Of all the fruits the apple has developed the largest number of varieties, American lists totaling more than 2,500 and European countless others, with new ones being introduced annually.
David Schreier
Picea Abies ‘Cupressina’ for Shelter and Seclusion
Spruce are forest trees common through much of the Northern Hemisphere and are at their finest grown free-standing in an open space where their natural beauty will increase as the years pass.
Plant of the Month – August 2016
Few flowers are as consistently showy as those of the deciduous shrubs in the genus Hydrangea with their enormous clusters of summer-blooming white, pink or blue flowers.
Plant of the Month – July 2016
The Mugo pine is one of the most dependable dwarf conifers for park and lawn planting and one of the few pines that will tolerate light shade.
Plant of the Month – June 2016
A chance seedling River birch (Betula nigra) was discovered in the 1970s and cultivated by cloning. This unusual River birch has a dwarf, compact, dense habit, reaching 10 feet tall and 12 feet wide.
Plant of the Month – May 2016
Contrary to popular opinion, the tree peony is a surprisingly easy shrub to grow, as long as it basic needs are met. The name “tree peony” must be dismissed as an exaggeration since this woody shrub can grow 4 to 5 feet tall and spread an equal distance.
November Plant of the Month
This unusual sugar maple seedling, so different in shape and growth from the surrounding sugar maple trees, was the result of a seed-variation. Never does a seed exactly reproduce its parent. Neither do any two seeds, even from the same fruit, ever produce plants exactly alike.
October Plant of the Month
A new variety of dessert apple developed by David MacGregor of Fairhaven Farms located at South Haven, Wright County, Minnesota, is now available to consumers. Kinderkrisp is an open pollinated seedling of Honeycrisp and an unknown variety.
September Plant of the Month
It is not often we see Firs, the common name for the genus Abies, a hardy evergreen tree of the Pine Family, growing in the landscape throughout our area. Firs are generally conical in shape and of particular beauty in youth. Their upright cones and flat leaves (needles) distinguish them from the Spruces, which have pendant cones and angular leaves. New cones are showy, varying with different species through bright shades of purple, violet, blue, red-brown and green. Their branches are stiff and the foliage is bristly to the touch.
Three-flower Maple, A Rare Beauty
An ornamental tree or shrub is defined as having a desired characteristic that adds color from flower, foliage or fruit, good texture from leaves or bark, or seasonal interest. Ornamental trees are usually smaller in size than shade trees and fulfill an important role in a well-designed landscape.