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What gives a grower the blues? Small plants and disappointed customers.Forget what the song says. There IS a cure: Plant this fall instead of waiting until spring. It’s not just for trees!It’s a simple equation: Build a firm foundation under that crown. When your plants go into winter with a bulked-up root mass, they’ll do three things quicker in spring: Fill out, look gorgeous – and sell. The principle applies to many genera, but we particularly recommend it for these four grass families; 

The genus known as “Fountain grass” is large and multifaceted. We grow over two dozen varieties, covering a wide spectrum of looks, hues and uses.Our Pennisetum offerings range from sturdy little cuties less than a foot tall, up to soaring six-footers. Most are hardy, but some of our most popular cultivars are annuals. With so much variety, you’d think we had all the bases covered. But the plant breeders of the world always have something unexpected up their sleeves.Brent Horvath with ‘Yell

When the color experts at Pantone announced their Color of the Year for 2021, they gave us a rare double-header. Illuminating is a cheerful yellow. Ultimate Gray is exactly what it sounds like. They complement one another beautifully: Yellow for sunny optimism, gray for rock-solid reliability. We looked at gray last time, so let’s get sunny and optimistic again! In this episode, we shine an Illuminating beam on the golden blades of two grasses and a Carex (a grass like sedge, not a tru

From the formal grounds of Tudor mansions to the simplest summer cottage, every garden welcomes the Royal touch. They’re a dramatic focal point as individual specimens, or an eye-popping, traffic-stopping show when planted in masses.They’re also terrific as the “thriller” in large containers. Keyword: “large!”Royal Collection Pennisetum varieties thrive on warm weather and full sun. Nobly bred, these bold, dark beauties fill your big-ticket big containers with remarkable style and speed. Hardy i

Don’t look now, but critters have taken root in your garden. Relax, they’re friendly – and they’re animals in name only.  Let’s meet one... heck, make it two – in a single species!Ordinarily, pigs and rabbits are two of the absolute worst visitors one could imagine in the garden. The rabbits will polish off everything above ground, while the pigs will root, root, root for what’s left.We think you’ll be glad you made an exception for two of our favorite floral fauna. Miniature Fountain Gras