Hydrangea for Canadian Gardens

Hydrangea for Canadian Gardens Out here on the West Coast, Hydrangea is an integral and beloved part of the summer garden, especially the bigleaf Hydrangea macrophylla with its glorious shades of sky blue, royal blue, purple, pink, and near red. These flowers emerge in early summer and provide interest

Hydrangea for Canadian Gardens

Out here on the West Coast, Hydrangea is an integral and beloved part of the summer garden, especially the bigleaf Hydrangea macrophylla with its glorious shades of sky blue, royal blue, purple, pink, and near red. These flowers emerge in early summer and provide interest well into fall.

Hydrangea macrophylla is hardy to about zone 5 or 6 but in these zones, a cold winter can cause stem dieback along with a considerable reduction or even a complete loss of flowers for the season. This is because, up until recently, all bigleaf hydrangea cultivars were only capable of blooming on old wood. The loss of the previous season’s wood meant no flowers for the current season and a sad situation for an avid gardener dreaming of the glorious summer blooms.

New Breeding Innovations

But fear not, zone 5 gardeners! New breeding work has led to cultivars that bloom on both old and new wood guaranteeing that, even if a hard winter knocks back your stems (or an overexcited husband gets too ambitious with the pruning shears), you’ll still get flowers.

These cultivars are described as “blooming on both old and new wood” or as “reblooming hydrangea”. That’s because a cultivar that is not knocked back to the ground in the winter will at first produce blooms on the old wood at the start of the summer and then, as the season progresses, produce subsequent flushes of flowers on the new wood. When the old wood is lost in the winter, flowering will be delayed a bit further into summer until the new wood can be produced and come into bloom. But you’ll still get flowers.

Improved Varieties

This momentous advance has been accompanied by other great improvements to flower forms and colours including double flowers and bicolours, foliage colour including rich burgundy leaves, and dwarf forms great for small spaces or containers that only grow to about 3-4 feet tall and wide.

Even hardier are the smooth hydrangea, H. arborescens, and the panicle hydrangea, H. paniculata, both of which can withstand a zone 3 winter. These species bloom on new wood. H. arborescens is famous for its cultivar ‘Annabelle’ and the improved form, Incrediball, with huge white mopheads and stronger stems.

The panicle hydrangea has conical flower heads that emerge first in creamy white and age to pink and near red. New breeding work now offers us cultivars that change to glorious, deep, rich tones of pink as the flowers age.

Both of these super hardy species also have new dwarf forms perfect for small spaces and containers.

Other Interesting Species

Two other interesting species are the oakleaf hydrangea, H. quercifolia, and the mountain hydrangea, H. serrata, both of which are hardy to zone 5. The oakleaf also has creamy, conical-shaped flower heads and lovely, textured foliage that turns magnificent shades of red, orange, yellow and purple over a long period in the fall. The mountain hydrangea resembles the bigleaf hydrangea but is often a bit daintier usually with lacecap flower heads. It is also said that the mountain hydrangea is a bit tougher in colder climates like zone 5.

At Phoenix Perennials we often carry more than 100 different kinds of Hydrangea each season for our local and mail order customers. Come shop in person or order online for Canada-wide shipping!

Give Your Garden the Phoenix Perennials Touch:

At Phoenix Perennials we offer over 5000 different plants every year for in-person shopping at our garden centre and plant nursery in Richmond, British Columbia, part of Greater Vancouver. Additionally, we offer more than 3000 different plants each year for mail-order shipping across Canada. Stay connected with our diverse offerings and all things Phoenix Perennials by signing up for our E-Newsletter and Alerts and engaging with us on social media. Happy gardening!

Common Name:

Family:

Zone Hardiness:

Light:

Height:

Width:

Primary Bloom Colour:

Secondary Bloom Colour:

Class:

Type:

Bloom Time:

Soil Moisture:

Stem Colour:

Fragrance:

Berries:

Benefits:

Deer Resistant:

BC Native:

Native Habitat:

Award:

Geographical Origin:

All About Dahlia

All About Dahlia It’s hard not to love Dahlia. They are bold and cheerful and come in a wide range of colours, forms, and sizes. Some cultivars have flowers that are just 2 inches wide while others offer flowers that are 8, 10 or even 12 inches across!

All About Dahlia

It’s hard not to love Dahlia. They are bold and cheerful and come in a wide range of colours, forms, and sizes. Some cultivars have flowers that are just 2 inches wide while others offer flowers that are 8, 10 or even 12 inches across!

The Variety of Dahlia Flowers

Dahlia flowers come in almost every colour of the rainbow except for true blue and many flowers are bicoloured or even tricoloured. Their forms can be single or double and their petals offer all manner of shapes and sizes. They bloom over a long period through the summer and fall, when spring and early summer perennials have finished, and they love the heat. While the large-flowered cultivars need more time to come into flower blooming at the peak of summer, many of the smaller-flowered cultivars can begin to bloom in June. Some plants grow only one foot high while others tower at six feet. Most Dahlia have green leaves but some have rich, burgundy foliage adding an extra layer of beauty before and during bloom.

Cultivation and Care

Dahlia are easy to grow in full sun in containers or the garden and, though not hardy for most Canadian gardeners, they are easy to store over winter. For those on the West Coast, Dahlia can be hardy in protected locations in zone 8 where soils are not too wet in the winter months.

Origins and Cultural Significance

The wild species of Dahlia, of which there are 42, are native to Mexico and Central America. In fact, the Dahlia is the national flower of Mexico. They are members of the Aster family and are thus related to black-eyed Susans, Echinacea, Zinnia, and sunflowers. The local indigenous people, including the Aztecs, used Dahlia tubers as a food source and a source of medicine. The hollow stems were used as pipes and for various other purposes.

Popular Cultivars

Such is the diversity of Dahlia in the wild that breeding work has led to the creation of a diverse range of flower types. Here are the most common:

Dinner Plate
Huge flowers 8-12 inches wide on tall stems 4-6 feet high.

Burgundy Leaf
Rich burgundy, chocolate, and near black foliage. Flower types can vary but they are often single, mignon or peony type blooms. The smaller flowered cultivars usually start blooming in early summer.

Decorative
Double blooms with broad, flattened or slightly curved petals, usually medium to large in size.

Cactus
Large, double blooms with narrow, pointed ray florets.

Fimbriata
Large, double blooms with split or notched tips to the ray florets.

Mignon & Collarette
Small single or semi-double (collarette) blooms. Flowers can often start blooming in early summer.

Ball and Pompon
Round or spherical double blooms, ray florets usually with blunt or rounded tips. Pompons have miniature flowers while Ball types are larger.

Anemone
Smaller to medium sized flowers with a ring of ray florets topped with a central ruff of smaller florets often in a different colour.

Dahlia prefer full sun in rich, well-drained average to sandy soils though they are tolerant of clay soils that have been amended with organic matter. To get the most flower power out of your tubers, make sure to give lots of rich compost and provide an organic or conventional fertilizer with a higher middle number for an extra dose of phosphorus.

Dahlia should be lifted in fall, usually around or just after the first hard frost. Knock off the soil from the tubers and store in dry peat, perlite or vermiculite in a frost-free location. Check periodically through the winter for rot.

If you are growing in containers, you can also just leave the tubers in the pots over the winter as long as you can get the soil to dry out before storage. Move your pots closer to the house and out of the rain in September so you can control the amount of moisture in the potting mix as your plants get closer and closer to dormancy.

In coastal British Columbia, you can often overwinter Dahlia outside in the ground but you’ll need to find a good location with free-draining soils, preferably in a raised bed or on a slope or in an area with overhead protection from conifer branches, the overhang of the house, or other garden structures. Mulch heavily with fallen leaves to protect the tubers from winter freezes and to help shed the rain away from the tubers.

At Phoenix Perennials we offer potted Dahlia for sale through the spring, summer, and fall season. We also include a huge selection of tubers in our Summer Bulb Pre-Order that launches in the winter for spring pick-up or shipping.

Give Your Garden the Phoenix Perennials Touch:

Common Name:

Family:

Zone Hardiness:

Light:

Height:

Width:

Primary Bloom Colour:

Secondary Bloom Colour:

Class:

Type:

Bloom Time:

Soil Moisture:

Stem Colour:

Fragrance:

Berries:

Benefits:

Deer Resistant:

BC Native:

Native Habitat:

Award:

Geographical Origin:

Growing Roses in Containers

Growing Roses in Containers Roses are one of the most beautiful and beloved flowers you can grow. Their wide range of colours and flower forms and their fragrance have endeared them to generations of gardeners. But in today’s modern world with our ever denser cities and

Growing Roses in Containers

Roses are one of the most beautiful and beloved flowers you can grow. Their wide range of colours and flower forms and their fragrance have endeared them to generations of gardeners. But in today’s modern world with our ever denser cities and suburbs, we have less space in which to garden. People with small spaces such as small gardens or balconies often wonder if they can grow roses in containers. The short answer is yes. But there are various secrets of success.

Here are the various considerations for planting and growing a rose in a container:

1) Selecting the right size rose. While all roses can be grown in containers, planting the correct-sized rose will save you from repotting down the line. We recommend you select small to medium-sized rose bushes for container growing. The largest shrubs we recommend are ones that reach 4.5 feet high x 4 feet wide at maturity – anything larger will do best in ground unless you’re planting in a really large pot! There are also roses that have been specially bred for containers that are small size but big on flowers like the Veranda and Sunblaze series. Also, many of Brad Jalbert’s introductions have compact habits, great disease resistance, and stunning flowers making them excellent for containers.

2) Choosing the right size pot. The minimum size pot for container growing is 17 inches high and wide, though larger is always better, even for a small to medium-sized rose. For the larger shrubs, a larger container will be needed. A pot the size of a half wine barrel would be ideal allowing the roots ample space to spread. The container will also need to have adequate drainage through holes in the bottom to prevent root rot.

3) Soil requirements. Since the rose will be grown in a container versus the ground, proper soil porosity is essential to allow water to drain through the medium and air pockets to form since roots also need to breathe. To ensure proper drainage, it’s critical that the soil used for planting is chunky and not overly dense. We like to use Sea Soil Container Complete mixed with about 30% perlite and coarse bark.

4) Watering and fertilizing. Roses grown in containers will need to be watered more frequently than in ground. During the hot summer months, it is not unusual to water daily or even twice a day during a heat wave. As such, roses grown in containers will also need to be fertilized more frequently as the frequent watering will flush fertilizers out of the soil more quickly. We recommend fertilizing with 14-14-16 Perennial and Shrub slow release in spring when the foliage first begins to emerge and again at the beginning of summer. This four month slow release will provide a good baseline of macro and micronutrients through the growing season to encourage the first flush of flowers in June and subsequent bloom through the summer and fall. For even more flower power, you can apply a water soluble fertilizer with a high middle number once every week to two weeks during the flower season.

5) Winterizing. The rule of thumb is that any plant grown in a container loses a zone of hardiness. The same goes for roses. If the rose is rated for zone 5 and is now grown in a container, it is now treated as a zone 6 plant. For rosarians living in colder climates, we strongly recommend insulating the container to prevent winter damage to the roots. You can place a sheet of styrofoam under the pot and wrap the pot with bubble wrap. You could also wrap the canes with thick burlap which will reduce desiccation from cold winds. Winter damaged canes or canes with brown tips can be trimmed away in the spring.

While any rose could be grown in a container if the container is big enough, here are some beautiful roses that are particularly great for container growing:

The Kordes Veranda roses are a compact series designed specifically for containers. Clockwise from top left: Veranda Cream, Veranda Mango, Veranda White, and Veranda Lavender.

These compact David Austin roses grow well in large containers. Clockwise from top left: Darcey Bussell, Harlow Carr, Olivia Rose Austin, and Princess Alexandra of Kent.

These compact David Austin roses also grow well in large containers. Clockwise from top left: Princess Anne, Roald Dahl, The Poet’s Wife, and Vanessa Bell.

Give Your Garden the Phoenix Perennials Touch:

Common Name:

Family:

Zone Hardiness:

Light:

Height:

Width:

Primary Bloom Colour:

Secondary Bloom Colour:

Class:

Type:

Bloom Time:

Soil Moisture:

Stem Colour:

Fragrance:

Berries:

Benefits:

Deer Resistant:

BC Native:

Native Habitat:

Award:

Geographical Origin: