Rebeccas June 2012 Plant Picks

Hello! For those of you who don't know me, my name is Rebecca and one of my many responsibilities is to keep Art's Nursery well stocked with new, interesting and eye-catching plants.

I will be sharing my picks with you each month in this new series of blog posts.

This month, I'm going to share six interesting plants; some new - some old. These include a new thornless patio raspberry, a colourful japanese maple, a partially orange hosta and an award winning anemone.

Grab a cup of coffee or a warm cup of tea and enjoy my June 2012 plant picks.

Raspberry 'Shortcake'

Raspberry Shortcake is a true innovation; a dwarf, thornless attractive raspberry plant with great flavour. Created by the Brazelton family in Oregon, this plant is part of the BrazelBerry Brand of deliciously beautiful small fruits and berries. It has a compact rounded growth habit, (2-3ft high) and thrives in a patio pot or in the landscape.

This carefree patio raspberry requires no staking or big garden spaces. Raspberry Shortcake produces full-sized, nutrious and super sweet raspberries in mid-summer. Best grown in full sun in well drained garden soil. Pollinator not required. Hardy to zone 5.

Hydrangea Let's Dance Starlight

The first reblooming lace-cap hydrangea, Starlight has elegant summer flowers held upright on strong stems. Blooms every year on both old and new wood. soil ph affects blossom colour; blue in highly acidic soils and lilac to pink in slightly acidic to alkaline soils. It's vivid flower coloration and attractive, glossy foliage look stunning in massed plantings. Hydrangeas are best planted in part shade to full sun. Starlight will grow 2-3ft in height and equally as wide. Moist, well drained, amended soils are best. Bloom colour can be shifted to blue with the addition of Aluminum Sulfate (available at Art's) to the soil. Hardy to zone 4.

Wild Swan™ Japanese Anemone

'Wild Swan' was selected from a group of seedlings derived from five or six different parents which included Anemone rupicola.

The precise parentage is difficult to pin down but involves both early and late flowering types. 'Wild Swan' was chosen as the pick of a small group of seedlings by Elizabeth MacGregor at her nursery in Kirkcudbright, between Dumfries and Stranraer in south west Scotland, where it has been on trial for ten years.

This striking anemone offers nodding buds which open into pure white flowers and adorn tall stems above the lush deep green maple-shaped leaves. Lilac blue reverse is revealed when flowers are half-closed in morning and evening. Lovely massed in a woodland setting or spotted into wild rock gardens and an excellent cut flower.

Recipient of Chelsea Flower Show 2011 Plant of the Year Award. Herbaceous.

Wild Swan Anemone flowers in early summer. Best when planted in part shade to part sun, in rich, moist, but well drained soils. Has a clumping habit reaching 18 inches tall and 24 inches wide. Hardy to zone 5.

Beni Shichihenge Japanese Maple

This dwarf shrubby japanese maple features deeply five-lobed, twisted, blue green leaves edged with salmon pink. Colours fade to pinkish white, then turning yellow in fall. It also offers smooth gray bark for extra winter interest.

Like other Japanese Maples, Beni Shichihenge prefers part sun to part shade, though it will tolerate more sun if kept of the moist side. Will grow 10-12ft tall and 5-6ft wide. Hardy to zone 5.

Orange Marmalade Plantain Lily

The closest thing to orange leaves ever seen on a hosta! Sparkling bright golden tangerine accents in spring, which gradually lighten and mature to pure white by summer's end. A vigorous grower, quickly forming a clump 20 inches tall by 3ft wide. In mid-summer it sets two inch, pale lavender blooms high above the foliage.

Like other hostas, Orange Marmalade prefers shade to part shade in moist, but well drained soils. It is hardy to zone 4.

Grecian Pattern Plant

This intruguing architectural plant provides a tropical effect with its large oakleaf-shaped foliage. Grow for foliage alone or enjoy its spikes of whitish-lilac flowers. spreads rapidly. Useful in perennial borders or as a background plant. Best when planted in part sun and moist, but well drained soils.

Flower spikes appear in spring and early summer. Will reach a height and spread of 4ft. Hardy to zone 7, as a result, some winter protection is recommended