Some of What's New at Morningside ...

Future retail area

While I was away visiting family in California, we started work on our new retail area. I say we, but it was actually a young man with a big machine. He came and changed the natural slope of our land into (what seems like to me) a very big, flat space where our new retail area will be. We also had him put in a real pond close to our rock-lined spring. The pond is filling directly from the spring, and with snow melt it is not taking the month the pond digger/land changer said it would take. In fact, it only taken about a week and a half so far. Now it is a small pond, but we are proud of it. It will be a beautiful addition to our display garden area.

On this new, graded area we will build two greenhouses and a much bigger retail area with plenty of room for parking; no more blind curve around a greenhouse. I have to say, I have no idea how all of this will happen by early April. We still have all of the seeding, potting up, and everything else we do every year to finish. It will look raw this year, but we hope that you can see the future in our new big display garden along with us. It looks huge at the moment (it is huge), but I bet we can plant it up very quickly.

Enchinacea

The greenhouses are also filling up. We will have all kinds of new Echinaceas, such as "Summer Sky," which is the first bicolor Echinacea. The huge 5-inch flowers are a light orange with a rose-colored halo and orange cone. It is prolific bloomer and highly fragrant. Another new one, "Harvest Moon (pictured left)," is a vigorous, fragrant earthy gold with a golden orange center cone. Some of our new Echinaceas are even fragrant! I can’t properly explain how show-stopping these new plants are. We will also have all of the great prairie Echinaceas such as "Magnus," with its large rose-pink petals and a coppery-brown cone, and "White Swan," with a white ray petal that flexes down away from the coppery-brown cone. I could go on and on...new retail area, lots of new plants, what could be better?

Pruning Artemesia

A few reminders before I head off to bed...now is the time to prune your buddleia, caryopteris, russian sage, and artemesia to within 6 inches of the ground. In late February, cut ornamental grasses to 6 inches also. Cut or mow (so much easier) liriope to 3 inches. Cut hydrangea arborescens to the ground and fertilize lightly. These hydrangeas, like Annabelle or Limelight (the ones with big white blooms in the summer), bloom on new wood. But be careful! Blue or pink hydrangeas (Macrophyllas) generally bloom on old wood and shouldn't be cutback until after they flower. Feed iris with bone meal and top with wood ashes. Circle herbs with lime, especially lavender. Okay, that’s it for now.