Perennials for Cutflowers | Shady Grove Gardens

Perennials for Cutflowers | Shady Grove Gardens

A few notes about our bare-root perennial specials throughout the summer.

Daphne- tougher than you think

While this photo shows a larger Daphne than ours. We have some great little plants for sale. At $9 each, they sure beat the mail order cost. We've had ours for 2 years in the field (full sun). They are surprisingly tough, surviving last years long cold wet winter with flying colors. The best thing about Daphne 'Carol Mackie' is it's wonderful vanilla fragrance. Late May seems to be their bloom time here in the High Country.

Spring Flowers & Plants

Inside our little unheated greenhouse. This time of year it is full of seedlings just waiting for transplant. 3' tall Feverfew is off to the left.
My currant favorite flower. These blue Clematis are 6" across. They loved the wet snowy winter. A few will be available as cutflowers this weekend and white Jersey Cream is available as 1 gallon plants.
This photo is of week old cut double lilacs. Just to remind you this may be the last week to buy Lilacs. Peony season is now starting.....
This photo from Monrovia show our 'Redwine Lilac' blooms. It is a late bloomer like 'Royalty' which we are currently selling as a cut flower. The 'Redwine' shrubs are still small allowing for easy planting. 2 Quart pots are just $8.

Edible Flowers for Your Wedding Cake or Salad

Our flowers are not sprayed with any sort of inorganic pesticide or fungicide. Nothing systemic is ever used. These blooms and petals can be used to garnish your plates, freeze in ice cubes, decorate your cake, salad or napkins. Here's our list: clary sage, milkweed, feverfew, garlic chives, gladiolus, hyssop, hollyhock, peony, mint, calendula, viola, lavender, rosemary, rose, tulip, dianthus, marigold, basil, bachelor's button, chrysanthemum, and lilac.

Wedding Flower Arranging Workshops

Announcing a new offering for our brides; wedding flower arranging workshops. These are scheduled for Friday mornings before your wedding, June- September. Buy our locally grown flowers and get 3 hours of design space, advise, tools and refreshments. This is Do-it- yourself fun for your bridesmaids or even Moms. Up to eight people for $200.

September Flower Combinations -local flowers only

Lovely choices for September Weddings. Here's just a few ideas for color and flower combinations.

September - week 1 Orange Dahlia Blend: with Globe Amaranth, Burgundy and Gold Amaranth, Helenium, grasses, Zinnia, Nasturtium, Black-Eyed-Susan and Gold berries.

September - week 2 Pink and Green using Snowberries, Obedient Plant, Hydrangea, Pink Alostromeria, Dahlia and Silver Mountain Mint.

September - week 3 Fall Colors Orange and Red Globe Amaranth, Calendula, Helenium, Zinnia, Black-Eyed-Susan, ornamental grass.

September - week 4 Gold and Purples: Sunflowers, Zinnia, Dahlia, Statice, Purple Emperor Sedum, Fuchsia Celosia.

Seed Sowing for Spring

It's still too early to start most seeds outdoors to here's some information and links to seed sowing information.

http://ezfromseed.org/ Lots of information on vegetable seed starting and Hybrid vs. open-pollinated.

And Renee's Seed: http://www.reneesgarden.com/hm-gardnr/hm-resource.html for numerous articles about seed sowing and growing including tomato seed starting and my favorite Sweet Peas.

Photo is from Renees Garden

Sowing annuals

For those of you interested in sowing your own annual flower seed the National Garden Bureau has some helpful information. http://www.ngb.org/gardening/todays/print_article.cfm?ID=16#cosmos

More great links own seed sowing indoors to get a jump on the growing season: http://www.tmseeds.com/Seed_Germination_Guide Thompson & Morgan Seed Co., http://www.parkseed.com/gardening/GP/gatepage/seed-starting-how-to Park Seed How-to Guide, http://www.jungseed.com/GardenersCorner.asp?article=Seed+Starting+Basics&aid=6&id=5 Jung Seed Starting Basics, http://www.johnnyseeds.com/ Johnny's Seed for all the vegetable information you'll ever need, http://www.gardeners.com/How-to-Start-Seeds/5062,default,pg.html Gardener's Supply.

I'm behind sowing due to the cold weather. But I'm busily starting leeks, peppers, and cabbage. Tomorrow I'll start on all the fun flowers. Rudbeckias included.

August Flower Combinations- Local flowers Only

• August - week 1 Blue and Pink Asters with Green and White; Hydrangea, Shasta Daises, Feverfew, Clematis, Queen-Anne's-Lace, Blue Statice, Caryopteris. Or Hot Summer Red and White: using Zinnias, Dahlias and Amaranth.
• August - week 2 Pink, White, Green week: Pink Turtlehead, Green or White Hydrangea, Green Love-Lies-Bleeding, Grasses, Asters, Zinnias, Green Snowberries and Sedum. Or try a bolder theme of Blues and Gold; using 'Deca' Sunflower, Black-Eyed-Susan, Alostromeria, Calendula, Sunflower, Blue or Purple Statice, Caryopteris, Purple Dahlias and Zinnias.
• August - week 3 Pink and White with a bit of Purple;using Asters, Pink Dahlias, gladiolas, Hydrangea, Turtlehead, Cosmos, Zinnia, Snowberries, Green grass, sedum, Amaranth and Love-Lies-Bleeding, along with purple Statice and Butterfly Bush. Late Summer Oranges and Reds: Dahlia, Sunflower, Helenium, Zinnia, Globe Amaranth, Lemon Queen and grass.
• August - week 4 Sweet Blue, White Pink: Using Zinnia, Ageratum, Cosmos, Snowberry, Hydrangea, Shasta Daisy, Obedient Plant and Statice. Sunflower Weddingwith Burgundy Amaranth or Blues of Ageratum and Statice along with grasses and grains. WildFlower Fusion: Red Zinnia, Globe Amaranth, Statice mix, Shasta Daisy, Hot Pink Dahlia.

July buckets of flowers ready for the Bride