Most gardeners hope their gardens will be a magnet for hummingbirds and butterflies. How fun it is to watch them flit around your colorful garden. Click on the link below and it will take you to Monrovia Nursery’s tips to achieve that garden. Just remember we are a Zone 4 with some plants doing ok in Zone 5a.
https://www.monrovia.com/be-inspired/garden-tips-and-plants-for-hummingbirds-and-birds.html
These are just a few words to describe what our nursery looks like. It is now filled with plants, shrubs and trees and some blooming plants to feed the hummingbirds. We have lantana trees and lantana pots to give the hummingbirds some appreciated nectar when they arrive here after their long journey. Chances are good that if you put a lantana tree or pot on your deck or wherever you sit outside, hummingbirds will fly to it. We also have blooming roses that are quite spectacular. There are too many things to describe so we suggest you stop in and check us out.
Wagon full of rose plants
Wagon full of lantanas
Rose marvel salvias
Close your eyes and imagine the drift of fragrance from lilacs. Very soon they will be everywhere, blooming in shades of deep purple to light pink to white. Lilacs have come a long way since our grandma’s lilacs, most often the common purple. Short lilacs to tall lilacs to tree lilacs to reblooming ones have been developed. At our nursery we carry many varieties of lilacs. Below is a list of some of the lilacs we have. Keep in mind, though, that we may be out of stock for some lilacs and new ones may be added. Click on the lilac name below and you will be taken to a page describing that lilac.
Albert Holden
Beauty of Moscow
Bloomerang, Dark Purple
Charles Joly
Common Purple
Common White
Donald Wyman
Dwarf Korean
Ludwig Spaeth
Miss Kim
Mount Baker
Pocahontas
Scent & Sensibility
Sensation
Did you know that there are cool season ornamental grasses and warm season ornamental grasses? Following are some warm and cool season grasses. The ornamental grasses we carry are all clump forming meaning that every few years they should be divided to prevent no grass growing in the middle of the clump.
Cool Season Ornamental Grasses:
These grasses start growing in early spring, usually erupting from the ground in May. They generally are shorter then the warm season grasses. When the weather becomes very hot and dry they will go dormant. Cool season grasses generally start blooming late June or early July. Some cool season grasses that we carry and are in stock are:
Karl Foerster feather reed grass
Avalanche Feather Reed Grass
Photo courtesy of Baileys
Warm Season Ornamental Grasses
These grasses usually do not erupt from the ground until Late May or June, or when the soil has warmed up.
Miscanthus Flame Grass
Photo courtesy of Baileys
Northwind Switch Grass
Photo by Trees Today Nursery
Switchgrass Shenandoah. Photo courtesy of Monrovia Nursery
Prairie Dropseed grass
Photo courtesy of Baileys Nursery
Blue Heaven Little Bluestem, Photo courtesy of Baileys Nursery
Red Silver Japanese Grass, Photo courtesy of Baileys Nursery
We have a new weigela in stock. My Monet Purple Effect Weigela gets abundant pink flowers in late spring. Its’ neat variegated leaves start off green with white edges and eventually takes on purple tones as the growing season progresses. This plant is great for borders, mass plantings and containers as it only grows to about a foot and half in height and two feet wide. Click here for more information on this plant.
My Monet Purple Effect Weigela. Photo courtesy of Proven Winners or www.provenwinners.com
My Monet Purple Effect Weigela. Photo courtesy of Proven Winners or www.provenwinners.com
Our staff is very talented with putting together flowers and shrubs that go together. If you need help, they are here to help guide you to choose plants that go together not only in appearance, but plants that have the same requirements for water, soil and light. They are more then happy to assist you. Below are two designs they did. They are very conscience in determining how colors blend together.
Display features Congo Line sedum, Russian sage, Scotch moss and Evolution Fiesta coneflower.
Fountain, Scotch moss, Pandora ligularia and Younique silvery pink astilbe.
Good news. Our perennial tables are full again with a variety of perennials and our shrubs and trees have been replenished. Plus, we are getting another truck load of plants in this week, the week of June 18th. We should now have your favorites in stock, from grasses to cone flowers, from dogwood to oak trees and everything in between. We still have a good selection of annuals at 50% off. Stop in before our selections become limited.
Have you seen the new Itoh peonies yet? They are a cross between the tree peony and the common herbaceous peony. The main differences are that the Itoh stems are much sturdier, the Itoh’s bloom for 3-4 weeks and can have 30-60 blossoms per plant and up to 6″ wide, depending on the variety. Itoh blossoms are exquisite, coming in more colors like yellow, apricot, coral, purples and then the usual array of pinks. If Itoh flowers are protected from the hot afternoon sun, they can last as long as 14 days in your garden. They are very fast growing, maturing to about 3 ft tall by 3-1/2 ft wide. Planting in the morning sun is preferable although they can be planted in filtered to full sun. The lush mound of Itoh foliage is another plus as it makes a nice looking shrub and often turn color in fall. Deer generally avoid them. It is recommended that for a real WOW, plant 3-5 in a cluster although one single specimen alone, or in a pot puts on quite the show also. The downside is that they are more expensive then the herbaceous peonies, but once established they viturally are carefree and can last up to 50 years. Consider them an investment.
Itoh Takara Treasure peony
Itoh Keiko pink peony
Itoh Cora Louise peony
Itoh yellow peony
Itoh Singing in the Rain peony
Itoh Julia Rose peony
Almost every week we get in around 200 coneflowers. They are our number one perennial seller. Customers flock to get them as they really perk up a garden. The colors they come in are amazing: the purples, pinks, oranges, whites, reds and it seems like each week we get a new variety. The one that really struck our eye in this last shipment is the Tiger Eye coneflower. It is just a wow orange with a rustic brown center. This is a Zone 4 hardy and reaches 18″ tall and wide. If you want one of these we advise you to stop in very soon as we are certain they will not be around long.
Tiger Eye Coneflower
Tiger Eye Coneflower
Well we survived winter and most of this awful spring. Soon it will be summer. Cheer yourself up and put a smile on your face. Buy some beautiful perennials or shrubs to perk up your yard. Presently our tables are full of perennials. We have many, many different types of shrubs and trees. The last couple of years hydrangeas and coneflowers have been the big sellers. We have at least 15 different types of hydrangeas, maybe even more as we get trucks every week. Last week over 200 blooming or budded coneflowers arrived and more will be coming this week. However, there are so many other plants that will bring color and joy to your garden. The new variety of phlox bloom for weeks; day lilies are improved every year so that many more are becoming rebloomers; grasses are still hot and we have lots of them, hardy habiscus plants plus so, so many more; shrubs like winterberry, new varieties of spireas, cheesehead potentilla, viburnums, ninebark, lacy elderberry, shrub roses, etc. Stop in and spruce up your garden and thoroughly enjoy it before winter hits us again.
This is the first year we are carrying the Jane Magnolia tree. It is quite similar to the popular Ann Magnolia tree, but there are some differences. The Jane Magnolia tree has larger flowers with more purple-pinkish-white petals whereas the Anne Magnolia flowers have fewer petals and are deep pink. Jane Magnolia blooms in late spring which is a bonus as earlier blooming varieties may have their buds nipped by late frost. Magnolias bloom before foliage appears so you will see a tree in blossom with no leaves to hide the flowers. The leaves are large and deep green in summer, turning to yellow in fall. The growth rate is about a foot a year but I have seen magnolia trees grow much more then a foot per year. Usually this tree produces sporadic blossoms throughout the summer. The tree does best in morning sun and filtered afternoon shade and will grow in just about any type of soil. In spring, when you see the Jane Magnolia tree in bloom and smell the perfume of the flowers, you will be extremely happy you purchased this tree. Please “Google” Jane Magnolia tree and you will see how beautiful this tree is in bloom.
Happy Spring! Finally spring has arrived. However it will still be weeks before you should begin to uncover your plants or work in your garden. In the meantime we will highlight a few plants that are new to our inventory this year or perhaps we added them last year. Hopefully one or two of these plants may be of interest to you and work in that spot where you need something alive and growing.
This week we have chosen Walberton’s® Plumtastic spirea. This compact plant is perfect for low borders or edging pathways. Plant it as a single species or in masses. It works well planted in a small, skinny area that you may have between your sidewalk and house. Plumtastic only gets around 16″ high and wide. Outside of being small, it has flushes of pink-cerise blooms that flower continuosly from summer into fall. The foliage opens to a rich purple and ages to green. It likes full sun. Like most spireas it is very easy to grow. Butterflies and bees love it. Google this plant and you will see some gorgeous pictures. We predict this plant to be a hot seller.
