We're also the source for two other fine brands of plants: Jeepers Creepers® "Down Low and Fun to Grow" groundcovers and Rock Stars® "Cool Plants for Rock Gardens".

For me, this spring is a season of new beginnings in a way I could not have predicted nor wished for. Personal health issues have been the reason for a long period of no newsletters, and I must offer my apologies to each and every one of you for this. Particularly so to the many that have written in with perennial gardening questions that went unanswered for months or weeks. I've attempted to catch up on these now, but just in case your question fell through the cracks, I encourage you to write in again for a timely response.

It may seem an odd image here, but I've sort of adopted it as my personal symbol of turning a new leaf. Pictured above is the 2009 Pantone® Color of the Year, the rich and glowing Mimosa. In their words, "In a time of economic uncertainty and political change, optimism is paramount and no other color expresses hope and reassurance more than yellow." Whether that means painting your walls, drinking or planting a Mimosa, I hope you find this colour to be equally as inspiring. I raise my glass of mimosa to a fresh beginning!

Not only is this one of the few shade-tolerant ornamental grasses, it's also very low maintenance and not the least bit invasive. Click on the link above to read the full story on this fantastic ornamental grass!!

The traditional large-flowered pansies have been around now for a century and a half or so, nearly always raised from seed that results from carefully controlled hybridizing. Although eternally popular, they may not always be the best choice if what you are hoping for is a pansy-like flower on a sturdy plant with little effort required. They have a reputation for fizzling out the second the heat of summer arrives. Even some of the tougher modern strains can't hold a candle to their close cousins, what we call Violas, sometimes also known as Winter Pansies, Bedding Violas or Perennial Pansies.

Violas have different genetics, involving Viola cornuta (Horned Violet) and other species. They tend as a group to have flowers less than an inch in diameter, but what they lack in flower size they make up for in quantity. Blooms can be practically every colour of the rainbow, from white to soft buttery yellow, true deep yellow, orange, soft pink through rose, soft blue through navy, purple and near black. True fire engine red remains elusive, though some lovely brick-red and even brown tones are represented. There really is a shade to match every possible colour scheme a gardener could dream up!

There are two main tricks to keeping Pansies and Violas performing well. First off, is deadheading. Try to get out there and pick off the spent blooms about once a week, if possible. The idea is to prevent the flowers from setting seed heads and wasting their energy. They will continue developing buds for much longer if deadheading is done faithfully. The second trick — and the warmer your summers the more this one matters — is to prune the plants back fairly hard once true summer arrives. By this I mean shearing the whole thing back to about 3 inches from the ground. It will force new vegetative growth and eventually new blooms, rejuvenating the plant and also getting rid of any foliage diseases (like powdery mildew) that may have set in.

Though both Pansies and Violas are technically perennials, it's most often the heat of summer that does them in, not the cold of winter. Early summer cutting back helps a huge amount to get them through the rigours of heat and humidity, so they can provide more blooms in late summer and autumn.

If they do happen to pack it in, many nurseries carry them again for sale in the autumn. Fall planting will give colour until the snow flies, with nice sturdy plants remaining over the winter to burst into flower along with the early spring bulbs.

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: "Can you split off part of a Molinia caerulea 'Variegata' [Variegated Moor Grass] and transplant it?" Karen — Rochester, New York

ANSWER: Yes, Molinia is easily divided or split. Spring is the best time for this, but it's best if you wait until the new leaves just begin to emerge. That way you can more easily see what you're doing.

If you want, dig up the whole clump and tear it apart into fairly generous pieces, or use a knife to quarter it. If you prefer to allow the mother plant to remain in place, just cut a wedge from it much like slicing a piece of pie. Fill in the empty spot with some soil and the clump will fill back in. I find Molinia is slow to get going again after division, but in a year or two the clump should be around the same size as the original mother plant.

QUESTION: "I planted Mint in my garden and didn't realize how invasive this plant can be. So, I'm digging it up but do you have any other recommendations to control/eliminate this plant? Good advice — know what you're planting before it goes in the ground! Unfortunately, that ship has sailed." Mike — Flint, Michigan

ANSWER: I've had pretty good luck keeping Mint contained by sinking a large plastic pot into the ground but allowing the rim to stick out of the soil about two inches. Just fill it with garden soil and stick a few sprigs of Mint roots in there. You do have to keep it regularly watered though, since it's now essentially growing in a container. Eventually some roots might find the drain holes and sneak through, but that won't be for a couple or three years. One way to help prevent this is to give the pot a quarter turn every few weeks, which will sever off any roots thinking about escaping.

Well, it's been quite awhile since we visited this whole problem, so I'd like to make it a topic for this month's contest. Tell us what methods you have used for discouraging cats in the garden — methods that have actually worked!! Pictured here is Pumpkin, a real whirlwind of a female that was once a tiny stray kitten here at our nursery, now happily living at the home of Brenda and Phil Goodfellow. Photo by Brenda Goodfellow.

This month we will pick the three BEST entries as winners, and each will receive a signed copy of the Perennial Gardening Guide. Winners will be announced in the May newsletter, along with a sampling of your suggestions.

Our best-selling book, the Perennial Gardening Guide (4th edition, March 2003) is a handy reference used by gardeners across North America — written by John Valleau, horticulturist for Heritage Perennials®. Available at your local Heritage Perennials® Dealer.