Featured Plants : fast growing

Green Envy Coneflower Will Be The Envy Of All Your Neighbors

patti-nhn — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 14:58:00 GMT

The Green Envy Coneflower Echinacea purpurea 'green envy' is a highly coveted Coneflower hybrid. The flower heads are daisy like in their appearance and the petals boast a lime green coloring and in the centers they go to a rosey pink color. The center of the flower is in the shape of a cone and is a lime to dark green color. The flowers are long lasting and are often used in cut flower arrangements. The flowers will bloom from July to September. The habit of the plant is upright and spreading.

If you enjoy butterflies, this Green Envy Coneflower will attract them. It is best to plant them in full sun and well drained normal, sandy or clay soils. They are hardy from zone 3 to zone 9. They can grow from 30-36 inches tall to 18-24 inches wide. They are fast growing plants so would fill in quickly for you. It would be an ornamental and attractive plant for your garden.

Swedish Columnar Aspen Will Ruffle In The Wind

patti-nhn — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 17:55:00 GMT

The Swedish Columnar Aspen Populus tremula 'Erecta' is the European Version of a Quaking Aspen. An attribute that you won't find in most trees is that when the wind blows the leaves of the tree will rustle with a whispering sound that is very comforting and pleasing to the ear. It is one of the most hardy trees that are available and you will often see them lining driveways, property lines and being used as screens.

Because of their upright Columnar shape, they don't take up a lot of room. The crown of the tree is only 5-10 feet and it can mature to 40 feet tall. In the fall it will sport yellow leaves. The foliage is dark green. It is hardy from zone 2 to 7 but will not do as well in hotter climates. It should be planted in partial sun and the soil kept moist and it widely adaptable to soil types. This is a beautiful aspen tree and will fill in quickly for you.

Dawn Redwood A Decorative Fast Growing Tree

patti-nhn — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:28:00 GMT

If you are looking for a beautiful fast growing tree, the Dawn Redwood is the one for you. It makes an awesome windbreak as well and would grow and fill in more quickly than the slower growing varieties of trees. As you can see by the pictures above, it also has a very interesting trunk. It would be quite a conversation piece in your landscape. Oftentimes, you will see them planted in medians on the highway.

The Dawn Redwood is considered a deciduous (meaning it will lose it's soft needle like leaves in the fall) conifer. They do have the look of evergreens but the leaves will turn an orange/reddish color in the fall. The trunk is one of it's most outstanding and interesting features. It is extremely useful as a hedge, especially since it grows very rapidly. It is also said to be air pollution tolerant. It grows up to 50-90 feet and will spread out between 15-25 feet. It is widely adaptable and does require full sun. It is hardy to zone 4-8.

The Dawn Redwood would be a great anchor tree by itself or by planting two or more would be very attractive on an acreage or along your driveway as stately "soldiers" watching over your home.

Autumn Purple Ash - Great Fall Color

patti-nhn — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:14:00 GMT

As I am driving around my area during this fall season, I am seeing so many beautiful fall colors on the trees. I am trying to decide on my favorites so that maybe in the spring I can plant the ones I like to begin some wonderful fall color in my own back yard. The Autumn Purple Ash, Fraxinus americana, 'Autumn Purple' is one of the most beautiful fall trees. It shows off it's leaves in the fall from a deep red, maroon into purple in the fall. The leaf shapes are lightly serrated on the edges and oval shaped. Their fall color is one of the longest lasting into the late fall.

This is a good sized tree maturing at anywhere from 50-70 feet tall and 35-50 feet wide. You would need a medium to large sized yard otherwise you can stress the tree and the root system may not develop properly. It is a very rapid growing tree at 2-3 feet per year and begins with a pyramidal shape and as it ages becomes more oval in shape.

It does best in full sun and is a very hardy tree from zones 3-9. It is widely adaptable to most soils. For beautiful fall color, this Ash tree is one of the best!

A fun August "Surprise" Lily

patti-nhn — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:32:00 GMT

We just had a surprise in our landscape this August. We moved into a home that is over 100 years old. The original owners had done lots of landscaping although after they passed away and new owners took over, it was and still is quite an overgrown area. We have had lots of surprises of plants that have come up that we often wonder, how they got there. We thought we had pretty much seen everything new there was to see until this past week.

I know you won't believe this but "overnight" we looked out on the edge of our property and there were long green stems growing out of the ground. They had no leaves and were thick stems. They looked to have flower buds forming. We had no clue what they were and they looked pretty odd with those leggy stems. Within a day, the flower buds started to open and the stems continued to grow. The third day, the flowers were opening and had beautiful pink flowers. Each stalk had about 5 blooms.

They are still growing and we are in the second week. I did some investigating and found out that they are a Lily - Spider - Pink Magic (Lycoris squamigera). Some people call them Surprise Lily or Naked Lady. These bulbs are planted in the fall and they have foliage that comes up in late winter. Now, we remember seeing what looked like Daffodils popping up and couldn't figure why they were there at that time of year. My husband had mowed over them not knowing what they were! Apparently, the leaves die away in the spring and disappear below ground in late May. Come August, you get a real show!

They look pretty funny with just those tall (up to 36" stalks), skinny green stalks and no other foliage. We are considering putting some type of plant or bush that would still be green around them to show them off even more. If you get a chance to plant these beauties, you will really enjoy them. Fall is the time to get those bulbs in! They will definitely "surprise" you!

Ash Leaf Spirea

patti-nhn — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:29:00 GMT

Ash Leaf Spirea (Sorbaria sorbifolia) also known as Ural False Spirea is a very decorative shrub. It is fast growing and exhibits large clusters of creamy white blossoms that have a soft, feathery look. You will want to prune the shrub in early spring before growth starts as the flowers occur on new wood. Their leaves are green and fern-like. The young leaves are a reddish color when they first appear and then turn green. Their fall color is yellow and green.

They grow 6-8' tall and about 5-10' wide so they make great border or privacy shrubs. They are deciduous so they will lose their leaves in the winter but they are still an attractive addition to your landscape without their leaves and flowers. Ash Leaf Spirea are also considered low maintenance and they don't require much pruning. It is resistant to disease, insects and is salt tolerant. It does require full to partial sun and moist well drained soil.