Mike’s Big Perennial Garden

At The Nursery I have this big bed that is really just a big pile of sand and gravel that I dug out to make a container area. Rather than haul the material away I just gave it some contour and landscaped it. Over the years I’ve had all kinds of really interesting plants in the beds, lots of things that we could take cuttings from.

Last summer, 2022, one of the big wholesale perennial growers that I buy from sent me two trays (144) plants of all kinds of different perennials, mostly new introductions, things that are just now coming on to the market. Many of them were Proven Winners which is a really popular, trademark brand of plants.

The deal was that I was being gifted these plants as trials. I could not pot them up and sell them, I had to use them in a trial or test garden. Perfect! I loved that idea and I was excited as a kid in a candy store with this opportunity. And to be honest, I’m still excited because when I put these plants in the ground last summer they were really small plugs. Many of them grew quickly and bloomed later in the year. Others I’m excited to see how they look this year.

Not only did I plant them in this garden but I also mapped their location in that garden and I’m going to document that map here, add some photos, then add more photos as these beautiful plants do what they do best and that’s look absolutely amazing.

Now it’s time for me to do some serious head scratching as I try and decipher the ragged notes that I took with dirty hands last summer. Wish me well! Note, don’t get disappointed as I start this process with images of little tiny sprigs. I’ll update with better photos as time goes on. Mostly right now I am trying to get the plant locations documented.

The big hosta in this photo is Humpback Whale. The tree to the right of the hosta is a Green Cascade Japanese maple. The green ground cover under and to the left of the hosta is Emerald Blue Phox.

To the left of Humpback Whale Hosta you can see a tiny sprig of ornamental grass. The variety is Panicum ‘Niagra Falls’. I’m really exicted to show you a better photo of this grass as it matures this coming year. This grass is a Proven Winners plant and it is patented. That means that I cannot propagate the plant. But that’s not a problem because I can just buy small plugs like these from a wholesale grower who is licensed to grow Proven Winners plants, I can pot them up, grow them on and sell them. When I buy them I have to pay for the plant, they tack on a small fee for the royalty on the patent, and I also have to buy their branded tags and in some cases their branded pots to put them in.

But none of that matters and I’ll tell you why. When my customers see these grasses and other Proven Winners plants in this bed, they are going to want them. I just planted this stuff last summer and weeks later they kept asking and asking if they could buy them.

Underneath of the Green Cascade Japanese maple is Red Dragon Heuchera. This is a new introduction, so new in fact that they have applied for a plant patent that has yet to be granted. That’s what PPAF stands for. Plant Patent Applied For. Even though it’s not patented yet, it’s not something that you should propagate because once the patent is issued you will be in violation and trust me, there are fines and other actions that can and will be taken if you violate these plant patents.

As as side note, there are tons and tons of plants that are in the public domain that you are free to propagate but that’s a discussion we can have on another page.

In front of the Green Cascade maple and to the right of the Humpback Whale hosta is Heucherella ‘Copper King’. Also PPAF.

Off to the right and in front of the Green Cascade Japanese maple is Dianthus Appleblossom Burst which is also patented. Again, don’t let these plant patents scare you away. I buy these plugs for just a couple of dollars and they sell like crazy just weeks after I pot them up.

To the left of the Appleblossom Burst near edge of the bed is Dianthus Red Rouge, PPAF. I’ll add a good photo of this one when in bloom.

Between the Green Cascade Japanese maple and the Weeping Cotoneaster is a group of Echinacea ‘The Fuchsia is Bright’, PPAF. Right in front of those is a group of Echinacea ‘Raspberry Beret’ PPAF. If front of those is a group of Echinacea ‘Butter Pecan’ PPAF.

Off to the right side of this photo is a ‘Orangeloa’ Weeping Japanese maple. Planted to the left and kind of around that maple are 5 or 6 ‘Dark Reiter’ Cranesbill hardy geraniums.

Right behind the Orangeola Japanese maple are some Agastache ‘Queen Nectarine’, also patented.

To the east of and forward of the Orangeola Japanese maple there are some ‘Rasberry’ Delosperma, Ice Plants.

In front of the Orangeola Japanese maple are some ‘Pinky Promise’ Dianthus, PPAF.

From this angle the Orangeola Weeping Japanese maple is to the far left, the Japanese maple on top of the hill I call ‘Spectacular’ because I lost the tag and it is beautiful in the spring. Just to the left of that is a weeping cotoneaster which is actually Cotoneaster apiculata grafted onto a hawthorn tree.

Just to the right, east, of the “Spectacular” Japanese maple is Heuchera ‘Ball Gown’ PPAF.

Planted around the Orangeola Japanese maple are some Heuchera ‘Frosted Berry’, PPAF. Both of these new varieties of Heuchera are really nice, I’ll get some photos for you later in 2023.

The hosta that you see up near the “Spectacular” Japanese maple are ‘Guacamole’. In that same area thee are more of the Dianthus ‘Red Rouge’.

To the right, south, west of the “Spectacular” Japanese maple are some Veronica ‘Ever After’ PPAF. South West of those we have some Phlox ‘Sunset Coral’ PPAF.

West of the “Spectacular” Japanese maple, near that sprinkler, are some ‘Rockin Raspberry’ Bee Balm which is patented.

15′ South West of the “Spectacular” Japanese maple there are some ‘Lilac Lipstick’ Salvia, patented.

5′ North of the Spectacular Japanese maple there are some ‘Grape Crush’ Aster, patented.

South west of the Grape Aster there are some ‘Cherry Pops’ Monarda, Bee Balm.

The center of this photo is a ‘Blue Angel’ hosta, to the right of the hosta is ‘Bubblegum Blast’ Monarda, Bee Balm, patented. In that same area, behind the ‘Bubblegum Blast’ are some ‘Sugar Plum’ Foxglove. In front the hosta are some Millenium Ornamental Onion and just to the right of that are some ‘Red Mountain’ delosperma, Ice Plants.

Between that ‘Blue Angel’ hosta and the “Rockin Raspberry Monarda are some Echinacea ‘Rainbow Sherbet’, PPAF.

On both sides of the ‘Lilac Lipstick’ salvia are some Echinacea ‘StrawberryMouse’.

Also on this west end of this bed there are two more of the Panicum ‘Niagra Falls’ ornamental grass.

The giant hosta to the left is ‘Big Daddy’. The giant hosta to the right is ‘Blue Angel. The yellow hosta in the background are ‘Guacomole’. In front of the giant hosta to the right are “Blue Mouse Ears’ hosta and to the left the little yellow hosta with lavender blooms are ‘Mini Skirt’. The ground cover is ‘Emerald Pink’ Phlox.

In the south east corner of this bed I have some Ligularia ‘Tractor Seat’ which is a great perennial for shade. The leaves can get to be 16″ wide, thus the name ‘Tractor Seat’. I’ll get you some photos when I can, I just hope I have enough shade for them in this bed.

Just to the right of, or south of the ‘Spectacular’ Japanese maple there are some Hosta ‘Echo of the Sun’. Beautiful hosta with bright yellow, very unique leaves. Photos soon.

Between the ‘Big Daddy’ hosta and the ‘Blue Angel’ hosta we have some Echinacea ‘Strawberry Mousse’.

In that same area, south of the ‘Strawberry Mousse’ there are some Agastache ‘Royal Rasberry’.

I forgot to mention but on the far side of this bed, the south east corner, we have Yellow Magnolia called ‘Sunsation. Just to the right of, or south of that we have some Hosta ‘Love Story’ which is patented.

On that same east end of the bed, east of the ‘Sunsation Magnolia an just south of the ‘Niagra Falls’ ornamental grass we have Hosta ‘Trendsetter’. Which is patented.

In that area east of the ‘Spectacular’ Japanese maple near the ‘Green Cascade’ Japanese maple we have Hosta ‘Seasons in the Sun’. Bright yellow leaves and patented.

For now that’s it for this bed but I’ll make these additional comments. Many, almost all of the plants that I’ve mentioned in this post are either patented or are awaiting a plant patent approval. That means that we cannot propagate them. We have to buy them as small liners and pay a royalty for the patent at the time of the purchase.

As I mentioned I was gifted 144 plants to be planted and put on display because they are new introductions. That’s why so much of this bed falls into that category. But here’s the thing, there are thousands and thousands of plants that are in the public domain and always will be in the public domain. You and I free to propagate those to our hearts content. I grow a ton of non patented plants that I propagate myself as do All of Our Backyard Growers.

But having these new introductions on hand and on display I can photograph them, do videos of them and post those images online and in my social media to attract all kinds of buyers to my nursery. And yes, most of these items I will have on hand so my customers can enjoy them as well. Those people that come to buy these plants will leave them many of the plants that I grow from scratch.

I’m getting ready to do a post and a video of a number of public domain hydrangea that I propagate and selling crazy. I hope I remember to link that page to these comments.

Stay tuned. Now that I have this page

Questions, comments, mean things to say? Post them below and I will respond. Until then, by any and all means stay inspired!