PLANT OF THE WEEK: Vietnamese Water Jasmine

Native to the tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australia, Wrightia religiosa can also be grown successfully in the southern US, It is most often seen in bonsai form. Though not related to jasmine, the flowers produce a sweet honey scent that can easily fill a room. Clusters of white flowers hang beneath the leaves of the tree and can last for weeks at a time.

Sweetly scented flowers

While the name suggests that this plant would love water, it is very easy to over-water. If you cannot keep the soil evenly moist, I recommend letting the plant dry out. My personal Wrightia goes into full wilt before I water. Full to part sun and regular fertilizing during the growing season are essential.

Vietnamese Water Jasmine trained as bonsai

Though I love this plant for its graceful structure and the fragrance, the stories that I have heard, and the little hint of mystery surrounding it, make it my favorite. Also known as Sacred Buddhist, throughout my research, I never found the reason it was given this name. Instead I was told that the name, water jasmine, came from the plant’s natural habit of growing out over water. When the plant bloomed, the flowers would reflect from the surface of the water into the sky. During my research I also found a quick note about this plant flowering when it rained. Yet another reason it is called water jasmine? I’m not entirely sure, but after all the rain we had in June, my bonsai is blooming.

Wrightia religiosa is available as a starter plant in our greenhouse

Guest blogger Jen Kostick is a Maryland Master Gardener and bonsai enthusiast. She has worked at Valley View Farms for about 5 years, in our greenhouse in the spring and our International Christmas Shop in the fall. Jen has been assisting our bonsai grower, Martha Meehan, with our monthly meetings and workshops for the last few years.

PLANT OF THE WEEK: Gomphrena Pink Zazzle ™

Gomphrena Pink Zazzle in a mixed container

Mid to late summer blooming flowers need to be tough. They have to go through periods of drought, play well with others in mixed borders and containers and look good for the occasional summer barbecue when guests arrive. Gomphrena Pink Dazzle does not disappoint.

Gomphrena Pink Zazzle is a Proven Winners branded plant

Grow gomphrena in full to part sun. Pink Zazzle is a bit of a sprawler, so give it about 16" of space in a garden bed or plant it towards the edge of pots. The stiff, bristly bloom holds up for a very long time. The plant itself is drought tolerant and attractive to pollinators, including butterflies and hummingbirds.

Pink Zazzle in a pot at the edge of a garden bed greeted guests at a party held at Billy and Kay's house

We first saw this gomphrena in 2013 and decided to plant some up in pots for Breast Cancer Awareness that fall. We have the Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure in our area. The Pink Zazzle bloomed very well through September and October, enjoying the cooler fall months. Expect reliable bloom from June through October in Zone 7.

PLANT OF THE WEEK: Echibeckia Summerina™

Part of me just loves the name of this plant. The brand new series of Echibeckias is an inter-genetic cross between Rudbeckia and Echinacea. For those gardeners that aren't currently practicing their Latin, that's a cross between a black-eyed Susan and a cone flower.  Pat, our store gardener, has planted them along our sidewalk bed in front of our white house offices. The Echibeckia would love an exposure of full to part-sun. It is hardy in our area here in Baltimore County and will survive in USDA Zone 6. The daisy-like flowers are available in three colors this year; brown, orange and yellow, measuring about three inches across. The breeder , Pacific Plug and Liner, states that the plant has the appearance of Rudbeckia with the hardiness of Echinacea. We expect Echibeckia Summerina™ to bloom for two to three months in late spring to mid-summer.

PLANT OF THE WEEK: Cuphea Vermillionaire

Cuphea Vermillionaire from Proven Winners

Every once in a while, a plant comes along that everybody agrees is going to be a winner. The Cuphea Vermillionaire is that plant this year. We heard about it in trade magazines and various websites in 2014. By mid-summer, we had seen the cuphea in trials in Ohio and just north of us in Landisville, PA. The Cigar flower, one of many nicknames that this plant goes by, has been around for a long time. We'd never seen it hold up in such good bloom for so long during the spring, summer and fall seasons.

Also known as Firecracker flower, this cuphea can handle heat and tolerate drought once established. It will grow to about 2 feet and spread to 18 inches. Cuphea works well in container gardens and will attract hummingbirds to the home landscape. Vermillionaire combines the best of many worlds; a sun tolerant plant that is attractive in the garden, providing a different flower shape to gardeners and a color that works well in all gardening seasons. Try a few in your garden this year and let us now how they do.

 

 

 

 

Memorable May

Whew, what a month! The first two weeks of May were the busiest I remember working in over 40 years of retailing plants! Mothers' Day week is traditionally our busiest of the year, and 2015 did not disappoint. Thank you to our own growers and to those others who grew and supplied so many beautiful trees, shrubs, annuals and perennials. Water garden plants, tropical and vegetable plants have been as pretty as we've ever seen.

This spring has been interesting. We decided to stop selling and using a whole class of pesticides to help strengthen the pollinating bees, birds and butterflies in our area. Our customers were understanding and grateful to find safe alternatives.

We gave away 4,000 packets of sunflower seeds for the Great Sunflower Project to get kids to plant for the bees.

We have a core group of terrific employees, many whose service to Valley View Farms numbers in the decades. They did a terrific job of getting our new seasonal employees ready for spring. We were very pleased with our group of seasonal workers this year and hope to see many again in the fall and/or next spring.

Two veterans---Mark waters the ramp bed while Earl puts away shopping carts

Thank you to everyone who worked long shifts, changed their schedules to accommodate business and did everything possible to keep our products available, healthy and ready for our customers' homes.

And, last but certainly not least, thanks to all of our customers who came out day after day to purchase products, ask questions and, most of all, trust us to deliver quality merchandise and advice.
We enjoyed seeing our 'regulars' and meeting new customers all season.

Checking out our herb selection

Sally and her favorite rake



This family of 4 (there is a little guy hiding behind Dad) chooses their plants ---Hey, there's Mark again!

We are still growing fresh plants and receiving goods from area growers and suppliers. We are in no way finished with the season. Our year-round location will continue to strive to be the best garden center ever, thanks to all of the aforementioned people. We've come a long way.


Where it all began.

Have a great summer! See you soon.

Tomato Tornado to Touch Down This Weekend

Next weekend on May 2 and 3, a Tomato Tornado will touch down at Valley View Farms' greenhouse. Our usual selection of 36 varieties of tomatoes will almost double for Saturday and Sunday, but wait too long, and you'll miss them. A limited selection of mostly heirloom varieties has been grown by our grower John Miller at our farm greenhouses out in Hydes, MD for this special event.

Our grower, John, stands in front of thousands of tomato transplants

If you can't make it, rest assured that our usual 36 varieties will still be available through of the month of May.

Those of you who are 'regulars' at Valley View Farms in the spring know that we are a little bit crazy when it comes to tomato plants. Our founder, Bill Foard, spends his spare time growing tomatoes at his home.

Billy's summer garden

Plum Crimsons make great sauce according to Billy

 He loves the Celebrity and Plum Crimson varieties for their great taste and productive vines. In fact, Billy brings buckets full of tomatoes all summer long for some of us lucky enough to be on his 'nice' list. His garden shed even contains a full kitchen for canning and processing tomatoes.

My co-worker Dotty enjoys growing her tomatoes, too. She and her daughter, Suzanne, love the heirlooms. Japanese Black Trifle, Big Rainbow, Oxheart and Black Cherry are some of Dotty's favorite heirloom varieties.

Mmmmmm---Sunsugar tomatoes

 She also likes the hybrid Sunsugar, a very sweet orange cherry tomato that we started growing last year when we were unable to get Sungold seeds. It's a winner according to our tomato gardeners.

Jan, recently retired from Valley View, likes the German Johnsons, Brandywines  and Mr. Stripey, all large slicing tomatoes with fantastic flavor. The Sungold orange cherry is on her favorite's list too.
Our perennial specialist and graphic/web designer Marian's garden in northern Baltimore County boasts heirlooms as well. Her favorites include Black Krim, Pineapple, Box Car Willie and Tomatoberry. I love the descriptive names of these wonderful tomatoes.

Summer produce from Marian's garden

Don, who takes care of all of our plants that come in from our own farm before they reach the sales floor, loves Brandywine and Mortgage Lifter. Both the tomatoes and the plants can get quite large over the summer. Don says the taste of the fruit is fantastic!

Stop by next weekend and talk to our tomato and vegetable experts.

Eddie, Nat and Sheila, ready to help gardeners choose from our tomato selection

 We have put together a special handout profiling each of our varieties and will have some recipes from Chef Tom Schwarzweller, Executive Chef at Wegmans. Please keep in touch this summer and share your tomato growing tips, recipes, and gardening stories on facebook. . This is our 1st Annual Tomato Tornado event; we hope to have many more.

Contain Your Excitement!

Beautiful planters soften stone walls

Potted gardens are remarkable! They can be mobile, colorful, contain edibles and/or ornamentals, and have a ton of flexibility for use in the garden and patio.
 Valley View Farms has some wonderful talent in our greenhouse and in our perennial area who have become masters at putting together delightful, colorful containers for people, using annuals, perennials, tropicals and even vegetables and herbs. Stop in to talk with Cindi, Nancy, Ruth, Jen, Pat, Joann, Katie, Marian and many others on our staff. Someone is available from 7am to 9pm everyday to answer questions and offer expertise on how to match up plants with pots.

Use container gardens to signal stairs and grade changes

Cindi has put together some designs in our Container Idea Book to get gardeners inspired. The book is located at the front of our greenhouse. I like that there is a photo and 'recipe' for each design featured. Cindi offers substitutes for the plants she uses as well.
We offer several classes a year on container gardening. We'll also teach individual groups,  including garden clubs, civic groups, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts about gardening in window boxes, patio pots and hanging baskets. We regret that we are unable to provide classes in May, but we can generally schedule them the rest of the year.
So, let's get started! Choose a container. Pots seem to made an infinite number materials, including terracotta, concrete, ceramic, metal, wood, plastic, fiberglass and coco-fiber. Colors range from natural browns and greens to neon yellows and pinks. Determine if the container will be left to overwinter outside.Add a good quality potting mix.

My favorites are made by Promix and Espoma, though we have many more from which to choose.

Now, we are ready for planting, Take a look around and at the idea book to determine if you like a particular style. Pick out plants of different heights, foliage interest and, in the case of perennials, bloom time. 

Pinterest is a great place to find ideas too!

We sometimes use the Thriller, (tall plant), Filler, (medium height) and Spiller (trailing plant) method to combine plants. The rest is just a matter of making sure that the plants chosen are compatible in terms of light and water requirements.

Once the pots have been planted, add some fertilizer and water. Check the soil surface daily to see if the soil has dried out. Water to soak the potting mix, allowing excess water to drain from the bottom. If a saucer is under the pot to catch excess water, be sure to dump it out to encourage good drainage.
Gardening in containers is a creative endeavor with limitless possibilities! Stop in and talk to our experts to get your container garden ready for spring and summer.

 

Plant for all seasons. Look at the texture and color for fall in this planter.