Wayside Gardens

As any experienced gardener knows, moderation and balance are the keys to success in any landscape. This means that open spaces with plenty of sunlight should be evened out with shadier areas too. Sometimes it can be challenging to find plants which will grow just as well in shaded places, but fortunately we’ve got plenty of options for those sun-spare nooks and crannies.

Try an The most common garden Irises are the german bearded Irises, Siberian Irises, and the Japanese Irises. Most of the irises you buy will be cultivars of species from one of these three categories. The Iris is a striking plant with a unique bloom shape–one of the most readily identifiable flowers in any garden. Most iris will be some shade of blue or purple, adding a very cool feel to your garden. Many spring flowers have overtly warm tones, yellows and reds, but irises make a nice contrast.

The bearded irises are easy to cultivate and propagate, and have become very popular in gardens. They grow in any good free garden soil, the smaller and more delicate species needing just a little organic material, either peat or loam, for better drainage. The Japanese and Siberian Irises do well in very moist soil, some varieties even work well as water plants. If planted this fall, your iris bulbs or rhisomes will become well established over the winter and give a great performance next spring.

Avocado Don Gillogly (Persea ‘Don Gillogly’) is a luscious tropical tree that fruits year-round if kept in doors. This avocado is a vigorous dwarf that produces tons of fruit on a small tree. Fast-growing and pest-free, this Mexican native produces two crops a year of soft, black-skinned avocados with a flavor so rich you need nothing else for a scrumptious guacamole!

You should have your first crop in just over a year. If you live in a milder climate, it will also perform well on the patio, but bring it indoors beside a sunny window before frost. This tree can reach up to 10 feet in the wild, but it is very easy to keep it pinched and trained in a container. This is one of those really great plants that will have your guests going "wow, is this real?" and you will be able to reply by letting them try some of your delicious homemade guacamole.

This is one of Wayside Gardens’ top sellers. It has proven, in the last few seasons, to be a real customer favorite. This tree will not disappoint.

Admittedly, you’ll never achieve the splashes of radiant color that come so easily in the summer, but there is no reason to let your garden wither. If you get creative you can squeeze bits of color from this plant and that until you have a perfectly enchanting winter garden.

Evergreens are sooth with a ephemeral array of blues, silvers, greens, and golds. From The blue-gray of the Arizona Cypress ‘Glabra’, the bright Thuja ‘Gold Ribbon’, adding these colorful trees will add height and structure to your garden, while providing subtle winter colors throughout the bleaker months.

Plants that produce fruit in the winter add bright colors that will contrast well with the more subtle evergreen colors. Holly berries or Pyracantha can add nice warm splashes of reds and golds. The large, bright red rose hips of shrub roses can be very attractive in the off-months.

Deciduous shrubs and trees that have colorful bark are often used as colorful accents in the winter garden. Birches, maples, and cherries are great examples. Some Japanese Maples, for example, have bright white or red bark that really stands out against the muted colors of winter.

Lily-of-the-Valley "Bordeaux’ has larger flowers and far more of them than any other Convallaria Majalis. These large blooms rise out of Bordeaux’s uniquely deep green foliage, creating a huge impact in any garden. These flowers are bigger, there are more of them, and they hold themselves high above the dark foliage.

Convallaria Majalis ‘Bordeaux’ is very easy to grow. Enrich your soil with an all-purpose fertilizer or rich organic matter and provide moist, well drained soil and you will not be disappointed. This was one of Wayside Gardens’ top sellers last year, and it looks like they may do even better this year. Order them while you can for beautiful spring blooms.

You might also want to take a look at the standard Convallaria Majalis. While the flowers may not be as big as on Bordeaux, this little plant has a magnificent fragrance and makes as excellent ground cover in shady areas. The original Lily-of-the-Valley is very easy to care, and given good rich soil, will thrive in most climate conditions.

There would be no garden without perennial summer and spring bulbs. They provide most of the colors, textures, and fragrances which give gardens most of their allure. From spring to fall, these are your staples–just fill in along the way with a few annuals, tropicals, and short bloomers.

Your flower bulbs will also require very little of your attention, freeing you up to work on other garden projects. Daffodils, tulips, amaryllis, and other bulbs need no regular maintenance as long as they have moisture and well-drained soil. They never need to be divided or replanted – just let them clump and spread as they will for a more natural and playful looking garden.