Newsletter - April 2006   
Produced by Chris Lepard                            

A Vine for Every Garden

Vines are invaluable to the gardener providing unique ornamental value.  Much of the garden tends to be horizontal.  Growing a vine up a trellis, pole or obelisk is an easy way to bring much needed vertical presence into the garden.  Many vines have interesting foliage with distinct colours such as variegation or a brilliant fall display, and also eye-catching textures and leaf patterns.  Some varieties like the Clematis produce spectacular blooms and others such as Bittersweet are grown for their ornamental berries.

In addition to their ornamental value vines have other uses.  They can be grown over an arbour or pergola to provide shade or along a fence to create privacy.  Some vigorous varieties can also be grown as a groundcover.

There are dozens of hardy varieties and a vine can be found for virtually any garden situation.  Let’s have a look!

Best Vines for Shade – Foliage
These are vines that do well in the shade and are grown predominantly for their foliage.  They are very useful if you want to create a screen or cover an arbour.
Aristolochia – Dutchman’s Pipe.  Adaptable to sun or shade, this vigorous vine has lovely mid-green heart-shaped foliage which over time will form a dense, overlapping canopy or wall.  It produces strange pipe-like blooms in the spring which have a ‘funny’ smell.
Parthenocissus – This group includes Boston Ivy and Virginia Creeper.  These are all very hardy vines – tough, durable, great for less than ideal conditions.  They do not produce flowers, however in the fall the foliage display is spectacular.  All varieties in this group can be grown in sun or shade.
Don’t be afraid to prune these vines to control their size.  Pruning will also make them bushier. 

Best Vines for Shade - Flowers
The Climbing Hydrangea – Hydrangea anomala petiolaris is an outstanding ornamental for shade.  It has glossy, green foliage and is set with huge white blooms in June and July.  It is slow to establish but well worth the wait.  This will become a heavy, woody plant over time so it requires a sturdy structure for support. 
Schizophragma – the Japanese Hydrangea is quite similar to the above however it does best in a partially shaded location.  There are three different varieties offering interesting foliage and pink or white blooms.
Both these Hydrangea are tolerant of sunnier conditions.

Clematis – Queen of Vines
Clematis are really in a class of their own and require a bit more care than most vines.  In the future I will devote an entire column to this diverse group however now I’ll just outline some basic information.
Generally Clematis are grown for their showy blooms which may be vary from quite small up to 10” in diameter.  Bloom time varies with variety.  With careful selection it is possible to have a clematis blooming from early spring until late fall.  
Clematis can be grown in sun to part shade in well-drained, fertile alkaline soil.  Clematis will do very poorly (and likely die) in acid soil.  This means they should not be grown near, around or under conifers -- and do not use peat moss as it will acidify the soil.  Clematis also perfer to have cool roots.  You can accomplish this by planting a non-invasive plant in front of the vine or by covering the roots with a rock or garden ornament.  

Vines for the Sunny Garden
There are many varieties to choose from and your selection will depend on the particular situation and use.  Most of the following vines can be grown in full sun to partial shade.

The Trumpet Vine (Campsis radican) is a persistent and rapid climber with attractive fern-like foliage and showy clusters of trumpet-shaped blooms in late summer.  Depending on the variety the blooms may be orange, yellow or red and are loved by hummingbirds. 

Lathyrus latifolius better known as Sweet Pea is an easy to grow herbaceous perennial that will climb and twine 8-10 feet.  It is covered with pea-like blossoms throughout the summer.  A great plant for a container or obelisk.  Since it is  herbaceous rather than a woody it will die back to the ground every year.

Lonicera or Honeysuckle includes a large variety of vines and shrubs.  Many produce fragrant blooms which are very attractive to hummingbirds.  Vines range in size from 6’ to 30’ with a variety of flower colours including – white, pink, yellow, orange and violet-red. 

Polygonum aubertii is sometimes known as ‘The Mile a Minute Vine’ – and for good reason.  It is extremely vigorous and can grow up to 25’ in a single season.  Also known as The Silver Lace Vine it is covered with large clusters of fragrant, white blooms from late summer into the fall.  I have several growing on a 50’ length of fence where they run and flower along the top creating a wonderful frothy effect.  

One of the most coveted vines is the Wisteria.  This is a vigorous climber with spectacular, long fragrant flowers in the spring.  It will become a massive plant over time and requires a very sturdy support and plenty of room.  It may take several years to flower.

Tips for Growing Vines

When planting your new vine use bonemeal to   encourage strong root growth.

Pinch back the leaders on new vines to promote bushier growth.

Other than using some bonemeal every year do not fertilize your vines and make sure they are not getting any lawn fertilizer.   Vines grown in rich soil will produce masses of foliage but few blooms.  NOTE:  This does not apply to Clematis which flower best in rich, fertile soil.

Don’t be afraid to prune your vines to make them look better, control their size and encourage new fresh growth.  Prune in early spring and again in early fall.

Practice proper water technique to avoid disease and insect problems.  Water deeply and less frequently.  The water should penetrate deep into the soil so the roots can take it up (ie at least 8 inches).  Let the top 2” dry-out before watering again.  If it doesn’t rain you should only have to water every 7-10 days.  (This will vary with your type of soil)

‘First a howling blizzard woke us,
Then the rain come down to soak us,
And now before the eye can focus --
Crocus.’
-- Lilja Rogers

   
Gardening Tip
At Canning Perennials all the gardens, greenhouses and plants are pesticide free.  We use a large number of preventative measures which are very effective.  However sometimes it is necessary to go on the offensive.  Following are two remedies I use for a couple of common problems.
To rid your plants of aphids mix:
  1 litre water, squirt of liquid soap, 1 tsp vegetable oil
Spray the effect area.  Don’t forget the underside of leaves which are usually more heavily infected.  Rinse off after 15 minutes.  It doesn’t hurt to test a few leaves before spraying the entire plant.  And make sure you are using soap not detergent.

Having a problem with powdery mildew?  Sprinkle affected foliage with sulphur powder or wet and spray it.  Use preventative practices to avoid the problem.  Make sure that plants are getting sufficient water deep to the roots.  If at all possible avoid overhead watering and don’t overcrowd plants.  Bad air circulation, humid atmosphere and plant stress are a sure recipe for mildew in susceptible plants like Monarda and Phlox.

   
Feature Plant - Dianthus ‘Firewitch’
2006 Perennial of the Year
This ‘Cheddar Pink’ or ‘Garden Pink’ as it sometime called, is a excellent low growing ornamental,  perfect as edging along a border, garden path or planted in a wave in the rock garden.

‘Firewitch’ forms an attractive, evergreen mat of blue-green foliage.  It is covered with brilliant magenta blooms over a long period in early summer.   The flowers have an enticing clove-like fragrance.  Plant a bunch in your patio container, near a bench or walkway where they can be properly enjoyed.

After flowering shear back the spent flowers to encourage reblooming later in the season.
Like most  Dianthus, ‘Firewitch’ prefers a sunny site with well drained soil but is tolerant of light shade in the morning or afternoon.

When in bloom ‘Firewitch’ is 6-8” tall.  It  is hardy from Zone 4 –9. 

Please see you Catalogue for image and more information.
 
  
Great Combinations
Two of the hottest plants in 2006 will Echinacea ‘Orange Meadowbrite’ and Echinacea ‘Big Sky’.  Both these new varieties have gorgeous, electric orange, daisy-like blooms with the traditional raised, bristly cone.  So you really want to put these in your garden but what will be a good companion to orange?  A great colour combination is orange, purple (or blue) and yellow.  And if you really want to heat things up, throw in a bit of red!
Try the following combination in your sunny garden:
Echinacea ‘Big Sky’  - orange
Salvia ‘Cardonna’   - purple
Coreopsis ‘Crème Brulee – yellow
Hemerocallis ‘Pardon Me’ – a red flowering daylily.
Now that will set your garden on fire!

WHO HAS SEEN THE WIND?

Who has seen the wind?
    Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling
    The wind is passing thro’.

Who has seen the wind?
    Neither I nor you:
But when the trees bow down their heads
    The wind is passing by.
     ----  Christina Rossetti