Perennials

Sherbondys grows a host of perennials. Most new plants these days carry plant patents. A guy spends his whole life breeding a plant and he wants a paycheck. There are royalties on a number of perennials and annuals that go back to the breeders of individual plants. Some plants grow slower than turtle eggs and of course you charge more for those as well. A plain Jane hosta liner from Holland can cost as little as 25 cents while a new variety bare root plant can cost 30 times that price. Then you pot it, tag it and grow it and you sometimes see sticker shock for specialized plants. Most of our planting stock comes from Walters Gardens in Michigan.
They have a great web site www.waltersgardens.com

Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardens

Perennial Pricing 2010

Ornamental Grasses Pricing 2010

John's picks for 2010

Prarie Fire Switch GrassThis new hybrid switch grass turns red burgandy midsummer rather than September. Rose red seed heads arise about the same time. Prarie Fire has a sturdy upright habit, tolerates poor soils and drought conditions. Deep red coloration makes it a prized perennial for backgrounds or as a drift of swaying grass. Its height reaches 4 feet and add an extra foot for the flowering seed head. You'll love this new attraction.

Hibiscus

A long long time ago on the planet earth in the City of Lincoln, Nebraska lived a pair of bachelor brothers who knew the power of the genetic force. These two gentlemen loved plants and bred some of the hardiest gigantic flowering perennials known in the Galaxy. Unfortunately no one knew the power of their genetic skills until they pushed up daisies. The Fleming Brothers Hibiscus including Fireball, Kopper King and Old Yellar need to be in your garden. They are fabulous summer bloomers. Another that I like is Raspberry Rose. This is one we propagate ourselves and usually have available in July or August. My hibiscus always look dead in the spring but with a little sunshine always get coaxed into fabulous flowers.

Lamiastrum galeobdelon or Yellow Arch Angel - This is our number one selling ground cover for part and full shade. A variegated leaf and trailing plant habit makes it a great plant for that spot where you just can't grow a lawn or for naturalizing.

Nepeta Walkers Low -Catmint Walkers Low is a low spreading ground cover that can be used to border a rose flower bed or any walkway. Use in front of taller growing daylilies for a blast of blue color.

Nepeta Walkers Low -Catmint Walkers Low is a low spreading ground cover that can be used to border a rose flower bed or any walkway. Use in front of taller growing daylilies for a blast of blue color.

Perovskia Little Spire which translates to Russian Sage is a highly drought resistant perennial that blooms a wispy blue in the summer. It only gets 25 inches tall and is deer resistant. The taller version is just plain Russian sage and I use it a lot as a backdrop in perennial beds. It has the same great flowering habit and blue green foliage with that fine foliage texture.

Grasses of either Calamagrostis Karl Forester or Miscanthus Sarabande are proven favorites. Both have great seed heads and are quite hardy. The Karl Forester forms its plumes in the summer and is more upright. The Sarabande is a wider grower and has a gentle nodding head all winter. Both like full sun and grow about 4 feet tall

Daylilies - We carry the designer daylilies from Walters Gardens as well as some old favorites like Stella de Ore and Happy Returns. Both of the latter are yellow ever bloomers. You can click on our link to Walters's Gardens to pictures and varieties.

Crazy Daisy - No two blooms are alike on this fringed and frilly double bloomer. The two inch wide solid white flowers are prolific bloomers all summer.

How to keep weeds out of your perennial garden.

Following planting I highly recommend mulching and using a preemergent in your flower bed. The past standard has been a treflan granule product with the trade name of Preen. That product is effective for 2 months but runs out in the summer. We have sold a product called Dimension as our lawn fertilization crabgrass and weed preventer. We now have that same 4 month lasting Dimension product available for flower gardens and shrub beds. For large areas we have a generic bag that covers 15,000 square feet for $25.95. For smaller gardens we have Fertilome Plant Starter with Dimension for around $7.49.

For grassy weeds in flower beds we sell a fusillade based product called Over the Top. We also have Basagran for nut sedge and Poast for some other nasty grassy weeds. Between the 3 we should be able to help you with your grassy weed problems. The grassy weeds like foxtail and crabgrass can be stopped with the Treflan or Dimension products. The perennial type weeds such as brome and nut sedge require different approaches. Field bind weed also known as creeping jenny require spot treatments with a trimec type formulation .Bring in your weed and let me help you plan your attack.

Fertilizing

If you are still mixing up a water soluble fertilizer every 2 to 3 weeks you might want to consider using a slow release granule. There is a lot more value in the granules and you do not have to use them as often. The Fertilome Plant Starter is your best friend for getting a buzz out of your old and new plants.