Spring 2015
Décor Mustards for Fall
Mustard ‘Dragon's Tongue’
Another in our collection of cold weather foliage crops in the versatile 6-inch pot is mustard—by now you must know it’s one of our favorites. Mustard delivers the goods: stunning deep burgundy reds and bright greens, unique texture, and an abundance of flavor. It’s also extremely winter hardy; like lettuce that we discussed last week, red and green mustards become more vivid as the temperature dips.
Mustard tastes sweeter in the frosty weather, too, and you may even wind up harvesting some from under the snow. This is one ornamental grown as much for eating as it is for its good looks. Flavors range from mild to spicy—we use the tender young leaves in salads and the more mature versions in stir-fries and hearty soups and stews.
Décor Lettuce in 6-Inch Pots
Like kale and mustard, lettuce grows best in cooler weather—that’s when it tastes the sweetest. Many varieties come in eye-catching shades of red and bronze as well as traditional bright green, so it’s a natural choice for fall. Notice the assortment of unique leaf textures: frilly, crinkly, curly, smooth, and shiny. Some show a subtle variegation of red and green or have splashes or speckles of color.
You can see why we’ve added lettuce to our collection of edible décor crops—it’s great for tucking in between other plants as a foliage element in a design. We like to make patterns with solid blocks or rows of red and green, alternating short and slightly taller varieties—similar to the way we use red and white begonias in the landscape.
Luscious® Lantana (2)
Lantana is one of our favorite landscaping plants for the bright pop of color it provides as well as for its tough-as-nails reputation. In the high summer we depend on it for extreme heat and drought tolerance but lantana blooms well into the fall—and these hot flower shades punch up seasonal autumn décor.
We grow the vigorous Luscious® series specifically for the fall. Look at all the blooms and the nice dense mound of foliage—these plants know how to fill in a space quickly. Depending on the cultivar they range from a little over a foot to 3 feet tall, with a spread of around 2–3 feet.
Luscious® Lantana
Lantana is one of our favorite landscaping plants for the bright pop of color it provides as well as for its tough-as-nails reputation. In the high summer we depend on it for extreme heat and drought tolerance but lantana blooms well into the fall—and these hot flower shades punch up seasonal autumn décor.
We grow the vigorous Luscious® series specifically for the fall. Look at all the blooms and the nice dense mound of foliage—these plants know how to fill in a space quickly. Depending on the cultivar they range from a little over a foot to 3 feet tall, with a spread of around 2–3 feet.
Our Display Gardens
We’re counting the days until Field Day on Thursday—our display gardens are looking lush and ready for visitors. The best way to find out which plants work well together is by touring our display gardens to see them in action. Take advantage of this opportunity to view our test cultivars for next year—here’s a sneak peek:
First up we’ve planted some of our disease-resistant impatiens with a new serrated coleus for next year—‘Chipotle’. This garden moves from full sun into shade so we can track how these plants perform in both scenarios. These impatiens are bushy and full of color; that’s ‘Bounce Violet’ in front, and we’ve spotted in four patches of ‘Sunpatiens Royal Magenta’—you can see some down in the lower left.
