Tag Archives: flowers hummingbirds like

Gloxinias in the Garden – Say What!

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Gloxinias that I knew growing up were the typical florists Gloxinia my aunt and grandmother used to grow as house plants, with broad velvety leaves and large, brightly colored bell-shaped flowers. Who knew you could grow Gloxinias in the garden? Well here comes Evita!! This selection of Gloxinia nematanthodes hails from 4,000' elevation in Argentina (which introduces an increased level of cold hardiness for the temperate garden). Although it is late to emerge (June in NC), it makes an amazing 1' x 4' groundcover that is loaded with brilliant, 1" orange-red blooms from August until frost.  Your friends and hummingbirds will be thrilled! Read more [...]

Cardinal Flowers – An Easy to Grow Native

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Lobelia cardinalis is native to 41 out of the 50 states in North America. The cardinal flower is tolerant of many different soils from moist bogs to average garden soils, and is perfect for use in rain gardens. Cardinal flowers are also a magnet for hummingbirds and butterflies. Lobelia begins blooming in summer and will continue until fall with an array of flower and foliage colors to blend nicely in your garden, from the brilliant red flowers of the species, to the hot pink Monet Moment, or the burgundy foliage of Black Truffle. You can order cardinal flowers online or visit us at our fall open house September 9-11 & 16-18 to see the cardinal flowers blooming in the garden and pick out that perfect plant for a spot in your garden. Read more [...]

Unique Color Combinations in the Summer Garden are Hot!!

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Canna lilies are a great addition to your sunny summer garden or rain garden. Their large bold leaves come in a variety of colors and variegation patterns, and provide the perfect foil for brightly colored flowers from orange, to brilliant reds, rose to white. Cannas add color to the garden from late spring to fall and are an excellent attractant for butterflies and hummingbirds. Read more [...]

Sinningia – a flowering machine

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Here's a recent photo from the garden of one of our favorite full sun, summer-flowering perennials, Sinningia 'Arkansas Bells'.  This amazing African violet relative thrives with cactus and agaves in our full sun rock garden, flowering from April until September, during which time, the hummingbirds have to wait their turn.  We don't currently offer this because not enough folks purchased it last time, which drives us a little nuts!  It's only winter hardy to 5 degrees F in the ground, but makes a superb container plant in colder zones.  So, why do more people not buy this?  Please convince us to propagate some more since it is so wonderful.         Read more [...]

Plant Delights September 2015 Newsletter

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Greetings PDNers! It's hard to believe, but September is here and it's time for our final Open Nursery and Garden for 2015. We hope you'll join us to see all the gems that look great this time of year and stock up for the fall planting season with all the cool new plants from the fall catalog. Plants, Plants, and More Plants We also hope you've had time to enjoy the Fall Plant Delights Nursery catalog. We're so excited by the new offerings, especially the clumping, heat-tolerant, mildew-resistant bee balms. These are a huge breeding breakthrough for anyone who likes monardas and attracting pollinators into the garden. Other members of the same (Lamiaceae) family are also putting on quite a show now.Agastaches, first cousins to bee balm, are simply amazing in fall. In particular, Agastache 'Peachie Keen' and 'Rosie Posie' have been standouts in our trials and are still in full flower here. These are perfect for a sunny, well-drained spot in the garden where you can observe Read more [...]

Manettia (firecracker vine) in full flower

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Manettia inflata2The amazing Manettia cordifolia has been in full flower for several weeks, and will continue for quite a while.  As you can imagine, this is hummingbird central.  Anita and I spent a good bit of time the other evening snapping photos of this amazing vine.

 

30′ tall Flowering Agave – a pollinators dream

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Agave Grey Gator in full flower at top with ladderIt’s been absolutely amazing to watch the swarm of honeybees, ants, and hummingbirds feeding on our giant 30′ tall flowering agave.  Here’s an updated photo of the blessed event from yesterday.  This weekend’s final summer open house is the last chance to see it in person.

 

Plant Delights July 2015 Newsletter

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Greetings PDNers! Summer Open Nursery and Garden Come see our 30 foot flowering agave at our final Summer Open Nursery and Garden Days this weekend. Visitors from around the country have been showing up to see our giant agave in flower, a 16-year-old specimen of Agave salmiana x Agave asperrima, with the first flowers opening right on cue for our summer open days. This is the tallest century plant we've ever flowered, with the tip of the spike topping out just a few inches below the 30' tall mark. We've got our giant ladder perched nearby so Jeremy can make his daily pollinations, all while fighting off attacking hummingbirds. We hope you'll have time to walk around the garden while you're here. The newly-opened, full sun Souto garden is looking fabulous, with so much color it's almost overwhelming. Changes also abound throughout the older sections of the garden. Anita has suggested the removal of several formerly fenced and hedged areas to create more openness...we think you'll Read more [...]

Lobelia cardinalis – Cardinal flower

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Lobelia cardinalis by sunken pond

Our native cardinal flower, Lobelia cardinalis is simply on fire in the garden now, with spikes reaching 5-6′ tall.  As you can imagine, the hummingbirds are enjoying the tasty treat.  Moist to wet, organically rich soils grow the tallest plants, although cardinal flower also grows in typical garden soils but just doesn’t get as tall.  I can’t imagine a summer garden without this beauty.

2012 Plant Delights Nursery April Newsletter

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I picked a lovely night to write to you from our home patio, where I’m sitting adjacent to the falling water sound of the Mt. Michelle waterfall, punctuated by the intermittent peeps from nearby mating frogs, each in search of a suitable companion. It’s not yet the cacophony that we’ll have in a few more weeks, where up to eight different species of poorly harmonized frogs will be trying to communicate simultaneously like a restaurant full of cell phone users. In the dark of this evening, it’s fascinating to watch the mosquitos continually trying to attack my cursor as it moves around the laptop screen. So, what is the best way to clean blood off laptop screens...inquiring minds want to know? We’ve just added another three dozen new plants to the website, many available only in very limited quantities. Shop Now! It’s been quite a start to the year in most parts of the country, with spring arriving far too soon. Many folks had their gardening chores recently interrupted Read more [...]