tel: 512-280-1192 Friday, April 27, 2012
Nursery Notes: Lots of beautiful plants to choose from.... and a new
shipment of metal art arrived this week: metal sunflowers - small
to extra large ($26.40 to $66.00), metal longhorns $52.80, metal
flamingos (pink of course!) $55 - $99), metal planter stands ($39.60
- $66), and famous flying metal pigs ($22).
SUSAN WITTIG ALBERT TO VISIT SUNDAY! Bestselling
author of the China Bayles series will talk on 'The Mysteries of
Herbs' at 2 p.m. in the nursery's garden auditorium. Susan will have
books to sign and several of her novels to sell. (free) China Bayles
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A big thanks to George Altgelt for sharing his profound knowledge
of nutrition and vegetable gardening last Sunday - a truly fascinating
lecture... and thanks also to the Easy Hill Gang who rocked the
nursery Saturday night.
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What Happened to my Wildflowers? From the experts at the Wild-
flower Center, where folks often ask...what went wrong? Ten Ways
to Ruin your Wildflower Patch: wildflower help
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Central Texas Gardener (KLRU-TV): Brent Pemberton from
Texas A&M AgriLife Research picks some Texas superstar plants,
and a visit to the natural gardens of Bulverde/Spring Branch Library.
Sat. noon or 4 p.m. or Sun: 9 a.m. www.klru.org/ctg/
The Self-Cleaning Knockout
by Chris Winslow
Antique or ‘old fashioned’ roses have long had a reputation for
disease resistance and overall hardiness. However sometimes a
modern ‘hybrid’ comes along that's just a true knockout.
A modern rose - actually named Knockout - was introduced just
over ten years ago, and has rapidly risen to become a star in the
world of roses.
It is compact and tidy, resistant to powdery mildew and
black spot, and blooms a vibrant fire engine red in the spring,
and cherry red in the heat of the summer.
Foliage is dark purple-ish red though spring and summer, and
turns burgundy in the fall. The flowers are seven-petal singles
with a slight tea fragrance.
Also - amazingly - Knockout is a ‘self-cleaning’ rose: you don’t
have to ‘deadhead’ it (remove spent flowers and seed pods) to
get it to re-bloom.
On top of all this, the incredible Knockout is believed to have the
longest observed bloom cycle recorded to date for a rose plant. We
planted Knockouts at the Fergus entrance at Plum Creek in 2003
and they have been blooming ever since. Knockout has also
shown great shade tolerance but can also stand up to our full sun
exposures.
A few years back we saw the release of a new Knockout rose in a
pink color. This has the same disease resistance and exhibits the
same carefree habits.
America’s most sought after rose since Knockout has been Home
Run, a flame red offspring of Knockout. Its disease resistance and
hardiness are said to be even stronger than its parent. It has a rounded
bush form that is quick to flower and is nearly always in color. Its
flowers are five-petaled singles and have a slight fragrance.
If you have ever wanted to grow roses in your garden but have had
bad luck, please do yourself a favor and give these roses a try.
(We have them in stock for $24.99.)
Happy Gardening Everyone!
Visit the website: www.itsaboutthyme.com 