George's Current Ramblings and Readlings

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February 23rd, 2021

   The end of February used to seem like the turning point to me between winter and the gardening season because that’s when the garden shows sprouted.

It’s always nice to see living gardens when it’s still winter outside.

   Not that many years ago, we had the Pennsylvania Garden Expo kicking things off at the Farm Show Building the last week of February, followed by York’s Garden Show at the York Fairgrounds, and then a landscaping/gardening presence at the Pennsylvania Home Show (a.k.a. the “builders show”), also at the Farm Show Building.

   The granddaddy of them all – the Philadelphia Flower Show – capped the spring preview with the world’s biggest, oldest indoor flower show over 10 days inside the 10-acre Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.

   All of these shows featured flowers in bloom and the welcome scent of lawns and leaves, signaling that “real” spring wasn’t far off.

   This winter, none of them will happen.

   Both the Pennsylvania Garden Expo and the Pennsylvania Garden Show of York are extinct – the 13-year-old Expo going under after a last-gasp show in 2015 and PAGSY calling it quits after a 27-year run that ended with the 2019 show.

   The Covid-19 pandemic short-circuited this year’s Pennsylvania Home Show, while the Philadelphia Flower Show is the only one still scheduled, but not until June 5-13.

   I’m sure the Philly show will be high-quality despite going outside for the first time in its 192-year history. It’s just that it might not have the same allure since gardening season will be in full-steam mode everywhere else by then.

See details on the five trips Lowee’s Group Tours and I are planning to the 2021 Philly Flower Show.

   Indoor garden shows in late winter made sense because gardeners usually have had enough of cold and snow by then and are ready to feel some warmth and see blooming gardens, albeit contrived ones built on concrete floors and clothed in mulch mounds.

   I’ll never forget the first time I saw the Philadelphia Flower Show some 30 years ago. Back then, the show was held in the Philadelphia Civic Center.

50 American Public Gardens You Really Ought to See

February 16th, 2021

   I love public gardens. I’ve seen hundreds of them across America as well as Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, and as far away as the other-worldly Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden in Cape Town, South Africa.

My new downloadable ebook focuses on the best 50 American public gardens.

   Lots of you have gone on our Lowee’s and Collette tours to many of them, so I know I’m not the only one who’s drawn like a magnet to these botanical gems.

   People sometimes ask me which gardens are my favorites. That’s a tough question. They all have their own distinct appeals.

   Since last year was a washout for travel, I did some thinking and dreaming instead and came up with a list of my 50 favorite American public gardens – in order.

   With the help of my designer daughter Erin, I put them into an e-book with one-page profiles of each garden.

   The profiles feature overviews and highlights of each garden, location and contact information, two photos of each garden, and a “George’s Take” look at what stood out most to me at each place.

   The “50 American Public Gardens You Really Ought to See” e-book is available now as a $7.95 download on my Buy Helpful Info page.

   Besides their sheer beauty, public gardens are an excellent resource to introduce gardeners (and future gardeners) to plants they’ve never seen. Gardens nearby or in similar climates are especially useful for giving ideas on what plants will work at home and how to use them.

My All-Time Favorite Vegetable Varieties

February 9th, 2021

   Picking superior varieties is especially important in vegetable gardening since there are so many choices with so much variability in performance.

It’s hard to beat ‘Big Beef’ as reliable tomato variety.

   No plant is perfect and bullet-proof in all aspects and all places, but it is possible to breed for specific traits.

   So what we have is a fairly large and ever-changing lineup of variety choices, each with different strengths.

   Some varieties were bred/selected for resistance to diseases or particular pest bugs, others for size or taste.

   Southern gardeners might want varieties that can take the heat. Northern gardeners might want varieties that mature in shorter seasons.

   The big push lately is to come up with varieties able to deal with our changing climate, especially hotter summers and “flash droughts” interspersed with ever-heavier rain dumpings.

Read more about how important variety-shopping is in a column I wrote for the Patriot-News/PennLive.com.

   In the vegetable garden, I gravitate toward reliable performers year in and year out that yield well in limited space and seldom run into bug or disease issues.

   I’ve also found that quick maturity is a veggie virtue. Being able to get a crop in and out as fast as possible means there’s less chance for anything to go wrong, i.e. animal raids or an overnight, havoc-wreaking weather event.

   I’ve grown and trialed hundreds (if not thousands) of vegetable varieties over the years. I compare old favorites to touted newcomers and have found that sometimes the newbies really are better… but not always.

   The following list is what I’ve found to be the best performers in Pennsylvania’s climate and soils.

   Performance can vary even from garden to garden in the same area, so maybe you won’t get the same results as I have.

   I also haven’t tried everything, so there may be even better performers that I haven’t yet discovered.

   Nevertheless, the following are varieties worth considering:

The Best New Trees and Shrubs of 2021

February 2nd, 2021

   A miniature version of the popular Knock Out rose, a super-short clematis that can be used as a groundcover, and three new dark-leafed shrubs are among the best new trees and shrubs debuting in the 2021 growing season.

The new Petite Knock Out as a standard, left, and in a pot, right.
Credit: Star Roses and Plants

   Growers, local garden centers, and other plant experts picked the following for my annual January four-part, best-new-plants series.

   Today’s best new trees and shrubs of 2021 is the final installment of this year’s series.

   Part one on best new vegetables and fruits of 2021 appeared on Jan. 12, part two on best new annual flowers of 2021 appeared on Jan. 19, and part three on best new perennial flowers of 2021 posted last Tuesday, Jan. 26.

   Some of the following new tree and shrub varieties are available online and in some plant catalogs. Most also will be available in local garden centers beginning in April.

   The details:

Petite Knock Out roses

   The long-blooming, disease-resistant Knock Out family of roses has been one of the top-selling landscape plants for years.

   New for 2021 is what Star Roses and Plants social media manager Leah Palmer calls a “game-changer” – the first miniature Knock Out.

   The new Petite Knock Out “has all the same great qualities as the other Knock Out roses, just in a perfectly petite size,” Palmer says.

   This variety grows only 18 inches tall and blooms almost all season long in a non-fading red color. Most standard Knock Outs grow four feet tall and wide – or more.

   “Petite Knock Out also comes in tree form,” Palmer adds. “Other tree roses bloom less frequently, but this one blooms throughout the season. It’s also smaller than other tree roses, making it more versatile and usable in a range of settings.”

Clematis Little Lemons in a hanging basket
Credit: Concept Plants

Clematis Little Lemons

   Knock Out roses aren’t the only shrunken-down new woody plants.

   Breeders at Concept Plants have come up with a new super-compact clematis vine that’s more at home in a pot, hanging basket, or serving as a groundcover than growing up a trellis.

   Maria Zampini, president of the Ohio-based UpShoot plant introduction company, picks Little Lemons as her favorite new woody plant of 2021 for its compact size and bright yellow, hanging, bell-shaped flowers.

   Zampini says the plant also blooms for a long time, starting in May and running into September.

   It grows only about a foot tall and spreads about two feet, ideally in full sun to part shade.

Sweetshrub ‘Burgundy Spice’
Credit: Star Roses and Plants

Sweetshrub ‘Burgundy Spice’

   This shrub variety from New Jersey’s Pleasant Run Nursery gives a radical new look to an old-fashioned native plant.

   Sweetshrub ‘Burgundy Spice’ has the familiar fruity-fragrant, late-spring maroon flowers but sports dark burgundy-purple foliage, earning it the best-new-shrub pick of Brandon Kuykendall, the nursery manager at Ashcombe Farm and Greenhouses in Monroe Twp.

   “I was skeptical about it holding the color all summer, but the few I had last year kept their burgundy leaf color through summer,” he says. “It gets eight feet tall and wide and does well in full sun to part shade.”

   Deer don’t like sweetshrubs, and ‘Burgundy Spice’ closes the season by turning leaf shades of yellow and amber in fall.

The Best New Perennial Flowers of 2021

January 26th, 2021

   Ajugas with multi-colored leaves, compact versions of two pollinator-magnet native flowers, and three exceptionally good-looking herbs are among a banner slate of interesting new perennial flowers debuting in the 2021 growing season.

Two of the new Feathered Friends ajugas.
Credit: Garden Solutions

   Growers, local garden centers, and other plant experts picked the following choices for my annual January four-part, best-new-plants series.

   The article on best new edibles of 2021 appeared Tuesday, Jan. 12, while the rundown on best new annual flowers posted on Tuesday, Jan. 19. The series ends next Tuesday, Feb. 2, with a look at the best new trees and shrubs of 2021.

   The following new perennial flowers are available online and in some plant catalogs and will start showing up in local garden centers beginning in April.

   The details:

Ajuga Feathered Friends

   Bucks County author, speaker, and “Perennial Diva” Stephanie Cohen says the break-through perennial newcomer of 2021 is a seven-variety line of ajugas (bugleweeds) that come in brilliant new leaf colors, including gold and chartreuse.

   “Most gardeners either love or hate ajugas, which are a first-class shady groundcover but not terribly exciting,” she says.

   That’s going to change with Feathered Friends ajugas from breeder Chris Hansen of Michigan’s Garden Solutions (who also brought us SunSparkler sedums and Chick Charms hens and chicks).

   Feathered Friends include bird-named varieties with gold/chartreuse foliage (Cordial Canary and Tropical Toucan), gold/burgundy/green blends (Fancy Finch, Petite Parakeet, and Parrot Paradise), and ones that are nearly black (Noble Nightingale and Fierce Falcon).

   “All are winter-hardy in Zones 4-8, and all produce beautiful cobalt-blue flowers,” says Cohen. “The flowers can last several weeks. I want to grow them all.”

   Feathered Friends plants grow only four inches tall and root as they creep to form a tight, weed-choking mat. They’ll do best in shade to part shade.

Ironweed ‘Summer’s Swan Song’
Credit: North Creek Nurseries

Ironweed ‘Summer’s Swan Song’

   Another 2021 break-through is this compact and heavy-blooming version of a native perennial that’s one of the best at attracting pollinators.

   Ironweed is a late-summer to early-fall purple bloomer that doesn’t show up in many gardens, mainly because it’s so tall (five feet and up), prone to leaning, and susceptible to rust and mildew leaf diseases.

   Dr. Jim Ault at the Chicago Botanic Garden came up with this new hybrid that solves all three of those issues.

   ‘Summer’s Swan Song’ earned the highest five-star rating in the Garden’s three-year trial of ironweeds, the results of which came out last year.

   This variety grows only three feet tall, has interlocking branches that help hold it into a compact bush shape, and tested out with no disease despite other infected ironweed varieties around it.

   ‘Summer’s Swan Song’ blooms heavily in purple from September into October and has narrow, olive-green leaves and red-purple stems.

   “A diversity of butterflies, moths, and bees are attracted to the flowers,” the Chicago Botanic Garden’s evaluation noted.