Garden Centers of Colorado | Tips of the Week

Some Great Flowers for Your Garden

~ Featured Annual and Perennial ~

Featured Annual

Award winning Impatiens “Made for the Shade”

By Debi Borden-Miller, Hardy Boy plants.

This years Impatiens will sparkle in the shade! It’s always nice to know what performs best in our area and Colorado State University does just that with their annual trial garden. This year the pick for Impatiens is ‘Shimmer Salmon’ and for Double Impatiens is ‘Fiesta Sparkler Hot Pink’. They are both bright and festive! Impatiens are one of the best annuals to use in the shade, they provide gorgeous color all summer long. All they need is a little regular watering and voila! A whole carpet of color comes alive!

Impatiens ‘Shimmer Salmon’ are vigorous and bushy plants that fill the garden or container really fast. The large, 2 ¼” premium blooms are a bright salmon color. ‘Shimmer Salmon’ is gorgeous when mixed in containers with coppery colored Coleus or Lobelia ‘Hot Blue’. Plant it with white Impatiens for a clean, crisp colorful bed. Border a bed of variegated hosta with ‘Shimmer Salmon’ to add a touch of color.

Impatient Shimmer Salmon

‘Fiesta™ Sparker Hot Pink’ is a top performer with the biggest and most abundant flowers in its class. The fully double blooms look like small rose buds all over the 10-16” tall plant. Excellent branching and uniformity make a full and bushy, yet tidy plant. Other Fiesta™ colors are also award winners. Double Impatiens make fabulous, full hanging baskets or container planters. ‘Fiesta Hot Pink’ mixes well with light pink Impatiens or blue Lobelia. Or, try it with a lime green Coleus for a really bright combo!

Impatient Fiesta Sparker Hot Pink

Light up your shade gardens this summer with either of these award winning Impatiens. Look for these plants at independent garden center stores.

Featured Perennial

Antennaria – Pussytoes

Shalene Hiller Horticulture Specialist

Legacy Ridge and The Heritage Golf Courses City of Westminster

Pussytoes (Antennaria) is native to many parts of the northern hemisphere, from sandy open plains to aspen and lodgepole pine forests. It can survive on minimal water - 15” or less a year, and will have a more intense white foliage if kept on the drier side.

Pussytoes or Cats Paw (Antennaria) has earned its common name from the clusters of flowers that look like the toes of a cat. It has the botanical name Antennaria because the individual stamens of those flowers resemble the antennae of insects.

Antennaria dioica is a spreading evergreen plant. It grows to about 2” tall and will spread to 18-24” wide. It blooms white in early summer. The variety ‘Rosea’ blooms a pale pink. Pussytoes (Antennaria) look fabulous all year round, whether it’s providing spring bulb cover for things like Iris reticulata or spring crocus or complementing the fall color of barberrys (Berberis). It also looks great with the red purple winter color of Yellow Iceplant (Delosperma nubigenum) or Sulfur Flower (Eriogonum umbellatum).

There are many dwarf forms of Pussytoes (Antennaria) available. One variety is ‘McClintocks’ which has smaller leaves and a smaller growth habit and works well between flagstones. Its white fuzzy foliage looks great next to other darker plants such as Plastic Plant (Bolax gummifera) or even any of the darker leaved thymes like Red Mother of Thyme (Thymus serpyllum var. coccineus).

Pussytoes may be overlooked in the garden center pot because it is not flashy but in the garden it provides subtle elegance.

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DNA Lawn & Garden
Plant Select^®Promotional Article
Date: April 25, 2008
LITTLE TRUDY^™ Catnip (Nepeta 'Psfike'^ppaf)
Submitted by: Brian Core
Little Valley Wholesale Nursery

Photo Credit: Brian Core

LITTLE TRUDY^™ Catnip (Nepeta 'Psfike'^ppaf)
Perennial
Height: 8-10 inches
Width: 12-16 inches
Blooms: April to October
Sun: Full sun to partial shade
Soil Moisture: Moderate to xeric
Hardiness: USDA zones 4-9 (up to 8,000’)
Culture: Sandy soil, clay or loam

Little Trudy^TM Catnip is a long-awaited compact catnip that is well suited to our regional climate. Its long-blooming, deep lavender flowers attract bees and butterflies. The lavender hue goes well with yellow, pink, rose, or white flowers. Suggested garden companions are: Silver Blade^® Evening Primrose, Starburst Ice Plant, Red Rocks^® Penstemon, and Lavender Mist^® Sun Daisy.

The aromatic foliage is grayish-green and finely textured to soften the effects of bolder foliage plants such as hosta, and the lighter-colored foliage can tone down the deep greens of plumbago or vinca. The aroma is irresistible to cats, often found curled up and napping beside (or on top of!) this plant. Many people also enjoy the aroma, so plant close to a sidewalk or patio for maximum enjoyment.

This low grower is ideal at the front of a border. Its spreading habit makes it useful as a non-invasive groundcover. As an edging plant, its gentle creeping habit can be used to soften the harsh lines of a sidewalk or driveway.

Little Trudy’s™ adaptability to dry conditions as well as moderate watering makes it a valuable addition to the landscape. Flowers will be more abundant if grown in full sun, but it also thrives in partial shade. Consider these outstanding ornamental characteristics, versatile garden uses, and superb adaptation to Colorado's climate and add it to your garden.

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