, Tsuga canadensis ‘Jervis’ is now over six feet tall! This year, add some colorful shrubs, trees and perennials to accompany the traditional green boxwood and yews. Be daring and try out a yellow variegated Dragon’s Eye Pine to sustain the garden season. Warren Leach Beauty for a Day - All Summer Long I love daylilies; which is not to say that I don’t have a passion for countless other generas of plants. Daylilies; however are as reliable as day and night. They are rock-hardy (at least northern bred and grown plants are) and survive a broad range of cultural conditions, even neglect. Daylilies burst into summer bloom and thrive on the heat and humidity that may flag the most stalwart gardener. Daylilies are a star attraction in the sunny summer border. True to their namesake, lasting one day, individual Hemerocallis flowers flaunt their fleeting inflorescence display. The shape of the daylily flower is a variation of a trumpet. This three-dimensional funnel form really shows off and stands out from ray, spike, umbel and other flattish flower forms. Daylilies, dressed in a multitude of colors, patterns and sizes, project loud and clear; whether planted in ‘a capella’ drifts or integrated into a complex chorus amongst the mixed border. Melding this mixed planting of herbaceous perennials woody shrubs and ornamental grasses and even tender tropicals is an engaging exercise and offers many garden design possibilities. Start structuring your border with colorful foliage. Chose colors that either complement or contrasts flower colors. For instance, a favorite chartreuse leafed Spiraea thunbergii ‘Ogon’ is a striking contrast to the vibrant red daylily ‘Red Cossack’. Color in the same family create complements, maroon red leaves of Cotinus and pink flowers of ‘Pastel Pink’ daylily. Companion plants with colored foliage are more useful than just complementing flowers. Even durable daylily’s foliage can look worse for wear during summer drought and intense heat. The glaucus blue foliage of ornamental grasses is a good guise to mask stressed daylily foliage. Helictotrichon sempervirens ‘Sapphire’, Blue Oat grass is a tussock eighteen inches tallgrows and Panicum virgatum ‘Praire Sky, Heavy Metal seasonal transitions daffodils and daylilies phlox David white with purple and lavender russian sage blue and yellow , gold, rudbeckia, coreopsis, potentilla, Physocarpus, Helianthus, tone poem and platycodon Red combinations, Monarda,
My favorites include favorites 15 years ago. Tone Poem Designing a summer border Daylilies offer an exuberance of summer color. are the summer champion. Combinations with perennials and shrubs in the mixed border. Thrive in summer heat multiply flowers on a scape masses of color
companion shrubs purple smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria Royal Purple) Spiraea thunbergii Ogon Spiraea japonica Goldmound Picea pungens Montgomery Weigela Rubidor, wine and roses complementary foliage principles of design, contrast, repetition, focus stands up to the heat and drought of August.blooming border combination of Perovskia atriplicifolia, Hemerocallis 'Little Wine Cup', Solidago 'Golden Fleece', Panicum virgatum 'Heavy Metal' and the maroon foliage of Sedum 'Vera Jameson'. The Liliaceae family offers many genera with drought-tolerant bulbous or fleshy roots. Yucca glauca, the Soapwort, has leaves that are narrower than those of Yucca filamentosa, giving it a distinctive spiky and fine-textured gray-green appearance. Combine Yucca glauca with Allium senescens ssp. montanum, Origanum vulgare 'Aureum' and Artemisia 'Powis Castle' in front of Berberis thunbergii 'Crimson Pygmy' for a regal color combination of silver, purple and gold. Daylilies are also members of the Lily family. They are the backbone of the drought-tolerant perennial border, as well as star summer performers. Their deeply growing tuberous and fibrous roots systems (not bulbs) are effective as erosion control ground-covers. Plant a combination of daylily cultivars (May to September blooming) for a low-maintenance, long season display. Plant your own drought tolerant border with this selection of durable perennials. Warren Leach
Daylily Companions
Achillea ‘Moonshine’ .
Amsonia tabernaemontana Amsonia hubrectii .
Artemisia cultivars
Asclepias tuberosa Aster lateriflorus ‘Horizontalis’.
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Caryopteris x clandonesis Coreopsis verticillata Coreopsis ‘Moonbeam’ Crambe maritima
Echinacea pupurea cv.
Euphorbia amygdaloides ‘Purpurea’
Euphorbia dulcis ‘Chameleon’
Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpurascens’
Liatris spicata Limonium latifolium Nepeta x faassenii Origanum laevegatum ‘Herrenhausen’
Origanum vulgare ‘Aureum’
Panicum virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’
Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’
Perovskia atriplicifolia Platycodon grandiflora Rudbeckia sp. Salvia verticillata ‘Purple Rain’
Sedum cultivars Solidago rigida Solidago sempervirens
Shrubs:
Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’
Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Diablo’
Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Luteus’ Spiraea thunbergii ‘Ogon’ Weigela florida ‘Rubidor’
Plants with Colorful Foliage for Dramatic Garden Impact Woody Trees & Shrubs
Perennials
Grasses
New Greenhouse When you visit Tranquil Lake Nursery this spring be sure to check out our new addition. In March, a thirty foot by forty-eight foot Connelly rigid-sided greenhouse was constructed near the perennial sales area, on a site that was formerly used as a vegetable garden. The new greenhouse is state-of-the-art and fully vented on the sides and roof. It is gas heated and the roof gutters have been connected to two water cisterns which hold one thousand gallons. The cisterns will collect and conserve rain water, which can be used to water our gardens. along more quickly. In addition, we will take cutting of the many tender perennials that we grow in our gardens, so that we can share these gems with our customers for their own gardens and containers. We look forward to being able to go into the greenhouse during the cold of next winter to enjoy lush tropical feel. Our new greenhouse is a direct result of participation in the Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture’s Farm Viability Program. Over the past several years the MDFA has worked with the nursery to help us develop a business plan, and determine in what areas we should focus our efforts in order to make our farm most viable. At the conclusion of the program, the nursery committed to stay in agriculture production for at least ten more years in exchange for the grant which funded the greenhouse. Tranquil Lake Nursery 45 River Street Rehoboth, MA 02769-1395 (508) 252-4002 fax (508) 252-4740 or send us a message at Tranquil Lake Nursery |