Each month Matt Stedman & Mary Russell will select and highlight 3) Trees or Shrubs & 3) Perennials, Grasses or Ferns and for the warm seasons they will also feature 3) Annuals or Tropicals.
Note: We will note if they are natives to the Northeast.
Cedrus deodora ‘Feeling Blue’ – Dwarf Blue Deodora Cedar
Outstanding Silver, Blue-green foliage on prostrate arching stems that will spread to 6’ wide. This is an excellent accent or specimen plant where a colorful evergreen is desired, perfect for rock gardens, small spaces or a container. This is a shrub form of a tree that has no upright leaders but can be staked to achieve a desired shape. It seems to be quite deer resistant.
Ilex pedunculosa – Longstalk Holly
A very unusual, under used member of the Holly family with leaves that remind me of the Southern and common houseplant Ficus or Fig. This handsome, very hardy evergreen holly is useful for a graceful screen planting in shade or sun. Females sport delightful bright red berries that droop from stalks in small clusters beginning in October. Grows almost as wide as tall and up to 12-15’ yet very easy to prune and shape as desired.
Lonicera fragrantissima – Winter Honeysuckle
A heavenly fragrance drifting thru the air on an early spring day alerts you that bloom time has begun on this large and adaptable shrub. Bushy, spreading, deciduous shrub with paired oval leaves to 3” long, dark green above, blue-green beneath. Tubular, 2-lipped, very fragrant, creamy white flowers, ½” long, are produced in pairs from the leaf axils in winter & early spring. Berries are dull red. Winter Honeysuckle is useful as a hedge or screen or as a handsome backdrop in the shrub border. A must for every butterfly garden, as the first butterflies to arrive in early spring make a beeline for the lingering small creamy white blossoms. Honeybees also appreciate the nectar. Amongst the most fragrant flowering shrub!
Mertensia virginica – Virginia Bluebells
Gorgeous Eastern US native with frosty blue-green shiny elliptical leaves that emerge in Spring and slowly fade to green before going Summer dormant. Striking Blue bellflowers open from Pinkish buds and nod gracefully. They can be seen sometimes in a rare pinkish or white flower. Grows best in shade to semi-shade and mixes beautifully with bulbs, Ferns, Hellebores, Candytufts, Phlox and Sedges.
Carex pensylvanica – Pennsylvania Sedge
This native grass is commonly found throughout our Oak, Hickory forests and woodlands. It is indispensable as a groundcover in shade areas. Glossy, evergreen foliage of thin grass blades gently weep to form a short fountain. Grows 4-8” tall and forms clumps that spread to eventually form lawn like patches. This is a cool season grass that wakes in the early spring and flowers with white-yellow fuzzy topped stalks. Plant in mass in shade gardens, at the base of shrubs or trees or as an alternative to lawn in those difficult areas where lawn grasses fail.
Trillium luteum – Wood Lily
This mid to late spring bloomer bears yellow blossoms atop a trio of leaves often mottled with a paler shade of silvery- green. Groups of them make an elegant understory planting in a woodland or shady naturalized area. Trilliums go dormant in the summer, so plant them with other shade-loving perennials to share their space until they reappear the following spring. Provide rich, moist, but well drained soil with a neutral to acidic pH. Mulch annually with rich organic matter. Native to the Northeast U.S.
Cedrus deodora 'Feeling Blue'
Ilex pedunculosa
Lonicera fragrantissima
Mertensia virginica
Carex pensylvanica
Trillium luteum
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