Crescent Hill Nursery May E-Newsletter 2014 The CHN e-newsletter is our show of gratitude to the loyal market customers at our many events around th

 
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Crescent Hill Nursery May E-Newsletter 2014

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Nothing says spring like the captivating blooms of Clematis. Thanks to Suncrest Nurseries for providing this beautiful specimen of Clematis "Mrs. N. Thompson'.

The CHN e-newsletter is our show of gratitude to the loyal market customers at our many events around the Central Coast. It will serve as a site for seasonal updates, "plant of the month" specials, the "ask a nurseryman" section, links to our partners, and a whole lot more. New for 2013 will be a "project" page which offers ideas for weekend garden activities, and more in-depth coverage of some of our recent landscape installations. The e-newsletter is a way to stay connected with our thriving and knowledgeable garden community. Please send us your comments on how to make this e-newsletter more useful to all, and don't forget to pass along the link to a friend!

Happy Planting,
Nathan Krupa (owner/grower)

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The pillowy blooms of Astilbe arendsii 'Deutschland' provide a stately show for any shade garden.

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The lovely South African native Polygala virgata showing off its bountiful and colorful blooms.

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MONTHLY BULLETIN

During a conversation yesterday with a plant plug distributor in the Northeast, I was asked me how my day was going. Not yet knowing where their central office was located, I responded, "Great, but a little hot." Without mincing any words, she told me that she woke up with ice on her windshield, cold and raw conditions persisting throughout the day, and thunderstorms expected for the evening. Then, more ice. I heard the phrase "don't rub it in" on at least four occasions throughout our five minute talk. Well guess what? If your a plant lover, and live in California, now is the time to rub it in!! That, and the sun block. Spring is here and the plants are responding to the late rains and amazing warm weather with explosive growth and plentiful early blooms. Hope we get to "rub it in" with you this month at a dizzying array of events throughout the Central Coast Region, as we usher in Spring and all its charms. The busy first weekend of May 3-4 again finds us in two places at once as we will be participating in both the De Anza College Market in Cupertino on Saturday and the Carmel Valley Garden Show on both Saturday and Sunday. For our East Bay Garden Family, Crescent Hill will be displaying at the Niles Wildflower, Art, and Garden Show on Sunday May 18 from 10AM-4PM. This long standing and diverse free event features everything from garden tours to quilt making all set in the idyllic, easily accessible, and friendly town just east of Fremont. The last weekend of the month (May 29 and June 1) finds us at the Marin Home and Garden Expo at the Marin Civic Center in San Rafael, Ca. The show promises to offer many ideas for home improvement, highlighted by guest speakers, and over 200 selected contractors and vendors, along with free parking attendance. Maps and directions to all events are available on the CALENDAR page of the website linked below. www.crescenthillnursery.com

Crescent Hill Nursery's website plant update 2014 is very near completion. Plant descriptions have been augmented, new selections have been added, and photos are increasingly available for all of our plants. Please take a moment to check out the new content. As always, your feedback is highly appreciated, and helps make our database a more complete and accurate reference for all Central Coast gardeners.

Please don't forget to check out our constantly changing color collage on Facebook. The frequent updates feature a who's who of the present bloomers at the nursery, plus special updates and promotions. Find us at www.facebook.com/pages/Crescent-Hill-Nursery/207330655953337)
or click on the link below on this page.

In response to the numerous requests by our gardening family and partners, we are pleased to announce that an E-NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE link is now available on our website www.crescenthillnursery.com.

Nursery tours are encouraged. Please come out and see our 2 acre facility in Watsonville. With over 250 varieties grown, the growing grounds are turning into a little botanical park. Please call for an appointment. Groups are welcome.

Please remember Crescent Hill recycles all 1, 2, and 5 gallon plastic containers. Drop off available at all markets, or here at the nursery. Thanks again!!

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PLANT OF THE MONTH

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Up close, the red hot poker-like flower spikes of the Orchid Primrose feature purple flowers and scarlet red buds.

Primula vialii
Orchid Primrose

Rarely do horticulturalists encounter a plant with such vivid personality that it can define an entire garden space. Primula vialii, the Crescent Hill Nursery May Plant of The Month, has this widely sought after characteristic and leaves experts and novices alike asking for more. A member of the Primulaceae plant family, native to the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces of China, the Orchid Primrose is easy to distinguish from other members of the genus. While the basal rosette of ovate pure green leaves is similar, the flowers certainly are not. The lilac purple and scarlet red cone shaped inflorescence rise majestically from the foliage and garnishes images of a miniature red hot poker. Each year as the clump expands (to a maximum of 12-18"wide), more and more of these startling flower spikes appear on each specimen. The result is breathtakingly vivid color for the shade garden from spring through early summer. Primula vialii thrives in fertile, moist, acidic soils like those under redwoods, on pond margins, or in creekside or woodland settings, but will tolerate a wide range of soil types as long as it has shade and adequate water. Crescent Hill has even had success planting this species in almost pure shade, where the verdant foliage clumps and dramatic blooms certainly draw the eye. It fits perfectly as an exciting flash of early season color along the front border, but will also excel when used in the same manner in mixed potted arrangements. Where solitary specimens will become a talking point, the Orchid Primrose shines in mass plantings, where sporadic drifts or sprays will surely be a conversation piece to humans and butterflies alike. In the garden, Primula vialii is a versatile companion for many shade lovers due to its wide ranging appeal. It pairs well with ferns, coral bells (Heuchera sp.), Astilbes, or Hostas in the front border, or in the understory of larger shade lovers like Chinese Lantern (Abutilon sp.), Hydrangea, Dichroa, or even larger ferns or tree ferns. It is also a perfect mate for late season bloomers likeTricyrtis which can take over when the Orchid Primrose goes deciduous for the season. The list of partners could go on and on, as this adaptable species can fit in woodland, pond side, cottage, rock, Japanese, or even tropical gardens if you use your imagination. The versatility, toughness (Hardy to USDA Zones 5-9 or -20 degrees F), and exotic blooms led the UK's Royal Horticultural Society to give it prestigious Award of Garden Merit to Primula vialii in 1993. Garden tested and truly unique, please join Crescent Hill in welcoming the dazzling Orchid Primrose as our May Plant of The Month.

Special E-Newsletter Price: $8 per 1-gallon container!!! Mention this article to receive discount!!!

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In mass plantings, the spring blooms create quite the effect.

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The verdant pure green foliage reminds us that this selection, is yes indeed a Primrose.

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PROJECTS

With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, the yard and landscape can sometimes seem like an insurmountable task. This quarterly section attempts to provide ideas for weekend "projects" that will make the task less daunting, and hopefully fun as well!!

A recent garden show in Fairfield, California that Crescent Hill participated in yielded an extra-ordinary amount of questions concerning clay soils, and how to work with them in the garden. This months "Projects" section aims to provide a few ideas on how to mediate the effects of clay, whether for large scale or spot treatment. First of all there are many types of clay soil; those well-draining adobe types are not the focus of our conversation today. The "water doesn't drain-stick to the shovel/bottom of the work boots- form it into a ceramic sculpture" clay is what we tackle this time. If you have been blessed with this type of soil in your yard, there is good news and bad news. Yes, clay is slow draining, gets soggy after rains, limits your plant choices, and sometimes cracks in the sun. But, if time and care are given to improve the structure of the soil, the clay particles are more nutrient rich once unlocked. In general, the best way to unlock these valuable nutrients is the addition of organic matter. The addition of composts, manures, straw, leaf mold, or even saw dust or grass clippings in limited quantities, will help build up the below ground soil microorganisms. Bacteria, fungi, insects, earthworms and other soil biota will colonize, and as they "eat" the organic matter, transform it into nutrients available to plants. This of course is not an overnight process, but religious additions of organic matter at least twice a year at a depth of at least three inches per application, will over time improve drainage. Cover cropping in the winter months with a legume/grass mix will speed up the process tremendously, and has the added benefit of adding Nitrogen (which some legume's roots fix from the atmosphere) to the soil when the crop is tilled in the spring.

For those of us who do not have the time, back, or need for such wholesale changes, there are other avenues to travel. The most obvious of course is choosing plants that are appropriate for clay soils, and trying to build the organic matter level up as they grow. Ornamental perennials like Coreopsis, Gaillardia, (and many other Sunflower (Asteacea) family members in general), certain
Salvias, Hebes, Natives, and our favorite clay-buster Persicaria will tolerate and thrive in clay with minimal effort. But if you want to expand the plant palette, raised beds, mounds, or "spot treatment" may be necessary.

Raised garden beds are made with wood, rock, cement, or anything else you can get your hands on, and filled with fresh soil above the clay. This option is quick and and especially effective in vegetable gardening, areas with limited space, or with an impenetrable substrate below.

To help mediate clay in the already established landscape, "spot treatment" may be a valuable way to get that plant that requires well draining soil into your yard. First of all, it helps to be on an incline, however slight. Certain plants, like most in the Protea (Proteaceae) family hate to have water pool around the base of the plant during the seasonal wet period. Any gentle slope will help to offset this effect. If you do not have the incline, you may just have to work a little harder. Now the excavation begins!! It is best to dig the hole 2-3 times deeper than the pot it is already in, but here bigger is better in the long run. The hole now can be filled with fresh topsoil mixed with a small amount of the removed soil. Soil conditioners, fertilizers, mycorrhizal fungi, or drainage builders like perlite or cactus mix can also be added at this point depending on the specific needs of the plant(s) to be planted. We have especially had success mixing in small chunk lava rock, which provides far more long lasting results than Perlite, which breaks down after a few years. After planting the desired specimen(s), don't forget to keep on the addition of the organic matter to help keep the soil life happy. Mulching with wood chips/barks is a nice way to do this, and has the added benefits of reducing water use, limiting weeds, and providing a unified finished appearance.

Perhaps the most effective way to negotiate soils with high clay content is through the creation of mounds within the landscape. Although requiring increased inputs of labor and materials, mounds are a relatively quick solution which can also add depth and texture to the garden. The process begins by clearing the area where the mound will be created, and tilling in the soil if possible to limit the amount of weeds in the future. Especially aggressive weeds with persistent roots, such as Bermuda Grass, should be exterminated with herbicides well before the process begins. Next comes the addition of topsoil and design of the mound. The shape and size of the mound will be based upon the specific constraints of the yard and the design preference of the owner, but should always be lower towards the edges and higher in the middle. This allows a tiering effect in which taller perennials take center stage and the planting gradually fades down to the front border, where ground covers can soften the edges. Landscape boulders, garden art, or benches can be added to create pockets of interest suited to the tastes of the individual gardener. Drip irrigation is installed at this point to help conserve water, and followed by a healthy application of mulch to keep that organic matter flowing into the system. Viola!! The properly designed mound is now capable of housing those well-draing soil lovers, as the main rootball is now above the sticky clay below. The breakdown of the topsoil and mulch over time will also help unlock those valuable nutrients down below.

Although clay can be somewhat of a nuisance to gardeners throughout California and beyond, there are "Projects" we can initiate to help mediate the effects it has on the garden. Please let us know if Crescent Hill Landscape can help plan, consult, or install any of these mediating ideas for the clay laden garden.

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Always a great choice for the front-mid border of your mound, the dwarf (3' tall X wide) Halimiocistus wintonensis 'Merrist Wood Cream' provides a riot of spring color on a drought resistant frame.

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