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Articles - Planting
Plant Catalogues
The pleasure in receiving January's mass of catalogues is in fantasizing -- with a bit of discipline. I imagine all the new plants I'd like, figure out how I'm going to get the most exciting jammed into this crowded space, and then chop my order in half.
There's always a caveat about buying from exotic catalogues. The plants may not be as hardy as those grown locally but we look to these books for something new and different if only to our own neighbourhoods. So be sure to give a realistic shipping date when placing orders. Most catalogues are an inspiration, these offer no distractions except good information:
We are blessed with an enormous number of superb nurseries in southern Ontario, but the catalogue of choice for serious and sophisticated gardeners is Rainforest Gardens in Maple BC. I've had great luck with their plants. They are healthy and though I may have to baby them along a little at first, are absolutely worth it. They have almost 80 varieties of hardy geraniums alone. Their introduction for this year is G. phaeum 'Raven' which sounds fantastic: Deep maroon, purple, black to wine blooms depending on the light; midgreen foliage to 75cm, hardy to Z3. I've always found monkshood, Aconitum, an undervalued plant. They do fantastically well in a light shade and several bloomed on into October last year. I'm going to try A. carmichaelii 'Barker's Variety' at 1.2M with dark purple autumn blooms it sounds like a winner, Z4. Chrysogonum virginiaum 'Allen Bush' is in the aster family with golden star-like blooms and again will tolerate semi-shade, Z5. And they have Lysimachia ephemerum a grey green plant with white flowers that blooms all summer long, Z5. 604-467-4218; order@rainforest-garden.com, $4
For those who love rock garden plants, it's a treat to get the Wrightman Alpines bone-simple catalogue. Everything here is choice. And usually very tiny. There is an Androsace primuloides 'Sheppard's' which Wrightman says is the best form he's ever grown. I'd follow his advice on almost any plants he has. Here are a few that intrigue me: Callirhoe involucrata has sprawling 50cm stems with magenta blooms in summer; Corydalis flexuosa 'A.M.' is another of these fantastic plants with blue blooms and Veronica bombycina ssp. bolkardaghensis, collected in the wilds of Turkey and needs no special soil, is a silvery mat with blue flowers in September and October. 519-247-3751
Plants always come in absolutely first-rate condition from Stirling Perennials. They concentrate on good old fashioned plants plus a really good collection of irises and other favourites such as rock garden phlox, scented spring flowers that go well with bulbs. I like P. divaricata 'Blue Perfume', a woodland type with bright blue flowers. 519-674-0571\44
Hersonwood Nursery 264 pp. catalogue is the most important catalogue I've seen. Even if you don't order from them, this is a great reference book for your wish list. There are more introductions, more interesting comments than any other catalogue, and any horticulturally literate person will just want to own it. 360-297-4172 $5US
Then there are the lush, well-illustrated catalogues to whet the appetite. Be careful about getting sucked in, but they come with good instructions and no one really wants to sell you something you can't grow. Unfortunately, most of us are weakened by temptation. Be strong and then look at:
Gardenimport really does try to find new plants from around North America and England. They carry Knautia macedonica which is a fantastic plant with deep crimson almost black flowers all summer; Phlox paniculata 'Harlequin' is a wonderful looking plant with a cream and white variegation and deep mauve flowers that look more interesting than the insipid 'Norah Leigh'. Pulmonaria longifolia ssp.cevennensis has narrow foliage with silver streaks on a dark ground with blue flowers looks gorgeous. 1-800-339-8314; flower@gardenimport.com.
Cruickshank's spring catalogue is focussing on plants that will have a wider range of hardiness across the country. They've picked up four cushion type chrysanthemums from the Morden Agriculture Research Station in Manitoba. They also have a new honeysuckle, Lonicera 'Mandarin' from UBC Botanical gardens which is hardy to Z3. It has dark purplish-brown stems, coppery leaves that mature to glossy green and a reddish-orange to golden orange blossom. I'm tempted by a new Clematis tangutica 'Golden Tiara' which is hardy to Z2 and has large cupped yellow flowers on the outside with a chocolate brown on the inside. 416-750-9249
I forgot to mention a wonderful seed carried by Gardens North. It's cow parsely, Anthriscus sylvestris 'Ravenswing'. It can be perennial or biennial, has dark green foliage that becomes almost black with time contrasting with white flowers that look like Queen Anne's lace. It doesn't necessarily come true from seed but one maven says it self-seeds and she just rogues out the light coloured ones. 613-489-0065; garnorth@istar.ca
Copyright Marjorie Harris, 2005
CONTACT MARJORIE HARRIS
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