Those of you who planted Itoh peonies a couple years ago should now be rewarded with 3 foot mounding bushes and lots of huge blooms. It is not uncommon to have over 50 blossoms on a three year old plant. Yes, they are expensive but they should easily last over 30 years if planted in the right conditions. These peonies have sturdy stems so they do not flop over in rain and wind. Also, because they do not bloom all at once, you will have blooms for 3 to 4 weeks. Flowers are huge, 5 to 9 inches across.  The colors  range from white to yellow to peach to red with various shades in between. Maintenance? Very little which consists of cutting the plant back in late fall to  2-3 inches. The shrub keeps it green leaves and looks good through out the season. The photo below of Itoh peonies was cut on May 21st.

Itoh peony bouquet

Itoh Peonies That We Carry:
Bartzella Itoh Peony
Itoh Garden Candy Candy Apple
Itoh Garden Candy Pineapple Fizz
Itoh Peony Garden Candy Peach-A-Licious
Itoh Garden Candy Blueberry Lemonade
Itoh Peony Garden Candy Simply Scrumptious

Crab apple trees are Spring!  Most of us love spring as it is such a wondrous site to see the green, green grass and all the different colors of crab apple trees  blooming after our long winter.   Crab apple trees  range in shades from white to dark pink. Some do not produce berries, some will drop their berries in fall and some hang onto their berries into winter, which is wonderful food for the robins when they arrive. Crab apple trees might be in a pillar form and some may spread and even some that will stay short but spread, like those in a Japanese garden. Gradually crab apple trees are arriving at our nursery.  Following is a photo of a Showtime crabapple that was taken on April 16, at our nursery.

If you click on any of the following crabapple trees you will be taken to our site describing that tree.  If you are interested in a particular tree, please call our office at (608 783-7333)  to verify that we have it in stock.

Coralburst
Prairiefire
Purple Prince
Rejoice
Royal Raindrops
Ruby Tears
Showtime
Spring Snow
Starlite
Tina

Spring is here and with that comes one of the first flowering trees of the season, Magnolias. Magnolias bloom profusely in April with either pink or white flowers. At Trees Today we have the Royal Star Magnolia in stock now. Stop in today while they are blooming and still in stock.

If you were fortunate to plant some hellebores last year, you should be enjoying their blooms now or shortly. They are also called Lenten Roses because they usually have buds or blooms during the Christian season of Lent. If possible, plant them so you can look out the window and see the blooms.They are a shade plant, however in winter they like sun. One of the best ways to achieve this is to plant them under a tree so the leaves shade them in summer but in winter the sun shines through the tree limbs. Mulching the plant in winter is also beneficial. After they are done blooming, prune the bloom stalk to the ground which encourages the plant to produce new growth. They are hardy to Zone 4. Our nursery carries hellebores, but they may not be in stock all the time and occasionally we get other varieties. Unfortunately we do not have photos of the three that we will be carrying, however if you google them you will see photos. They are: Frostkiss Cherisa, Frostkiss Glenda’s Gloss and Frostkiss Vibey Velevet.

Perhaps this year you would like to change the way your gardens look.  Then now is the time to think about changing the design of your gardens.  There are so many ideas available.  Searching the internet and  looking at Pinterest for ideas are good places to start. Also take a look at  Monrovia’s design trends. Just click on design 

If you would like to have more quality apples on your tree, then you need to prune your tree properly which will improve the quality of the fruit through better air flow and sun penetration.  It is recommended that you never remove more than 1/3 of the total canopy in a single year.  Click on the red text to see illustrations and learn more about pruning apple trees

Our Midwest winters can be very hard on the birds that remain here. We can provide food and water for them, but planting plants that produce berries is welcomed by these birds.  These berry plants also add some color to our dull winter landscapes. The following is an article from Monrovia Nursery, but besides the plants that Monrovia lists, there are other plants that produce winter berries in our zone.   Just ask our staff for help.

Clicking on the following link takes you to Monrovia’s suggestions for winter berries.

https://www.monrovia.com/be-inspired/plant-a-berry-garden-for-winter-birds.html

July, in our area, is probably the highlight month of our gardens. The burst of spring blossoms is now behind us and summer color is popping all over. Gardens are blooming with coneflowers, lillies, roses, hydrangeas, and so many, many more. If your garden needs some color, consider stopping in as we carry over 30 different hydrangeas, over 25 varieties of roses, more then 20 varieties of coneflowers, and so much more. We may not always have every variety in stock, but we keep restocking every week. It is probably safe to say that we are the areas’s largest supplier of plants. Go to our home page and click on Plants and Products, then click on perennials, shrubs or whatever and you will be taken to a list of our plants. Note that this is not an all inclusive list as when new varieties are made available to us, we probably will stock them.

Summer is just days away. Monrovia has several plans for summer shade and sunny gardens that attract birds, bees, hummingbirds and pollinators in the summer. If you would like to see them, just click on the following link:

https://www.monrovia.com/backyard-habitat-guide

Bee A Winner and win free plants from Monrovia Nursery. Just click on the following image and it will take you to the entry page

IT IS CRUCIAL TO FEED THE POLLINATORS AFTER THEIR LONG JOURNEY.

Is your garden ready for them by having plants that will be blooming to provide food for their arrival?  It is SO important to feed these pollinators after their long journey as they are vital for producing crops and fruits along with the survival of plants.    Click on the red link below and you can read about these early blooming plants.

Best Early Spring Flowering Plants to Attract Pollinators