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    early spring

    Early Spring Planting Ideas.

    Well it’s just around the corner and if you have a green thumb you are probably itching to get out there!  Here in the Midwest the weather can change every 15 minutes!  So, if you think those plants are ready to be planted, let’s make sure you select the most cold hardy to get you through to warmer weather!

    Pansy and Violas are pretty popular in spring and fall, that’s because they can withstand a frost or two.  The great thing about them is they come in so many colors!  They are such fun plants to brighten up a sleepy and tired landscape, either in planting beds or containers.

    Prepotted bulbs are another must in your containers!  Tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and the list goes on!  When planted they may not seem like much at first, but as soon as the days grow a little warmer your patience will be rewarded.  Pops of color will abound.

    Annuals you might not have considered:

    There are a number of plants we consider cold hardy and are typically used for early spring (you can find more ideas here) but there are a few summer annuals that might just surprise you.  These annuals can take the cool weather as well as the heat, making them a great all season plant(s)!

    Petunias, don’t mind the cooler days and nights and keep going through the whole year.  With so many new varieties it’s easy to not fall in love with them, from the spreading Wave petunias to the mini petunia-like Calibrachoa.   Not to mention they come in almost all the colors of the rainbow!  A great multi season plant.

    Snapdragons are another summer annual that can take the heat and take the cold!  Dwarf Snapdragons can provide early bloom color while taller varieties will bring later color, a great way to “cover” the faded bulb blooms.  Just make sure to keep feeding your snapdragons to get continued bloom throughout the season!

    Alyssum’s have come a long way.  They used to be summer only annuals, but newer varieties are taking the cold as much as the heat!  These sweetly fragrant plants go from frost to summer and to fall with no problem.  A great annual to cascade over your planters.

    Perennials in containers.

    Perennials are another way to get color and texture into your planters.  There are many spring blooming perennials that can add a twist to your typical bulb and pansy planters.  Columbines and Hellebores are great early bloomers! While Heuchera is a great foliage plant that comes in a variety of colors from greens, purples, to yellows and an added bonus of wispy blooms late in the spring.

    Vegetables and Herbs.

    And lastly make those containers multi-purpose gardens, for display and for food!  Plant cool weather veggies like lettuce, rhubarb and parsley for a fun mix.

    This planter contains some of the early lettuce crops in the center.

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    Shrub, Perennial and Bulb planting for extended bloom time.

    One of the biggest challenges in creating a successful landscape here in the Chicagoland area is achieving color and interest from the first signs of spring to the doldrums of the November transition and cold harsh winters.  In the challenging plant hardiness Zone 4/5, we see shortened growing seasons and drying winter winds that in extreme years, can do major damage on well established landscape plants.

    In the winter of ’13-’14, we saw subzero temperatures for a record length of time, which we came to be know as the Polar Vortex.  These high pressure systems created dry, freezing temperatures for weeks at a time.  When this occurs, just as it happens to our skin when exposed to extreme wind and cold, plants dry out and don’t get a chance to recover and absorb available moisture in the surrounding soil of the plant’s root zone.  This results in severe winter burn and ultimately the death of not just marginal plants in our zone, but typically hardy and well established plants such as Yews and Boxwood.

    winter burn on buxus

    Boxwoods after a long winter.

    In the spring of 2014, most landscape professionals began their season with an industry wide record number of plant replacements, which made most reassess their use of marginal plants such as Butterfly Weed, Gaillardia, Lavender, Weigela, Hibiscus and certain varieties of Rose.  Foundation plants and hedge rows of yews and boxwood all over the North Shore, that had withstood 30+ years of Chicago winters, suddenly browned and died and needed to be removed.  Although this removal creates a hole in the established landscape, it also presents an opportunity for a new landscape planting that is not just hardy and sustainable in our climate, but can add interest through extended bloom time and seasonal interest.

    The key to creating an interesting, colorful landscape, with long lasting, overlapping color throughout the entire growing season is found in not just successful plant combinations, but careful selection of species and cultivars to fill gaps in an otherwise dull time of year.

    Starting with the earliest color coming out of the winter is a hardy native shrub, Witchhazel, which reaches peak bloom time in Jan-March.  It can be used as a foundation shrub, or specimen, but should be considered for its early color, even before the earliest bulbs emerge.

    hamamelis vernalis in bloom

    Early blooms of Witchhazel.

    Moving on from our lone, late winter bloomer, we can incorporate the earliest signs of life and color by utilizing spring bulbs (List courtesy of Breck’s), planted in the fall for the first blooms of the growing season.

    Very early spring:

    Snowdrops: Snowdrops, or Galanthus, are often the first blooms to appear in spring – and they’re a great choice for areas that stay cool a bit later in the year. These are incredibly hardy, and most flower before the last day of winter!

    Snow crocus: The early-blooming varieties within the Crocus genus produces small flowers, with a longer blooming season, than giant crocuses. They’ll start blooming in late winter, and can flower in colours of pink, purple, yellow, white, or even blue, depending on variety.

    Winter aconite: Imagine a golden floral carpet replacing your winter snow cover!

    Early snow glories: Glory-of-the-snow, or Chionodoxa, are another “northern” plant that can actually perform well in both northern and temperate climates.

    Dwarf iris mixture: Some varieties of Dutch irises bloom extra early – usually low-growing dwarf irises!

    Early Spring:

    Grecian Windflower: Grecian windflowers, a daisy-shaped species of anemone, bloom in shades of pink, blue, violet and white in early spring.

    Giant crocus: Just like smaller species crocuses,giant crocus are great for naturalizing. Plant a drift of giant Dutch crocuses of a single colour, or mix colours for a more natural effect. Their larger flowers (usually 4” to 6” in height) provide a lovely, low-growing pop of brightness.

    Trumpet daffodils: Trumpet daffodils are the classic daffodils, with cups longer than their petals. They feature a single flower per stem and are very hardy – and bloom soon after the snow melts!

    Hyacinths: Jewel-toned hyacinth flowers bloom in dense spikes and are among the brightest colours you’ll see in early spring.

    Early tulips: Dwarf tulips, such as the Wild Blue Heart tulip, are low-growing species that flower in early spring. Emperor tulips, or Fosteriana tulips, also bloom early in the season.

    Extending the season of your garden has now been established with the diligent fall planting of several varieties of spring bulbs.  We now look to capture early season color with early blooming shrubs such as Forsythia, Cornelian Cherry Dogwood, Serviceberry and certain hardy varieties of Rhododendron and Azalea.  These woody shrubs establish a structure and form difference that is important in creating different layers in a successful landscape composition.  Shrubs with long flowering periods such as Hydrangea and Viburnum and Weigela can also be selected to keep the later season blooms coming down the pipeline.

    Continuing into the months of April various perennials and groundcover should be chosen for their overlapping bloom time.  Certain varieties of herbaceous species may even give you 2 rounds of flowering if pruned back at the right time such as Catmint, Salvia and Geranium.  Other perennials should be chosen for their continuous blooming or extended bloom time.  This group includes such plants as; Allium, Hemerocallis, Coreopsis, Echinacea and Astilbe.

    Additionally, in our climate, you may find extended bloom time through the utilization of hardy Mums and Asters for fall blooming.  Potted Mums can be installed in a prepared planting bed, with the likelihood that they will return for another show the following fall.  To increase your chance for the return of the hardy Mums, spread compost around the base of these plants in a small mounds.

    Fall Aster

    Fall Blooming Asters

    Finally, ornamental grasses round out the blooms of the season, putting on an impressive display of their seed heads, which typically stand tall and beautiful until the first heavy snow of the season knocks them down into a messy pile needing to be tamed with pruners or hedge trimmers.

    Landscape interest and color displays are not limited to blooms of course. Summer foliage color, fall foliage color, winter stem color and evergreens should all be considered when planning a garden that truly performs in every month of the season.  Call us to get your season of color started with a landscape plan!

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    You don’t have to wait til May…

    To have beautiful spring flowers.

    There is that small window of time from winter to full on spring where we are stuck with not much blooming around us.  An easy remedy is to fill your planters and a few planting beds with forced blooming plants.  From pansies, tulips to hyacinths it’s easy to get that burst of much need color!

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    Did you see that?

    Yeah that stuff under the snow…grass!  Maybe spring really is just around the corner!  Are you itching to get your hands dirty?  Well since we still have a few more cold days on the horizon, tilling the garden might be out for now but a good task to accomplish in the mean time is pruning. Most plants benefit from some sort of regular pruning and maintenance. The trick is to know when to prune. Most flowering and fruiting plants prefer to be pruned while they are dormant, in late winter through early spring. Spring blooming trees and shrubs, will start setting new buds soon after they are done flowering. A good rule of thumb is to prune summer and fall flowering trees and shrubs in the dormant season (late winter / early spring) and to prune spring flowering trees and shrubs soon after their flowers fade.

    hydrangea-annabelle-winter-3

    Pruning in early spring best solves certain problems, even on spring blooming plants. It is always good to remove dead and dying branches prior to new growth coming out in spring. This directs energy to healthier buds. Removal of a few crowded stems each year will open up the interior of the plant, providing better air circulation and light penetration.  Just use caution on spring flowering plants; only remove what is necessary to correct the problem.  You don’t want to remove those flower buds that will be blooming in the next few months or else you’ll have to wait another 12 to see those flowers.

    Still a bit too cold?  Our crews can get the job done for you, contact our office for a quote on dormant pruning.

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    Bring on spring!

    Extending the look and the season by adding containers throughout the landscape is a terrific way to accessorize–in a small space or as focal points within a sweeping environment.  Containers allow you to incorporate plants into the patio or near the home, add height and artistic appeal, and update the garden from season to season.

    We can start by punctuating the landscape with bursts of color as early as Late March into April.  We use forced bulbs, branches, pansies, and other cold hardy annuals to welcome spring. Contact us now, Van Zelst Inc, to bring instant color to your yard!

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    Dormant pruning…

    The snow has finally melted, maybe spring really is just around the corner!  Are you itching to get your hands dirty?  Well since we still have a few more cold days on the horizon, tilling the garden might be out for now but a good task to accomplish in the mean time is pruning. Most plants benefit from some sort of regular pruning and maintenance. The trick is to know when to prune. Most flowering and fruiting plants prefer to be pruned while they are dormant, in late winter through early spring. Spring blooming trees and shrubs, will start setting new buds as soon as the old buds have fallen. These will need to be pruned shortly after flowering.  A good rule of thumb is to prune summer and fall flowering trees and shrubs in the dormant season (late winter / early spring) and to prune spring flowering trees and shrubs soon after their flowers fade.

    Pruning in early spring best solves certain problems, even on spring blooming plants. It is always good to remove dead and dying branches prior to new growth coming out in spring. This directs energy to healthier buds. Removal of a few crowded stems each year will open up the interior of the plant, providing better air circulation and light penetration.  Just use caution on spring flowering plants; only remove what is necessary to correct the problem.  You don’t want to remove those flower buds that will be blooming in the next few months or else you’ll have to wait another 12 to see those flowers!

    Don’t have time to do this yourself?  Contact us and we’ll get our professional crews out to take care of your dormant prunes.

    snow 4.15 (1)

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    Stretch…

    Extending your annuals season to season. We all get excited for summer and filling our planters with beautiful annuals. But why sell yourself short when you can have plants in all the seasons.

    Start your spring off with a planter filled with tulips, daffodils and pansies. These are great early plants that will bring a bright spot to your entryway.

    Here are a few more ideas to fill your planter!

    • Curly willow for height.
    • Beautiful hydrangea for a focal point.
    • Snapdragons, ranunculus and stock for a punch of color.
    • Ivy for added green.

    Get more ideas here!

    And when summers flowers fade don’t forget fall and winter annuals!

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    The fruits of our labor…

    Dreaming of some color in the landscape so lets talk bulbs! If you are like me, last fall you planted a variety of bulbs that should perk up the landscape as soon as the snow starts to melt.

    Some of the earliest to show up are winter aconite and snowdrops (appropriately named!). They are tiny little reminders that spring is coming! Then the real fun begins…hyacinths, daffodils, tulips oh my (just to name a few)! Those small bulbs of fall can bring so much color in a short time to the garden. Painting the landscape with drifts of tulips or a carpet of grape hyacinths.

    So once the snow melts be on the look out for:

     

     

     

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