PANSIES & VIOLAS

pansies & tulips

PANSIES & VIOLAS

“Kids love the story of the fairy that lives in the pansy flower that Lauren Crosby made up. She would tell the story to kids during field trips to Vineyard Gardens. First she would carefully peel the outer 5 petals, one at a time. Exposing the female reproductive structure standing tall in the center. This was the fairy that lived inside the pansy.” -Chris Wiley, owner&founder at Vineyard Gardens Nursery

A BRIEF HISTORY

Pansies & Violas are of the genus Viola. The original plant species was viola tricolor, a wildflower of Europe and Central Asia. To the modern horticulturist, the pansy is the larger of the two flowering cultivars. The pansy is a hybrid plant cultivated as a garden flower. The name pansy is derived from the word pensee meaning “thought” and was regarded as a symbol of remembrance.

CARE & INFORMATION

• Both do well in full sun or partial shade and need well drained soil. They like cool weather and can survive light frosts, snow and even sometimes overwinter. They are one of the first flowers available in spring.

• They tend to get long and leggy in the heat of summer. Dead heading will extend bloom.

• They dry beautifully when laid flat within pages of heavy books, and once dried can be used to make cards or other art projects.

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CAMELLIAS

CAMELLIAS

Broad leaf evergreens with showy flowers and shiny foliage. They are native to Eastern and Southern Asia.

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Protect your Camellias, the deer will eat them!

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CAMELLIA JAPONICA

Camellia japonica is the species most available in the trade. It is cultivated for its beautiful flowers and it’s shiny leaves. There are over than 200 cultivars of C japonica. First seen in Europe in late 1800’s but originated in Asia hundreds of years earlier. They have a variety of flowers from singles to doubles to anemone flowered. C. japonica flowers in late winter into spring. They can get 6-8 ft tall here on Martha’s Vineyard. Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury is a great place to see them when they are in bloom. C. japonica tend to have hardiness issues this far North so make sure to plant them in a protected spot. They are much more popular in the south where they grow much bigger.

The Ice Angel series are the hardiest of camellias we know.

• “Winter Snowman” has a double white flowered bloom.

• “April Remembered” has a soft pink bloom. It is a hardy Camellia developed and introduced at the University of North Carolina and Camellia Forest Nursery in Chapel Hill, NC. Growing Camellia’s on the Vineyard can be frustrating but when successful, very rewarding. There are many species and selections but most often grown are C. japonica and C. sasanqua. The plants themselves are reliably hardy outdoors but because they tend to flower in late winter/early spring the flowers are often burnt by freezing temperatures. This doesn’t seem to daunt those who desire their large, formally structured flowers. The plants can become large in time or easily kept trimmed to a neat, tight shrub.

care

*******

* Prefers soil rich

in organic matter

* Likes lots of water

yet well drained soil

* They are not

drought tolerant

* Must be protected

from deer

*Afternoon shade is best

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Camellia japonica

plant

*******

* Plant against the

house or a stone wall to

offer some winter

protection

* Prefers a protected

spot because this

far north they are at the

marginsof their

hardiness zone.

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CAMELLIA SASANQUA

The flowers on the C. sasanqua’s tend to be smaller and less formal but are produced in abundance in the late autumn. This works in our favor here on the Island since we tend to have a long, languorous fall season. The sasanqua’s flowers also come in a range of colors from red through pink to white in singles and doubles and have the added advantage of being fragrant. Its not sweet or pungent its more a clean, fresh, woodsy scent that is delightful and unexpected.

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Camellia Sasanqua

C. sasanqua

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Think ahead for

what your garden

will be like in the

Vineyard’s long,

mild autumn.

Camellia sasanqua

augment the fall garden

and make lovely, hardy

additions to it.

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Camellia Sasanqua

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Camellia Sinensis

The tea we drink comes from the steeped and fermented leaves of C. sinensis. The preparations determines whether it is green or black tea. [We do not carry C sinensis but mention it only as a point of interest.]

VIBURNUM

VIBURNUM

Viburnum are a very popular landscape shrub, both attractive and useful. With the many cultivars available it’s likely to find one to suit your garden. Fragrant viburnums flower in the spring and gives way to berries in the fall. If you’d like your viburnum to produce berries for the birds, you'll need to plant several different varieties that bloom at the same time so plants can cross-pollinate.

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Fall Interest Viburnums

There are many viburnums which have fabulous fall color and berries.

• Viburnum trilobum (Highbush Cranberry): Known for its berry production in the fall. Dark green leaves turn purplish-red in autumn, alongside drooping clusters of bright red berries. Typically matures to 8-12 feet tall.

• Viburnum plicatum: These are Chris Wiley’s favorite Viburnum in flower.

• Viburnum dilatatum 'Cardinal Candy': Known for their drooping red berries.

• Viburnum dilatatum 'Michael Dodge': Known for their drooping yellow berries.

Viburnum dilatatum ‘Michael Dodge’ and some Virginia Creeper

Viburnum plicatum

Native Viburnums

• Viburnum dentatum (arrowwood viburnum): Native to Martha’s Vineyard, Viburnum dentatum grows wild all over Chilmark and the woods of West Tisbury.. Non-fragrant flat-topped white flowers appear in late spring. Flowers give way to blue-black, berries which are quite attractive to birds and wildlife. Tolerates light shade. It is useful in restoration projects or in natural plantings. Deer resistant. We carry a cultivar called Blue Muffin.

Evergreen Viburnums

• Viburnum 'Pragense (Prague viburnum): Creamy white flowers in spring gives way to berries in early fall which first appear red and then change to glossy black. Typically matures to 10-12 feet tall. Plant in full sun to part shade.

• Viburnum rhytidophyllum (Leatherleaf viburnum): A large rough textured evergreen shrub. Creamy white flowers in spring.

Fragrant Spring Blooming Viburnums

• Viburnum carlessi (Korean Spice viburnum): A wonderfully fragrant cultivar. Reddish pink buds open in late March/early April and progress into 3” snowball like clusters of fragrant blooms. Plant in sun to part shade. Typically matures to 4-5 feet tall but may reach a height of 8' in the right conditions.

• Viburnum carlocephalum (Fragrant Viburnum): A multi stemmed shrub with an open and rounded form. Fragrant snow-ball type blooms in the spring and reddish fall color. Fruit production happens best when planted in groups. Good drought tolerance once established. Grows 6-10 feet tall and wide.

• Viburnum burkwoodii (Burkwood Viburnum): An early spring beauty is Viburnum x burkwoodii which is from a group of Viburnums called Korean Spice or Snowball Viburnum. Burkwood Viburnum grows quite large, under ideal conditions 10’ x 10. It blooms clusters of pinkish white spring flowers with an insanely delicious fragrance in late April-early May. Beautiful dark green foliage. Use as a hedge, screen or accent plant.

Fragrant Viburnum

Viburnum x burkwoodii

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Viburnum x burkwoodii [photo credit: keith kurman]

autumn garden

maple trees

for best fall color

[PLANT PROFILE] CRAPE MYRTLE

Lagerstroemia

[CRAPE MYRTLE]

An all-season performer that shows off colorful foliage in fall, attractive exfoliating bark in winter and showy flowers in the summer! Crape Myrtle bloom from July to September, with some varieties blooming until first frost. Flowers have a crepe like texture and range in color from red, purple, pink, orchid and white. There are several varieties that range in size from 2-foot shrubby dwarfs to large trees.

Crape Myrtles’ showy flowers adds a punch of color in late summer & early fall.

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Crape Myrtle (front), Rudbeckia & Hibiscus

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HISTORY

Better known by their common name of Crape Myrtle, Lagerstroemia is a genus of about 50 plants native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The Genus is named after the director of the Swedish East India Company, Magnus van Lagerstrom, who supplied Carl Linnaeus with plants he collected.

Only 2 species are primarily used in gardening and landscape horticulture. The Lagerstroemia indica from China and Korea was introduced to Charleston, North Carolina in 1790 by French botanist Andre Michaux. In the wild it is a large multi stemmed shrub but 200 years of cultivation have resulted in a huge number of cultivars with varying characteristics.

Another species from Japan Lagerstroemia fauriei is becoming increasingly important as a landscape plant and as a parent in hybrids with L. Indica. This species is more resistant to fungal diseases, has highly ornamental bark and is more cold hardy than L. Indica making it valuable as genetic material for hybridization.

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FALL IS A GREAT TIME TO PLANT. allowS CRAPE MYRTLE time to establish their roots before going dormant in winter.

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Lagerstroemia Berry Dazzle

CARE

• Prefer full sun. The more sun the more blooms!

• Once established, Crape Myrtles are quite drought tolerant.

• They need good drainage.

• A common mistake is over-pruning.

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  USES

  Crape myrtles make great additions to any size garden. Some ideas for how to use them:

• Plant multiple dwarf or medium-size varieties together to form a hedge.

• Use dwarf varieties as colorful additions in borders and beds.

• Dwarf varieties make excellent choices for large containers.

• A good choice near walkways and driveways.

• Use larger varieties as an individual accent

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we have dwarf varieties available to add to your garden if you don’t have space for a larger speciman.

Crape Myrtle ‘Like a Latte’ [photo: walters gardens]

CRAPE MYRTLE VARIETIES WE HAVE AVAILABLE

Lagerstroemia 'Like A Latte' (Dwarf)

Lagerstroemia 'Barista Cherry Mocha' (Dwarf)

Lagerstroemia 'Tuscarora'

Lagerstroemia 'Tonto'

Lagerstroemia 'Muskogee'

Lagerstroemia 'Muskogee Lavender'

Lagerstroemia 'Natchez White'

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Lagerstroemia 'Cherry Mocha' [photo: walters garden]

Crape Myrtle ‘Tuscarora’ [photo: monrovia]

Crape Myrtle ‘Muskogee’ [photo credit: monrovia]

Tonto Crape Myrtle [photo: monrovia]

Fall Trees & Shrubs

Autumn Garden