5 Cool Plants For September 2011

With so many plants available these days, its hard to bring attention to just a few. With that said, we think these are remarkable because their beauty comes not from their flowers, but from other attributes of interest.

	Hosta 'Empress Wu' This is the worlds largest Hosta. It reaches an astounding 4 1/2 feet tall, up to six feet wide with gigantic two-foot leaves. Foliage is deeply veined and of good substance. Blooms appear in early to mid summer, just above the foliage. An outstanding focal point. This plant is best in full to part shade in moist, but well drained soils. We have limited quantities available for Fall 2011, so if you want one of these specimens, call ahead or hurry in!
	Giant Zebra Grass Miscanthus giganteus 'Lottum' This grass features large clumps of downward arching foliage with yellow banding. What make it special is its size. This monster will grow up to 9 feet high and 6 feet wide. It also extremely fast growing - reaching 2 metres in a season! Its an excellent plant for a screen, seasonal hedging or as a feature specimen in large containers. Giant Zebra grass is a warm season grass meaning it performs best in the warmer months, late spring, summer and early fall. Cut it back in early spring to give it a clean appearance. Hardy to zone 4.
	Upright Japanese Plum Yew Cephalotaxus harringtonia 'Fastigiata' There is more to gardens than flowers. This attractive conifer features dark green, shiny, blunt-ended needlelike foliage. It is both heat and shade tolerant and will thrive in areas of morning sun and afternoon shade. It is ideally suited for temperate gardens and is known to its carefree upright growth habit. Fairly slow growing. forms a broad upright shrub up to 10 feet tall and 6-8 feet wide. Hardy to zone 7.
	Tri-Colour Bud Bloomers Calluna vulgaris These summer flowering heathers are truly a treat for the garden. Three different colour bud bloomer heathers in one pot. (A bud blooming variety has colourful flower buds, but no real flowers to speak of). They bloom prolifically from Late August through the fall, and do best in full sun to part shade. They prefer a moist, but well drained, peaty-acidic soil. For best appearance, trim them to the base of the flower spike after flowering. Grows up to 12 inches high and 1-2 feet wide.
	Chinese Lanterns Physalis alkekengi Ok, we cheated, this very cool plant is renowned for its unique flowers. The Chinese Lantern or Physalis alkekengi features fall blooming brightly orange coloured papery pods that create a festive display on the front steps of patio. A very cool plant for Halloween too! Flowers can be cut and dried and used all through the winter as decorations. Grows 2-3 feet in height and does best in full to part sun. Hardy in zones 2-9.

If any of these interesting plants catch your attention, call or drop by Art's Nursery and we'll be happy to put one or more aside for you. If you have any questions or need help choosing the right plant for your garden, we're always here to help!

New Bulb Planting Website - Dig Drop Done

As Fall is the ideal bulb planting time, why not launch a new bulb related website at the same time.

Dig Drop Done is great resource for all those who love bulbs in their garden.
It features a bulb catalog, planting tips, inspirational photo and video galleries, planting charts and more.

Art's Nursery carries a large selection of both spring and summer blooming bulbs, many of which are available now in Fall. Hurry in for best selection!

The Garden in Autumn

Fall, autumn… the final season before winter sets in once again.  It can be rather depressing as the garden is finishing up its summer splendor and plants are returning to the earth to sleep away the winter months.  But is it a time to be down or can it be one last kick at the can before the snow flies.


Autumn is a wonderful time with all its blazing glory of colour, many plants put out one last big splash before taking a much needed rest and some plants like Arum even begin their growing cycle now, sprouting from the ground with their tropical-like foliage and holding through the cold wet months adding that much needed foliar element to the winter white.
A host of plants do their flowering at this time of the year and some like Skimmia japonica even produce flower bud clusters reminiscent of tiny red berries that will hold through winter ready to bust open with their wonderfully fragrant flowers at the first sign of spring’s warmth.
Cones come into their own now too showing us another way plants express themselves in interesting and attractive ways.  What would those Thanksgiving and Christmas displays be without pine cones.

This is prime time for many plants to produce fruit, such abundant and colourful displays add both a fantastic addition to our fallscapes and offer much needed food for birds and other wildlife, keeping them fed through the lean months.

Autumn is a time when we can reap the bounty of our veggie gardens, pumpkins are ripe for harvest and transformation into pies, potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, squash all fresh, delicious and grown in your own back yard (or pot!) can be enjoyed now.  Autumn is a time for celebration, a toast to the great spring and summer that it follows.

Grasses with their seed heads swaying in the breeze gently usher us into winter letting us know it is time for planting our spring flowering bulbs and winter veggies.

Heuchera and its relatives Heucherella and Tiarella, all evergreen perennials, have a wardrobe change before the winter season giving us more intense and vibrant leaf colour and markings.
But least we forget the fall colours that many plants display for our amazement.  Even some conifers give us a splash of gold and amber before retiring.

The kings of fall colour are of course the maples with their staggering array of yellows, ambers, orange, red and burgundy they are simply stunning in their glory making the fall season a wonderland of colour.

Interesting Plants With Attractive Fall and Winter Interest

Flowers From Late Summer Into Fall Buddleia Calluna Caryopteris (fragrant) Cimicifuga (fragrant) Clethra (fragrant) Hibiscus Roscoe Zingiber

Flowers - Fall to Winter Hamamelis - Witchhazel Camellia sasanqua Daphne x transatlantica 'Eternal Fragrance'

Plants With Attractive Fruit Aronia Callicarpa Cotoneaster Daphne tangutica Nandina Panax Pyracantha Skimmia Vaccinium Viburnum

Conifers With Fall Colour Larix - Larch Metasequoia Pseudolarix Taxodium

Shrubs with Fall Colour Acer palmatum Aronia Berberis Clethra Cornus Cotinus Enkianthus Euonymus Hydrangea quercifolia Rhus Vaccinium Viburnum

Trees with Attractive Fall Colour Acer - Maples Cercidiphyllum - Katsura Cornus - Dogwood Fagus - Beech Ginkgo Gleditsia Nyssa Oxydendron - Sourwood Pyrus - Flowering Pear Quercus - Oak

If you would like more information about which of these plants would work well in your garden, please don't hesitate to call 604.882.1201 or visit Art's Nursery in person. We'd be happy to assist in any way possible

 Lyle Courtice, A.H.

 Lyle is a certified Horticultural Technician (Niagara College), Landscape Designer, Nurseryman and the proprietor of HarkAway Botanicals.

Since 1980 Lyle has worked in both the retail and wholesale sectors of the horticultural trade; he operates his own wholesale nursery, which focuses on an eclectic mix of rare and choice plant material from Asia, Europe and North America.

Lyle has appeared on The Canadian Gardener and is a contributing author to A Grower’s Choice (Raincoast books 2001).  His horticultural expertise makes him sought after as a consultant, lecturer, photographer, instructor and writer.  An industry veteran, Lyle is esteemed within the horticultural community for his passionate and often humorous enthusiasm for plants.

September 2011 In Your Garden

So far this September is shaping up rather nicely!

Perhaps this is the make-up part of the summer for the less than glorious beginning.  At any rate I’ll gratefully take it!  September is one of those catch 22 situations.  If the weather remains good, the summer baskets and pots continue to thrive and I am reluctant to make them over into fall/winter baskets.

The catch for me is that all of the new and lovely fall and winter plants and bulbs start coming in to the nursery now but by November when the pots on my front steps were looking so bad that my paper lady started leaving the newspaper by the garage doors because she was afraid to walk by the pots of haggard looking annuals and one brave lingonberry which were by then covered with left-over Halloween cobwebs, plastic spiders and one very realistic fake rat.

The new little plants that I quickly stuffed in the pots didn’t have much time to root in before the freeze.
This year its going to be different, I will not scare the paper lady…though I can’t vouch for the dogs.  I’ll put the new stuff in BEFORE Halloween…really.

Here’s the list:

• Keep watering the pots, make sure they have time to dry out before evening to prevent powdery mildew.
• Deadhead fall perennials such as Rudbeckia and Gaillardia.  Tidy the flower border, but do allow some stems and fallen leaves to remain as many native bees and other pollinators overwinter in hollow stems and leaves.
• Tidy up spent annuals as needed.  Allow some to go to seed if you’d like a go at planting from seed next year. 
• Continue to tidy your roses, clipping and deadheading as needed.  You can take cuttings at this time of many shrubs such as roses and hydrangeas.
• Check out the new bulb selections and plan to plant them once it cools off and the soil gets a bit of rain. (the best selection of bulbs is available in early September through October!)
• Continue to harvest, don’t forget the late blackberry crop…its free!  You can also sow leafy greens and some herbs as well for winter and early spring crops.  My apple and pear crops are about 3 weeks late this year. 
• Continue to harvest fall Raspberries and cut any spent canes.  You can do the same for many other berries such as thornless Blackberries and Tayberries, removing many of the old canes and encouraging the new.  Continue to harvest late Blueberries if you are lucky enough to have some.  Elliott is one of the latest producing – going into October if the weather is with you.
• Begin to think about bringing in your patio tropicals by the end of the month.  Don’t forget a quarrantine area to prevent spread of any insects.  I keep them apart from the rest of the house plants for 2-3 weeks and inspect them before bringing them into general population.  Still haven’t managed to kill the darn poinsettia for the second summer…though I may have come close this year – but its come back better than ever. 
• Now is your second window of opportunity to renovate your lawn.  You can aerate, topdress and overseed followed by a fall fertilizer if your lawn needs help.  You can also add lime to that if your soil is very acidic. 
• Take stock of your garden beds and make a list of any bare areas while the garden is looking full.  Consider filling with some grasses for texture and movement.  Middle of next month is your second window of opportunity for planting trees, shrubs and hardy perennials.
• Begin to tidy up ponds towards the end of the month.  Remove old leaves, spent lillies and spent floating plants if frost melts them. 

Don’t forget to sit back, just for even a minute and enjoy the fruits of all your hard work this season (yes Gail and John, that means you too)!  September will whip by in no time so enjoy these last few days of official and unofficial summer.

This Post Was Written By:

Laurelle O
Art's Nursery Ltd.

Art's Nursery 10th Annual Fall Garden Event 2011

Please join us Saturday and Sunday, September 24-25 for out 10th Annual Fall Gardening Event. This fun filled weekend is all about gardening, landscaping and the joy of being outside. As always, we have an awesome lineup of guest speakers, how-to's, garden displays, and of course, great instore sales and specials.

Seminar Schedule

	Gardening With Bulbs - 12:00 Noon Van Noort Bulb Company
	Secrets of Bamboo - 1:00pm Learn to grow and care for bamboo in your garden. In this informative seminar, we'll introduce you to bamboo, its growth habits and chat about some of the more popular varieties of bamboo available.
	Fall / Winter Annuals - 2:00pm Proven Winners
	Pruning, Pests, Disease and Plant Care - 3:00pm B.C. Plant HealthCare

Sunday Seminars

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	Special Guest: Brian Minter - 12:00 Noon Come join local gardening expert Brian Minter as he whips up fall containers and planters. If you don't know what Brian and Lady Gaga have in common, you'll find out during this fun session.
	Gardening With Grasses - 1:00pm If you like low maintenance, easy care gardens, then growing ornamental grasses is for you. Learn about these great plants from our premiere grass grower Ewan Mckenzie.
	Lawn Care Techniques - 2:00pm Join David Wall from Premiere Pacific Seeds for this fact filled seminar on lawns, lawn care and grass seed. Listen in and you'll probably end up with the nicest looking lawn on the block!
	Pruning, Pests, Disease and Plant Care - 3:00pm Bartlett Tree Experts

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Exhibits and Displays
In addition to our great guest speakers, we'll also have instore exhibits and displays including:

•Scotts Canada
•BC Bonsai Society
•Miniature Railway Society
•Gemstone Landscape Supply
•Garden Herb Exhibit
•Heritage Perennials
•Unique Plant Exhibits
•Local Gardening Clubs and More

Where:
All events are located at:
Art's Nursery
8940 192nd Street, Surrey, B.C.
Tel 604.882.1201
Maps and Directions


When:
Saturday & Sunday
September 24-25th, 2011
12:00pm - 4:00pm
Open Hours: 9:00am - 5:00pm

Additional information can be found on our website