Gardening season is well upon us at Morningwood Farm Nursery.  Of course the greenhouses are full of annuals and with this sunny weather, they're all bursting with flowers.  Some interesting varieties we're trying out this year include:  Petunia 'Pretty Much Picasso', Lobularia  'Snow Princess' and Petunia 'Bordeaux'.  Of course we have many of the unusual annuals featured in our display beds like Verbena bonariensis, flowering tobacco, Jewels of Opar and our regular selection of annual vines.

Some of the vegetable plants have been ready to go in the garden for a couple of weeks.  We have broccoli, napa cabbage, cabbage, lettuce and several varieties of kale that enjoy the cool weather.  Our heirloom tomatoes and diverse selection of peppers are still soaking up the heat in the greenhouse and are waiting for the night-time temperatures not to fall below 50 F.  Don't forget the herbs for that fresh flavor we enjoy in soups and sauces.

In the garden, we've been enjoying the bulbs we planted out last fall.  The late tulips are beginning to fade, but the alliums are kicking in with their spherical flair.   Our giant variegated pokeweed is popping up again and is putting on a magical display.  It has set a few seedlings, which I'll be offering for sale later in the season.

The new hybrid Baptisias are starting to bloom.  They're a huge color improvement on the old B. australis.  Some of our plants have been overwintered from last season and are quite showy.  Check out the color on B. 'Twighlight Prairie Blues'. 

Of course the earliest herbaceous peonies are blooming as well as the tree peonies.  If you haven't a tree peony, you need to get one.  They're hardy, adaptable and easy to grow (albeit a bit slow).  Their gi-normous flowers are worth the investment.  We have a selection of about 20 herbaceous peonies this year.  Most are single or anemone types.  Almost all stay upright through wind and rain, only a couple of our varieties are floppers (but we forgive them).

There has been a large interest in fruit trees and shrubs this spring.  We have a good selection of apples, plums and cherries for fresh eating and preserves.  Some easy small-scale fruits to consider are red currants, black currants and blueberries.  They work well in the small landscape and can be quite productive even in part shade.  We've got 4 varieties of blueberries this spring from dwarf to half-high.

As for ornamental trees and shrubs, magnolias may be done blooming but they are still available to plant!   Redbuds and crab apples are currently the showiest in the tree department.  A new small tree for us that is just finishing up its spring display is Maackia amurensis.  It's hard to find in the trade, but worth the effort.  The spring foliage is spectacular and it blooms in mid summer.  It can adapt to poor dry soil and it stays in the 15-20' range, fitting under power lines.

All our shipments of evergreens from the west coast are in.  We have some beautiful named varieties of Japanese white pine, limber pine and oriental spruce.  One of my favorites is the red-tipped Norway spruce.  It flushes red and then slowly fades to green.  The effect is similar to the Aureospicata oriental spruce which flushes bright yellow and fades to green by mid summer.  Another fun evergreen is Colorado blue spruce 'Sester's Dwarf'.  It's like a small Christmas tree and won't get to be more than 6' tall.