Posts made in March, 2008

Passion Flowers are some of my absolute favorite plants, and I thought that, it would be fitting to talk about them in honor of the early Easter.  The name for these unique flowers does not refer to romantic love, as the word "passion" is generally used in modern times.  The name for these flowers comes from the 1500's when Christian missionaries named the plant after the Passion of Christ because of its interesting Cross-shaped physical structures.  In much of the world these beautiful plants are called Clock-Flowers or Clock-Faced Flowers.

Almost all Passion Vines are tropical or nearly tropical plants.  Most cannot survive a hard freeze.  Because of this, there is a great demand for Passion Vines that thrive in containers.  When growing Passion Vine in a container, I usually recommend planting in Spring.  This give the plant time to establish itself before being cut back for winter.  Cut the vine back to about six to eight inches when bringing it inside for the cold season, and be sure to get it indoors before the first hard frost.  Keep it in a sunny window (they serve as a cheery little houseplant in the cold months) until the risk of frost is past.  A well-drained container is essential for Passion Flowers, as they can be susceptible to root-rot.

Our Passiflora 'Coral Sea' and Passiflora 'Sherry' were both chosen by Wayside Gardens not only because they are unusually beautiful Passion Flowers and bloom heavily, but also because they do exceptionally well grown in containers in Northern climates.  The brilliant deep red of the 'Sherry' can't be beat for intense color.  Grow this plant in some evening shade to allow the color to appear especially deep.  The 'Coral Sea' is an interesting pink shade that you won't often find on other flowers.  Try this one against a dark backdrop for greater contrast, to make the blooms really pop.

If you're looking for a plant to add interest to your landscape in the winter, you can't do much better than Corylus 'Contorta.'  This interesting shrub takes its unusual common name, Harry Lauder's Walking Stick, from the crooked cane that the legendary Scottish entertainer, Sir Harry Lauder, often used as a performance prop in the early 1900's.  It's a well-deserved moniker, as the Contorta produces some of the most interestingly twisted, corkscrew-like branches of any shrub I've ever seen.  It is an interesting and unusual shrub when it's wearing its leaves in the warm months whose berries are very attractive to birds, but it really comes into its own when it sheds the leaves in the cool part of the year, and those pig's-tail branches are unveiled.  The Contorta looks its best when featured as a specimen, especially when its silhouette is contrasted strongly by a backdrop of snow.  It's a good thing, then, that this unusual shrub is cold-hardy all the way to Zone 3, where the snow is plentiful and the need for winter landscape interest is greatest.  This shrub is a quick-grower, too, that will generally reach a height of around seven feet tall. 

I get asked from time to time what exactly makes Kordes Roses so special, that they get mentioned so often.  There are three very simple answers to that.  The first is that the Kordes Rose lines are some of the most beautiful roses you’ll ever find.  They tend toward the more elegant, simple colors, and many gardeners really appreciate the more subtle, traditional beauty that they represent.  The second reason is that W. Kordes & Sons is one of the oldest rose breeding groups in the world.  They’ve been hybridizing roses for more than a century.  Rose gardening is a culture that is very deeply steeped in tradition, and Kordes represents one of the most entrenched traditions in the world of roses for good reason.  Wilhelm Kordes II was often referred to as "the Grand Old Man of Rose Breeding."  He and his family developed many of the methods that are still dominant in modern rose breeding, and no small amount of the breeding stock used by rose breeders around the world came from varieties originally cultivated by the Kordes family.  No rose breeders have won more European awards than Kordes Roses have.

The third reason that Kordes Roses are so special is probably the most important to the average rose grower.  Kordes Roses are some of the toughest roses you’ll ever find.  They’re bred in Northern Germany, which yields very cold-hardy roses that thrive in much of North America (some are even completely hardy to zone 4).  They are also bred specifically to be resistant to diseases, pests, and fungus, and grown in the those harsh regions without artificial chemicals or growth enhancers.  This yields an incredibly robust rose plant that many rosarians claim is rivaled in toughness only by the Knock Out Roses.  Kordes Roses really are bred to be not just tougher than other roses, but to be some of the toughest plants in your garden.  Wayside Gardens is proud to be one of the only retail sources of Kordes Roses in the United States.

We don’t all have the good fortune to live in Florida or Southern California.  Some of us have to get our limes, lemons, and avocados the hard way: from the grocery store.  However, there is another option for growing warm-climate fruits in not-so-warm areas.  Some smaller varieties of fruit trees do very well in containers, and even produce fruit.  Just because you live in zone 4 doesn’t mean you can’t have a little zone 10 fun.

I love avocados.  They’re extraordinarily healthy, full of all sorts of amazing good-for-you fats and nutrients and such.  But really, it comes down to the very simple fact that they’re absolutely delicious.  I love avocado on just about anything (except for cake), and I’ll rarely turn down guacamole.  The problem is that avocados are pretty expensive, and the ones you find in the store are often second-rate.  Nothing compares to fresh, home-grown avocados, and that’s why the Avocado Don Gillogly is such a great plant.  It doesn’t just survive when grown indoors, it thrives and produces amazing avocados year-round in two crops, right there in your living room.  It will produce its first crop in around a year, which is unusually quick for a fruit tree.  It’s a beautiful, easy to grow plant even without the fruit, and can be left on the patio in warmer months to liven up your garden.

Mexican Thornless Lime

Of course, you wouldn’t want to have those fresh avocados around all the time and not make some great Mexican food, and no Mexican feast can be complete without limes.  The Mexican Thornless Lime tree is another fruit tree that does fantastically indoors, is easy to grow, and produces lots of fruit.  Even better, the blossoms that precede the fruit are both beautiful and carry a lovely fragrance.  The fruit ripens from late summer to early winter, but the evergreen foliage makes this citrus tree a wonderful houseplant year round.

Lemon Meyer Improved

The Meyer Improved lemon tree is a prize as an ornamental houseplant.  A prize that just happens to produce armloads of fantastic, juicy lemons.  The lemons grow in huge clusters of six lemons, which are best thinned to three per cluster, to allow them plenty of room to get big (though those early lemons that you thin can certainly be used in your cooking, too).  Check out my friend (and Master Gardener) Anne Moore’s article for tips on growing Limon ‘Meyer Improved’.