Five Star Performers For Winter Gardens

Winter gardens are all about form, foliage and texture. In our continuing quest to bring you amazing plants for your garden, here are five tried and true star performers from Art's Nursery. Add any or all of these to your garden to create multiple seasons of interest.

Winter Jasmine Flowers

Winter Jasmine
Jasminum nudiflorum
Jasminum nudiflorum, or more commonly, Winter Jasmine, is a deciduous slender scrambling vine from China that features dark green arching stems and bright yellow flowers that bloom in mid to late winter on bare stems. It's not a true climber as it often needs to be tied to a support to grow upwards. But it is a great plant for brightening up an otherwise dull winter garden. Winter jasmine prefers full to part sun and tolerates most well drained soils including poor ones. It's also suitable for urban conditions. Prune after flowering to keep its vigorous growth habit in check.



Dawn Viburnum Flowers



Dawn Viburnum

Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn'

This usually multi-stemmed deciduous shrub features large clusters of pink tubular flowers that appear in late winter and early spring from cherry red flower buds. Flowers are very fragrant giving off a wafting cherry-vanilla like scent. Serrated foliage is dark green but emerges a deep purple colour when new. mid summer and fall brings on dark coloured inedible fruit. Viburnum Dawn grows 6-8ft in height and spread. Best planted in sun to part sun. Hardy to zone 5.

Himalayan Sarcoccoca

Himalayan SweetBox, Himalayan Sarcococca
Sarcococca humulis
This underused evergreen is a slow growing, compact dwarf shrub with shiny dark green leaves. Tiny vanilla-sweet fragrant white flowers appear in late winter and early spring. Flowers are followed by small roundish black fruit. Grows 1-2 feet in height and several feet across. Himalayan Sarcococca is a great groundcover or border plant. Plant it where its heavenly fragrance can be enjoyed during the winter. Near a front door, garage or walkway is ideal. Prefers part sun to part shade in any well drained soil. Hardy to zone 6.

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince'

Ivory Prince Hellebore

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince'

Ivory flower buds flushed with pink appear in mid-winter and open to outward facing blooms that last most of the spring. Petals are streaked with green and backed with a warm rosy shade. Clump forming, blue green foliage. Excellent in a perennial shade garden or a container. Prefers shade to part shade in moist, but well drained soils. Water generously for best results. Grows to a height of 12-18inches with a slightly larger spread.

Acer palmatum 'Sangu Kaku'

Coral Bark Japanese Maple
Acer palmatum 'Sangu Kaku'
This Japanese maple variety is also extremely popular with customers. Architectural branching and light chartreuse green leaves in emerge in spring turning gold, orange and red in fall. As winter returns, Sangu Kaku's trunk and stems intensify into a brilliant coral red in colour. Great when planted in a location that is visible iduring the winter, for example, near a doorway or from a kitchen window. Ideal when combined with dwarf conifers, rhododendrons, camellias and other japanese maples. Grows 15-20ft in height and 12-15ft in spread. Prefers part shade to part sun, but will tolerate more sun if kept somewhat moist. Soil should be slightly acidic, moist but well drained.

Can be planted in containers and gardens. Altough it is hardy in zones 5-8, protect from cold winds and expect some winter tip dieback with this variety. Deciduous.


Art's Nursery opens in mid to late January to serve you. These and many other winter gardening favourites are available now and throughout the year. Drop by or give us a call and we'll be happy to show you how these plants can be incorporated into your garden designs.

 

This Post Was Written By:

The Talented Art's Nursery Staff

Art's Nursery Is Now Open for 2011

Art's Nursery is now open for 2011!

We're doing a bunch of renovations and cleanup to get ready from another fabulous spring in the Pacific Northwest (so in other words, please excuse our mess!)
Open hours are determined by weather conditions but we're usually open from 9-4 pm for the time being.
Please feel free to drop by, or give us a call at 604.882.1201 if there is anything particular you are after!

Four Wild Witchhazels for Your Garden

Witchhazels are small deciduous trees or large shrubs with attractive form, colourful fall foliage and unique winter blooming flowers.

While their common name may sound rather medieval, Witchhazels derive their name from their forked stems used for water divining or ‘witching’ and the fact that their leaves resemble the appearance of Corylus or hazel trees.

Witchhazels, or in Latin, Hamamelis, belong to the Hamamelidacae family of plants and are related to other garden plants including Fothergilla and Corylopsis. There are several notable species in the genera, the most common of which are:

• Hamamelis mollis – Chinese Witchhazel
• Hamamelis vernalis – Vernal Witchhazel
• Hamamelis virginiana – Eastern Witchhazel
• Hamamelis macrophylla – Southern Witchhazel
• Hamamelis mexicana – Mexican Witchhazel
• Hamamelis x  intermedia – Hybrid Witchhazel

Witchhazels are usually available as vase-shaped multi-trunked trees or less often as ‘standards’ (with one single trunk). Their smallish mature size makes them ideal for all but the tiniest gardens.



Jelena Witchhazel Foliage in Fall



Foliage is generally mid-green and mildly rippled. The cool temperatures of Autumn bring on shades of fall colour including yellow, gold, orange and red.

But the most interesting feature of the Witchhazel is the flowers. Blooming in late winter to early spring, Witchhazel blooms add much needed colour to the winter garden. The flowers are delicate and vaguely resemble crinkled and twisted paper mache-like spidery flowers. While yellow is the most common, coppery-orange and red varieties are also available. Most Witchhazel blooms are also mildly fragrant, but not overwhelmingly so.



Primavera Witchhazel Flowers

 Primavera Witchhazel
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Primavera'

Primavera is a yellow flowered, somewhat fragrant, Witchhazel that blooms in January and February. It grows into a small tree, upright and vase shaped reaching 12-15 feet in height and spread. Fall foliage is primarily yellow in colour. Its hardy in USDA zones 5-9.






Diane Witchhazel Flowers


Diane Witchhazel
Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’

One of the few hybrid Witchhazels with red flowers, Diane is always a popular choice for Northwest gardens. ‘Diane’ is a 1969 Dutch variety from an arboretum in Antwerp, Netherlands. Fall foliage includes several shades of red including maroon and crimson to yellow orange. Diane grows 6-8 feet in height and 8-10 feet in width. Its hardy to zone 4.




Arnolds Promise Witchhazel

 Arnolds Promise Witchhazel
Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Arnolds Promise’

The intermedia varieties of Witchhazels are hybrids of Chinese (H. mollis) and Japanese Witchhazels (H. japonica). Arnolds Promise is one of the classic hybrids first released in 1963 from the Arnold Arboretum in Massachusetts. It delivers multi-coloured fall foliage in shades of red, orange and yellow followed by large lemon-yellow fragrant flowers in late winter. Its flower petals are usually shorter than many other newer Witchhazels, making it a little easier to identify.

Jelena Witchhazel Flowers

Jelena Witchhazel
Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’
Jelena Witchhazel is a treat like none other. Its’ is one of the best varieties with its late winter blooming coppery-orange flowers. It is not fragrant. ‘Jelena’ is named for the wife of Robert de Belder, a man who also raised ‘Diane’ at the Kalmthout Arboretum, Netherlands. Its a vigorous, vase shaped small tree capable of growing 10-14ft tall and wide. Fall foliage turns shades of yellow, orange and red.




Growing & Caring For Witchhazels
Witchhazels can grow in many regions and are best grown in full sun in conditions that mimic their native understory woodland environments. Rich, well drained, organic, slightly acidic soils are preferred. Heavy clay soils should be avoided. Site Witchhazels in a location where they can be seen in the dreary winter months. Near a front door, a back patio or from a kitchen window is optimal. Most Witchhazels are hardy in zones 5-8, but suffer in hot dry conditions. As most witchhazels flower on this years growth, prune after flowering, if it is required at all.

Companion Plants
These small trees are excellent companions for dark green conifers an evergreens, winter blooming heather, hellebores,early spring blooming rhododendrons and flower bulbs like snowdrops and winter aconite.

Art’s Nursery carries a diverse selection of Witchhazel plants including many of the varieties listed here. Visit us in late winter or early spring and you just might see these striking trees in their full flowering beauty!

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Other Nice Gardening Blogs

In our continuous quest to bring you the more great gardening information
(and take a couple more days off from writing!) we've compiled a small list of
other nice Canadian gardening blogs for you to read and follow!

Heavy Petal
Canadian Gardening
Steve Whysall's Blog
Flowers and Weeds
Gardenwise Magazine Blog
Sharon Hanna

Cheers and Happy Reading!

This Post Was Written By:

Art's Nursery