Spring Newsletter 2006

Now Open for the Season!!

Country Calendar May 6   Indian Creek Nature Center Plant Sale May 13   Spring in the Country Open House May 20   EIPS Pond Expo Cedar Rapids July 13-15 (CLOSED)   Midwest Regional Hosta Convention Brown Deer, WI

No matter how experienced you are, gardening always presents new things to learn and new adventures to experience. We are no different from any other gardener! As you may know, late last summer we bought out a local greenhouse whose owner was retiring. Managing a greenhouse through the winter has certainly been a learning experience and we still have much to learn. This new adventure has given us the opportunity to grow our business and reach out in new directions. Without a doubt, 2006 brings the largest selection of plants we've ever had. Our new greenhouse is literally stuffed!

We've always grown a very limited selection of popular annuals and this is the one area we have expanded the most. Jackie's husband, Jim, has taken an interest in this portion of our business and is working with us to offer a greatly expanded selection of unique annuals. We'll still have the ever popular Wave petunias and ornamental sweet potatoes, but we've also got some amazingly colorful coleus (including the giant Kong coleus), rex begonias, variegated impatiens, and several annual climbers. Bored with the standard green Spike in your mixed planters? Cordyline 'Red Sensation' will give the same vertical accent as a common Spike, but with a splash of deep red!

We have put together a nice selection of hanging baskets that will add great color to a front porch or entry way. Choose from a range of color combinations for both sun and shade situations.

Jim is also into all those weird vegetables and will be offering a wide assortment of tomato and pepper plants to add a unique twist to your veggie garden. With names like Ugly, Hershey Hybrid, Old Ivory Egg, Tequila Hybrid, Health Kick, and Wapsipinicon Peach (named after the one and only Wapsipinicon River!), who could resist trying a few of these in their garden?

For the perennial garden, we have some new plants that have been featured in many of the gardening magazines recently. Coral Bells, or Heuchera, are popular, carefree plants usually with green or purple foliage. We now have a whole selection of Coral Bells in vivid, "designer" colors. 'Marmalade' is a vigorous variety with ruffled golden-orange leaves. 'Lime Rickey' will add contrast to dark leafed plants with its mound of bright, lime-green foliage and 'Peachy Keen' is a standout with wildly splashed leaves of peach, green, and neon pink!

Coneflowers are a summer favorite. They provide a long lasting wave of color at a time when many other perennials are loosing steam. The new hybrid coneflowers now offer a rainbow of colors to paint our gardens with and as an added surprise, many of them are fragrant! Two of the best new coneflowers to date are Echinacea 'Sunrise' and 'Sunset'. 'Sunrise' features large, pale yellow flowers with a central cone that starts out green and turns gold. 'Sunset' has electric orange flowers with a large, brown cone. Perfect compliments to each other and both are scented like a delicate rose! Join the rest of the country and go Cone Crazy this year!

We may be reaching out in new directions, but we definitely are not leaving behind the passion that we built our business around...hostas and water gardens!

As hostas continue to gain in popularity, the number of new introductions each year grows, as well. The task of deciding what new hostas to grow every year has become daunting. One important factor we take into consideration is whether the plant is distinctly different from other varieties. 'Deja Blu' certainly meets this requirement. The creamy-white line that divides the blue center and gold margin creates a unique appearance not unlike 'Tattoo', but much more dramatic. 'Fire Opal' constantly shifts colors and as the center lightens from apple green to cream, a dark green line develops between the center and margin. 'Queen of the Seas' has been on my personal need-to-have list since I first saw a picture of it several years ago. The edges of the blue leaves have ruffles within ruffles!

Last spring, the Little Giant Papyrus was a big hit with water gardeners and we'll have a good supply this year. It has the same big, showy pompom tops as the Giant Papyrus, but at just 3' tall it is better suited for smaller ponds. Another foliage plant is Crytosperma johnstonii. It is similar to a Taro (with a much longer name!), but the large green leaves have colorful pink veins! Flowers are always a welcome addition and we have several new water plants with especially showy flowers. Marsh Rose Gentian is a new marginal plant that blooms with large, bright pink flowers. Also for shallow water is the Sky Flower. This is a native of the Southeast and is appropriately named for its vivid, sky-blue flowers. We are excited to finally be able to offer one of the most beautiful water lilies we've seen! Foxfire is a tropical water lily with large, star-shaped flowers in a combination of purple and pink. It is difficult to describe...the colors blend gently into one another and the two colors make the flower appear to be lit from within.

It is impossible to tell about all the exciting, new things Spring 2006 is bringing to In The Country in this limited space. You'll just have to stop out to see all the goodies we have packed into the greenhouse! The gift shop is also full of the statuary and other garden décor to add that special touch to your garden. We also have a new, larger size of the popular string algae control Pond Balance, for those larger ponds. Here's wishing you a wonderful gardening season...we look forward to seeing you soon!

Hosta of the Year

Every year since 1996 the American Hosta Growers Association has chosen a hosta as Hosta of the Year. The hosta chosen is a variety that makes a good garden plant in all regions of the country, is widely available, and retails for about $15 the year it is selected. The Hosta of the Year for 2006 is 'Stained Glass'. 'Stained Glass' is a sport of 'Guacamole' with much brighter yellow leaves surrounded by a dark green margin. Given its background, it comes as no surprise that 'Stained Glass' is a great plant. It is somewhat slower growing than the rest of the family and won't get as large. 'Stained Glass' is tolerant of quite a lot of sun and has the same big, white, fragrant flowers as 'Guacamole'.

Pond Cleaning - Simplified!

Maintaining a clean pond environment is one of the most important things in keeping your fish healthy and undesirable algae growth to a minimum. Removing the layer of muck that accumulates on the pond floor is often the most dreaded task for pond owners – it is both labor intensive and messy. Let us help!! The Pond Vac III is one of the highest rated pond vacuum systems available today. It works much like a shop vac except it automatically empties the holding tank once it is full, eliminating the need to dismantle the vacuum. Because the Pond Vac III is not cheap, we are offering our customers (YOU!) the chance to rent our Pond Vac III to help speed-up your pond cleaning chores. Contact us for further details and to reserve the Pond Vac III to make your most dreaded ponding task a breeze!

• Edible Flowers from Garden to Palate
• Evening Gardens - Nighttime is the Right Time to Enjoy the Garden
• Pond Construction 101