E-Newsletter:
November and December 2006
The
Phoenix Perennials E-Newsletter
November and December 2006
Hello from
Phoenix Perennials!
The
plants were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of great horticultural successes danced
in their gardeners' heads.
It's that
"cozy" time of year. I hope everyone is taking
a rest from their gardens, celebrating this year's successes,
and planning for more in the future.
The nursery
is now put to bed for the winter and work now turns
towards winter tasks including phase two of our website
redevelopment and ordering plants and seeds from new
and far flung parts of the world.
The nursery
will re-open on March 2nd, 2007 with our Hellebore Hurrah!
Mark your calendars. With the demise of Heronswood Nursery,
2007 could be the last year that their fabulous hellebores
are available. So if you've been dreaming of double
hellebores or have been covetting your friend's dark
and luscious 'Heronswood Slate' then you may want to
try to encourage a few Phoenix Perennials gift certificates
to come your way this holiday season. I've included
information below on our gift certificates. Also in
this e-newsletter you'll find a summary of and thank
you for 2006 and a few "festive" images from
my recent trip to China!
Happy Holidays!
Cheers, Gary
and the Phoenicians
In
this Issue
1.
Thank you for a Great Third Season!
2. Give
the Gift of Beautiful Plants: Phoenix Perennials Gift
Certificates at Christmas Time
3. Festive Chrysanthemums in China
1.
Thank
you for a Great Third Season!
I
would like to thank all of you, our customers, for making
our third season at Phoenix another great success. We
have continued to grow both in happy customers and in
numbers of plants. This year we offered over 2500
different species and cultivars of perennials and shrubs,
the majority of which we grow ourselves.
It
is gratifying for us to receive such a great response
from gardeners for the work that we do. There are fewer
and fewer retail nurseries these days that grow their
own plants. We believe that we learn so much from this
process. And what we learn becomes information that
we can pass on to you. As well, it allows us great flexibility
to offer an unparalleled selection of plants sourced
from all over the world. For 2007 we are planning shipments
of plant material from Europe, the US, Canada, India,
Japan and South Africa!
Our
two special weekends were very popular this year. The
Hellebore Hurrah! in March was a great way to kick off
the season with a healthy dose of plant lust. Many choice
hellebores found new homes that weekend. The Summer
Sizzle in July was a lot of fun as well. I hope you
enjoyed the plant photography of Jane Eaton Hamilton
(www.janeeatonhamilton.com)
and the mosaic work of Cliff Thorbes (www.piecebypiece.ca),
two very talented local artists.
We
had a great time offering our first season of workshops
at the nursery in 2006. Gardening is an adventure in
learning and we are pleased so many of you came to learn
with us. Over the winter we'll be planning a new season
of fun and informative classes. I had lots of fun giving
gardening talks to diverse garden clubs across the Lower
Mainland and meeting many avid gardeners. If I haven't
visited your garden club yet I'd love to have the opportunity
in 2007.
Our
tradition of giving back to the community continued
in 2006. We held four Charity Shopping Weekends over
the course of the season and raised over $1400 for UBC
Botanical Garden, Van Dusen Botanical Garden, the Homestart
Foundation, and the Weekend to End Breast Cancer. In
two years we have donated over $2000 to local charities
and worthy institutions. We look forward to holding
more Weekends in 2007.
That
was 2006! See you soon for 2007!
2.
Give
the Gift of Beautiful Plants
Phoenix Perennials Gift
Certificates at Christmas Time
Our
popular gift certificates are great for stocking stuffers
or for under the tree. If you've got an avid gardener
in your life not only will they get some great plants
from their gift certificate but they'll also get months
of anticipation as they wait for the gardening season
to arrive.
If
you're the most worthy recipient of a Phoenix gift certificate
that you know then I recommend *subtly* fowarding this
email to your loved ones. If
your loved ones sometimes don't get the hint you can
always purchase a gift certificate for yourself. We
are happy to inscribe the gift certificate as being
from any Christmas character you desire... Santa, Rudolph,
Mrs. Claus, the Head Elf, etc. It won't be the first
time we've done it!
Front
Back
Our
gift certificates can be ordered online via our secure
server by clicking on the Gift Certificate link on the
first page of our website www.phoenixperennials.com.
You can also call the nursery. If we are not there,
leave a message and we will call you back as soon as
possible. We will check messages every couple of days.
Happy
Holidays!
3.
Festive
Chrysanthemums in China
The
Chinese love their chrysanthemums -- so much so that
every fall the parks, squares, gardens, monasteries,
and other public sites across the country are adorned
with large and impressive displays. Chrysanthemums were
cultivated in China as a flowering herb as far back
as the 15th
century BC. An ancient Chinese city was named Chu-Hsien,
meaning "chrysanthemum city". The flower was introduced
into Japan around the 8th century AD and to Europe in
the 17th century AD. Today the chrysanthemum is used
in teas as well as for ornamental purposes across China.
The flowers represent nobility and elegance to the Chinese
people. Currently there are said to be more than 3000
different chrysanthemum cultivars grown in China.
Various large-flowered cultivars mass-planted along
the Yangtze River. These flowers are about six to eight
inches in diametre.
Chrysanthemum balls and pillars in the the Humble Administrator's
Garden, Suzhou. The pillars are not forms holding various
pots. Each pot contains three to five plants each of
which are staked and grown to 6 to 8 feet tall!
This disc of orange chrysanthemums is a single
plant measuring at least six feet in diametre! The flowers
are held by the concentric circles of a wooden frame
to present a uniform floral pattern. Tiger Hill Pagoda,
Suzhou.
While this single chrysanthemum plant is perhaps
meant to represent the nearby Tiger Hill Pagoda of Suzhou
it looked awfully like a Christmas tree to us westerners.
For reference sake Randy is six foot four. Again a bamboo
frame is used to support the plant and to arrange the
flowers.
Share
this E-Newsletter with a Friend
So many of our new visitors come to us through word
of mouth. If you like what we're doing at Phoenix Perennials,
please consider telling your gardening friends about
us.
If
you have any other questions please contact us at phoenixperennials@shaw.ca.
Phoenix
Perennials and Specialty Plants Ltd.
One of the largest and most exciting selections of perennials
in the Lower Mainland
Specializing in distinct perennials, fragrant shrubs,
hardy subtropicals and the botanically intriguing
3380
No. 6 Road, Richmond (Between Bridgeport and Cambie)
604-270-4133
www.phoenixperennials.com
Please
visit our web page for information on the nursery, driving
directions and a map.
We are near the south end of the Knight Street Bridge
and very easy to get to from all of the surrounding
municipalities and beyond.
Seven
Days a Week 10am-5pm
March 2nd, 2007 through October 31st, 2007
Copyright Phoenix Perennials and Specialty Plants Ltd.
2006
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