Hi there, my fellow flower freaks. Ziva and I hope everyone had a stress-free Turkey Day celebration. We sure did.
Speaking of Ms Ziva, her 9th birthday was Saturday, Nov. 30th. She was not real thrilled with the wearing o’ the birthday crown. lol Since the weather has cooled down, you’ll once again see her riding shotgun with me on deliveries.
The nights sure have been cooling down quite a bit this past week. Tomorrow night, Tuesday, is supposed to be down to 29 here in the Starke area. One of the many perks of growing plants native to our area is we don’t need to do any winter covering. Per the USDA Plant Hardiness Zones, the average low temp for Zone 9 is 20 degrees. Which means our natives are perfectly acclimated to that type of cold weather.
One thing I would suggest though is to make sure they’re well watered today or tomorrow. That’ll help the foliage withstand the freeze a bit better.
A lot of the perennials I have for sale have started going dormant, and the deciduous trees and shrubs have started dropping their leaves. Once the perennials go completely dormant, I reduce their inventory to zero. They’ll be put back into stock once they leaf back out in the spring. If they are still showing some green, I’ll make a note on their description page that they’re looking a bit sad but are still available for purchase. Deciduous trees and shrubs stay in stock even if they are completely dormant because a simple scratch test on their trunks/branches can tell us if the plant is still alive, ie, scratch the bark with your fingernail, if you see green under the bark it’s fine.
One of my suppliers will have a very limited number of 7-gallon Magnolia ashei, Ashe Magnolia, ready in the next few weeks. She is my only supplier who grows them in the 7-gallon size, so I reserved a few of them. I’m going to go ahead and update the inventory for it so you can place a pre-order. They’ll be delivered as soon as I get them in stock, but I don’t know exactly when that will be. The last time I had that size in stock they sold out in only a couple of days. I’d highly suggest you get your order in asap if you’ve been drooling over this tree. Go on ahead and buy yourself a Winter Solstice or Christmas present! You really do deserve it.
Ziva and I picked up some cool plants the past couple of weeks, with more coming next week. Here’s the list. Click on the plant name to be taken to its description page to see pics and lots of info and to place your order:
- Symphyotrichum carolinianum, Climbing Aster, 1-gallon
- Morella cerifera, Wax Myrtle, 3-gallon
- Phlox divaricata ‘Blue Moon’ Woodland Phlox, 1-gallon
- Phlox divaricata, Species Woodland Phlox, 1-gallon
- Calamintha georgiana, Georgia Calamint, 1-gallon
- Hypericum tenuifolium, Scrub St John’s Wort, 1-gallon
- Carphephorus corymbosus, Florida Paintbrush, 1-gallon
- Carphephorus odoratissimus, Vanillaleaf Plant, 1-gallon (yes, the leaves really do smell like delicious vanilla)
- Chionanthus virginicus, Grancy Graybeard, 3-gallon
- Rhus copallina, Shining Sumac, 3-gallon (new)
- Magnolia grandiflora, Southern Magnolia, 3-gallon
- Sambucus canadensis, Elderberry, 3-gallon
- Chasmanthium latifolium, Inland Sea Oats, 1-gallon
- Symphyotrichum georgianum, Georgia Aster, 1-gallon
- Symphyatrichum lateriflorum, Calico Aster, 1-gallon (This is the pic at the top of the page showing them in full bloom a couple of weeks ago.)
- Brickellia cordifolia, Flyr’s Nemesis, 1-gallon
- Erythrina herbacea, Coralbean, 1-gallon
- Aesculus pavia, Red Buckeye, 3-gallon
- Bignonia capreolata, Crossvine, 3-gallon
- Helianthus debilis, Dune Sunflower, 1-gallon
- Cornus florida, White Flowering Dogwood, 3-gallon
- Prunus umbellata, Flatwoods Plum, 3-gallon (new)
- Cercis canadensis, Redbud, 3-gallon
- Conradina grandiflora, Pineland Mint, 1-gallon
Legend:
All are native to Florida’s zones 8 and 9.
(new) means first time being sold in Bella’s Garden Shop.
Which one is your favorite??
Happy diggin’ in the dirt!
Jeanni and Ziva
Bella Jardins Boutique
Beautiful Gardens Begin Here
