Happy October, we have a magnolia blooming at the garden center! This Royal Star in the last magnolia tree for the season and its blooming RIGHT NOW! Here is your chance to grab this terrific spring specimen and get it planted before the season runs out. When spring rolls around you will be the talk of the neighborhood with these beautiful blossoms while the rest of us wait for these trees to arrive at the garden center.
Royal Star Magnolia Tree Photo by Trees Today
The weather may be cooling down but there is still plenty of time to get those last few additions installed in your landscape. Here are some of our staff picks for fall. Check out the links for more information on these fall favorites!
🍂🍁💛🧡❤️
Wentworth American Cranberrybush Photo courtesy of Bailey Nurseries®
This specimen poses excellent in the landscape by itself or as a hedge or screening. Petite early season flowers precede large red fruit which can be used in making preserves or fresh eating. Wildlife will love this plant and so will you!
Rainbow Sensation Weigela Photo by Trees Today
The Rainbow Sensation oozes decadence. This medium sized shrub checks in with a height and spread of three to four feet. Light pink flowers “pop off the page” in contrast to the variegated green/yellow foliage. When fall makes an entrance, the foliage begins to take on a pink tone that stands out and pairs superb with perennial grasses or dark colored shrubs.
Berry Poppins
Photo courtesy of www.provenwinners.com/
What a beaut! A great compact plant that has multiple seasons of interest! Aside from the beautiful yellow fall foliage from Berry Poppins, the main eye-catching event is the flourish of berries that decorate the winter landscape.
Every year we have numerous customers looking for the so-called Pampas grass that has large white flumes and grows along Wisconsin highways and in ditches. Odds are very good that this grass you are seeing IS NOT pampas grass. Pampas grass usually only grows down to Zone 6, maybe Zone 5. What you are seeing is probably the Miscanthus Sacchariflorus or Amur Silvergrass. This grass produces very little seed but it spreads, and rather aggressively, by rhizomes. It is almost impossible to dig out as the rhizomes are intertwined and very thick. The grass prefers wet sites, along ditches and highways. You will also see clumps of this grass around old farmhouses as years ago the rhizomes were shared and the clumps just kept getting bigger and bigger. Some states have listed this plant as invasive. A plant that looks similar and is sold by most nurseries, including Trees Today Nursery, is the Flame Grass. This grass is not invasive. It is a clump forming grass and over time the clumps spread wider.
Flame Grass
Photo by Trees Today Nursery
Grasses have become extremely popular in the last five years. They are easy to grow, interesting, low maintenance, and look spectactular in fall. There are just so many types of grasses; tall and short, bushy flumes or dainty seed heads, tan leaves or burgundy, warm season versus cool season. We carry a wide variety. Some of the favorites are pictured below.
Prairie Dropseed grass
Photo courtesy of Baileys Nursery
Miscanthus Red Silver Grass
Photo courtesy of Baileys
Korean Feather Reed Grass
Photo by Trees Today Nursery
Karl Foerster Grass
Photo by Trees Today Nursery
Little Bunny Tails Dwarf Fountain Grass
Photo by Trees Today Nursery
Miscanthus Flame Grass
Photo courtesy of Baileys
Aureola Forest Grass
Photo courtesy of Baileys
Overdam Feather Reed Grass
Photo courtesy of Bailey’s
Northwind Switch Grass
Photo by Trees Today Nursery
Listed are a few chores that can be done in the September flower garden.
1) Discontinue deadheading annuals if you want them to reseed.
2) Cut back perennials if they are done blooming except those that provide winter food for wildlife.
3) Discontinue fertilizing plants.
4) Plant spring bulbs in late September.
5) Weed garden and rake up debris.
6) Cut injured or deceased parts of perennials off.
7) Discontinue deadheading perennials that provide winter food for birds.
8) Dig and divide daylilies and hostas.
9) Dig out any bulbs that are not winter hardy.
10) Look at your garden and make notes of wishful improvements.
There are several plants, trees and shrubs alike, that are well known for their early season attributes, but go amiss when it comes to their fall foliage. As we turn the calendar to September and prepare for fall, the garden center is beginning to transition to reds, oranges, yellows, from the typical greens that gather the rest of the season. As you walk around, you can see its more than just the maples, oaks, grasses, and dogwoods turning color, there are common spring and summer staples that are also pulling double duty as we head into fall.
Crabapples
Crabapples are commonly known for their showy spring flowers, but did you know they also have fabulous fall foliage? Flaunting tones of red and orange, crabapples do not receive enough attention for their fall foliage which should be equal to their spring flower. So the next time you are seeking a new tree for your yard don’t forget about the dueling seasonal opportunities a crabapple can provide!
Serviceberry
An under utilized garden gem! Available as a tree or shrub, this specimen boasts beautiful spring florals that lead to edible small purple-black berries. The tree form ‘Autumn Brilliance’ is a beautiful medium sized ornamental tree if you are looking to add diversity to your landscape. The shrub form, ‘Regent’ is a great addition for feeding wildlife in your yard or creating a small hedge or screening. Not only will these plants bring spring color and edible fruit, the blaze red/orange fall color is a show stopper for sure!
Azalea/Rhododendron
Prolific blooms fill these plants early season. Bright pink, purple, white and orange are colors you can expect from these spring flowers. Many people desire the spring impact that the azalea and rhododendron bring to the landscape but many are unaware of the bonus fall color they are in for. Broad, thick leaves bring copper and bronze hues into fall with the next season’s buds adding a depth of texture, what a sight to behold!
So, as we make our way to the end of another year, planning for the next begins. Consider adding a few of these double duty plants to your landscape and enjoy an eye catching spring and fall landscape.
Serviceberry Fall Foliage
Crabapple Fall Foliage
Now is the time of year when beautiful mums appear at Trees Today Nursery, grocery stores, and home stores. These are called “fall” or annual mums. Their colors are an assortment of reds, oranges, bronzes, yellows, whites, and many more. They look beautiful sitting in pots on front porches or placed in gardens. However, they generally do not survive being replanted in the garden in Zone 4 (our area of Wisconsin and Minnesota). If they do survive a winter, chances are they will not survive the following winter. If you succeed in overwintering a fall mum in your garden, to get a bushy blooming mum in fall you need to start pinching it back in July or chances are it will become stringy and lanky.
Garden mums are the perennial mums hardy to Zone 3. At Trees Today we carry Mammoth Mums that were bred at the University of Minnesota for endurance and cold. Once planted in your garden they may grow to 3-3 1/2 feet wide by 3-4 feet tall. Their colors are limited, but their abundant blooms are very showy and last for weeks. Also, these mammoth mums do not need any pinching.
Orange fall mum
Photo from Trees Today Nursery
Mammoth lavender mum
Photo by Trees Today Nursery
Look at these beauties! Is there something missing from your landscape? Are you struggling to find a plant small enough to round out your garden borders? The perfect plant does exist, it’s a dianthus! Petite in size these plants give off enormous amounts of color. Typically found in hues of white, red, pink, and purple.
Check out these dainty beauties while supplies last!
I wanted to see a caterpillar turn into a Monarch and discovered how easy it was. First, into my new garden I planted some bright annuals to attract Monarchs and some Swamp Milkweed (red milkweed) for the Monarchs to lay their eggs on. I also planted some butterfly weed to feed the future Monarch butterflies. About a month later I discovered several Monarch caterpillars on the milkweed. I ordered a net cage from Amazon and put a caterpillar inside the cage with leaves from the milkweed plant. The caterpillar ate voraciously for the first couple days, then stopped eating. The next thing that happened was that he was hanging from the top of the net cage and then formed a “J” shape. A few hours later when I looked he was in the halfway point of spinning himself into a cocoon. On the 11th day when I checked, he had just emerged from the pupa into a butterfly but since he was still wet, I kept him in the cage for another hour and then released the Monarch. Stop at Trees Today Nursery as we have many, many varieties of butterfly plants in stock in spring of the year.
Look at this beauty! A customer snapped this picture of their Pink Splendor hydrangea from 2020, stating “This brings a pop of color to my patio!”
A great addition to a small garden or as a patio plant, the Pink Splendor will quickly reach a height and spread of 4 feet. This hydrangea thrives in morning sun and afternoon shade or filtered sun.
If you are looking to give this one a try, stop in and pick one up, we just received a fresh shipment.
The perennial tables have been looking a little bare lately, but not any more! New shipments of coneflower, sedum, salvia, and hibiscus and many more items have arrived!
Here is a preview of some of the spectacular colors now available!
Mid-July is time for hydrangeas to show off and they take center stage. In the plant world, new hydrangeas are being developed constantly. One of my favorite compositions is when I see multi-colored hydrangeas blooming next to each other. An example is the photo below which was taken at Trees Today Nursery. When I see this, I imagine and wish for my whole yard to be planted in pink, blue and maybe some white hydrangeas. Stop in and see the many, many different hydrangeas available.
Pink & blue hydrangeas
Photo by Trees Today Nursery
