Huntree Nursery Newsletter July 2021

It’s summer!  Days are long.  There’s moisture in the soil once again!  And our flowers are happy!

We just received a new batch of roses.  We now have some very pretty Drift Roses – red and apricot which have been hard to find this season.  They are low growing and very floriferous!  We also have some climbing roses, too.

Remember that deadheading your flowers encourages more color in your garden.  By removing spent flowers, the plant can put it’s energy into forming new flowers instead of producing seeds.  It will also make the plant bushier and fuller, thus more flowers in the future.

It’s mosquito season!  Yikes!  They are everywhere!  Ouch, ouch, ouch!  Our go-to is No Bite Me.  It’s chemical-free.  Made with essential oils.  A little dab will do you.  And it works… and smells good.

We also have two forms of yard fogger to spray around your bushes.. or wherever they are lurking.  An aerosol can, and one you attach to your hose and spray.  Do you know about Mosquito Dunks?  Toss one in your fountain, bird bath, or any standing water and it will organically prevent mosquito larvae from growing.  It also comes in granular form.

Good news!  The Gypsy Moth caterpillars are almost done being totally annoying.  But now it’s time for the Japanese Beetles to drive us crazy.  If you spray for them, remember to do it early in the morning or late in the evening after the bees have gone to bed.  Thank you.

Color in our garden brings joy to our hearts.  You might want to add another Hydrangea or 5 to your collection.  If you want easy, dependable blooms every year, go for the PG Hydrangeas (which stands for paniculata grandiflora – translation:  large panicles).  They can handle shade and even full sun (if they have adequate moisture).  Who doesn’t like a bush that blooms for three months or more.  These are the varieties that we have right now:

Firelight Tidbit’      Little Lime       Limelight       Limelight Prime

Firelight         Bobo       Strawberry Sundae        Diamond Rouge

Quick Fire           Little Quick Fire        Zinfin Doll        Berry White

The Big Leaf Hyrangeas are a little trickier.  They are the fussy ones who like plenty of moisture and prefer to be out of the hot afternoon sun.  They are sensitive to bad winters, too.  The new varieties are getting much hardier, and will bloom on last year’s stems and this year’s also.  If you have an old variety that hasn’t bloomed reliably,  just rip it out and start over with a new more dependable variety.  These are the ones we have now.

Bloomstruck             Let’s Dance Diva            Cherry Explosion

Cityline Paris            Let’s Dance Rhythmic Blue      Greateful Red

Citiline Venice          Let’s Dance Can Do

Citiline Mars

A hardier type, serrata, is the Tuff Stuff series.  They are great, showy plants:

Tuff Stuff Red          Tuff Stuff Ah-Ha          Tiny Tuff Stuff

Don’t forget about the Annabelle types:

Annabelle             Invincibell Mini Mauvette          Invincibell Wee White

Invincibell Ruby         Incrediball

Oakleaf Hydrangeas are nice big shrubs with spires of lovely white flowers.  We have Munchkin and Ruby Slippers right now.

If you don’t know about Echinacea Cheyenne Spirit, you ought to take a look at ours. They are bright, multicolored blasts of color.  Great attractors for our butterfly friends.  We also have the new Sombrero Sangrita (intense red) and Sombrero Balssomemy (bright golden yellow).

You people with deer problems, here are a few suggestions to try:

Allium millenium            Calamintha            Lavender        Heuchera           Russian Sage

Lamb’s Ears            Astilbe           Achillea            Agastache            Epimedium          Columbine

Salvia              Nepeta           Helleborus          Geranium            Ferns          Grasses

Wishing you a beautiful gardening season.

Jan and the Huntree gang

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