Don’t be fooled, we only display about a third of the plants growing on the property. In our two acre container nursery, all the reserve plants and cuttings being grown for next year are out in the sun or under our big new shade house, happily thriving. In this case, what you see is only a third of what you can get.

So next time you visit our farm, you can let your mind wander as to any great ideas that you might have as to designing a truly inspired project using masses of similar plants to create dramatic vistas on your property. We have the stock to meet your needs, and you’ll recieve special landscaper pricing when you purchase over 1,000 dollars worth of plants.

There are four important reasons that Rainbow Mums’ Perennials should be the first place that you look for all of your perennial needs for 2012:
1. Every plant that we sell is produced at our farm from scratch. No other Nursery with such a broad selection of plants for sun or shade can make that claim.
2. Kathy and I have over 40 years of experience in New England outdoor gardening. We have already solved most of the problems that you are likely to encounter. Our gardening advice will help you to have beautiful plantings with a minimum of wasted effort and time.
3. We have increased our selections each of the last two years by an unbelievable 50 species of perennial plants! So if you haven’t been here lately, you may miss out on many award winning plants that you have never tried – some you may have never even heard of.
4. New for the shade garden: Some of the new introductions are choice cultivars from Holland for your shade garden. We are growing 3 different Brunnera, “Looking Glass”, “Emerald Mist”,and “Jack Frost”, which is the 2012 Perennial Plant of the year. Brunnera is an interesting foliage plant that will tolerate dry shade, and most common garden conditions. It has delicately patterned leaves, yet is as tough as nails. On the greenhouse bench picture you can see torrents of tiny blue flowers produced first thing in the spring. Brunnera is a relative of “Forget-me-not”. We also added 3 different Ligularia, a part-shade taller exotic leaved perennial with beautiful contrasting yellow flower spikes in late summer. They are: “Brit Marie Crawford”, “Osiris Fantasie”, and “Little Rocket”.

Our Astilbes this year are especially choice! They will have as many as 10 flower stalks and come in 15 different colors and leaf types.

The most notable difference in the nursery for 2012 is that the warm and sunny late winter has made all the ornamental grasses that we grow the same size that they would be in late June right now! You can get a 2 month head start planting any of the 50 varieties we stock.

See the updated species lists in the site for all the new introductions. I added quite a few ground covers for sun and shade, and many new Hostas in all sizes from Large to miniature.
When it comes to good old fashioned value, you just can’t beat the quality of plants that you will get at Rainbow Mums’ perennials. As always, we are open every day including all holidays, from 9 to 6. Don’t forget to bring us pictures of large areas that you need help in designing. See you at the farm!
Mark

But, unlike 2001, we are not selling just two types of indoor plants for the table. We are open for the season, and have the vast majority of our huge perennial collection for sun and shade on display, and ready for sale. Hopefully, this Mother’s Day, you will treat your mom to a few of our choice, homegrown perennials, or maybe if you are the choosy mom in question, you’ll treat yourself to some of the great selection of Hosta, Astilbes, Ferns, Heucheras, Brunnera, Ligularia, or Japanese Forest Grass for shady areas. Maybe while you’re here, you can look at some of the more than 350 other flowering perennials and Ornamental Grasses, including several varieties of full-sized Hydrangeas in bud and bloom, a great stand alone Mother’s Day gift for only $16.95 ea.!

This is also the first year since 2009 that we have grown the famous “Knock Out” series of shrub roses. We have five different varieties of awesome shrub roses, but they are already selling fast, so don’t wait too long to pick yours out. The Knock out series of roses is the most spectacular Rose plant introduction in over 50 years! They flower nonstop for the entire season and require no fussy spray programs to keep them looking perfect. Roses are $16.95ea.

Mother’s Day weekend at all other Garden Centers will be a mobbed nightmare. If that kind of crush is not what you’re after, come and shop at Rainbow Mums’ perennials. This is our first year open for Mother’s Day, and you’ll have our full attention, along with the healthiest and huskiest plants you’ll ever buy. (You may click on pictures for larger view.)

See you on the 7th!

So, with such a beautiful winter, I bet your perennial gardens are all cleaned up and waiting for the Spring rains, right? Well, we’re just starting to clean ours now, and so if you’re just getting around to starting your spring cleanup, don’t be disappointed. April has just begun and there is still plenty of time. After spending a couple of hours inspecting the beds, it appears that there were some drawbacks to such an unseasonably warm spell.

First of all, little critters such as mice and voles were able to stay active most of the time, doing their worst to remove the crowns of some of the plants that they like. And since there was no snow cover to speak of, the larger four footers (deer) were able to browse unfrozen tops of plants longer than usual. Of, course, the deer don’t eat the actual perennial plant, but their trampling of the unfrozen garden soil every night was a bit more destructive than usual.

Then, there’s the fact that it hasn’t rained. Really, there’s been hardly any rain at all. Our neighbor finally came over and asked whether she should begin to water, and I told her, emphatically, YES! Water those perennial gardens. I know you have probably never had to do it before, but a good old fashioned soaking at this time of year is a necessity for starting up those dormant roots, and settling down the frost- heaved winter soil. Nature usually takes care of this for us, but if you want a good start to your perennial season, you should begin to water.

What other tasks should you accomplish in April? This is the perfect time to remove the dead tops of all the ornamental grasses on your property. All the smaller tufted grasses should be given a buzz cut in a rounded close-cropped shape. The larger Japanese Silver grasses should be cut down, leaving the dead canes 1 foot tall. Cutting the larger grasses too close forces them to spread outward, and weakens the plant in the long run.

Cut the dead tops off of all the other perennials, sometimes a vigorous metal spring raking will accomplish this. Remove all obvious weeds, and lightly cultivate the soil around all the plants to keep weeds that are germinating from getting a foothold.

Do not feed most of your perennials now. They do not have a mature enough root system to benefit from spring feeding. Hydrangeas and roses, Grasses and shrubs, trees and lawns can all be fed in spring. With perennials, it’s best to wait until mid June thru mid July for an Osmocote feeding (see our Care Sheet).

At the end of your cleanup you should make a list of plants that you would like to try for this year, and plants that you like that need to be replaced. Then, you can visit Rainbow Mums’ Perennial nursery much earlier than usual- starting May 7th. The perennials we sell will be full size this season and will be the healthiest and huskiest plants you have ever purchased.

Nice weather last November and December (the warm spell that we had after the October blizzard) made it possible for me to expand our cold frames for winter storage, add to the shade house in our production area, and build a boulder-lined shade plant display bed under the trees in our backyard. Wow, I’m getting tired all over again just telling you about it!

The most fun I had with the free time granted me by the mild winter was planning and ordering new perennials for sun and shade to expand our variety list by at least 50 species. Some of the new introductions are choice cultivars from Holland for your shade garden. We are growing 3 different Brunnera, “Looking Glass”, “Emerald Mist”,and “Jack Frost”, which is the 2012 Perennial Plant of the year. Brunnera is an interesting foliage plant that will tolerate dry shade, and most common garden conditions. It has delicately patterned leaves, yet is as tough as nails. On the greenhouse bench picture you can see torrents of tiny blue flowers produced first thing in the spring. Brunnera is a relative of “Forget-me-not”. [gallery] We also added 3 different Ligularia, a part-shade taller exotic leaved perennial with beautiful contrasting yellow flower spikes in late summer. They are: “Brit Marie Crawford”, “Osiris Fantasie”, and “Little Rocket”.

Ligularia "Little Rocket"

See the updated species lists in the site for all the new introductions. I added quite a few ground covers for sun and shade, and many new Hostas in all sizes from Large to miniature. As always, all the plants sold here, without exception, are raised here from scratch, and most have been here through at least one winter, to ensure your success in planting them in this hardiness zone.

It has taken years of careful practice growing only those varieties of Mums that have the ability to withstand the rigors of Fall weather. To maintain their characteristic globe shape in the fierce rains and winds of two tropical storms this year alone, proves just how tough they are! Yet they remain unbelievably beautiful in a rich assortment of over 50 colors.

Doorpots are grown in a 12 inch pot. Right now there are only a few flowers opening on most varieties, and the average width of the plant is 24 to 28 inches. The flowers and unopened buds on most varieties are so numerous as to be impossible to count. As the season progresses, we will see many plants with widths of 30 to as wide as 35 inches!

All the nutrients that they need are packed into the special soil that we use. Just add water. Most colors bloom for 2 full months. And they make an unforgettable gift.

The Door pot costs just $23.53. The color selection and varied bloom times make them irreplaceable decorations for any fall gathering, especially weddings. Literally thousands of our Doorpots have been the primary decorations at weddings over the years.

On Wed. Sept. 14, I took the pictures below of part of the Doorpot crop. Which ones will you want to take home and enjoy for the entire Fall season?

Note the thousands upon thousands of buds that are glistening in the sunshine in these photos. Better hurry up and get over here to get your Doorpots!

Break the job up into site preparation and plant procurement. Take a before photograph, then get the area to be planted weeded and turned over. Then, go shopping to pick out plants.  I can’t help noticing that most of you do the picking out of plants on the wrong day. You all want it to be the nicest day of the week when you shop.

For instance, today was  overcast and it drizzled on and off. I was outside all day long and barely got wet.  Yet nobody was shopping for perennial plants. So I have to ask, since it takes awhile to decide which plants you want, and you only do it on the nicer days, why would you waste the beautiful sunny planting weather being  here in our nursery? By the time most of you have finished shopping, at least one nice day is gone!

When the weather is on and off rainy like it is sometimes in the Spring and Fall, try using the inclement days to gather your perennial plants, Mums, Asters and other supplies. When the sun dawns brightly, you will be off to an early start, and you could be finished before lunch, leaving time for a quick trip to get the last few plants that could make the job perfect!

Still reading? O.K. I’ll give you a further incentive. If you come to our nursery this fall on a day while it is raining, I’ll give you a 10 % discount off a 100 dollar or more purchase just for mentioning this blog post. How can you beat that?

O.K. We’ll probably not be able to wait on you in a tropical storm…so try not to take this too far!

Below some pics of Irene’s wrath at the nursery.

P.S. I just missed a humming bird on the Phlox and the Butterfly Bushes. It is a shy one, and flies away when it sees me. It flies around Kathy all the time.

So you would have remembered because our mums would have been there this spring to remind you. But there are many other reasons. You would have had choices that are simply not available to Mum shoppers at other retailers. We grow at least 135 different varieties of Hardy Mums. For 10 weeks starting Aug. 15,  there will be at least 5 different choices for each main color group. There will be large flowers, as well as different flower forms from daisy types to poms, and tiny buttons to anemones and spikes.

You could have remembered because we helped you to plan the mums for  a wedding, party or other special occasion. Because we grow them here, we are familiar with the bloom date for all of our varieties, and how they will look for your special weekend.

Or you could have remembered simply because, like thousands of our regular customers, you’ve found great quality Hardy Mums and Asters here for the last 25 years!  It’s easy to park, easier to shop, and we will always help you to find just the right plants for all your fall decorating needs.