It's been over a year since we did a blog post, primarily because most of the action these days is on our social media pages:
on Facebook, and
on Twitter. And while the snow continues to fall on Nova Scotia and it seems winter will never leave us, we've been busy planning for spring. We've just put the finishing touches on our
new 2014 catalogue, which you can download for yourself.
Among the new plants for this year is 'Campfire' rose from the Canadian Artists series. This rose honours Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven, those tremendous artists of yesteryear.
We carry a number of plants for the shade garden, including three different Jack in the Pulpit species. This one is commonly known as the Cobra Lily (Arisaema sikokianum)
We brought in 'Cannon's Double' azalea last year for the first time, and it was extremely popular, so we thought it worth a mention.
'Lavender Twist' redbud is an early-blooming, small tree with branches and twigs having a drooping, twisted growth habit. It's very attractive to early pollinators, too.
We are really thrilled with this variegated flowering dogwood, 'Akatsuki', which has pink flowers. They contrast far better with the variegated foliage than does the white-flowered form.
Our interest in hellebores keeps growing and growing, and so does our list of cultivars. This one is 'Cherry Blossom', and like other cultivars and the native forms, it is attractive to pollinators, too.
For those who love blue flowers, we really recommend blue corydalis (Corydalis elata), which we have found to be very hardy, long blooming, and fragrant to boot. It may go dormant in hot weather like its relatives, the bleeding hearts, but in our climate it keeps growing if it's in moist soil.
It's always good to learn about new plants, and while Tricyrtis isn't a new plant, it was new to us and we were convinced to carry it because it is a late bloomer. If you're not acquainted with toad lily, the flowers are much smaller than true lilies, but each plant can bear dozens of them in sprays of blooms.
We do confess to having a deep and abiding love for all coneflowers--the native ones, the new colours, the singles, the doubles. We brought in a number of Terra Nova Nurseries' cultivars last year and grew them on, so they will be ready to go this spring. Among the varieties we have are 'Firebird' (shown), 'Secret Glow', 'Sunbird' and 'Lilliput.'
For the past few years, Rob has had lewisia growing in one of his rock gardens. This year, he is offering 'Rainbow Mix', which as the name suggests has a number of colourful varieties. Lewisias are definite stars of the rock garden, demanding excellent drainage.
Of course we have the gorgeous Meconopsis, or blue poppy, which can be a bit of a diva but is worth mollycoddling...
And also for the woodland or shade garden, a selection of different trillium, including this yellow species. And yellow ladyslippers, too!
That's just a few plants to get you interested...do find us on Facebook to get the latest information. We will be at
Saltscapes Magazine's Expo again this year, next month (April 25-27, Exhibition Park, Halifax). Hopefully by then the snow will be gone and spring will have finally found us.
