Right in Our Region
(Proven Winners photos)
Ready, Set, Plant! What’s New at the Greenhouse
New in greenhouses this year is ‘Wee Bit Giddy’ dwarf perennial hydrangea and its blue-purple cousin, ‘Wee Bit Grumpy.’
By Janine Pumilia
W
hether you’re a green-thumb gardener or you just want a pop of color on your front porch, it’s fun to discover the “latest and greatest” cultivars in the world of plants. It’s also good to know which plants you can count on to thrive reliably in the Fort Wayne region. Plenty of good gardening information exists online, including at the Allen County Purdue Extension Service, extension. purdue.edu/county/allen/. To get specific questions answered in person, however, it’s hard to beat the experts at locally owned garden centers. They offer information you won’t find at big-box chain competitors. It’s a good idea to bring along photos of your yard and to note the sunlight and moisture patterns of the spaces you intend to plant. “We see our role as educating people about plants as well as selling them plants,” says Calvin Golden, assistant manager at The Plant Center, 9431 US-24, Fort Wayne. Golden has some ‘Double Play Candy Corn’ spirea shrubs offer favorite annuals, peboth summer blooms and colorful foliage. 16
Smart Living Fort Wayne
April 2022 • I
rennials and shrubs that he’s eager to tell customers about this year. “Every year, the plant developers introduce new varieties with features people want, whether that means new colors, new sizes, or fixing problems that a plant might have, such as making stems sturdier so blooms won’t flop over,” he explains. He likes some newer cultivars of an old favorite – hydrangea shrubs. “Little Lime Punch is bred to thrive in part-sun to full sun and won’t get larger than 4 by 4 cubic square feet,” says Golden. “Its cone-shaped blooms change color from the bottom up in an array of white, light pink and Hawaiian Punch red. “We also like Wee Bit Giddy and Wee Bit Grumpy dwarf hydrangeas, which won’t take up more than 3 by 3 cubic square feet of space at maturity and thrive in part-shade,” he says. “Giddy is bright fuschia red and Grumpy is deep blue-purple. Both have nice, compact shapes and are less leggy than some older varieties.” Among his other favorite shrubs are boxwoods, spirea and viburnum, all reliable growers in our region. “Boxwoods can be trimmed into hedges, globes or other shapes and have glossy leaves that go from yellow-green to dark green over the course of the season,” says Golden. Spirea is an attractive, no-fuss shrub that boasts pink, red or white blooms and comes in a variety of foliage colors, from redgolds to blue-greens. It keeps a neat shape without pruning and
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