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Sunbathing hosta?

Hosta 'So Sweet'

Of all the questions I get about growing hosta the most common one is: which varieties will take sun - and how much sun is too much sun? Many shaded areas get SOME sun and choosing the right varieties for the conditions will be the difference between success and...

Maybe we won't talk about that.

All hostas prefer to have morning sun and maybe some late afternoon sun. It is that midday sun that is the challenge. Sun tolerance, is to some degree, leaf-color related.

Hosta 'Guacamole'

Hosta 'Guacamole'

Most hosta with whitish variegation will burn in hot afternoon sun. Those that have more green to chartreuse variegation will handle some of that midday sun as long as they are getting plenty of water. You should avoid putting blue hosta in the sun as the blue color is a waxy coating on the leaf and will melt off, turning your blue plants green. Golden hosta WANT sun. If they don’t get enough sunlight they will turn that sickly greenish-yellow chartreuse color. You know the one. Green hosta will typically take some midday sun, and I have found that the thicker the leaf the more sun they will take.

Hosta 'Vulcan'

Hosta 'Vulcan'

Do you have a shady area that merges into a more sunny area and looking for some continuity? Here is a list of sun-loving hostas to fill in the sunny areas. Remember, soil moisture is key to keeping the plants looking good.

'August Moon'Golden, medium to big size
'Avocado'Green with light green center, big size
'Fragrant Bouquet'Green with chartreuse edge, big size
'Francee'Green with white edge, medium size
'Ginko Craig'Small green with white edge, groundcover
'Gold Standard'Gold with green edge, medium to big size
'Guacamole'Light green with dark green edge, big size
'June'Gold with green edge and streaking, big size
'Paradigm'Gold with wide green edge, medium size
'Patriot'Green with white edge, medium size
'Paul's Glory'Gold with green edge and streaking, big size
'Prairie Moon'Gold, big size
'Royal Standard 'Solid green, medium size
'So Sweet'Green with cream edge, medium size
'Spartacus'Green with rippled gold edge, medium to big size
'Sum and Substance 'Lime-green, very big size size
'Vulcan'White with green edge, medium size
Hosta 'June' and 'Francee'

Hosta  'June' (L) and 'Francee' (R)

Hosta "Patriot'

Hosta 'Patriot'

Kim Roth

Ten fall favorites

Fothergilla

...and I don't mean cider or donuts. No, it's COLOR TIME! 

Mums. Burning bush. Maple trees! You can probably name a dozen fall color plants without even thinking about it. But what about choosing from some of the lesser-known plants that also shine every autumn? Here are my top ten favorite fall color plants that may not be on your radar.

Hydrangea quercifolia

Oakleaf Hydrangea

  • Hydrangea quercifolia and cultivars: The large, rough-textured leaves are especially striking as they turn shades of red and purple every fall.
  • Viburnum x juddii: Beloved for it's sweetly-scented spring flowers, this medium-sized shrub has great burgundy-purple fall color accented by blue to black berries.
Itea

Itea

  • Itea virginica cultivars: This medium-sized native shrub deserves to be planted more often. The orange, red and burgundy fall color is outstanding and is extremely long lasting.
  • Epimedium cultivars: An underused perennial tolerant of dry shade that gets brilliant red to purple fall colors.
  • Amsonia hubrectii: This North American native perennial grows to about 3x3'. The fine, feathery foliage turns a striking golden-yellow in the fall.
  • Clethra alnifolia ‘Hummingbird’: Usually planted for the amazingly fragrant flower spikes in mid-to-late summer, this smallish shrub turns a gorgeous golden yellow each fall.
Fothergilla

Fothergilla

  • Fothergilla ‘Mount Airy’: This is a handsome 3-5’ shrub that gets wonderful fall color in hues of red-purple, orange and yellow.
  • Amelanchier: OK, so this one is not that obscure but it has to be in my top ten.
  • Vaccinium hybrids: These ericaceous shrubs (best known are blueberries) will surprise you with their beautiful red-orange fall color.
  • Panicum virgatum cultivars: ‘Shenandoah’ and ‘Hot Rod’ are two that turn beautiful red or burgundy.
Panicum

Panicum

Kim Roth

Brilliant options for fall color

Helenium

Fall is in the air. Hard to believe, isn’t it? Where has the year gone? It is almost time to start planting your bulbs, raking the leaves and fall cleaning the beds. Today I want to talk about plants that we don’t typically think of as being for fall.

We regularly think of mums, aster, burning bush, and trees like Sugar and Red maple as plants we like for fall interest. Lesser known options might be 'Autumn Joy' sedum, Japanese Anemone, and 'Little Henry' Itea.

Solidago

But let me tell you about some others! Solidago (Goldenrod) with it's bright yellow flowers, Fothergilla with it's burnt orange, red, and yellow leaves, and Chelone (Turtlehead) with it's pink turtle-head-shaped flowers.



Don't overlook Caryopteris - it's blue flowers begin late July and continue into September. This small shrub can be treated like a semi-woody perennial and benefits from cutting back low in the spring.

Chelone
Caryopteris
Helenium

My all-time fall favorite is Amsonia hubrichtii (Bluestar) - the Perennial Plant of the year in 2011. The foliage turns bright gold and at 2.5’ in the back of the border it stands out like a mini-sun. Some turn red-orange, bronze, purplish and yellow, and all are spectacular.

Another favorite of is Helenium, which grows 2-3’ tall. Also known as Sneezeweed, they bloom in a mix of delicious fall colors - yellow, browns, and red. They typically start blooming in late August and continue well into October.

Mums are great, but there are a lot of options for extending color from summer into fall. 

I would feel guilty if I didn’t at least mention Viburnums. They come in so many shapes and sizes and with different colored berries in the fall, how can you go wrong? But wait, there’s more... almost all of them get great fall leaf color. This massive genus of shrubs alone would allow you to have flowers from spring to late summer and then berries and fall color until the snow flies.

Viburnum lentago

Well sorry, but gotta go. This article gave me a great idea for pumpkin carving and I want to go get some cider and donuts and draw it out on paper! 

Kim Roth

Why plant annuals?

Kims petunias

Annuals? Why!

I know I am the perennial lady and so bad mouthing annuals should be a full time job for me! However I am not here to bad mouth them, I am only here to find out why you would want to plant them?!? I have asked around for answers and I just don’t think the answers I have received are of much merit any more. I have heard “They flower all year”, “They have such awesome colors and patterns”, “They are easy to maintain”, and “They are bulletproof”. The first two reasons could be true, the last two are not! Even if they were all true, annuals are very expensive (even if your customer is paying the bill – no one has ever been able to retire off planting annuals alone) and very labor intensive (at a time of year when you can make a better margin off other plants).

New breeding in perennials has made many of the “annual” reasons obsolete. Why would you plant annual salvia instead of a perennial salvia? Same awesome blue color, both need deadheading to reflower after a rest period. Let’s compare Coleus to Heuchera. Both plants are grown for their foliage and both prefer a little shade. Check out Heuchera ‘Fire Alarm’, ‘Caramel’, or ‘Snow Storm’. Not only do they have spectacular foliage year after year but they also have pretty flowers to boot! Never let those Coleus flower – because that is sudden death. There are many options in the perennial department to choose from – all with lots of color that last all year long. Why not try Geranium ‘Rozanne’, G. ‘Azure Rush’ or G. ‘Blushing Turtle’, Campanula ‘Blue Waterfall’, Dianthus (any of multi-hundreds to choose from), Lavender (perfume of the Gods) or how about some of these dwarf Buddleias?

Petunia Midnight Sky

I have to be honest and tell you up front I went to a local Garden Center this weekend and bought – GASP- some annuals! I succumbed to this awesome annual Petunia called ‘Midnight Sky’. I fell in love with it because I like that speckled look. You can tell I like that look because my garden is filled with perennials like Heuchera ‘Marvelous Marble’ and ‘Midnight Rose’, Pulmonaria 'Mrs Moon’ and Brunera ‘Jack Frost’. I am going to plant it right off the deck and enjoy if for as long as possible. It will die soon, as I don’t water my plants! Perennials, they really don’t mind it too much – but annuals, well they can’t live without a constant watering. How many of you have heard from your customers that all those succulent Begonias just suddenly – out of the blue, died. All the while, they swear they watered them every day!

I want to leave you with these three thoughts: 1: Ageratum for Butterflies? You haven’t seen Butterflies until you planted Echinacea and now it comes in every color in the color wheel and, the newer ones are rock hardy, 2: Hellebores? Try and find an annual that blooms when there is still snow on the ground, 3: I am desperately looking for Petunia ‘Frills & Spills Damson Ruffle' – help!

Kim Roth
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