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In This Issue
• Dear Gardener...
• July CONTEST Results
• More July Contest Entries...
• Dividing Perennials in the Fall
• Question of the Month
• August CONTEST
• New Perennial Club Winner!
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Welcome!
Who are we?
Heritage Perennials® are grown by Valleybrook Gardens, an innovative and leading producer of over 1500 varieties of perennials, hardy ferns and ornamental grasses. Our distinctive blue pots of HERITAGE PERENNIALS® are available from independent retailers and dealers in many parts of Canada and the USA. We're passionate about perennials! We hope this newsletter helps you to enjoy your perennial gardening even more.
In order for the images and links on this newsletter to load properly, please make sure that your web browser is up and running. If the images fail to load or part of the text appears to be missing, try clicking refresh or reading the archived version on our website.
Our best-selling book, the Perennial Gardening Guide is a handy reference used by gardeners across North America — written by our own Horticulturist, John Valleau. Released March/2003 in a brand new 4th edition!
Learn more about the book and buy it here today!
Gardeners in the BC Lower Mainland area are invited to attend the Valleybrook Gardens 5th PUBLIC PERENNIAL OPEN HOUSE at our nursery in Abbotsford, British Columbia on Friday, September 3rd, 2004 from 9AM to 3PM. Join us for tours of the propagation, growing and shipping facilities, or take in one of the morning gardening talks (11 AM and 11:30 AM). Plants will be available for sale (some at regular RETAIL prices and this year also many at BARGAIN PRICES) with lots of new or unusual selections. Coffee and light lunches are available. Click here for more details and directions to the BC Nursery. We recommend you bring your own cart if possible.
Valleybrook Gardens Ontario GIANT PERENNIAL PLANT SALE will be taking place on Saturday, September 11, 2004 from 9AM to 4PM. The sale is at our ONTARIO nursery, located near Niagara-on-the-Lake. Please click here for directions and more information. There will be BARGAINS GALORE!! We suggest you bring your own cart if possible, and a supply of labels could also come in handy.
These two events are the only days each year that our wholesale nurseries are open to the public, so it's a fun opportunity to see where those familiar blue pots of HERITAGE PERENNIALS® get their start!
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Dear Gardener...
 Last month I spent a couple of weeks in Alberta and Saskatchewan, part of it teaching at the excellent HortWeek program offered by the University of Saskatchewan. What a wonderful opportunity this was so see some really amazing private gardens. I was truly inspired, and it felt so good to know that perennial gardening is thriving even in the harsh reality of a Zone 2 climate!
I also had some pleasant surprises in finding certain perennials proving to be hardy that I didn't know about before. The most spectacular was Persicaria polymorpha, pictured here. In one Edmonton garden the clumps were over seven feet tall. I saw it several more times, and some plants had been in the gardens for over four years, so that's a pretty good test sample, I figure.
It's the third year of evaluation for the Alberta Perennial Trials, and I stopped by the Edmonton plots, located on the grounds just north of the Muttart Conservatory buildings. Duplicate plots in Olds and Calgary are providing good sample pools for these trials, which last for three years before the plants are replaced by new ones. Prairie gardeners can check out the Trials website for further information.
These trials and others like them are extremely important to growers like ourselves. They provide not only a neutral testing ground but also an opportunity for the public to see new perennials for themselves. The reports that come out of this research are something we make extensive use of when determining the hardiness Zones on our plant tags, in the Perennial Gardening Guide and on our website plant profiles. So, it was nice to see the Edmonton plots really thriving this season, with lots of moisture available for a change, and obviously lots of hard work being done by student interns. I can only hope these trials will find the funding required to continue for many more years to come.
-- John Valleau, editor.
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July CONTEST Results
Back in July we asked you to tell us about your favourite gardening myth that has proven to be completely false or unfounded. We've picked the three best entries this month, and congratulations go out to our winners, listed below. Each will receive a copy of the Perennial Gardening Guide.
Our July contest winning entries:
"My entry for gardening myth is that I can't garden. Which is a bunch of hooey because I am slowly learning and my garden is not looking bad, if I do say so myself! Although I have not had the greatest success with some plants, I am learning to pick the ones that work with me and not against. Thank you for all your helpful advice and beautiful pictures. You give me something to aspire to." Heather -- Abbotsford, BC
"Being from sunny Manitoba, it irks me how people think that we don't grow great gardens here because of our somewhat shorter growing season. This is simply not true. Look around in Winnipeg, or even where we used to live up north (9 hours drive north of here) and there are a lot of amazing gardens and a great many people who love their gardens! I think living with the more bitter winter weather just makes us appreciate gardening so much more. We love the nice hot summers here and so do our plants. This is one myth that needs to be shattered for everyone: we garden here in Manitoba! Lori -- Winnipeg, Manitoba
"I guess the garden myth that drives me crazy is the one about beer and slugs. There is no truth to it!! I had tried many methods, all of which failed and left me hand picking the little slimers late at night, flashlight in one hand, jar of salt water in the other. Then I read that saucers of beer placed at ground level attract and then drown them. The slugs in my garden were indeed attracted to the beer. They'd say goodbye to the little wife every evening (or take her and the kids along), go for a beer swim/drink, crawl out again and, given that there were no pickled eggs in sight, have a good snack of marigold or petunia on the way home. I tried every variation, depth, type of beer (much to my husband's dismay) to no avail. If the saucer of beer was full, they would just sit on the side of it, not going in. If the beer was say, a half inch or more from the rim, they just went right in, had a few drinks and swam out again.
Note: The one thing I have finally found that seems to work is crushed egg shells. They really hate them and spend the rest of their sorry lives trying to get them off. Hair also works by the same principle, but blows away easily and really, where would you ever get enough hair unless you worked in a salon? I would be interested to see if the beer actually works for anyone." Diane -- Edmonton, Alberta
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More July Contest Entries...
 "The peony: myth has it that peonies won't open their buds unless ants are there to clean away the so-called wax on each bud. Believing this, I made sure I planted mine in an area where ants were. After planting another I finally realized that some peonies had no ants but huge, beautiful flowers. You don't need ants for nice peonies." Shirley -- somewhere in Canada
"I have been told that nothing grows under Black Walnut trees but I have many petunias, coral bells, pansies, sunflowers and other plants growing under one that is very tall and wide." Sue -- Pomeroy, Washington
NOTE: here is an excellent link from Ohio State University for Walnut Resistant Plants
"The beautiful poppy has long (and falsely) been associated with ill omens and misfortune. I have heard that looking at the black center of a poppy can cause temporary blindness, and bringing the cut poppies into a house will cause illness. Rubbish!" PT -- Metuchen, NJ
"My garden myth is that horse manure will burn up your plants. I've even scooped the poop straight from the stalls and used it to amend my flower beds. Friends say my plants look like they are on steroids -- no fried-up plants here!" Sherry -- Girard, PA
"Myth: that palm trees will not grow (outside all year) in Canada. There are numerous species that are long term palms in Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo." Wes -- North Vancouver, BC
"One garden myth that I've busted myself is 'You can't grow anything under a Norway Maple'. There are lots of them in my area, and since they are all municipal trees, there's not a lot you can do about them. However, I grow many plants right under mine, including Asarum (Wild Ginger), Aruncus (Goat's-beard), perennial geraniums, Astilbe chinensis 'Pumila', Hypericum calycinum, hostas and more. Planting in between the roots is tough, but it can be done. Mulching helps of course." Heather -- Toronto, Ontario
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Dividing Perennials in the Fall
Already a few gardeners have been writing in to ask about dividing particular perennials in the autumn. It most certainly can be done. Some gardeners are daring and will move or divide a perennial at nearly any time of year, but for the timid at heart the general rule of thumb is this: early spring to early summer bloomers divide or move very well in early autumn. Try to get this done at least four weeks before the ground freezes hard in your region. Perennials that flower from mid summer through fall are better divided in early to mid spring, if at all possible. More detailed tips may be found in our How To article #10: Dividing Perennials in the Spring. Despite the title, the article does tell how to go about the task in detail, and gives the best timing for specific kinds of plants.
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Question of the Month
 You can ask a perennial gardening question of your own by clicking the "Ask an Expert" link on the top of this newsletter. Due to time constraints, please -- no questions on flowering shrubs, trees, evergreens, lawns, hydrangeas, roses, etc.
QUESTION: Do you know of a website where I can learn how to pronounce plant names -- for example "Knautia"? Kathy -- Waupaca, Wisconsin
ANSWER: I found this terrific link, Fine Gardening's Guide to Pronouncing Botanical Latin. It's a great starting point, though I don't always agree with their pronunciations.
This sort of thing actually varies more than you might think, particularly between British, American and European sources. Certain plants like Heuchera have many variations. The best approach is to take a stance and feel confident in however you say those tricky botanical names. Good luck to you!
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August CONTEST
 What has the best PERENNIAL or ANNUAL foliage plant in your garden been this season? Drop us a line, choose a plant and tell us WHY you like it. If you want to include pictures in the e-mail entry, no problem at all. This month we will pick the three best entries and winners will each receive a copy of the Perennial Gardening Guide. Winners will be announced in the September, 2004 newsletter and we'll include a sampling of the entries.
TO ENTER: drop us an e-mail telling all about your favourite foliage annual/perennial. Put FOLIAGE PLANT in the subject line and send contest entries to: John Valleau. Entries must include a full name and postal address to be valid. Contact information will not be used for any purpose other than mailing out prizes for this contest, so your privacy is assured. Winners will be identified by first name, city and province or state. CONTEST DEADLINE: August 31, 2004.
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New Perennial Club Winner!
 Launched back in late March, our NEW PERENNIAL CLUB has seen a flurry of activity, with over 1500 Members already! Each time you register or rate a new plant, it qualifies you for another chance to win our monthly contest draws.
Our JULY WINNER is LIZ of Kitchener, Ontario. Congratulations! Liz will be receiving a gift certificate for $50, redeemable for Heritage Perennials® at a Dealer of her choice. Our August 2004 contest winner will be picked on September 1, 2004.
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"Stay tuned for more great ideas on successful perennial gardening... Out of the blue!"
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The best perennials come out of the blue... |
 Copyright © 2000-2004 Heritage Perennials |
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