Elizabethan GardensPosts

If you've visited our gardens recently, chances are you've seen staff pruning our crepe myrtles quite severely! Don't be shocked, this practice has a history and a purpose. Pollarding is a pruning practice that dates back past the Elizabethan era. It involves repetitively cutting back the thinner and taller branches of a shrub or tree. Over years of pollarding, the shrub or tree will maintain denser growth at a stunted height. In most cases, pollarding was instituted because of the resource it could provide: a steady supply of thin branches that could be used as kindling or for crafting. In decorative gardens, such as the Elizabethan Gardens, pollarding is implemented for aesthetic purposes. Cutting the crepe myrtles back in the winter will mean denser foliage and bloom in the spring

The Cotton Rosemallow. (Hibiscus mutabilis 'Plena') kinda' late, but always on time. November 5 is a fine time to bloom. Anyone who waits for these flowers to spring upwards with the falling temperatures knows how good this plant truly is as a shrub, or cut-back as a hardy perennial. We have a few left in the nursery that need a good home before the winter comes and we have to pack these little beauties away for bed. The nursery has great plants still and will be looking forward to starting our growing for next spring soon. Please check in with us if there's anything you want us to grow for you next year!

Toad Lilies have made themselves happy in a few different places in the Garden. It is an easy to care for perennial for the shade. The deeply detailed flowers look like a tiny orchid. We love this plant for our shady plantings because the variegated foliage is distinctive all year and the flower is always worth the wait. We sell this plant in our nursery and offer two other cultivars that have different colored flowers and a little different habit. Toad lilies work well in any place you might find a Hosta. A great perennial that flowers consistently, we love Toad Lilies!