'Cat's Meow' catmint stays compact

Nepeta 'Cat's Meow' Today, The Green Man has for you a new catmint variety and a new supplier to visit. 'Cat's Meow' is a new introduction from Proven Winners. It's a prolific bloomer, but it stay compact like a small shrub.

Catmints are becoming popular, and many new cultivars are being introduced. Where to use them in the landscape? With roses. Catmint is the traditional companion. Please visit this supplier, where you can probably get every catmint variety currently available: www.lazyssfarm.com

Michaelmas daisies add late fall color in the landscape

Michaelmas falls on September 29th each year, and for The Green Man, the date marks the beginning of the fall holiday season. Halloween is already upon us and only a month away. Now, the Michaelmas daisy is actually an aster, the New York aster, Aster novi-belgii

The Michaelmas daisy This perennial is a prolific and tough performer and easy to grow. It will bloom up to Thanksgiving in this zone 6. Check here to see when they will be available: http://www.northcreeknurseries.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/145/index.htm

For information on Michaelmas, check here: http://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Michaelmas/

Optimize the use of mixed daffodils on your site

The Green Man recommends using drifts of one variety of daffodil. Do this near the entry and the immediate vicinity. For areas such as slopes or glens around the perifery of the grounds, mixed daffodils work well. Got that? Single drifts near the house and in highly visible spots;mixed drifts around the edges of the property or difficult areas.

"The Works Daffodil Mix - 100 bulbs for $65 Double Down on The Works - 200 bulbs for $109 The Works, our superb Daffodil Mixture for Naturalizing, consists of 100 top-size bulbs of at least 30 varieties, selected for the widest range of color, form, and bloom time. They will flower heavily the first year, increase their numbers in the future, and are immune to pests and weather. Better yet, deer won't touch them. Now is the time to order your bulbs for fall planting. The Works is the perfect solution for filling in bare spots and adding sweeps of color. Plant the bulbs in clusters around your property or use them to edge a border. Your lovely springtime display will last for weeks." Available from www.whiteflowerfarm.com

Hunt for tree and shrub bargains in Autumn

September and October are good months to visit your local garden centers to find tree and shrub bargains. Many nurseries do not want to hold stock over the winter, so they mark down items. However, do not select a tree or shrubs by the hefty percentage off retail. For example, 50% off a 'Crimson King' maple is not in any way a good deal. In fact, this tree is invasive, creates dense shade, and it is simply too large for most home sites, Here's a short-list of items to look for for your landscaping: For flowering trees, avoid crabapples and pears, and go with star magnolias, Kousa dogwoods, and serviceberry 'Autumn Brilliance" shown here:

Photos courtesy www.naturehills.com If you want a maple, try Japanese maples and paperbark maples, both of which max out at a medium size. You should have both of these on your site. Want a paper birch? Forget it because of the bronze birch borer. One species is resistant and that is the wonderful river birch 'Heritage.' Consider selecting lesser-known trees such as the goldenrain tree, Koelreuteria paniculata. For conifers, try smaller-size pines such as the Vanderwolf's and weeping blue atlas cedars.

Vanderwolf's pine Photo courtesy www.itrees.com Shrubwise, virtually any viburnum is a great purchase as long as it is at least somewhat VLB-resistant. Hydrangeas of all sorts are good, too. Go for doublefile viburnums, top of the line. Happy bargain-hunting.

Unique coneflower 'Fatal Attraction'

Everyone loves coneflowers in the garden, and here's a new variety for collectors and fans: Echinacea 'Fatal Attraction': "This new selection of our US native Echinacea purpurea is from garden designer Piet Oudolf's famed garden in Holland. Echinacea 'Fatal Attraction' is unique because of the 26" tall, sturdy wine-black stems that hold the intense pink flowers...a favorite of hummingbirds and garden visitors. Flowering begins in late June...be patient." This wonderful new conefloweris availablefrom Plants Delight Nursery www.plantsdelights.com

Mock orange 'White Sensation" adds fragrance and charm to the landscape

Philadelphus coronarius 'White Sensation' TGM recommends this new cultivar of an old-fashioned favorite. Blooms are double, brilliant white, and prolific. Good companions include hydrangeas and viburnums. www.whiteflowerfarm.com

Lavender 'Phenomenal" has an array of desirable traits

TGM recommends this hardy cultivar of Lavandula x intermedia, 'Phenomenal.' "One of the hardiest lavenders seen throughout Europe and the United States, 'Phenomenal' has exceptional winter survival, as it does not have the winter die back that other varieties like Munstead and Hidcote commonly demonstrate. Lavender 'Phenomenal' has also shown tolerance to extreme heat and humidity, and is resistant to common root and foliar diseases. Most commonly popular for its silvery foliage and consistent growth with uniform, mounding habit, 'Phenomenal' has an elegant flower presentation and fragrance, perfect for fresh and dried arrangements and oil uses." Available from Peace Tree Farm www.peacetreefarm.com

It's Michaelmas daisies for Autumn color

Michaelmas is the seasonal name for days around Saint Michael's Day, September 29th. Michaelmas daisies are actually asters, specifically Aster noaster nova-belgi variety belgii or New York asters, which bloom prolifically along roadsides and in farmlands in New York upstate in autumn. It's an underused garden flower, so make a space for them in your landscape Aster noaster 'nova-belgii'va-belgii (New York Aster, Michaelmas Daisy): These asters are similar to their New England cousins but shorter with smooth toothed leaves. Great cut flowers September to October. Growing 3-4’ high. Hardy to zones 3-9. Common varieties include ‘Purple Viking’ -dark purple flowers, ‘Loke Viking ’- hot pink, ‘Coombe Violet’ - lavender and ‘Margrethe Viking’ - white. Available from Portland Nursery portlandnursery.com

Photo courtesy Portland Nursery

Add heirloom irises to your landscaping

Here's a great site to stock up on some heirloom iris varieties. Use one variety per drift and arrange drifts in threes. Look at this beauty!

Iris flavescens has a lemon fragrance; circa 1813 http://www.oldhousegardens.com/display.aspx?cat=Iris

Give Winter interest to your landscape with 'Berry Heavy Gold' holly

Berry Heavy® Gold Ilex verticillata Available from http://shrubsource.com/shop-all-shrubs/ilex-berry-heavy-gold TGM recommends this Winter berry holly for seasonal interest as the berries are prolific, and they persist...in other words they tend to stay on the plant long after the leaves have dropped. You get the golden berries plus a dramatic branching structure that can be pruned to perfection. Note that Ilex verticillata comes in red also, so you might try planting both cultivars in an arrangement of 3:1. Give these hollies a space of about 8' x 8'. Plants also attract birds.

Shop for autumn tree bargains, but select the right species

With the advent of September, TGM recommends visits to garden centers to search for tree bargains.  Many maybe marked down as much as 50% simply because owners to not want to carry the stock over the winter.

Resist the temptation to buy most maples.  They are over-planted, some invasive, they create too much shade for the average home sight, and they grow to large.  Select these maples: Japanese or paperbark

Because of disease issues, avoid ash trees, any birch except for river birch (Betula nigra 'Heritage",

For a flowering, low management tree, 'Autumn Brilliance' serviceberry is hard to top.  Avoid callery pears as the are overplanted and may go to 35'.  Most sites require trees that max out at about 25'.

Choose your site carefully and plant for the tree's mature size.  Do not plant a tree too close to the house.  Check the tree's maximum width, divide by 2 and then add 8'.  For example, a tree that maxes out at 30' wide ought to be planted 15' plus 8' from the house.  Use large shrubs to fill up the gap between house and trees, especially viburnums and hydrangeas.

Plant for sunlight, too.  Most trees require plenty of sunlight.  Your soil ought to be slightly acid.

Work in odd numbers based on 3.  A charming combination is Goldenrain tree (Koelreuteria  paniculata, Japanese maple 'Fireglow,' and star magnolias.  Accent with a Korean pine if you can find one, and give it room near the periphery of the site.

Goldenrain tree

Courtesy missouri.extension.edu