Production

We have been having a pretty good season for growing perennials, grasses and roses. Here are some examples of what we are growing here on the yard.

Walker's low finished very fast this year and is already on the gravel ready to go. It is such a nice, low growing plant that can cover a large area with profuse purple flowers all summer.



This is one of our production houses. (Actually this picture was taken a couple of weeks ago) Filled with daylilies, Black-eyed Susan, Catmint, Yarrow, Sedum and Salvia. Most everything in this house has finished and is ready for planting.



Two miles down the road we have a production and holding yard called Ranchito. We plant roses and grasses at this location. The combiation of heat and sun really makes them shoot up and look beautiful.



Little Blue Stem was one of the first of the grasses to root and finish and it filled out so quick. It has a very upright habit with colorful foliage that turns orange red in fall. It is a prairie plant that does well in our hot dry summers.



Karl Foerster Feather Reed grass always blows me away. It was up and blooming before anything else was even starting to root. The flowers are such a pretty, soft pink and turn to light brown for the entire summer and fall.

A Muddy Spring Day

There is so much going on out here at the nursery that I cannot decide on a specific topic...so, here is a mix of some of the beautiful things that are blooming or have outstanding foliage.

Golden Spirit Smoke Tree (shrub form)

Corinthian Linden
The flowers of Lindens have always fascinated me, they are like nothing I have ever seen before...Amazing!



Climbing Carefree Sunshine Rose



Brite Eyes Climbing Rose
The spider thought he was tough and tried to eat the camera.


Home Run Rose


Forever and Ever Peppermint Hydrangea


Moonshine and Angelique Yarrow

Hosta Virus X

I finally have some time and the Hostas are fully leafed out so here goes...
Hosta Virus X is a virus that infects Hostas (not too surprising) and will eventually kill the plant. Hostas have always been pretty tough and reliable with slugs as about the only pest that bothers with them, and there are even varieties that are highly slug resistant. And then this virus was discovered a little more than 10 years ago and it has been difficult to control in nurseries and greenhouses.

Due to the variations in symptoms, this virus is often overlooked and may not be diagnosed before the virus spreads. There were even some varieties that were named as a new cultivar because of the interesting variegation, when they actually tested positive for the virus. Some of the symptoms are; mottling of the leaves, stunted or abnormal growth and collapsing leaf tissue. Here is an example of Gold Standard that tested positive for HVX.
We received these plants from a nursery last spring. The symptoms started showing soon after the leaves emerged. The Johnson County K-State Extension office tested these and others that were in the same shade house. Every plant that tested positive or was showing symptoms was destroyed along with the pots.

The virus spreads by infected sap transfered to an open wound on another plant and can be easily spread during pruning or even walking through a shade house where there are infected plants. With this virus it is very important to catch it early and destroy the plant. There is no chemical or method to kill or control HVX, which is a major issue on the growing side. Most reliable growers test their cultures and do not propagate infected tissues.

There do seem to be some varieties that are more succeptable to infection and some that are highly resistant and everything in between. Some varieties have been called 'Immune' but there is no evidence yet that they cannot become infected. This is a Gold Edger that was showing symptoms at the same time as the Gold Standard, but had been in the shade house for several years.It seems that the gold or yellow varieties are pretty easily infected, but it may be that the symptoms just show up a little easier on that particular color of leaf.

Here is a list of varieties that seem to be more succeptable:

Birchwood Parky’s Gold Blue Cadet Color Glory Diamond Tiara El Nino, Fan Dance Gold Edger Gold Standard Golden Prayers Golden Tiara Goldrush Harvest Glow Hydon Sunset Janet Kara Krossa Regal Little Aurora Louisa Lunacy Montana Chirifu Moonlight Sport Opipara Pacific Blue Edger Paradise Joyce Queen Josephine Regal Slendor Richland Gold Rim Rock Royal Standard Stiletto Striptease Sun Power Sum & Substance Undulata Albomarginata Wide Brim Yellow Splash Rim.

It seems like a huge list but these are varieties that have had some plants test positive.
One more much smaller list, these are the varieties that were named as and marketed as new varieties but were actually infected plants:

'Blue Freckles'

'Breakdance'

'Dotted Fantasy'

'Eternal Father'

'Kiwi Dreadlocks'

'Kiwi Watercolours'

'Leopard Frog'

'Lunacy'

'Pamela Ann'

'Parkish Gold'

'Strip Show'

'Tye Dye'

There is a lot of information out there on this disease, but the most important thing is stopping it from spreading as much as possible. If you are seeing symptoms but are not sure, the K-State Extension office will test the plant at a small cost. They need the roots and leaves and it needs to be a fresh specimen. Here is their website for more information: http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=24

Ninebark

The colors of Ninebark (Physocarpus sp.) are a bright addition to a sunny area. One planting of these that always catches my attention is near the on ramps between 7 hwy and 10 Hwy here in Olathe. They are HUGE, have dark purple-red leaves and arching stems. They are pretty impressive right now, but when they start blooming in a few weeks they will blow you away. Keep a look out for them on you way out to the nursery. In the mean time, here are a few photos of the varieties we have in stock right now:

Coppertina is really the most colorful with several colors blending together on each leaf.



Summer Wine Ninebark is a very dark purple green color and will darken even more as the season progresses.


Darts Gold Ninebark is a glowing variety with bright golden-chartreuse foliage. It really stands out next to the darker varieties.


Diablo Ninebark is the darkest with purple green foliage.


And here is what they all look like together:From left to right: Summer Wine, Dart's Gold, Coppertina

The View From Below

I have the best job in the world! We just got in more Dogwoods; Pink and Cherokee Princess. I was out yesterday tagging them with our store tags and grading tape and daydreaming when I looked up.
This is what I saw:
It absolutely took my breath away!

This is the Cherokee Princess flower close-up, you can see the tiny yellow flowers blooming in the middle of the bracts.


And here are a couple more photos of the new trees that came in from our fields:

This is the view while standing on the root ball of Pacific Sunset Maple

One thing I had never really noticed before is the flower of the Pacific Sunset. I think they must be the showiest Maple flowers I have ever seen (next to Boxelder), and now that the leaves are out, they have the perfect background.

A Little Green

Of course, most of the focus right now is on flowers, and for good reason; we have been waiting for months for them. The flowers are beautiful, but I wanted to focus this post on the green that is coming out all over right now.

Golden Rain Tree Leaves



Full Moon Japanese Maple Flowers and Leaves



Bur Oak Leaves



This is amazing, you have to really look to find these little leaf buds on the Ginkgo.



October Glory Maple Fruits (Helicopters)



This is a variety that we just started carrying. It's called June Snow Dogwood. You can see already that the flowers are more like a rough leaf Dogwood. I will add more photos of these as the flowers open up.

June Snow



Musashino Zelkova
These leaves absolutely glow in the afternoon sun, and the reddish bracts are such a nice contrast.

All about Hostas

I fell completely in love with Hostas a few years ago when I saw all of the amazing cultivars and enormous variety of leaf color, shape, size etc. Just when I think I can identify most varieties there are 10 more sports or hybrids. My favorites have changed throughout the years, but one that really stands out is June. It is the huge leaf in the photo at the top of this blog and all of us here at the nursery can't say enough about it. All of the Hostas we have are leafing out, so here are a few photos. The first two are June:




This is Fire and Ice, you can already see the bright, cream white center and narrow green edge on the leaves.



Blue Angel is one of the big ones. The leaves are pretty green right now, but as they get bigger they will turn powdery blue.



Another of my all time favorites, Sagae. This is a one gallon pot and the leaves are already trying to dwarf it. The next photo is from the top of the same plant looking down into the new leaves:


One last note, there is a virus that infects Hostas, called HVX (Hosta Virus X). I have seen it a few times and will post photos and more information after the Hostas are more fully leafed out. For now, some of the symptoms to look for are leaf mottling (which is sometimes hard to tell from the natural variegation) and stunted leaf growth. A report from K-State has some very good information and photos of the mottling symptoms: http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/plant2/EP132.pdf