A4 Comox Valley Echo Friday, April 18, 2014
Gardening
Top 10 plants for the spring garden By Ellen Presley Anderton Nursery
Jamey Lauinger
Valley Succulent Specialty Nursery opens this weekend Whether you are looking for an unusual gift for a gardener friend, an indoor cacti or a succulent for your garden, Valley Succulent Specialty Nursery has hundreds (thousands) of succulents and cacti that will amaze and fascinate you. Jamey Lauinger, the owner specializes in seeking out rare and unusual species of cold hardy succulents and cacti both locally and internationally and growing many of these species from seed. This year the opening for the nursery is April 19th and 20th, from 9:00 am-5:00 pm. The nursery is located at 2210 Anderton Road at the corner of Anderton and Ellenor Road (ferry road). During the season, regular hours will be Friday 12 to 5 pm, Sat 1-5 and Sun 11-4 and by appointment. Valley Succulent takes cash at this point. For more information and to see the wide range of plants available visit www.valleysucculents. ca or Facebook Drop by this Saturday or Sunday and enjoy a complimentary coffee and get your name in the hat for the Grand Prize draw!
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Spring is such a wonderful time of year. After the dormant Winter, buds and blossoms begin to break forth. When planning your garden, make sure you indulge in some of the fantastic array of plants available. We often try to rush the season and head straight to Summer but don’t miss the magic of Spring. For structure add some trees such as the Magnolia. There are many different types of Magnolia and one of the most stunning is the Star Magnolia. It is like fireworks bursting from the garden, each bud exploding in multiple petals. Two easy to grow varieties are the Award of Merit RHS, Magnolia ‘Leonard Messel’ which is a Lilac-pink and the showy white Magnolia stellata. Both are slightly fragrant, like full sun to part shade and are easy to grow. At only 15-20 feet, they will suit most yards and the deer don’t nibble on them. For a golden blaze of color most people know the Forsythia, but don’t overlook the Kerria japonica pleniflora (Japanese Rose). This plant forms a lovely bush of large fluffy, yellow pom-pom like flowers. It is a very vigorous grower, loves full sun or part shade, is disease and pest free and easy to maintain. As it grows to maturity (8-10’), the many branches arch in graceful sprays of yellow, creating rays of sunshine in your garden. A definite must for any Spring garden is the hardy Ribes sanguineum ‘King Edward VII’ (Flowering currant). Beautiful clusters of tiny pink flowers attract the hummingbirds to your garden and later produce blue-black berries that feed other wildlife. It likes the full sun, moist but well drained soil, is easy to grow and the deer don’t eat it. A charming little bush is the Berberis thunbergii ‘Golden Nugget’. It has attractive yellow leaves that start in the Spring with a hint of pink, maintain their wonderful color all Summer and then turn orange in the Fall. It also produces small berries which attract the birds. It is drought tolerant, deer resistant and will last in the garden for 20 years. Excellent border plant. Forget-me-not is a wonderful Spring flower with tiny blue flowers, but it tends to reseed everywhere. For a more well-behaved
n to get into the Garde
Pulmonaria ‘Little Star’
Arabis caucasica variegata is a wonderful plant
A must for any spring garden is the hardy Ribes sanguineum King Edward VII
Japanese Rose
plant try Pulmonaria (Lungwort). The darling Pulmonaria ‘Little Star’ has adorable freckled leaves with clusters of miniature nodding
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flower heads which start out pink and turn cobalt blue as they mature. This plant attracts hummingbirds to your garden and the variegation of the leaves really brightens up a dark area. The Brunnera macrophylla ‘Looking Glass’ and ‘Hadspen Cream’ have small delicate blue flowers with a carpet of variegated foliage in shades of light green, cream and white. Great for the shade garden and rabbits don’t eat them. For the sun, the fragrant Aurinia saxatillis ‘Basket of Gold’ or ‘Gold Dust’ adds sprays of sunshine along the garden path. This perennial Alyssum is easy to grow and
makes an excellent ground cover or use to cascade over rock walls. It will attract butterflies but the deer will leave it alone. Plant in full sun and well-drained soil. Aubretia is another great ground cover adding the Easter colors to the garden: mounds of deep pink and purple trailing over rock walls. Loving the full sun, this hardy plant is great for rambling throughout the rock garden. Give it good drainage and trim back after blooming. Euphorbias have lovely form and texture. They vary in height and add interest and warmth to the garden. Euphorbia ‘Wulfieii’ is a great architectural plant. It will get up to 3 feet in a couple of years, is great as a cut flower, loves the full sun and is drought resistant. The dwarf Euphorbia ‘Polychroma’ (Cushion Spurge) only grows to 12 inches in height and width. They are all rabbit and deer resistant and the flowers (Bracts) are very long lasting. It is hard not to fall in love with every plant, but the one that is amazing this year is the Arabis caucasica variegata (Wall Cress). It is outstanding. This plant has a wonderful white flower but the leaf is extraordinary. It is a serrated light green leaf edged in a creamy white. Great in the rock garden or used to edge your garden, Arabis are drought tolerant, deer and rabbit resistant, evergreen and fragrant. Give them good drainage and trim after blooming. Make the most out of your garden by capturing all the seasons. These Spring plants should get your gardening off to a good start. Happy Gardening.