New Plants Offered for 2014!

We're excited about the new plants that we're offering this year!  We're always looking for new, hardy, easy-to-grow plants that are great additions to your garden.

Here's a quick list with photos of the new plants available this year.  All of these plants are available to order on our Web site at http://www.springvalleyroses.com/catalog/

Roses

Head Over Heels - a newer Shrub rose with clusters of light-pink blossoms that cover the plant most of the summer.

Head Over Heels Shrub Rose

Navy Lady - rich, dark-red velvet blossoms. It blooms profusely in the early summer and repeat blooms until frost.

Navy Lady Shrub Rose

Flowering Shrubs - Plants for Birds

Aronia m. 'Viking' - A fantastic shrub with beautiful white flowers in the spring, followed by edible dark-blue/black fruit.

Aronia m. 'Viking' 

Ilex verticillata 'Wildfire' Winterberry - offers multi-season interest in the garden with tiny white flowers in the spring, dark-freen foliage, and abundant bright-red fruit in the fall.

Wildfire Winterberry

Philadelphus 'Snow White' Mockorange - this plant all the great traits of a mockorange, but in a compact size. And it blooms more than once! The beautiful white flowers are incredibly fragrant.

'Snow White' Mockorange

Prunus tomentosa 'Nanking Cherry' - the easiest cherry to grow in northern climates!

Nanking Cherry

Rhus typhina Staghorn Sumac - adds four seasons of interest to your garden.

Staghorn Sumac in the Fall

Salix discolor Pussy Willow - A classic pussy willow with soft, silvery catkins that emerge on the branches when the weather starts to warm in early spring.

Pussy Willow

Tree Peonies

High Noon Tree Peony - beautiful, very large, bright-yellow blossoms with ruffled, satin-like petals.

High Noon Tree Peony

Renkaku Tree Peony -large, white, fully double blossoms that cover this plant when in full bloom.

Renkaku Tree Peony

Vines

Kintzley's Ghost' Honeysuckle Vine - showy, yellow, tubular flowers that cover the vine in June. The flowers are held above by silvery grey bracts that look like Eucalyptus leaves.

Kintzley's Ghost Honeysuckle Vine

Wildflowers in Spring

We are really lucky to have a wide variety of native wildflowers growing in the woods at our nursery.  What's interesting, is that many of these are now in our gardens. We didn't plant any of them -- they just showed up!  We're thinking the birds must be bringing in the seeds. Or, they're showing up in the mulch that we put on the garden beds.

Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) - a hummingbird magnet!  Grows 1-2 feet tall and self seeds when it's happy.

Our area has wet soils and is heavily wooded, so it's great habitat for native wildflowers.  Most of these are rare and protected species (illegal to dig up), so we value them even more!

Enjoy the photos of these lovely native wildflowers.  If you want wildflowers in your garden, please buy them from a licensed nursery that has propagated these plants to ensure that the wild populations aren't destroyed. That way, our treasured native wildflowers will be available for generations to come to enjoy!

Wood Anemone (Anemone quinquifolia) - a low-growing spring ephemeral that blankets the ground in our woods.

Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum).  The leaves look like speckled trout, hence the name.  Nodding flowers that form seed pods that will expand the area of this plant quickly in the right conditions.

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis).  The flowers appear first above the deeply lobed, fan-like foliage. The roots have a red sap, which is how this plant got its name.  

Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum). These are amazing flowers!  It has one or 2 very large leaves that are divided into three leaflets.  The flowers are followed by a cluster of red seedpods or fruit.  Just amazing.

Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica). We first noticed these growing in our lawn!  They are about 3-inches tall and have strap-like leaves.  The flowers are so dainty and beautiful! 

White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum).  These blanket the woods in the spring!  The leaf characteristics are in the name "tri" or three that appear in what's called a whorl.  The large flowers start out white and then fade to pink.  Just gorgeous!

Wood Violet (Viola sororia). The pretty little violets are all over our garden and woods.  They self-seed readily to the point of becoming weedy in our vegetable gardens!  But, even though they are common for us, they're still uncommon where their habitat has been lost.

We're so glad to share these photos of our native wildflowers.  Please remember that if you want these rare and protected plants in your garden, please buy them from a licensed nursery that has propaged these plants so that the native plants are not destroyed and are available for future generations to enjoy!

Clouds of Amelanchier Blossoms

The Amelanchiers are at their peak right now in mid May here in Wisconsin. The shrubs are covered in blossoms!  They surround you in blossoms  -- it's like walking through clouds.

Amelanchiers in full bloom in May

There are many species and varieties of Amelanchier.  Some are shrubs and some grow as small trees.  As you can see, they're covered in white blossoms in the spring, which are followed by blue fruits that birds absolutely adore!

Blossoms cover these plants in May

It's hard to describe what it's like to be surrounded by these plants when they're in full bloom.  It's like walking in the clouds.

Amelanchier grandiflora 'Princess Diana' in full bloom

Amelanchier canadensis on the left and Amelanchier grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance' on the right

Amelanchier arborea - the most tree-like of the Amelanchiers

The blossoms aren't just beautiful. They're an important nectar source for insects in the spring.

Amelanchiers are commonly called Juneberries ('cause their fruit ripens in June), Serviceberries and Saskatoons.  As noted above, birds go crazy for the fruit.

Amelanchiers are most often grown for its sweet fruit that is relished by birds. Over 42 species of birds eat the fruit! The fruit is also good for eating out of hand and for jellies. Native Americans used Amelanchier fruit in making Pemican, a staple of their diet.

Amelanchier fruit

Amelanchiers are very winter hardy and easy to grow in average garden soil from Zone 3/4 to 8.  Most aren't bothered by disease and insects. And, they're native to North America!

They're also very showy in the fall with orange to red foliage.

We offer a wonderful shrub version of Amelanchier canadensis, called 'Regent'.  See our Web site for information about this variety.

Here's a video of the Amelanchiers in bloom.  Enjoy!

Daffodils!

If there's one bulb to plant in your garden, it should be daffodils!

Daffodils!

Why? Rabbits and deer don't eat them.  They are available in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors -- not just the common yellow trumpets, not that those aren't fabulous!!

Here's a few examples of the varieties we have in our gardens.  We just adore these flowers and desperately need to see them in the spring!

Oh, and did we mention that daffodils come back reliably every year? And they multiply over time, so one bulb will grow to many bulbs?  Oh yeah, and they make great cut flowers!!  What's not to like?

We also adore Narcissus, which are in the Daffodil family. These have incredible fragrance. The common "paper whites" that we start indoors in the winter are Narcissus.  They are similar to Daffodils in appearance, but the fragrance puts them in a whole different category.  Be sure to plant some Narcisuss, too!

Snow in May?!

Wow, what a weird "spring" we're having this year!  First, lots of snow in April.  Lots!  Take a look at this photo from April 23:

Big snowstorm on April 23, 2013

Well, that was crazy!  Then it warmed up and we thought that spring had finally arrived.  Here's my dog lounging on the last snowbank a few days later when the temps got into the 60s:

Then, the forecast called for more snow.  What?!  We couldn't believe it.  And we were in the bullseye for getting the most snow.  The day before it hit, the Orioles and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks returned!  We were so worried about these tropical birds surviving the snow and cold.  Here's what we woke up to on May 2, 2013 - 14 inches of snow!

14 inches of snow on May 2, 2013!

But, we heard the birds calling. It is spring and it is May after all!  We made sure there was lots of seeds, suet and jelly out for the birds.  And this is what we saw:

Oriole on snow-covered feeder in May

Here's a bird house with a snowcap

We're hoping for warm weather and sun tomorrow.  It's in the forecast, at least!  Let's hope for more normal weather the rest of this spring and summer.