Perennials at
Reilly's Garden Center

Spring
is upon us, and, with the arrival of this planting season, we
are excited to bring you unique, unusual, and hardy perennials
for your garden. Are you looking for a special plant for a spot
in your garden, or do you wish to create an inviting garden
where you can spend long relaxing summer days? Perhaps, you
simply like to dig in the dirt.
At Reilly’s, we carry a vast array of shade and sun
perennials, grasses, groundcovers, hosta, ferns, daylilies and
vines for every style of garden. Dreaming of a butterfly or
pollinator garden, an edible garden, a romantic cottage garden,
or maybe a deer-resistant garden? No matter what your needs, we
are here to provide the plants, horticultural knowledge, and
design expertise to help make it a reality.
Stroll
through our perennials and you’ll find a palette of plants to
create a complete native garden, or just the right plant to
accent a special space in your garden. Native cultivars offer an
opportunity to create a garden that is colorful, low
maintenance, and disease and pest resistant, while providing
food and habitat for wildlife and the opportunity to help
restore our native ecosystem.
With the rising interest in local foods and edible gardens,
we will be offering a variety of edible perennials for your
garden. Many, like asparagus and strawberries are perennials
that return year after year to provide food in your own
backyard. Many perennial herbs and perennial flowers like
lavender, violets, daylilies, bee balm and primroses are also
edibles that will add a burst of color to your edible garden.
This season at Reilly's, you’ll find a variety of new and
exciting plants – many that you may not see elsewhere. Be
mindful that if you can't find a desired plant, or do not see it
on our perennial tables; please speak to a member of the
perennial staff – we'll be happy to locate it for you.
Perennial Plant of the Year

Each year the Perennial Plant Association chooses one
outstanding perennial as the Perennial Plant of the Year™. This
year's well-deserving perennial is Amsonia hubrichtii, the
Arkansas Blue Star or Thread Leaf Blue Star
Amsonia
hubrichtii grows 36 inches tall and 36 inches wide in a mounded
form. It is a native of the North American prairie and hardy to
zone 4. Amsonia offers a variety of features throughout the
seasons. In late spring or early summer, two- to- three-inch
wide clusters of small, light blue, star-shaped flowers are
borne above the ferny foliage. The alternate-arranged leaves are
bright green in spring and summer, turning a stunning bright
yellow-golden color in autumn to complement your fall garden.
- Light – Plants thrive in full sun to partial shade
- Soil – Amsonia performs best in average, moist
well-drained soil but tolerates less moisture. Once
established, it is drought tolerant.
- Uses – Amsonia is a three-season plant and can be used
in sunny perennial borders, native gardens, cottage gardens,
or open woodland areas. It is best when massed. Arkansas
Blue Star is attractive when mixed with ornamental grasses
and plants that have attractive seed heads.
- Unique Qualities – Light blue flowers in late spring are
followed by marvelous foliage in summer. Its fine,
needlelike foliage adds a billowy texture to the garden.
Golden-yellow fall color is second to none among herbaceous
perennials.
- We will be featuring this plant on our perennial sun
tables throughout the 2011 season. Come in to see it – it
could be a wonderful addition to your landscape.
Source: Perennial
Plant Association
See a list of award
winning perennials from past years.
Looking Beautiful
A wide variety of plants are coming out of winter
hibernation, showing their bright colors in both bloom and
foliage. Any of these spring blooming perennials are sure to add
vibrancy and color to your garden! Spring blooming beauties and
ephemerals include: Bleeding Heart, Siberian Bugloss, Candytuft,
Columbine, Coral Bells, Creeping Phlox, Crested Iris, Ferns,
Lenten Rose, Lungwort, Pasque Flower, Peonies, Pinks, Trillium,
and Virginia Bluebells.

Dicentra eximia - Bleeding Heart |

Brunnera – Siberian Bugloss |

Iberis – Candytuft |

Phlox stolonifera - Creeping Phlox |

Aquilegia ‘Clementine White’ – Columbine |

Ferns |

Helleborus - Lenten Heuchera |

‘Miracle’ – Coral Bells |

Pulmonaria ‘Raspberry Splash’ |

Saxifraga ‘Triumph’ – Saxifrage |

Trillium grandiflorum – Great White Trillium |

Mertensia virginica – Virginia Bluebells |
Plant These In Spring
Spring is a great time to plant. The air is crisp, soil
is cool, birds are chirping and plants are blooming! Perennials
planted in spring can send out roots and establish themselves
before the long, hot and humid summer days arrive. The beautiful
variety of blooms and leaf color is enough to chase any winter
blues away!
It’s important to remember that though perennials can
be planted before most annuals, some may still be sensitive to
late spring frosts. Young annual, perennial, and vegetable
plants that are started indoors with heat gradually must be
acclimatized to the stronger light, winds, and cooler night
temperatures of the outdoors before being planted in the garden.
This conditioning is known as hardening off, and it generally
takes 7-14 days. Start hardening off you plants by placing
them outdoors for several hours in the morning sun in a location
sheltered from the wind. Return them to an unheated porch
or garage for the late afternoon and evening hours. Slowly
increase the amount of time that the plants are left outdoors
and increase the light they receive over a period of one to two
weeks. Remember to protect plants from frosts, freezing
winds, and heavy rains that could dislodge the young plants from
their pots. After two weeks, plant these plants in the
garden. Should any frosts occur after planting, cover
plants at night with a bath towel.
Check out these great articles for ideas on spring bloomers
to plant now:
Spectacular Spring Bloomers: These perennials are the
light at the end of the long, wintry tunnel by Dave
Demers
Early Spring Blooming Perennials by Iowa
State Extension
Cool Events & Hot Specials
Have you seen Reilly’s bed of stunning and colorful
reblooming irises that bloom both in spring and early fall? Join
us on May 21 for our first-ever Iris Dig, in which you can take
your pick from several selected irises in Reilly’s own garden
beds! (Several of them rebloom in the fall) And, visit the
Garden Center for additional varieties not found in our garden
beds. Stay tuned for more details in the
E-News newsletter.

Iris germanica ‘Immortality’ |

Iris germanica ‘Sugar Blues’ |

Iris germanica ‘Gay Parasol’ |
Continue to check back throughout the season for specials
and promotions. Many of our specials and promotions happen
around the major holidays like Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor
Day. Come see what’s on special!
Just Arrived, or soon to come
We have an exciting year ahead of us! We're expanding
our perennial offerings this year to include more of the newest
plants available. Check back for recent arrivals as the season
gets started. New plants arrive almost weekly beginning mid
April. If you can't find what you're looking for, just ask –
we'll do our best to order it in for you so that you can have
the garden you've always dreamed of!
Tips for the Season
Spring is upon us! The warmer and longer days are just what
we need to get our green thumbs back in action. Here are a few
tips to get started back into the season:
- Cut back ornamental grasses to 6” from the ground as new
growth emerges. Tying the grasses together with twine about
6' above the ground will make it more manageable.
- Cut back perennials that were left standing in the
winter for structure, wildlife food, or because you didn't
have a chance to cut them back in the fall.
- Add perennial and grass clippings to your compost pile.
If you don't have one, why not start one this spring. You'll
be rewarded with fresh organic-rich compost next season, for
free!
- If your Clematis paniculata (Sweet Autumn Clematis) is
overgrown, cut it down almost to the ground. It will grow
rapidly through the spring and summer, ready to re-bloom in
fall.
- Feed spring-blooming bulbs with an organic fertilizer
rich in potassium, like Espoma Bulb Tone, as soon as they
break ground... After bulbs finish blooming, let the foliage
turn yellow before cutting back to the ground. We at
Reilly's specialize in deer-resistant bulbs, so if you've
caught deer chomping your tulips this year, stop by in
September for some beautiful deer-resistant alternatives.
- Conduct a soil test to check the pH and nutrient levels
of the soil. Stop in to Reilly's to pick up a test that will
provide quick results. Take steps to amend the soil to
provide healthier growing conditions throughout the season.
- Apply 3-4” of organic compost to your garden beds. Not
only will it provide a beautiful finished look, but it will
also provide the long-term fertilizer you need for the
season. It will help improve soil structure, aeration and
water retention.
- Prepare new beds by mixing the compost into the top
10-12” of the soil with a rototiller or digging fork. This
will break up clay, increase organic matter and make a more
suitable environment for plants to succeed. Wait until the
soil is dry before you try this.
- Remove any winter mulch back a few inches away from
newly sprouting perennial beds. This will encourage the
growth of young perennial shoots.
- Spring is a great time to add new plants to the garden.
Do you recall any bare spots in last year's garden, or do
you want to add spring interest? Look at your garden from
all angles, even if snow is still on the ground, to see if
your garden has the desired winter interest.
- Spring-blooming perennials are wonderful gifts for a
gardener or for holidays like Easter and Mother’s Day. A
perennial is a gift that comes back each year! Stop in to
see the wide variety of colorful, fresh plants for any
special occasion.
- Divide summer and fall-blooming perennials when they
first start showing signs of growth in spring. Wait until
fall to divide spring and summer-blooming perennials. Use a
knife or spade to help with the splitting. When replanting,
be sure to add organic matter to the hole to give the new
roots a healthy start. Look for a short seminar on this
subject in the coming weeks.
- Tread lightly in the garden when doing your spring clean
up. Be aware of new sprouting perennials. Place a stick or
plastic utensil in the soil to mark plant locations.
- Visit our
Monthly
Garden Tips for recommendations on gardening tasks for
each month of the growing season.
Services to Make Life Easier
Need help in choosing the right plant for the right place,
interested in revamping your garden, or just need help with
delivery or planting? Reilly's offers a variety of services to
help you achieve the beautiful garden you're dreaming about.
Call us to schedule a free 30 minute design consultation at
Reilly's with one of our designers and plant experts. We'll ask
you to bring in photos and measurements of your site, and in
return, we will help identify some plants or planting
combination that can work for your garden.
For larger spaces, we offer two at-home fee based services: a
1 hour design consultation for ideas and suggestions, and a full
landscape design service that includes scaled planting plans
created by our landscape designers. Reilly's also offers
delivery and planting services to ensure that your plants make
it to your home and into the ground safely.
Contact the Perennial Manager
Feel free to contact me, Kelly, by stopping in, emailing or
calling at:
perennials@reillyssummerseatfarm.com or 412-364-8662. Elise
and Kathy are also here to assist with your perennial plant
needs.
Return to Top