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In This Issue • Dear Gardener... • February Contest Results • Announcing the 2004 Heritage Perennials TOP 10 list!! • Link of the Month • March Contest • Great new ways to SEARCH |
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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 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! |
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Dear Gardener... As I mentioned last month, it's the garden show season. Thousands of gardeners across the country will be attending shows in the next month or two, taking in lectures, looking at amazing garden and floral displays and shopping for great new plants, gadgets and ornaments. In case you missed it last month, there's a list of garden shows posted in the "Perennial News" section back on our homepage. We will be out in full force at CANADA BLOOMS (March 3 - 7), and we'd love to meet you at our Feature Garden. It's easy to find us -- we're Feature Garden #1! The title and theme is "Perennials: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow". Our garden designer, Richard Gruener, describes it like this: "Gardens tell a story. They reflect our ideas, our beliefs, our lifestyles. We learn from yesterdays gardens, experiment with todays, and dream about tomorrows. The formal, controlled gardens of yesterday have evolved into the efficient, informal gardens of today. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
Our own Doug Green will be presenting "Creating Perennial Gardens to Bloom All Summer" on Thursday, March 4 at 2PM. I'll be there Saturday, March 6 speaking on "Perennial Gardening for Absolute Beginners". Both talks are in Room 718. If you do come to the show -- don't be shy! We love to meet our readers face to face and of course, we're always happy to try and answer your perennial gardening questions. -- John Valleau, editor. |
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February Contest Results  Last month we asked you to tell us "How has Vinca minor 'Illumination' performed in your garden?". Entries were a bit light this month, but it was interesting to read the variety of responses and experiences with this amazing golden-variegated selection, pictured to the right.
We held a draw this time, and congratulations go out to our three winners; each will receive a copy of the Perennial Gardening Guide: Gail (Oshawa, Ontario), Corina (Medicine Hat, Alberta), and Sue (Toronto, Ontario).
"I have used this Vinca in several flowerbeds, it spreads fairly fast. Clematis vine roots do not like to be in the sun; I have found the Vinca works GREAT to protect their roots. It shades the bottom of the plant, allowing the actual vine to be in full sun (where it does better) without "overtaking" the Clematis. I also have a bank that is hard to mow along the road, so I've planted a good bit around my other flowers to fill out, leaving a little less maintenance, and a lot more periwinkle flowers." Giovana -- Drumore, Pennsylvania "Just to let you know that 'Illumination' has been a disappointment so far -- the past two years. Maybe this year it will do something. I put it in around the base of a 'Sum and Substance' hosta, which is doing well and should be amazing this year. I hope the Vinca performs this season -- otherwise 'it's out of there' ". Sue -- Toronto, Ontario "My experience is somewhat limited as I've only had mine since mid-August, 2002. It overwintered just fine in 2002/03 (we're Zone 3) even though it didn't have much in the way of insulating snow for a good part of the winter and there was a lot of freezing/thawing as a result of fairly frequent Chinooks. It's a lovely plant and helps to brighten up our shady flower bed." Anne -- Calgary, Alberta "I was very impressed when I first saw 'Illumination', the foliage just jumped out at you. In time I acquired some small pots and planted them around the top of our north-facing ravine lot. For us it is not as vigorous compared to other cultivars of Vinca. Many of the small pieces that we planted did not survive the first winter even though they had decent root systems and were well-watered up to freeze-up. But we still have a couple of trailing pieces that we hope one day will take off and generate a nice patch of 'Illumination'." Brian -- Toronto, Ontario Who discovered 'Illumination'? An interesting thing happened this past month. After the contest was announced, a whole discussion popped up around 'Illumination' on a garden forum website. I was able to connect with Christy Hensler of Newport, Washington. Christy is the person who first discovered this Vinca in her garden, and she kindly shared the story: "I discovered Vinca minor 'Illumination' in 1995. During its first winter away from the mother plant (a common V. minor) our temperature dropped to -29 F and it was protected by only 6 inches of snow. When spring finally rolled around, I was delighted to find that it not only had survived but was putting up new shoots.
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Announcing the 2004 Heritage Perennials TOP 10 list!!  March 1st is always the big launch date for the exciting new lineup of TOP 10 PERENNIALS. This year's list is better than ever, and we're sure that gardeners in all regions will succeed with at least some of these great plants!
If you're in southern Ontario, please drop by the Heritage Perennials Feature Garden at CANADA BLOOMS -- held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building, March 3 - 7, 2004. It's easy to find the garden... Feature Garden #1 is just through the big doors beyond the bottom of the escalator. Just look for the piano. Click this TOP 10 link for full details about each selection, as well as beautiful color pictures. Now... here's the list!
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Link of the Month  Canadian garden writer Yvonne Cunnington (author of Clueless in the Garden) wrote in a few weeks ago to tell us about a new website that she's created. We're very impressed with flower-gardening-made-easy.com.
Yvonne has aimed this squarely at the beginning perennial gardener who needs help at any or every step along the way. As she puts it, "To create a lush garden full of flowers: 1) you need knowledge 2) you have to do some spadework.
Bravo! The site touches on important topics like garden design basics, selecting and planting perennials, integrating bulbs, shade gardening, ornamental grasses, wildflower meadows, easy water gardens in containers, growing things from seed and choosing good tools. Yvonne's style is straight to the point, and I find that refreshing. She's a gifted writer who is always willing to share what she has learned by doing things in her own garden and -- as we all do -- making many a mistake along the way. The proof is in the gorgeous picture above, of Yvonne's own garden near Hamilton, Ontario. |
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March Contest This month we'd like to know "What's the WORST WEED in your perennial garden?". Spring weeding is always a major activity before the perennials begin to grow very much. Please share your stories about weed infestations of the past or present, including garden plants gone crazy. This month we will select the three best entries, and winners will each receive a copy of the new Perennial Gardening Guide. Results will be announced in the April, 2004 newsletter and we'll include a sampling of the entries. TO ENTER: drop us an e-mail telling all about the worst weeds in your perennial garden. Put Garden Weeds 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: March 31, 2004. |
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Great new ways to SEARCH  Hundreds of plants have just been added to our database, including all of the newest and latest offerings from Heritage Perennials. You can now search to specifically find the new plants. Just head to www.perennials.com and type 2004 into the #2 Search box on the left side of the page, and hit Search. The links will lead you to all kinds of cool new perennials. You can also see which of the new plants will be available from Retailers in your region: gardeners in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest can try seaching on 2004BC and in Eastern regions search on 2004ON.
Our Advanced Search now includes attributes for rabbit-resistant perennials, foot-traffic tolerance and growth rate. We're just catching up with adding missing images to the database. By the end of March the majority of plant profiles should also include color pictures. |
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"Stay tuned for more great ideas on successful perennial gardening ....Out of the blue!"
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