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!

June 10 to 13 are the dates for the VanDusen Garden Show. This is the 11th year for the show, held at the wonderful VanDusen Gardens in Vancouver, British Columbia. Directions and details are on the website, just click the link above.

A brand new outdoor show makes its debut this year, the Niagara Flower & Garden Show will be June 11 to 13, in the gorgeous setting of the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens and School of Horticulture, Niagara Falls, Ontario. This show welcomes visitors from both sides of the border (as does VanDusen), and there will even be Agriculture Canada Inspectors on site so American visitors can take plants back home with them.

Both shows feature an excellent lineup of speakers and demonstrations, a large vendor area with interesting plants, garden accessories, tools & gadgets, a flower show, garden displays and loads more stuff happening. Be sure to allow extra time to stroll away from the crowds and take in the gardens themselves, and bring your camera!

I'll personally be at the Niagara Flower & Garden Show, acting as Co-coordinator for the education areas, and I look forward to meeting many of you there!

This month we picked the three best entries. Congratulations go out our three winners, listed below along with their entries. Each will receive a copy of the Perennial Gardening Guide.

WINNING ENTRIES FOR APRIL:
"My favorite cut flower for bouquets is Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla mollis). They are undemanding plants that provide a bountiful source of flowers for fresh and dried bouquets. They are a charming addition to the garden.
Last June my daughter got married and I promised to do the flower arrangements for the 25 tables. It was the flowers of the Lady's Mantle that put the finishing touch on each arrangement. Their billowing flowers and chartreuse colouring were a great combination with all of the perennials and roses we used. I will admit that I was a nervous wreck worrying about how the arrangements would turn out, but I got many compliments from the guests at the wedding. Many were amazed by their beauty, and I know it was because of the Lady's Mantle that these arrangements were so beautiful." Joanne -- New Hamburg, Ontario

"Lilies, lilies of all kinds -- Asiatics, Asiapets, Orientals, Orienpets, Stargazers, Trumpets, Aurelians -- I love them for their colors, pastels and bright, hot colors and while not all of them give off a scent, those that do are absolutely intoxicating. They make beautiful cut flowers for the house and generally I can get them to last two weeks. You must not cut lilies too far down on the stem, as they need [some foliage to remain] to replenish nutrients for next year's growth. You need to remove any leaves that might be below the water line in your vase. Cut those lilies that are just beginning to open. The Madonna [Lilium candidum] and 'Casa Blanca' and Regal (Lilium regale, pictured above) are my favorites." Dolores -- Toronto, Ontario

"One of my favourite cut flowers is the peony, and I've tried to plant a good selection of varieties, from dainty singles to lush full doubles, that will ensure a long season of bloom. A mass of peonies in a large bowl on the table not only looks wonderful but smells fantastic. If their season is not long enough for you, cut a few blooms as they are starting to open and place them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper. Wait a couple of weeks, take them out and place them in water and enjoy." Bonnie -- Port Colborne, Ontario

Equally as thorough as her first book, this is certainly a must-have design reference for the serious and dedicated perennial gardener, particularly for those that design gardens for other people. Tracy takes the reader step-by-step through the design process from beginning to end, including assessing the site, selecting a planting style, choosing plants of all kinds, working with colour, texture and form and so much more. A straightforward and simple chapter on how to go about putting a design on paper is something many of us undisciplined home gardeners (myself included!) will find useful. There is a lengthy section devoted to actual designs for different sizes of gardens, with changing themes and styles, showing the gardens both on paper and in beautiful full color photographs. Extensive planting lists are a great resource for those wanting to know each intimate planting detail.

My favourite section of the book is the "Encyclopedia of Plant Combinations", which is a close-up view of particularly charming areas within larger designs. The portraits in this section could be easily recreated in your own garden, made to fit within your larger garden scheme and translated for your particular climate region in most cases.

The entire last half of this book is made up of various charts or Appendices, the plants sorted for example by their design characteristics, maintenance requirements, cultural needs, etc. This is an extremely handy and concise feature when trying to select the right Hosta or rose for the job, for example.

QUESTION: In your website description of a flower, there is a USDA Zone with only one number. In other publications, I have seen a range of numbers. Could you clarify the significance of your USDA Zones? Sally -- Mayfield, Kansas

ANSWER: When you encounter only one Zone number listed (whether on our site or in a book) it refers to the cold tolerance. If a plant is listed as Zone 5 it should survive the winter in Zones 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. It might not be such a good choice for Zones 1, 2, 3, 4. Bear in mind that Zones at best are only a general guideline and factors such as snow cover (or lack of) and distance from a house foundation can make an enormous difference.

There has been a movement in the Southern USA in recent years to misuse USDA Zones to also indicate summer heat tolerance. For instance, a plant that hates the humid, steamy summers of Zone 8 in Texas might get rated as being good for Zones 3 through 6. That same plant may thrive in the cool and dryer Zones 8 and 9 in the Pacific Northwest but rating it Zone 3 - 6 is misleading for gardeners in different parts of zones 7, 8 and 9 particularly. We have chosen not to use USDA Zones to indicate summer heat and humidity tolerance in our Perennial Gardening Guide and on our website.

At some point the new American Horticultural Society Heat Zone Map may be something we will make use of, but for now there is not enough information widely available to assign heat zones to very many different kinds of plants.

Canadian gardeners often ask us why we make use of the USDA Zones instead of the Agriculture Canada zones. Very simple reason: many of our website users and gardeners purchasing our plants are American. While there are USDA Zones for Canada, there is no Agriculture Canada Zone Map for the United States. It seems easiest to stick with one system only, for the time being.

Canadian gardeners can find their Agriculture Canada Zone and also their equivelant USDA Zone at this Going Beyond the Zones website. You can also sign up to participate in an interesting and important national project on plant hardiness being conducted by the Canadian Forest Service.