Category Archives: Garden Design

Tips for Choosing Foundation Plants

Foundation plants – the shrubs and other plants that are positioned in front of a house – do more than add color and seasonal interest to the exterior of a home. Chosen well, they:

  • Serve as an expression of a homeowner’s style
  • Enhance or mirror the architectural style of the house
  • Give a residence a settled, finished look
  • Increase the value of a property while upgrading the look of the neighborhood

Stand at a distance from your front door and survey the foundation plants that surround your entrance. Do they enhance the style of your home? Do they incorporate a mix of colors and textures? Do the plants offer interest in all seasons? Are they sized properly for the space? Jot a few notes and consider whether it’s time for a bit of rejuvenation or perhaps a total redo.

Hydrangea Endless Summer® accentuates the cottage style of this shingled house while adding fabulous color and nicely proportioned blossoms from midsummer to fall.

When choosing foundation plants for your house, it’s important to consider the following:

Exposure: Be aware of how much sun or shade you have in front of your home and choose plants that will thrive in those conditions.

A grouping of Hostas and Ferns adds quiet, lush beauty to a shady corner of a foundation.

Style: Is your home formal in design or more casual? Is it a period dwelling or newer build? Consider choosing plants that reflect and enhance the architectural style of your house. A seaside bungalow would look great surrounded by Hydrangeas, Ornamental Grasses, and Shrub Roses. A Colonial of any vintage might best be enhanced by evergreens and more formal plantings. A contemporary ranch might look just right with a cushion of cloud-pruned evergreens and Japanese Maples softening its edges.

Lonicera (Honeysuckle) ‘Major Wheeler’ softens the lines of a garage and adds bright color that will attract hummingbirds to the tubular blooms.

Maximize Your Views: As you consider various plants, keep in mind the style of your home’s interior design and remember that the exterior serves as a prelude to what happens indoors. If the windows of your home look out on some of the plantings, choose and site plants that enhance these views. Frame an ornamental tree or shrub in a window. Choose some fragrant shrubs for spots beneath windows that are likely to be open in fair weather. Also be careful not to choose plantings that will block a view. Instead, make the most of sight lines and choose plant sizes, colors, and styles accordingly.

Mature Size: When selecting any plant for the front of your home, keep in mind its eventual mature size. The 1-gallon shrub you plant today may reach 8’ tall in a few years. Choose and site your plants accordingly so they have adequate space to grow and so the mature plant will fit the space.

Seasonal Interest: The best foundation plantings provide interest in all four seasons. Consider mixing plant types to create a succession of “moments.” Evergreens can be used to provide year-round color and form. They also serve as a handsome backdrop for a show of spring-flowering bulbs. Spring- and summer-flowering shrubs take their turns adding attractions around your front door. End the season with perennials and shrubs that provide dramatic autumn blossoms or leaf color. In this way, your foundation plantings are never static. They change with the seasons just as you might change a wreath on the front door or the decorations in your yard.

Color: Choose a color palette that plays well with your house. You might opt for a complementary color scheme or a contrasting one. Remember that simpler can be better. Limit the number of colors you incorporate into your landscape and repeat them in different forms and sizes. Limiting the number of colors helps produce a unified, curated look.

Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’ anchors a display of Impatiens and Hosta. The limited color palette of whites and pinks enhances the gray and white colors of the house.

Textures & Forms: Choose specimens that offer a variety of textures (fine, feathery, grassy, broad-leaf) and silhouettes (mounds, pyramids, pillars).

Layers: The most successful foundation plantings create layers of interest by incorporating plants of various heights. Small ornamental trees or upright evergreens can be used as the largest elements. Mid-size shrubs fill in the mid-range. And perennials in a broad array of sizes and forms – from tall grasses to low-growing ground covers – can all be interwoven to complete the picture and fill in gaps.

Whichever plants you choose for your home, they are sure to add beauty and curb appeal to your property. Nothing says ‘welcome’ quite like an inviting entrance.

 

5 Top Houseplants for Great Gifting

Still looking to find that perfect gift for a friend or family member? Consider foliage or flowering plants. Either choice is an ideal gift for plant lovers, and these favorites will delight non-gardeners, too. No green thumb is required to grow any of the plants and bulbs you see here. The gift of a foliage houseplant adds natural beauty and living green to any interior. These long-lasting, low-maintenance plants also help purify the air in a home or office. If flowers are more to your recipient’s liking, our exclusive indoor Bulb Gardens and premium-grade Amaryllis bulbs arrive ready to begin growing, and they’ll brighten winter with a spectacular flower show. The bulbs need only strong light (such as a south-facing window) and occasional water to get them growing. Your recipient will have the joy of watching beautiful flowers bloom over several weeks during the winter months.

Scroll below to find 5 fabulous gifts handpicked for just about anyone on your list. The only hard part may be choosing which ones to give.


Snake Plant ‘Moonshine’ 

Snake Plant ‘Moonshine,’ an updated spin on the undemanding traditional indoor warrior, features glowing silver leaves overlaid with horizontal green accents. Known for tolerating neglect, ‘Moonshine’ (Sansevieria trifasciata) takes indirect light and forgetful care in stride. Snake Plants rarely bloom, but when they do, numerous dainty flowers in shades of white or cream appear on tall stalks.

Scindapsus ‘Silver Satin’

Forest-green leaves glazed and generously dotted with silver give this Silver Satin Pothos its distinctive look. As carefree as any houseplant could be, it asks only for occasional water (and not too much). The trailing plants look marvelous in hanging planters or cascading from shelves and tables.

Begonia ‘Escargot’

A bold spiral resembling a snail shell patterns each leaf of easy-care Rex Begonia ‘Escargot.’ Rendered in rich bands of pewter, chocolate, and green, it creates an effect that will draw your eye from across the room. Pale pink flowers are an added pleasure. It makes a stunning houseplant.

Amaryllis ‘Cherry Nymph’

The Nymph series of Amaryllis produces huge, almost fully double flowers whose rich texture and colors set new standards of beauty for this elegant genus. The large, red blooms of longtime favorite ‘Cherry Nymph’ have a shimmering, iridescent quality, and the plant’s thick, strong stems hold them high. We offer ‘Cherry Nymph’ in a variety of presentations – from bareroot bulb (for DIY potting or displaying in glass) to a bulb with a glass  hurricane or vase (shown above), to bulbs pre-potted in baskets or nursery pots. Set the Amaryllis in a room with bright light, give it occasional water, and watch the glorious flower show unfold.

Tiny Trumpets Bulb Collection

The blossoms of miniature Daffodil ‘Jetfire’ have sunny yellow petals and an extended orange corona. They’re a perfect partner for the blue flower spikes of aromatic Muscari armeniacum. We love this simple, fragrant harbinger of spring. It’s a lovely gift that provides a spirited preview of spring.

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Attracting Butterflies to Your Garden

You can attract a variety of butterflies to your garden by offering some of the blossoms they love best and by incorporating accessories that provide support. The plants highlighted here all produce nectar-rich flowers that are vital sources of food for pollinators, and all offer beauty and color for human admirers. Asclepias (Milkweed), Buddleia (Butterfly Bush), Liatris, and Lantana are among the best plants for butterflies.

1. Liatris ligulistylis

In our gardens, Liatris ligulistylis is a butterfly magnet during its long run of summer bloom (July to September) and a feeding station for goldfinches come fall. It is particularly popular with Monarch butterflies, and you can always spot the plant in the garden because it’s where you see a lot of orange-and-black wings fluttering.

2. Liatris spicata ‘Kobold’

A compact selection of the prairie native that’s commonly called Blazing Star, Liatris spicata ‘Kobold’ is a butterfly favorite. These plants thrive in full sun or partial shade and well-drained, even dry, soil, but they struggle in the desert Southwest. Best planted in groups, they will create a lot of pollinator traffic at the edge of the border.

3. Phlox paniculata Candy Store® Coral Crème Drop

Phlox is an important genus of valuable garden plants that includes reliable and colorful species that bloom both early and late, in sun and shade, and in a range of rich colors that is equaled by few other genera. The hardy Candy Store® series was developed in the Netherlands where it was bred specifically for a compact habit, attractive leaf and flower coloration, and good disease resistance. Coral Crème Drop offers rosy coral petals highlighted with white and a deep-pink eye. Its long-blooming and sweetly fragrant flower clusters are closely packed on compact, well-branched plants.

4. Phlox paniculata ‘Jeana’

Phlox paniculata ‘Jeana’ is a vigorous grower that produces showy, dense heads of lavender-pink flowers that are adored by butterflies. This variety has proven to be extraordinarily mildew resistant, and it blooms all summer into fall. ‘Jeana’ was included in an extensive Phlox trial at Mt. Cuba Center, where she was deemed “without a doubt, the best-performing phlox,” and the one that attracted more butterflies than any other variety.

5. Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’

Echinacea Magnus

Butterflies love Echinacea (commonly called Coneflower), a North American genus in the Daisy family  that features big, bright flowers that appear in late June and keep coming into September. The popular Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’ variety features petals that are an especially vibrant carmine-rose shade and are held almost horizontally, which makes for a more open face than the shuttlecock shape of the species. Butterflies and other pollinators feed at the large cones, and in autumn, the seed heads attract birds including goldfinches.

6. Buddleia davidii Buzz™ Ivory

Buddleia Buzz Ivory

Sized perfectly for large pots or smaller spaces in the garden, compact Buddleia davidii Buzz™ Ivory produces lovely panicles of white blossoms that attract a wide variety of pollinators. Deadhead this 4′ Butterfly Bush to keep the blossoms coming from summer to fall.

7. Asclepias tuberosa Gay Butterflies Mix

Asclepias tuberosa Gay Butterflies Mix

Asclepias, commonly called Milkweed, is the essential plant for Monarch butterflies, providing nourishment through all their life stages. Our Asclepias Gay Butterflies Mix not only feeds Monarchs and other beneficial insects, it offers boldly colored, ornamental blooms in shades of fiery red, orange, and yellow in June and July. We sell it as a collection of 3 plants to provide a sampling of the full color range.

8. Zinnia ‘Zowie! Yellow Flame’

Zinnia 'Zowie! Yellow Flame'

Nothing ignites a bed or mixed border like a mass planting of Zinnia ‘Zowie! Yellow Flame.’ Its brilliant, yellow-tipped petals start off magenta-pink then turn to scarlet-rose around a dramatic red-and-yellow cone. An annual in cooler climates such as ours, the plant is a hit with gardeners and pollinators alike. Deadhead the spent blossoms regularly, and the flowers will keep coming over a long season.

SHOP ALL POLLINATOR-FRIENDLY PERENNIALS

 

Stars of the Late-Season Garden

As summer draws to a close and blossoms begin to fade, it’s important to rely on plants that bring late-season interest to borders and beds. Among the autumn and winter stars of the garden are perennial favorites including fall-blooming Anemones, Asters, Ornamental Grasses, Perovskia (Russian Sage), Rudbeckias, Sedums, and Symphyotrichums, and shrubs including Aronia (Chokeberry), Itea (Sweetspire), Oakleaf Hydrangea, and Viburnum. Every garden needs a sampling of these easy-care plants to maximize the season of bloom or foliage interest and to carry the garden and landscape into autumn and beyond. A number of these plants also provide essential food for pollinators, who need nourishment and support as the season nears its end. Below are a few of our favorites.

Symphyotrichum 'Purple Dome'
Symphyotrichum ‘Purple Dome’

The first true dwarf among the New England Asters, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae ‘Purple Dome’ offers perfect 1″ flowers of bright purple in such profusion that they completely cover the compact plant for a full month starting in mid-September. Plants are sturdy enough never to need support and they make a delightful mass of rich color. Late in the season, the seeds provide a high-energy food source for chickadees, titmice, and wrens. Try them with Japanese Anemones.

Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'
Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’

One of the best and most beloved garden plants of all time is the Black-eyed Susan, a glorious and traditional highlight of summer. While the native plant Rudbeckia fulgida is enchanting, sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’ improves upon an already good thing by providing more and bigger flowers in a consistent bright golden yellow on upright plants that reach 40″. It blooms prodigiously from late July to early October.

Aronia Low Scape® Mound
Aronia Low Scape® Mound

From the UConn breeding program run by Mark Brand and Bryan Connolly comes Aronia melanocarpa Low Scape® Mound, an improved, low-growing form of our native Chokeberry. It welcomes spring with a profusion of white flowers that turn to nearly black fruit. The berries are a favorite of birds, including mockingbirds, warblers, and vireos. The glossy green foliage provides a lovely backdrop for the blooms before changing to red and orange for fall.

Symphyotrichum 'Purple Dome'
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’

Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ (‘Herbstfreude’) is one of the highlights of the late-season garden. Its leaves are blue green, thick, and succulent. Its flowers, which begin to open in August on 18–24″ stems, start rosy pink, deepen to salmon, then to rust, and finally turn rich brown in an evolution that takes place over many weeks. The blooms are long lasting in a vase and are superb dried, whether brought indoors or left standing in the garden to catch light snowfalls.

Ornamental Grass "Karl Foerster'
Ornamental Grass “Karl Foerster’

As an exclamation point in a border, Feather Reed Grass is one of our favorites because of its upright habit and good manners. Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ forms neat clumps of foliage 18–24″ tall. In June, the toasty brown, feathery flower spikes rise up to 5′ or more. By August they are narrow shafts of a buff color. Despite their delicate and graceful appearance they hold their shape through the winter.

Perovskia 'Blue Jean Baby'
Perovskia ‘Blue Jean Baby’

A hardy, compact Russian Sage, Perovskia atriplicifolia ‘Blue Jean Baby’ is a great choice for anyone whose garden is too small for the original. Stems of silver-green foliage with small purple flowers erupt in a lilac haze in midsummer, and the color lasts until fall.

Viburnum trilobum 'Wentworth'
Viburnum trilobum ‘Wentworth’

‘Wentworth’ is an outstanding native Viburnum trilobum that has three seasons of interest. In late spring, it produces abundant heads of white flowers. The flowers are followed by clusters of ¼” berries that turn bright glistening red as they ripen in late summer, attracting thrushes and cardinals among other species. Finally, in autumn, the 3-lobed foliage takes on stunning shades of burgundy. ‘Wentworth’ has an upright habit that makes it useful as a screen or an informal hedge.

Roses & a Few Favorite Friends

Plants are like people in the sense that they thrive in communities, and they tend to shine brighter in the company of good friends. This June, our Rose Garden at the farm provided a glorious illustration of the power of harmonious relationships. In a long, meandering border planted with roughly 70 Roses, each variety is enhanced by its proximity to perennials that provide complementary or contrasting color, form, and texture. As the garden hit its peak in June, it offered visitors a textbook example of how to plant Roses and their preferred companions for best effect. While the peak has now passed, the garden will continue to provide rolling waves of bloom, thanks to the perennials that keep company with all the Roses. If you happen to live nearby or are in range to make a visit, we hope you’ll come by and take a stroll. In the meantime, we thought it might be helpful to showcase some of the perennials that do such a great deal to bring magic to the Rose Garden. We hope they inspire you to plant some of your own.

The red spires of Lupine ‘Red Rum,’ the lavender-blue spikes of a Nepeta, and stands of dark purple Salvia ‘Caradonna’ provide contrasting colors amid the white blossoms of Rose Easy Spirit™.
The golden blossoms of Rose Easy Elegance® Yellow Submarine are enhanced by the blue flowers of a Campanula, which have the charming habit of intermingling with their neighbors.
Rose Easy on the Eyes™ finds flattering company amid mounds of Baptisia australis (rear), red-leaved Penstemon ‘Dark Towers,’ lavender-blue Nepeta Junior Walker™ (left), and the felted gray foliage of Stachys byzantina ‘Fuzzy Wuzzy’ (Lamb’s Ears).
The airy, creamy plumes of Aruncus dioicus (Goatsbeard) form a lovely backdrop for two pink-flowering Roses, while an Iris creates a dreamy pool of lavender-blue.

Click through to the Rose Companions section of our website to find more perennials that serve as excellent companions for Roses, and consider adding some to your garden.

SHOP ALL ROSES

Beauty & Perfume in Our Rose Garden

A few years back, we repurposed a somewhat tired shrub border and installed a new garden highlighting Roses and some of their favorite companions. After all, there are sooo many Roses out there – we can’t grow them all, but we wanted to get to know a few new cultivars, learn about unfamiliar older varieties, watch for cold hardiness and disease resistance, etc. It’s been very educational and, in fact, we’ve had very few outright “misses”; no plants that clearly aren’t what we thought they were.

Aside from all that, it’s a lovely garden, and it’s perfuming the entire nursery at the moment. If you live in the area or can manage a visit, we hope you’ll swing by.

1. Easy On The Eyes™

Rose Easy on the Eyes™

2. Easy Elegance® Music Box

Rose Easy Elegance® Music Box

3. Easy Elegance® Yellow Submarine 

Rose Easy Elegance® Yellow Submarine

4. At Last®

Rose At Last®

5. Easy Elegance® Champagne Wishes

Rose Easy Elegance® Champagne Wishes

6. Double Knock Out®

Rose Double Knock Out®

7. Bonica®

Rose Bonica®

SHOP ALL ROSES

What’s Going On in the Garden?

At White Flower Farm, we welcome hundreds of visitors each year during the growing season, and we invite them to take leisurely strolls around our display gardens. But because not all of our customers and fellow gardeners are in range of the farm, and because even those who visit might like an occasional behind-the-scenes peek at what’s happening here, we’re introducing What’s Going On in the Garden?, a series of occasional emails devoted to providing glimpses of what’s blooming in our borders, along with notes about the activities in our gardens and greenhouses. We hope you’ll enjoy this chance to garden alongside us.

To start the series, we had to begin with this year’s Tulips, which were spectacular. In the midst of a cold and often gusty spring, these jewels of the early season taught us all something about beauty, resilience, and grace.

There is tremendous range of color and form in the Tulip world, and the variations extend to Tulip foliage. The bold colored blossoms of Tulip ‘Arjuna’ were enough to make this variety a standout in our spring border, and the rippled leaves with golden edges added another layer of interest.

The farm’s head gardener, Cheryl Whalen, and her staff always incorporate plenty of Tulips into display beds, but new this season, we had the pleasure of watching the Tulip trial garden we planted last fall come to life. Last October, our horticulture team and gardening staff worked together to plan and plant the garden, and the bulbs were laid out in neat, tidy rows, each carefully labeled. The purpose of the trial was to grow each and every variety we offer – roughly 130 in total – and watch the individual varieties develop, study their characteristics including color, height, and blossom time, and make certain their performances were consistent with what we advertise. The trial also allowed our staff to conceive of new Tulip combinations. The earliest Tulips began blossoming in early to mid April. Mid-season varieties came on strong shortly after, and the Tulip season ended with a grand finale in mid-May. As the trial garden demonstrated, planting an array of Tulips with various bloom times allows gardeners to orchestrate waves of color, a rolling sequence of bloom at a time when the garden – and gardeners – are starved for color.

On a chilly morning in April, members of the White Flower Farm staff review the activity in the Tulip trial bed.

This year’s unusually cool spring meant the Tulips were forced to endure a hard frost, and we all kept our fingers crossed that night. In the morning, the plants were bowed down and seeming to shiver, their stems and foliage showing the alarming watery appearance that indicates potential tissue damage. When this happens, the key is to leave the Tulips undisturbed. Touching them may cause tissue damage that could significantly worsen the effects of the cold. In this case, the sun’s heat soon warmed the atmosphere, and by that afternoon, the Tulips were standing themselves back up by degrees. Plants subjected to a freeze may not always rebound, but if the duration of the freeze is short, they are often able to shake it off. The Tulip show went on, the flowers bringing bright pops of gorgeous color to the landscape. The spectrum of Tulip colors, sizes, and forms – from classic goblets and Parrots to fringed and Peony styles, made the trial beds pure joy to behold, and they were a magnet for visitors to the White Flower Farm Store and display gardens.

Tulip ‘Purissima Blonde’ and other Tulips were bowed down in the trial garden after the temperature plummeted to 30 degrees F overnight. But the plants all shook off the cold and got on with the show.

Elsewhere around the farm, Tulips were showcased in a variety of ways that offer plenty of inspiration for home gardeners. Cheryl and her staff always plant bulbs in strategic places throughout beds and borders, and this year was no exception. In the beds nearest the store, Tulips were densely planted amid Daffodil bulbs. When the flowers emerged together this spring, the effect was a confetti of spring color.

Head gardener Cheryl Whalen creates new bulb mixes each year. This combination featuring two Tulip varieties and one Narcissus was a favorite that will be appearing in our fall catalog.

Along the Lloyd Border and in other display beds, clusters of colorful Tulips were planted out amid existing shrubs and emerging perennials, creating a river of bright, bold color to draw the eye along. In some cases, Cheryl and her staff planted Tulip bulbs amid perennial ground-covers such as Myosotis sylvatica (Forget-Me-Not), Ajuga (Bugleweed), or Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’ (Creeping Jenny).

Different Tulip varieties in a range of harmonious colors are woven into the display beds at the farm. The blue ground cover is Myosotis sylvatica (Forget-Me-Not), a pretty partner for Tulips.

Tulips were also positioned in front of emerging shrubs such as Viburnum carlesii Spice Baby™ and Cotinus coggygria Winecraft Black® (Smokebush), so the emerging foliage or flowers could serve as an attractive backdrop. The colors provided by ground covers and shrubs heighten the effect of any Tulip display, creating a layered look and lively color contrasts.

Tulip ‘Sweet Light’ glows in the early spring garden with the fragrant flowers of Viburnum Spice Baby™ and our Hyacinth May Day Bouquet Collection adding color and perfume in the background.

Tulips, generally speaking, should be treated as annuals. While some varieties, including Species Tulips and Perennial Tulips such as Darwin Hybrids and Impression Tulips, may flower for up to three years, the majority should not be relied upon for repeat bloom in subsequent springs. At the farm, we are in the process of digging up and composting all of this spring’s Tulips and ordering the varieties we will be planting this fall. The fun of this process is that each autumn brings the opportunity to try new varieties and color combinations. Removing spent Tulips from the spring garden also opens up bare spots that can be filled with annuals or perennials that add a different kind of beauty to the garden as the season progresses.

What are we planting in the trial garden in place of the Tulips? Loads and loads of Dahlia tubers. And we’ll have plenty to tell you about that as the flowers begin to emerge in late summer.

SHOP ALL TULIPS

Our Top 5 Gifts for Mother’s Day

For moms everywhere, the last year has been a tremendous challenge. In addition to juggling the routine demands of family life, many were called upon to manage daily child-care duties and the ups and downs of remote learning all while trying to hold down their own jobs. Mother’s Day, May 8th, is a terrific time to show your Mom a whole lot of love and appreciation. Scroll below, and you’ll find a broad array of botanically inspired gifts. (For order deadlines for all of our Mother’s Day gifts, click here).

1. Lavender ‘Goodwin Creek Grey’ in Pendu Pot

Moms who love the soothing sight and scent of Lavender will delight in this beautiful, fragrant favorite. We ship bushy plants in a handmade clay pot with saucer. The plants thrive indoors in a sunny room.

2. Burgundy Compact Moth Orchids in 5″ Ceramic Cachepot

Burgundy Compact Moth Orchids in 5" ceramic cachepot
Treat Mom to beautifully proportioned, long-blooming Moth Orchids that bear 2″ velvety blooms in rich burgundy. The plants are larger than Mini Moths and more compact than taller, standard-size varieties. We ship budded plants with blossoms that will open in sequence and last for weeks.

3. Lavender Fields Wreath

Lavender Fields Wreath
Picture our bestselling dried wreath in your Mom’s house. Sprigs of lovely Lavender and blue-gray Eucalyptus are arranged with the subtle purples, blues, and whites of dried Caspia, Phalaris, Rice Flower, Statice, and Larkspur. Our wreath is great for indoor decorating, and it’s a lasting beauty that mom will cherish for many months to come.

4. Grace Bouquet

Grace Bouquet
Send Mom a bouquet that’s as special as she is. The Grace Bouquet was designed exclusively for us by floral designer Semia Dunne of Providence, R.I. It showcases Roses in a smoky lavender color, vibrant Iris, and boldly hued Statice. In addition, fragrant Eucalyptus, Freesia and elegant white Peonies add beauty and unforgettable perfume.

5. Serenity Bouquet

Serenity Bouquet
Give your Mom a gorgeous bouquet in a soothing palette of pretty pastels. Our Serenity Bouquet blends white Roses, Peruvian Lilies, Carnations, and Baby’s Breath with pale lavender Stock and the leaves of Eucalyptus and Ruscus to create a bouquet that adds serene elegance to any room.

When in Doubt, Delight Mom With a Gift Certificate to White Flower Farm 

If you’re not certain what your Mom might like most for Mother’s Day, you can always delight her with a gift certificate to White Flower Farm. Our gift certificates never expire, and they invite your Mom to choose whatever she’d might like from our wide array of garden plants, houseplants, garden decor, decorative accessories and gift items. A gift certificate also welcomes her to White Flower Farm, where our knowledgeable, friendly staff will be happy to answer her garden questions. Gift certificates valued at $50 and more are 10% off. Click here to order.

 

Growing Roses Is Easier Than Ever

Today’s Roses are not your grandmother’s finicky, high maintenance plants. Thanks to the efforts of talented and patient breeders, many of today’s Roses are vigorous plants that more readily shrug off pests and diseases and bring years of classic beauty, and often fragrance, to the garden. What this means for gardeners is that growing Roses is easier than ever. For novices or those who could use a refresher, our nursery manager Barb Pierson offers these simple tips:

Helpful Tips for Growing Roses

1. If you live in a colder climate, as we do here in Connecticut, try growing Roses close to the foundation of your home. This provides plants with some degree of winter protection. Walkways are also good spots provided there is full sun. This is generally defined as at least 6 hours per day of direct sunlight.

Rose Suñorita™

2. Remember that light changes as the angle of the sun shifts throughout the season. If you live in the upper half of the U.S., choose a site that will offer full sun year-round. The more sun you have, the more flowers your plants will produce. In the lower half of the U.S., choose spots with a little bit of afternoon shade. This protects blossoms from the scorching sun and helps your flowers last longer.

Rose Ebb Tide™

3. Roses love sandy soil. Amend your soil accordingly to provide the best footing for plants. Also choose sites with good drainage, which helps ensure that Roses overwinter more successfully. They do not like wet, cold feet.

4. Do not crowd your Roses. Plants that don’t have adequate air circulation and sunlight are more susceptible to powdery and downy mildew. Remove any spent foliage from the ground around your Roses. The leaves contain natural fungal spores that can transfer to your Roses.

Rose Olivia Rose Austin™

5. Artificial liquid fertilizers tend to promote plant growth that is soft and tender, and this type of foliage can attract aphids and other pests. Instead, rely on compost and natural fertilizers to feed your plants.

Rose Julia Child™

6. If problems develop, horticultural oil and insecticidal soap can help control insects and mildews.

Rose Pretty Polly™ Pink

7. When pruning, be judicious. If you prune too hard in autumn, plants can be damaged beyond recovery. Instead, wait until spring, when plants begin to leaf out for the new season. (Roses are often not the earliest plants in the garden to respond to spring’s warming temperatures, so be patient.) Give the plant time to show its leaf buds then prune above that level.

SHOP ALL ROSES

Early Spring Bloomers

Start the spring color show early in your garden with a variety of early blooming perennials, shrubs, and trees. From Witch Hazels, which blossom in late winter, and Hellebores, which generally flower before the last of the snow has melted, to Virginia Bluebells, Brunneras, and Magnolias, there are countless ways to incorporate a rainbow of rich colors into your spring planting schemes. What better way to celebrate the arrival of a new growing season?

Witch Hazel ‘Jelena’

The best antidote to winter is a planting of Witch Hazels. This genus of 5 species of upright, spreading shrubs or small trees provides the first big display of color, beginning in late February or early March and continuing for 6 weeks or more depending on the season (the flower petals sensibly curl up if the temperatures plummet). For an even earlier display, cut some branches in January and force them into bloom indoors. Plants thrive in average, well-drained soil.

We love Witch Hazels for the color they bring to winter gardens and for their hardy, problem-free nature. ‘Jelena’ is a favorite, with large ribbonlike petals that gleam coppery orange. In autumn, the shrub lights up again as its matte green leaves turn fiery shades of red and yellow.

Hellebore Gold Collection® ‘Madame Lemonnier’

Hellebores are considered aristocrats of the woodland garden. Native to Europe and western Asia, the genus contains about 20 species of perennials that bloom in early winter in mild climates and in late winter or early spring where the soil freezes hard, which makes them either the last or the first flowers in the garden. In our gardens here at the farm, they are among the first plants to bloom, bringing a splash of color to the late winter garden, sometimes blossoming amid the last of the snow. They require a moist but well-drained site under the shade of trees. Take care to amend the soil with plenty of organic matter, such as well-aged leaf mold and compost. You’ll be rewarded with long-lived, deer- and vole-resistant plants that will spread nicely on their own.

Hellebore Gold Collection® ‘Madame Lemonnier’ is a large-blossomed beauty that was discovered by a gardener in Normandy, France, where her passion for growing Hellebores turned into a full-fledged hybridization program. The plant’s 3″ upfacing blooms are rich purple red, and are held above lush green foliage on tidy, clumping plants. Under greenhouse conditions at the nursery, many of these impressive blossoms exceeded 4″. A magnificent addition to shade gardens.

Forsythia x intermedia Show Off®
Forsythia x intermedia Show Off®

It is impossible to live in a northern climate and be unfamiliar with Forsythia. The durability, vigor, and abundant yellow flowers of this early bloomer make it one of the most popular and important ornamental plants known. Forsythia Show Off® is perfect for a tight hedge or a specimen in a border. From France comes this compact variety whose golden flowers are brighter, larger, and stacked closer along the stems from soil to tip. Another bonus is the dark green foliage.

Magnolia ‘Genie’

Magnolia is a genus of over 100 species of trees and shrubs widely distributed from the Himalayas to East Asia and in the Americas. Introduced Japanese and Chinese species and their hybrids, such as the showy white Star Magnolia and the pink Saucer Magnolia, draw the most attention in spring. The handful of species native to Eastern North America include the magnificent, evergreen Southern Magnolia (M. grandiflora), Sweet Bay (M. virginiana), and the large Cucumber Tree (M. acuminata).

Magnolia ‘Genie’ is a fairly compact variety, growing 12–15’. In early spring, lightly fragrant, 6″ cupped blossoms appear on slender branches, like goblets of burgundy. A second, lighter flush of bloom arrives in midsummer when provided with full sun and adequate moisture. Bred in New Zealand, this slender, well-branched variety blooms for a longer period, even when young. An ideal small tree to feature alone, in pairs, or to put the finishing touch on a mixed border.

Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’

A friend of ours once referred to this charming plant as “prompt” because of the way its beautiful silvery green leaves break ground quite early in spring. They’re followed by a haze of tiny azure flowers, which give this plant one of its nicknames, False Forget-me-not. (It’s also sometimes known as Siberian Bugloss and Heartleaf Bugloss.) Brunnera is most at home in woodlands or along shady stream beds, where it will form a lush understory of quiet beauty. Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ is a standout variety with frosted leaves veined and outlined in green. The plants grow to 12″ tall and as wide, and while the blossoms provide a fleeting show, the foliage looks superb all season long.

Mertensia virginica
Mertensia virginica

Everyone loves Virginia Bluebells (M. virginica) for their sapphire blue flowers on 18″ stems that gleam from shady spots in April and May, making them an ideal underplanting for shrubs and trees. Plants thrive in deciduous shade and moist soil, where they will seed themselves to create a charming colony.

Trillium grandiflorum 'Flore Pleno'
Trillium grandiflorum ‘Flore Pleno’

Trilliums are spring-blooming wildflowers much prized by woodland gardeners for their delicate, 3-petaled flowers and distinctive foliage. Trillium grandiflorum ‘Flore Pleno’ is an exquisite double form that produces pure white flowers in April and May, which will enchant you and all visitors to your garden.