EARLY SPRING COLOR

March 28, 2025 Karen Logan

Azaleas [illustration karen blackerby logan]

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EARLY

SPRING BLOOMS

A Splash of Color for Your Landscape

Spring is here! The air is crisp, birds are filling the trees with song, and our garden center on State Road is open. Our greenhouse teams have been hard at work, waking up bulbs and sowing seeds, while landscape crews tackle spring clean-ups. With nature waking up, now is the perfect time to add vibrant color to your landscape! Here are some top early bloomers to consider:

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VIBURNUM

A Spring Favorite

Viburnums are a must-have for spring gardens, blooming from early spring through June. Their attractive fruit and beautiful fall foliage make them a year-round winner. The early spring blooming viburnum flowers are extremely fragrant. Viburnums will do well in full sun to part shade. They are used as specimens in shrub borders, foundation plantings, as hedges or screens. They are attractive to butterflies and birds and tolerate a broad range of soil conditions, including poor or compacted soils. Prune right after flowering. We carry several varieties, including the native Viburnum dentatum and the compact ‘Blue Muffin’ Viburnum for smaller spaces.

Learn more: VIBURNUMS

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MAGNOLIA

Magnolia ‘Royal Star’ : A Fragrant Beauty

One of the first trees to bloom in spring, Magnolia ‘Royal Star’ dazzles with large, fragrant white flowers that appear before the foliage. With excellent cold and heat tolerance, this small specimen tree or large shrub is a standout in any garden.

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FORSYTHIA

‘Lynwood Gold’: A Golden Welcome

For a burst of sunshine in early spring, Forsythia ‘Lynwood Gold’ is unbeatable. Its brilliant yellow flowers cover branches before lush green foliage emerges, with a hint of purple in the fall. A perfect way to brighten your landscape!

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PIERIS JAPONICA

Year-Round Interest

Pieris japonica is a broadleaf evergreen shrub that provides multiseason interest. In early spring, their cascading, delicate, bell shaped flowers bloom for about two weeks. The blooms range in color from white to pink. Simultaneously, bright pink, red, or bronze new foliage emerges, gradually transforming into glossy, oblong evergreen leaves. Beadlike flower buds form in late summer and hold steadfast through winter against their evergreen backdrop.

Deer resistant, slow growing and shade tolerant, Pieris japonica are ideal for adding year round color to mixed borders.

Learn more : PIERIS JAPONICA

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AZALEAS &

RHODODENDRONS

Bold Spring Color

These beloved spring bloomers provide vibrant color and lush greenery. Rhododendrons and Azaleas abundant blooms are welcomed first thing in spring. Rhododendrons dark green leaves, mature height and width make great screening! Azaleas are in the rhododendron family. There are both evergreen and deciduous varieties available. ‘Most’ deciduous azaleas bloom after the evergreen azaleas. They will bloom on old wood before the plant has leafed out for the year. For smaller gardens, Weston hybrid Azaleas offer a compact alternative.

To see these deciduous azaleas in their full splendor they will be blooming in a few weeks at the Polly Hill Arboretum!

Learn More: BROADLEAF EVERGREENS

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MORE SPRING

BLOOMING SHRUBS

ORNAMENTAL CHERRIES, RED BUD, AND SAND CHERRIES

Spring is short—make the most of it! Visit us on State Road to find the perfect shrubs for your garden and bring your landscape to life.

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Learn About: HARDY ANNUALS

COOL WEATHER VEGGIES

[PLANT PROFILE] HYPERICUM

June 24, 2024 Karen Logan

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HYPERICUM

ST JOHNS WORT

Hypericum is a compact, mounded, deciduous shrub. During midsummer this outstanding pollinator shrub is adorned with vibrant yellow blooms with abundant pollen bearing stamens, backed by gray blue fine textured foliage. Hypericum is a perfect speciman for any sunny or part shady garden. During the winter the attractive cone shaped seed pods remain, offering food for birds and late season visual interest. St John’s Wort prefers moist well drained soil but can adapt to most soil types, drought, soil compaction and salt. They grow naturally on rocky ledges, in sandy areas and woodland openings. They bloom on the new growth.

This long blooming shrub is a great addition to any garden!

Hypericum integrated into a perennial garden

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We carry five cultivars:

Hypericum hidcote: A very popular variety with blue foliage and a long blooming period. Larger yellow flowers than the Floral Berry but not as impressive of a berry display.

Floral Berry: Multi season interest. The yellow flowers are followed by amazing berries in the fall

Hypericum calycinum: A ground cover with large yellow flowers. It can take partial shade but likes a little afternoon shade. With this groundcover more sun equals more flowers! Hypericums calcynum spreads stoloniferously (through underground stems). If it likes the spot, it will spread vigorously. A pollinator magnet!

Hypericum Blue Festival and Sunny Boulevard

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Use:

Mass plantings along borders, hedges and good for stabilizing slopes

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Hypericum just before bloom

Hypericum prolificum (native) just before bloom in June

St.+John%E2%80%99s+Wort+-+Hypericum+%E2%80%98Hidcote%E2%80%99.jpg

St.+John%E2%80%99s+Wort+-+Hypericum+%E2%80%98Hidcote%E2%80%993.jpg

SUMMER BLOOMING TREES & SHRUBS

June 14, 2024 Karen Logan

September Border filled with blooming shrubs and perennials: Vitex (purple), Crape Myrtles (white and pink), Rudbeckia & Hibiscus.

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JOIN US THIS SATURDAY MORNING

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GARDEN WORKSHOP

FUNDAMENTALS FOR GARDEN DESIGN

SATURDAY JUNE 15TH // 11:00AM // VINEYARD GARDENS

Please join us in a hands on garden design workshop discussing how to plan a garden. Bring pictures to get questions answered. We look forward to seeing you there!

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SUMMER BLOOMING

TREES & SHRUBS

Shrubs and trees offer numerous benefits to your landscape

Shrubs and trees are the living structures that make a garden more dynamic. They add depth, weight, height and multiple season interest to a space. Not only do they enrich the landscape with colorful vegetation, flowers, fruit and winter interest, they provide food and shelter for a variety of species. Creating habitat and maximum biodiversity is essential to providing for pollinators. Adding native shrubs and trees transforms environments into climate resilient landscapes through erosion control, drought tolerance and flooding.

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Clethra alnifolia

SWEET PEPPERBUSH (Native)

Clethra is a wonderful addition to any garden, a versatile shrub that can thrive in most conditions. Typically found in open woodlands or swamps along the Atlantic coast this workhorse can flower from full sun to shade. Clethra prefers moist soil but can even adjust to dry, compact soil. It is a sweet scented native shrub that is a pollinator magnet. The white spire blooms lure butterflies, bees and hummingbirds. In addition, to being a hardy shrub, Clethera has year round interest. The deep green summer leaves turn yellow in autumn and in winter clusters of attractive seed pods remain.

USES: Seaside plantings, mass plantings, hedges or rain gardens

Clethra (in foreground and flanking the stairs)

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Vitex castus-agnus

CHASTE TREE

Vitex is a beautiful summer blooming shrub. A deciduous, multi-trunk shrub with fragrant lilac blooms backed by unique aromatic gray-green foliage. Bees and many other pollinators are attracted to its flowers and foliage. In addition, Vitex are deer resistant, moderately salt tolerant and have good drought tolerance once established. Full sun.

USES: Shrub border or train for use as a small tree to accent the landscape or patio.

Vitex castus-agnus with a Rose of Sharon

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Lagerstroemia

CRAPE MYRTLE

Crape Myrtle is a deciduous tree that performs best in full sun. Loved for their showy, long lasting summer flowers and their naturally sculpted trunks with attractive exfoliating bark. Crape Myrtle comes in a range of sizes from dwarf 2-3’ tall shrubs to standard tree size of about 20-30’ tall. The larger ones are often pollarded, a type of hard pruning that keeps the plant smaller and blooms more profuse.

USE: Focal tree, a hedge or as part of a border

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Hypericum

ST JOHNS WORT

Midsummer this outstanding pollinator shrub is adorned with vibrant yellow blooms with abundant pollen bearing stamens, backed by gray blue fine textured foliage. During the winter the attractive three chamber seed pods remain, offering food for birds and late season visual interest. St John’s Wort prefers moist well drained soil but are highly adaptable and can withstand drought and soil compaction. They grow naturally on rocky ledges, in sandy areas and woodland openings. Prune hard in spring . They bloom on the new growth.

We carry 3 or 4 cultivars. Hypericum hidcote is very popular with it’s blue foliage and longevity.

USE: Mass plantings borders or hedges

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Hydrangea

paniculata

Panicle Hydrangeas are the no fuss hydrangea with long lasting blooms. They are the autumn stars when most other shrubs are no longer blooming. Hydrangea panicle goes through a color transformation starting with early summer white that fades to shades of pink or red before drying to beige in the winter. Their nectar-rich flowers attract butterflies and bees late into the season, providing them with a vital food source. They adapt to full sun or part sun. Some popular panicle hydrangeas we carry are Limelight, Limelight Prime, Little Lime and Bobo. Check out our latest blog with all the varieties of hydrangea we carry.

USES: Natural fence or border, focal point, erosion control or containers.

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[PLANT PROFILE] SERVICEBERRY

April 17, 2024 Karen Logan

SERVICEBERRY

(SHAD TREES)

Amelanchier ×grandiflora ‘Autumn Brilliance’

Known as Shad Trees on Martha’s Vineyard because they bloom when the Shad (a type of small fish) swim up the creeks here on the island to breed.

A native multi-stemmed shrub or small tree, about 20 feet tall, has year round interest. Serviceberries are one of the first to burst into bloom in April with their showy white flowers. Once the flowers pass, tasty purple colored fruit, similar in flavor to blueberries, follow in mid June. The fall brings showstopping brilliant orange to red autumn color.

Attract more wildlife to your garden with native berry producing shrubs like Serviceberry!

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VALUABLE SHRUB FOR WILDLIFE

Native to eastern United States and Canada, Serviceberries support numerous butterfly and bird species These early bloomers support pollinators in spring and produce sweet berries in the summer that support birds like cedar waxwings, robins, and thrushes. Once the berries ripen, they provide a rich source of nutrition and are a crucial food source for early nesting birds and returning migratory species.

Serviceberries are a valuable shrub for wildlife. One of the earliest blooming shrubs in spring, Serviceberries burst into bloom typically in April, making it an essential early spring food source for pollinators.

native berry producing shrubs

attract wildlife to your garden

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GROWING & CARE

Serviceberries have an upright habit with grayish to silver, smooth bark.

Easy to grow
Tolerant of most site conditions but does not tolerate salt or poor drainage. Prefers acidic, well drained soils in partial shade to sun.
It is susceptible to heat and drought stress.
Use as a small tree in mixed borders or foundation plantings.
Excellent companion with Carolina allspice (Calycanthus floridus), flowering dogwood (CornusBenthamidia florida), mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), pink-shell azalea (Rhododendron vaseyi), arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum), and whorled tickseed (Coreopsis verticillata).

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ATTRIBUTES

Attracts Wildlife: Host Plant / Other Pollinators & Wildlife / Attracts Songbirds / Attracts Bees

Tolerance: Deer & Rabbit Resistant / Urban Environment / Drought Tolerant

Additional Attributes: Edible / Low Maintenance

Landscape Use: Rain Garden / Specimen

Attractive Fall Foliage and/or Ornamental Fruit: Red to Purple Fruit / Fall Foliage

Height: 15-25 ft

Spread: 12-20 ft

Exposure: Sun / Part Shade

Soil Moisture: Average / Dry

Ornamental Interest: Spring Bloom / Summer Fruit / Fall Foliage

OVERWINTERING HYDRANGEAS

November 9, 2023 Karen Logan

Hydrangea [illustration by karen blackerby logan]

Protecting

Hydrangeas in Winter

The cool weather is here so let’s make sure our hydrangeas are ready for winter! Here are some simple guidelines to help keep your hydrangeas healthy for next summer.

Overwintering
Hydrangea
Checklist

1. Stop Fertilizing
2. Don’t Prune
3. Water Until Frost
4. Insulate Plants
5. Bring Plants Inside
* LEARN MORE *

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Summer Blooming Shrubs Affected By Late Spring Freeze

Did you wonder why your beautiful summer blooming shrubs did not perform as well this year?

Many of you asked why your typically prolific summer blooming shrubs like Mophead Hydrangeas, Vitex and Butterfly Bushes had died back so heavily this summer. The reason this occurred was due to warm temperatures in the spring followed by a cold snap. The temperature dropped below five degrees for two days and the plants had not fully acclimated. These plants are typically well adapted to the lows of our hardiness zone but the temperature dropped below that zone. The good news is the ground did not freeze so most of those shrubs survived. When cut back to the new growth they flowered.

The shrubs most affected by the freeze that our commonly used in Vineyard landscapes:

- VITEX
- BUTTERFLY BUSH
- CARYOPTERIS
- CREPE MYRTLE
- BLUE MOPHEAD
HYDRANGEA

SPRING FLOWERING SHRUBS

April 21, 2023 Karen Logan

Lilac illustration by karen blackerby logan

SPRING FLOWERING SHRUBS

Fragrant shrubs are a great reason to landscape your property. Plant them on your patio,deck or walkways. Plant them where the fragrance will fill your relaxing spaces, your outdoor spaces, where you socialize or simply beneath a window where the fragrance can filter into your home.

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VIBURNUM

The early spring blooming viburnum flowers are extremely fragrant. Viburnums will do well in full sun to part shade. They are used as specimens in shrub borders, foundation plantings, as hedges or screens. They are attractive to butterflies and birds and tolerate a broad range of soil conditions, including poor or compacted soils. Prune right after flowering.

Viburnum carlessi ‘Korean Spice Viburnum’ : Now available at our nursery. It can grow up to 7ft tall and wide.
Viburnum carlcephalum ‘Fragrant Snowball Viburnum’: A multi stemmed, deciduous shrub that gets 6-10ft tall and wide. It is a cross between Viburnum carlessi and Viburnum microcephalum. These Viburnums bloom better in more sun.
Viburnum burkwoodi: A multi stemmed shrub that is a little more compact, reaching 3-5ft tall and up to 7ft wide. It received the Pennsylvania Society Gold Medal award.

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LILACS

Lilacs are known for their fragrance and will soon be blooming. Only plant lilacs in sunny spots. The vulgaris species, with its large leaves, can get powdery mildew if in a shaded area.

I have heard horticulturists say the straight species Syringa vulgaris is the most fragrant but actually they are all fragrant.
Pocahontas has a deep purple color
Charles Joly is a cranberry colored award winner
Try the white blooming Vulgaris lilac
Miss Kim is a smaller lilac. Miss Kim gets around 5ft tall with light lavender fragrant flowers. Great for your foundation planting as long as it is sunny.
The Syringa meyeri is another smaller species of lilac whose smaller leaves are resistant to powdery mildew.
The cultivar Palibin has won both the Royal horticultural award and the Gold medal award.

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ROSES

Roses will arrive at the end of April and many are known for their intoxicating fragrance. We carry many cultivars of the David Austin Shrub roses which are known for their fragrance. The pink New Dawn climber has been a fragrant best seller for years.

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HONEYSUCKLE

The fragrant honeysuckle, Lonicera fragrantissima, blooms in early spring and will fill your entire property with a lemony scent. Originally native to China it has been introduced through out the world. In some places it can be invasive if conditions are perfect. Let us know if you want one and we will propagate it for you.

Honeysuckle vines are also fragrant. Lonicera sempervirens ‘Major wheeler’ is a non-stop bloomer, coloring the garden from late spring through the summer with showy clusters of orange-red flowers. It is considered to be the longest blooming variety of honeysuckle and a superior flower for the hummingbirds.

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CLEMATIS

This Clematis Vine by Proven Winners and Sweet Summer Love are fragrant clematis. Sweet Summer Love is also a profuse bloomer and can get up to 10 ft.

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AZALEAS

Many azaleas are fragrant, particularly the deciduous ones. We have a native yellow azalea called My Mary, that is very fragrant when it blooms and has a 5 star rating.

Azaleas are part of the Rhododendron family. These plants like a rich acidic humus rich soil and afternoon shade. They are shallow rooted and need to be moist. Water often.

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CLETHRA

Clethra is another fragrant later blooming shrub that can be planted now. We carry the straight species, Ruby spice (the award winning pink blooming), the dwarf Hummingbird and Sixteen candles. The newer Proven Winner varieties are known for their fragrance, like Vanilla spice. Clethra are native to the island.

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OTHER FRAGRANT SHRUBS

There are many other fragrant plants available.

The Daphnes are very fragrant and many are hardy. We usually carry Carol Mackie, as well as others including Daphne odora, which is marginally hardy.

Many non hardy plants are fragrant and bloom all summer long but will not overwinter unless protected. Try them in containers and give them some winter protection. We recommend one of the Gardenias we bring in from Monrovia.