JanisMurray's Blog

Hi everyone . . .planting time is coming soon so I visited Bohn's Greenhouses in Maryville IL to check out the new offerings growing comfortably in the greenhouses now. The best plants for our area come from our area and are raised in local greenhouses like Bohn's. They will be shipped to local nurseries for us to buy within a couple weeks. If you liked the ones you saw this morning on our show, here they are:

Baptisia "Purple Smoke" is a perennial that produces brilliant purple flowers on long stalks. The new hybrid produces more buds per stalk than earlier varieties. It blooms in early May for about 2-3 weeks, then provides attractive foliage the rest of the season.

Shasta Daisy "Broadway Lights" -- This new hybrid gets its name because it blooms bright yellow then gradually changes to white. It's a strong daisy that won't melt out in the high heat, and if you deadhead it (that means cutting off the spent blooms) the plant can keep blooming late May into July.

Geranium "Rosanne" is the Perennial Plant of the Year for 2008, and deservedly so! I have had this plant in my home gardens for 3 years and have incorporated it into the FOX 2 building gardens and it is a TERRIFIC PERFORMER. While most perennials bloom for only a month or so, Geranium Rosanne blooms purplish-blue all season from May through to October. It does not require deadheading and comes back year after year . . . just gorgeous!

ALL OF THE ABOVE PERENNIALS REQUIRE FULL SUN.

Now, on to foliage plants. Foliage plants do not have specific flower blooms, but you plant them around your bloomers because their exciting foliage colors and textures support and show off the other plants. Foliage plants are particularly important to brighten up shady areas.

THE FOLLOWING FOLIAGE PERENNIALS REQUIRE PART SUN/PART SHADE, what we call "mottled" light, as if growing under a tree and all will go well with our wonderful St. Louis hostas and ferns. The ones listed are all in the Heuchera family, whose common name is "Coral Bells" . . . but when you go to buy them, the tag will probably say "Heuchera". They are native to the U.S. but these new hybrids have been created by the French under the banner "Villosa" hybrids.

Heuchera "Caramel" - this produces bright orange to bright yellow fan shaped leaves which will add drama to a green garden.

Heuchera "Tiramisu" - this produces a bright chartreuse fan leaf with an overlay of reddish orange veins.

Heuchera "Pinot Gris" - this produces a purple fan leaf with subtle silver overlays.

Additionally, if you want a really strong hosta for your shady areas, consider Hosta "Stained Glass". It's relatively new and very sturdy. For example if slugs start eating your leaves (a common problem with hostas), "stained glass" keeps producing new leaves to replace them. The leavesw are chartreuse green with dark green edging.

Hope this gets you started! For more great perennials, check out wwwperennialresource.com . . .we have a link to it on our home garden page under the Morning Show banner. Can't wait to plant, but this rain has to stop first and the soil dry out a bit. Don't plant in wet muck . . .the roots will suffocate. Wait until a handful of soil crumbles in your fingers before planting!

More later,

Janis