hydrangeas, lilacs, viburnum, oh my

After many years of wanting to add flowering shrubs to what we can offer florists, wedding couples and general visitors, we finally bit the bullet and bought shrubs. Lots of shrubs. 400 shrubs. Poor Scot! So, after a month of putting shrubs in here, there and everywhere, it's time to share. Here's the list (all from www.springmeadownursery.com -- for photos, and more info, go to their website): A few different varieties of hydrangea, including the new Incrediball (huge blooms), Invincibelle Spirit (reblooming pink hydrangea), and the ever popular Limelight. All will do well in full sun to part shade. The first two are a bit more petite, topping out around 6 feet, while the Limelight can go to 10-12 feet. All are rated zone 4 and points north, which is perfect for Iowa!

We do have a couple of Lilac varieties as well. The first is Anabel, which is a light pink, and smells great! And for those of you who like the new plants, how about Bloomerang, a reblooming lilac? Yea, how cool is that?? And we have them!

How about some Weigela to add to your garden? These are fantastic landscape plants, and the foliage holds up wonderfully in arrangements. "Wine and Roses" is a dark leafed weigela with hot pink flowers that are blooming right now. "My Monet" is a new weigela, smaller than the wine roses, with a green and white foliage and soft pink flowers.

And last, but not least, Viburnum. These are fantastic for both their spring blooms and for the berries they set in the fall. I have Winterthur, Brandywine, and Michael Dodge--It's always good to have a few different ones to cross pollinate and get a good set of berries. You can use them in fall arrangements, or let them be--the birds will flock to them and love you for it. The viburnums are rated zone 5, so they should be good near I80 in Iowa and points south.

That's about all I have; Fresh flowers, and gallon jugs of flowers should start to be available in the next three weeks. Right now we are staying busy with weddings and planting. And planting. And planting some more. I'm sure we can squeeze in a few more rows!

Shoot me an email if you are interested in purchasing some shrubs, cash and carry!