Looking for Low-Maintenance Landscaping?

Are you a ‘Snow Bird’ or someone who likes to spend your weekends on the lake?

We’ve got you covered!  Low maintenance landscaping is for you!  ii

No matter the situation, if your passion is something other than gardening every weekend, look for easy to grow, low maintenance plants. Here are a few versatile suggestions.

Spirea, Smoke Bush, Barberry and Potentilla are your ‘go to’ plants and great news, generally speaking, the deer will leave them alone!  We have a nursery filled with several varieties of these that wil lset your yard apart in the neighborhood!  Dwarf pine, such as ‘Slowmound’ mugo, many varieties of dwarf spruce and boxwood are evergreen choices for year-round interest.

If you’re looking to add more color, try some of the suggestions listed below.

Best Loved Flowers in America
Are Your Favorites on the List?

The online gardening site Gardening Chores looked at top Google searches to determine the flowers Americans love best. The top ten are flowers we often find in our gardens here in North Idaho.  Did your favorites make the list?

It’s no surprise Lavender is the #1 flower. It’s pretty easy to grown, and its unique fragrance is said to promote relaxation.

Watering, Watering, Watering

It’s a topic we’re covering regularly as we enter into the hottest time of our summer. Sometimes it seems our yards just can’t get enough water, yet we feel like we are watering all the time. Remember that the best time to water is in the evening or early morning hours. If you wait until the middle of the day, a lot of that precious water evaporates into the atmosphere instead of settling in the ground!

Check out Jen’s tips on watering! It’s great information and will help you water your gardens in the most efficient manner possible. Great info Jen!

Employee Spotlight: New Leaf’s Watering Warriors

The nursery staff is a team, no member more or less important than the other, but during the hottest time of the year, the watering team stands heads above!  Sometimes watering the entire nursery, not once, but twice in a day, in a heat wave, they manage to keep the plants alive and fresh! 

Here’s a few of our watering warriors:  Lauren, Tina, Maddy, Lisa and Cindy. Still attached to hoses are: Cheryl, Kelly, Reese, Sarah, Vicky, Andrew, Evan, and James S.

SUMMER FESTIVAL

Now that the warm weather is finally upon us, bet you are looking for some fun for the family on a summer afternoon? Or, maybe you’ve been waiting to buy that gorgeous maple tree, knowing that Double Points Day for Seed Reward Members would roll around soon? Or, maybe you just wanted to hear great music and have a cold beer and a hot brat in the shade of the hydrangea garden?

The wait is nearly over! That day is right around the corner! We have a great line up planned for you and your family on Saturday July 15 at the nursery! And, yes, you guessed it, it’s DOUBLE POINTS DAY too! Plus, all barn decor is 20% off on Saturday and Sunday. And we might have a surprise visit from Harriet, or favorite Highland Scottish cow. She’s just about ready to become a mom, so may not be able to make the trip if she has her baby before the event.

Load up the minivan, or grab a friend and swing into the nursery for The Summer Festival. Event hours are noon until 7 p.m. The nursery opens at 9 a.m., and many vendors will be happy to see you then! The sweet treats, the crepes, the brats, and lots of other goodies will be ready for you! We’ve got an obstacle course for your young Ironmen and other fun activities for kids.

LakeTown Sound will take the stage at 4 and play until the end of the party! LakeTown Sound is a local gem, and its music will take you back to 70’s, 80’s and 90’s! You’ll be up dancing and singing along!

The nursery is filled with absolutely gorgeous plants. The displays will inspire you, and you’ll likely find so much more since your last visit. Our Renaissance man, Ciro, built a water feature in one of our greenhouses that you’ll want in your garden! We expect a big shipment of rice hull pots that are fully recyclable and tolerant to our winters. You won’t believe the high energy colors! A huge shipment of birdbaths arrived, new garden trellises and arbors, including a new circle ‘moon’ arbor. Ornamental grasses, shrubs, trees, perennials and vines come together to create our garden-like setting.

We’re excited to have many of our favorite vendors with us again for the festival, as well as new ones — nearly 30 vendors in all.

Admission is free so plan to while away a fun-filled summer afternoon at the nursery. We can’t wait to see you!

Here are the many delights you’ll find: 

Food and Drink

Artisan Crafts and Amazing Pros

Summer Perennials Are Bursting with Blooms

Bumblebees just love blooming salvia, as do many of the pollinators that grace our gardens this time of year. Summer is here and it’s time to enjoy our gardens after all that hard work in the spring cleaning up, pruning, and getting things in shape. Now it’s time to relax a bit more, fill in those bare spots in the garden, deadhead the flowers, and pull the occasional weed or two.

And we’ve got you covered with ideas for filling in your garden. Our greenhouses are bursting with perennials that bloom throughout the summer such as daisies, rudbeckia, yarrow, echinacea, and more. Another sun-filled favorite are the lilies. The Asiatic, oriental and day lilies are all just starting to bloom.

And don’t forget those part sun and part shady areas of your garden. These can be filled with numerous satisfying blooms and greens creating a delightful serene garden space. Here are just a few ideas:

The Art of Watering During Hot Summer Months

Did you know there is an art to watering your plants during the hot summers here in North Idaho? New Leaf plant expert Jen gives us tips on watering our plants to make sure they are fully hydrated and root growth is stimulated.

Beautiful Wrapped Designer Bouquets Make Their Barn Debut at Summer Festival

We are so excited to present the newest addition to the great products in the barn at New Leaf Nursery!  Beautifully wrapped designer bouquets of locally grown cut flowers will be available starting the morning of our Summer Festival, Saturday July 15. Carefully curated color palettes will be available. Cut flowers bring the beauty of nature inside your home. Whether you are a seasoned floral designer, or just nature lover, having flowers in vases in your house brings joy! We will continue this service through the summer. And, of course, custom orders are available. Our designer asks for a week’s notice in order to procure special requests. See us as at the front desk to put in your request.

New Leaf’s Belle of the Bulk Yard

 If you’ve ever purchased any of our bulk soils, barks and rocks, you’ve worked with our Belle of the Bulk Yard, Christianna. She’s the one who coordinates and dispatches all of our bulk material sales, loads and deliveries. In radio banter around the nursery, she is lovingly called “Dirt Girl,” while her bulk materials assistants are called “Bark Buddies.” When not on bulk materials duty, you’ll find Christianna’s smiling face and can-do work attitude all over the nursery. She is often the person answering our phones, she assists at the front desk and helps to wrap those trees for their voyage home. She’s been with us for two seasons now and we are so lucky to have her!

Coeur d’Alene Garden Tour Is Coming

The Coeur d'Alene Garden Club tour is July 9. You can purchase tickets at the nursery for this fun day of touring local gardens.

‘Honey, everything’s comin’ up roses for you & for me!’ -- Bette Midler, 1993

Are you looking for the perfect rose, and do you have the perfect place to grow it?  What kind of rose do you want? Let us help you answer a few questions of your questions with answers from Elaine Christen of New Leaf Nursery!

Elaine tells us that there are many different classes of roses. Below is a list, along with a few of Elaine’s favorites in each category.

Classes of Roses

Hybrid Tea:  This rose is most distinguishable as having a single large bloom on a long stem, which makes them easy to cut and put in a tall vase to enjoy inside the house! Beautiful deep red Mr. Lincoln and variegated pink and white Double Delight are two roses that Elaine claims as favorites!

Grandiflora:  The Grandiflora is a hearty cross between a floribunda and a hybrid tea rose; they have large blooms that are clustered on long stems which makes them a favorite for cut flowers; romantic blush Mother of Pearl and passionate Gold Medal earn the honor of favorites in this category.

Floribunda: The floribunda rose is a cross between a polyantha and a tea rose; generally smaller shrubs with lots of flowers which can be singles or doubles, with shorter stems that the two previous varieties;  Elaine loves the yellow shades of Julia Child and the nearly magenta Intrigue varieties of Floribunda roses and we can see why!

Shrub roses:  These roses generally grow as shorter bushes, bred to be continuously blooming and bug resistant, with many branded varieties.  Elaine says I love Winnipeg Parks for its slight smell of cherries. 

Polyantha: Polyantha roses are compact, dwarf shrubs with closely packed bunches of small usually semi-double or double flowers in shades of white, cream, peach, pink, and red. Sprays will flower throughout the summer and these roses grow from 30-90cm (2-3ft) high.  The recognizable pastel pink Cecile Bruner and the Fairy (ooh la la) top the faves list for Elaine.

Climbing Roses:  As you may imagine, climbing roses do just that, and if properly trained and tied, they exhibit long arching canes with the ability to climb fences, walls, and through pergolas.  Elaine is partial to the variegated Joseph’s Coat and the flaming red Blaze.

Rugosa: Rugosa is a sub class of the shrub rose. With its origins in Japan, this rose is hardy and parent to many shrub roses. They bloom in either double blooms, like the Polar Ice variety below, or single varieties.   Rugosa roses are tolerant of all kinds of conditions that fussier roses can’t handle. They are known for their large blooms, and if you leave spent flowers on the shrubs, rose hips will form, which are edible and a great source of vitamin C.

Ground Cover Roses: As you might suspect, ground cover roses won’t get very tall. Generally they top out between 2 and 2.5’.  They are most commonly used in borders. Elaine selects Red Ribbons, for it’s brilliant red flowers that blooms continuously, and  Meidiland white as her faves.  These roses are highly resistant to disease.

All Photos credit: Gardenia.net, RHS UK, Jackson & Perkins, Weeks Roses

Tips for Growing Roses in the Inland Northwest

                     From Elaine Christen

Which roses are best for our region and why? Roses grown on their own roots are best for colder areas like ours. When you are shopping for roses, look for roses that are labeled ‘on root.’ Even in our colder winters, they can regrow from the root stock and be true to form when they bloom again!

What happened to my roses this past winter?  It seems as if all of us suffered losses in our gardens this past winter, due to the sudden onset of freeze after a very warm fall. Roses particularly took a beating.  Whether they were newly planted, or old established specimens, many roses didn’t survive. If you are seeing no signs of life on your rose this late in the year, it is safe to assume it is lost.

What is the best way to fertilize and treat roses for bugs and fungus? Prevention is always best, and this is achieved by proper pruning and spacing of roses, planting them to allow for good air circulation. The more modern shrub bushes are actually bred to be more resistant to disease. Aphids are common on roses, and they can be controlled with lady bugs or insecticidal soap.

What would be considered ideal soil for roses? Roses, along with most plants and flowers, like fertile, well drained soil, with plenty of organic material added.

What is the best way to plant a rose? Start by digging a hole that is twice as wide as the pot it came in.  If it is a grafted rose, plant the rose so the graft is 1” below the soil. Create a berm surrounding the root ball of the rose, which will help with water retention.

Speaking of watering, what’s the best way to water a rose? Drip irrigation is always the best, but if you can’t use a drip system, then hand watering is second best. With the berm around the rose that you created when planting it, it will help the root zone to retain water. Be sure to water enough so that the entire root ball is fully soaked. Then, allow the top 2 inches of soil to dry before the next watering.  Avoid allowing sprinklers to hit the roses, as this can spread disease.

What does the term ‘deadheading’ mean?  The first thing I think of is the Grateful Dead. But seriously, deadheading is simply removing the faded blooms from the plant to encourage growth and reblooming.  To do this, look down the stem of the faded rose, and find the first 5-7 leaflet leaf that faces toward the outside of the bush. Prune to just above that leaf. Remember, the better cuts you make the stronger the regrowth!

How long do roses bloom in the Inland Northwest? Rose bloom time varies by season, of course, but generally, you will start to see blooms in mid June, and continuing to the first frost.

How should I prepare my roses for winter? Place a goodly amount of compost around the base of the rose. Cut the rose back to approximately 18-24” tall.  Make a ‘haystack’ of pine needles or shredded bark to cover the majority of the stems. This will insulate the canes and protect the plant during the winter season.

And once winter is finally behind us, when should I consider pruning in the Spring? Usually in early March, you can pull away the pine needles and mulch and inspect for buds. If any canes are blackened, cut them back to live wood.

What type of food is best for roses? We suggest GB Rose and Flower Food, which we carry in the barn at New Leaf Nursery. The packaging will direct you on how to use the product.

Do you have rose pruners at the nursery?  Yes, we do. 

How about deer?  Do they like roses? Deer have been known to eat them even with all those thorns! As we know, they will eat just about anything if they are hungry enough. Rugosa roses appear to be more resistant due to their extra thorniness and more rough textured leaves. We do carry a spray called Deer Out at the nursery, that our customers tell us work very well.

When is the best time of year to buy and plant roses?  We have our roses available for sale when we open in March, and this is a good time to get dibs on your favorites. Unless you have a heated greenhouse, we ask that you leave them with us to keep them warm and cared for until mid-May after danger of frost has passed. We carry roses throughout the growing season, but if you are looking for a specific variety, or certain color, don’t wait too long. Everyone is out shopping early in the season. If there is a specific rose that you want, and you don’t see it at the nursery, ask one of our friendly staff about our ‘wish list’ and they will be happy to explain the process. It’s a great way to request a plant specific to your garden, and if our buyers can locate it, you will be notified when it arrives at our nursery!

Elaine Christen, Owner of New Leaf Nursery

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