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Have a Colorful Fall & Holiday Season!

This Spring and Summer have been busy so it's been a while since you've heard from us. While our climate doesn't allow the extent of foliage color seen in other areas of the country, we want all of our customers to have as colorful an Autumn and Winter season as possible. And along with that, we'd like to give you a preview of things to come for Spring.

We should also mention that now with the Cornelius Garden Club, you can receive an additional email newsletter that has coupons and additional information, including occasional advance notice of upcoming events and specials available only to Garden Club members. Click here to sign up.

Now is the time to plant blooming and colorful plants that will grow and perform through the rest of the Fall and the upcoming Winter seasons. Here are just a few of the most popular:

Pansies & Violas - These popular and hardy annuals provide welcoming faces for the cooler Winter months ahead. Most of us know the smiling All-America Classic faces of 'Majestic Giant' Pansies, but gaining in popularity are those varieties without faces. These clear colors have become very popular particularly with commercial landscapes because the colors are saturated and not interrupted by the darker blotches, or faces. Personally, I've always liked Violas for their smaller, more prolific blooms. The 'Orange Duet' in the link is one of my favorites. In smaller gardens they are more in scale and force you to stop and adore them.

Cyclamen - Many variations in leaf and flower colors provide a broad canvas from which to color our shady Winter gardens. The 'Victoria' selection is one that caught our eye this year. Cyclamen will continue to be available through November and most of December.

Kale, Cabbage & Chard - These edible ornamentals have become the bones to many Winter garden displays. When grown organically from seed that was sown in the summer, they can be harvested and prepared as you would cabbage, or used as garnish for any dish to add color. Most of the ornamental ones in our garden centers are not produced organically, but they make a huge impact in Winter gardens.

Petunias - As we search for more and more diversity in our gardens, old-fashioned Petunias remain a favorite and have become a Fall and Winter staple. Most gardeners may be familiar with planting them in Spring, but they actually perform well through the Fall and Winter, and remain evergreen through most of our Winter temperatures. New breeding has allowed the introduction of Petunia varieties that are not dependent on longer days to produce blooms. This allows petunias to remain in bloom through the shorter days of Winter instead of producing mostly foliage.

Spring is always loaded with excitement in our garden centers and our landscapes. Here are some ideas that you might find fun to pursue.

Make some notes about ornamental grasses that are performing now with fall color & plant in spring. Some beautiful grasses with attractive and interesting textures and colors for Spring include Muhly, Purple Fountain Grass (foliage and flower) or Black Fountain Grass.  These varieties typically attain heights around 2.5-3 feet, with an equal spread. Don't be afraid of large grasses that make striking statements in your landscape and perennial borders. One of my new favorites is 'Cabaret' Maiden Grass. It grows to around 5-6 feet tall with wide, green and white leaves, then blooms to around 7 feet tall in late Fall.

Some interesting new drought-tolerant groundcovers will make the scene next Spring. These plants from "down under" cover much the same as Liriope with a clumping form, but with a larger, more coarse form. The first, Dianella, will eventually be available in large and dwarf varieties. Lomandra produces finer foliage that grows in clumps.

Additional interesting new varieties next spring include Abelia 'Kaleidoscope', Rose 'Rainbow Knockout', Sumac 'Tiger Eyes', Elderberries 'Black Beauty' & 'Black Lace', Hydrangeas 'Lemon Daddy' (bright, lemon-yellow foliage & pink blooms), 'Big Daddy' & 'Blushing Bride', a soft pink addition to the popular 'Endless Summer' series.

Hopefully, we've enticed you to visit us again. As always, never hesitate to write with your questions and we'll do our best to get you a quick and thorough answer.

Enjoy your garden and have a great fall & Holiday Season.

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