Hellebores 2

As I was going through photos I came across two Hellebores pics. I was hoping someone could identify them. Any one have any suggestions?

Hellebores

Many of my friends and clients urged me to blog about the wonderful Hellebores we had in our booth at the MidAm show, so finally here it is. The most interesting thing, I soon found out, was how much I didn't know about Hellebores. I had three plants that I carried from show to show that were in bloom the whole time. That's right, January thru February and they were blooming. The variety was 'Pink Frost' from the Gold Collection. At one point I explained to someone how wonderful it was that even though the flower petals had fallen it still looked like it had a flower on it. Well here's what I found out, "The flowers have five "petals" (actually sepals) surrounding a ring of small, cup-like nectaries (petals modified to hold nectar). The sepals do not fall as petals would, but remain on the plant, sometimes for many months." to quote wikipedia.

Sometimes referred to as 'Christmas Rose' or 'Lenten Rose', hellebores are the stars of the late winter/early spring garden. Plants generally bloom between December and March in cultivation, though some begin earlier, and others continue into April and May, particularly in gardens with colder spring climates. Nearly every garden has a spot for hellebores, and the plants will thrive in many different environments. Still, they remain unknown to many gardeners despite their toughness, beauty, hardiness, and wonderful habit of blooming in winter when most other plants remain dormant. I used this description from the website http://www.hellebores.org since the publisher describes it so perfectly.

These photos taken March 11th are of Hellebores 'Pink Frost'. I love the more upright flowers, the deep rich leaf color and reddish stems. I should mention that they are in a minimally heated greenhouse.

Weather In Chicago

I have finally come out of hibernation to post a quick blog.

They have a saying in Chicago, "if you don't like the weather wait 5 minutes and it will change". This may be a 16 day difference but it's certainly not unusual around here. The snow photo was taken after we received 22" on Feb. 2nd in one snowfall, the second was taken on a 60 degree day Feb. 18th.

Bulbmania

Just wanted to send out a quick note that I have been unable to post any new blogs recently because our bulb season has been so busy. I am thrilled to say that our bulb season this year has been fantastic. I think many of the clients that cut back last year realized how important spring color is to their world. I was speaking with a buyer yesterday and he explained how one of his customers was disappointed with his beds after he reduced the number of bulbs he planted in each bed. "Don't ever let me do that again" he told this buyer. I can't wait until next Spring to see all the color. Scilla siberica has been hot this year, look for the bright blue landscapes next spring. 

As a side note I came across a wonderful blog site with great personal development tips that I thought I would share with you all.  http://www.littlethingsmatter.com/

Alliums Gaining Garden Momentum

Allium chistophii

Allium giganteum flower head

One great plant whose time has truly come is our favorite of the onion family (Alliaceae), the Allium or ornamental onion. The last few years, but more significantly this year, has shown a dramatic increase in landscape architects, contractors and individual home owners choosing to plant alliums. Not surprising since they have proven to be spectacular attention getters when they bloom in late spring into early summer. I often explain in my bulb talks how they fill a need for color in the garden from May to June, when the early spring bloomers are finished and the summer bloomers have barely started. The individual strength and stature of the taller varieties is amazing. Four foot tall plants that can take a 30-40 mph wind and not break in half. They have proven their value since some of the more hybridized varieties can be a little pricey. Perhaps because of their ability to return year after year with equal vigor, not to mention their ability to perform even after the flower has dried. One Garden Center even had someone go out and spray paint the dried flower heads, causing quite a stir. Everyone wanted to know what those brightly colored flowers were. Here are a few pictures from my garden of allium christophii and giganteum.

giganteum and christophii

Gourds Gone Crazy

While visiting one of my customers, Mini Earth Greenhouse http://www.miniearthgreenhouses.com, this week I was floored by his display of highly unusual gourds. I never knew there were so many kinds. I knew there were some that grew unusually large, but the shapes and color variations that these things come in was amazing. Here I have a few pictures of his displays. See if you can tell which is the Swan Gourd (it shouldn't be that hard). Would you believe there is actually a national gourd society http://americangourdsociety.org and an Illinois gourd society http://americangourdsociety.org/ILGS. Phew... I resisted doing a gourd joke, it was hard but I did it.

New Blends for Landscape Architects and Contractors

DeVroomen has added several new blends to their Contractor Program in 2010, one of which "Jimmy Frills" I have highlighted in a previous blog, but I now want to show you some of the other blends that are new for us this year.

From top to bottom:
"Heather's Favorite"
"Royal Oxford"
"Golden Royal"

As you can see purple has been a dominant theme through most of these blends, it balances off the color schemes quite nicely. A darker base color sets off the more brilliant oranges, reds and yellows, making them stand out more.

In the last couple years we have named an introduction after the person who either designed the blend or brought a good one to our attention, this year it was "Heathers Favorite". We would like to continue to do this and would ask for your participation by notifying us of what you might have designed,  or what you think would make a good blend. It is certainly not restricted to just tulips.

Contact: email  richard@devroomen.com