Orange Fall Color

In spring and summer, we see plenty of greens and reds, even yellow.  Sure, those colors get more intense in fall and really come alive.

Orange is a completely new color that screams fall.  Surprisingly, relatively few Japanese maples show orange in fall.  One might guess Orangeola would be one of them - nope.

Hogyoku, with its large glossy green leaves goes pumpkin orange.  The airy lacey green Brocade leaves also turn a vibrant orange.

Glowing Embers has yellows and red in addition to orange but the orange steals the show!

Pruning Party

This Saturday afternoon, the 20th, Wildwood will offer a workshop on pruning and shaping trees.  The focus will be on Japanese maples, but the principles transfer to ginkgo, dogwood, and conifers.

The first part of the workshop will be a tour of larger trees in the nursery.  Studying mature trees is very helpful when deciding how to shape a younger tree.

The second part of the workshop will be a democratic effort to prune a 25 gallon forest green maple.  The tree is very dense and twiggy now.  Hopefully it will be airy and beautiful after the haircut!

The last part of the workshop will be a discussion of container grown plants with particular focus on root pruning.

707.833.1161 to sign up!

Gold Ginkgo

Ginkgo trees are ancient beings that add sophistication and diversity to any garden.

New dwarf varieties are specifically adapted for smaller spaces.  A Gnome can reach three feet tall while a Chi Chi will grow to a handsome twelve feet.  These dwarfs are grafted varieties; no female seed pods polluting the airspace.  While they look cute, they are also tough plants.

Wildwood has the smallest dwarfs in one gallon containers, great for gifts and beginning gardeners.  Larger dwarfs make instant impacts in gardens that need a focal plant.

Getting Started

The first Instagram photos in 2010 were grainy in the moment shots.  Wildwood's first Instagram photos are basically on par.

It'll be a challenge merging into the "instant camera/telegram" conversation.  Nature photography and retail are sophisticated animals.  At this stage, taking more photos helps document and educate us about where we can improve.  The story is just beginning.

If you're starting a project, bring photos when you visit Wildwood.

@wildwood75

Annual Sale Final Week

Man made and natural wonders collide this week at Wildwood.

The Annual Sale runs until the 23rd.  There is nursery wide savings on dwarf ginkgo, dwarf conifers, rare maples, mature maples, and dogwoods.  People find that if they comb through the different sections they find real treasures perfect for their garden.

A sprinkling of plants are starting to show fall color and that will only increase in the weeks ahead.  This is a rare time when gardeners can see summer and fall color side by side.  This eliminates the confusion of "how bright is scarlet compared to red" or "how much more gold is it than yellow".

Low prices and bright colors - what more can gardeners ask for?

Mystic Spires

One gallon Mystic Spires

When this blog started, we had high expectations for the highway frontage.  We were going to turn it into a dazzling display of color.  There was going to be a regular blog post about 'gardening at 55mph' [hwy 12 speed limit].  We planted LOTS of plants.

The gophers jumped over the gopher baskets.  Water pooled because the clay wouldn't drain.  A cold winter polished off what survived.  Did we swear a lot? Yes.

Salvia Mystic Spires is one plant we have experimented with since then.  The gophers don't eat it.  The deer don't eat it.  It doesn't care about clay.  It doesn't need water after the first year.  It returns after a frost.  It's basically a plastic bouquet of blue flowers.
 
We're planting 40 next week.  In the words of Carl Spackler 'Au revoir, gopher'

New Entrance

At 55 mph plus, the entrance to Wildwood Nursery has always been easy to miss.  The location, next to the Kenwood Inn & Spa, is still the same.  The gate and fence flanking the driveway are brand new.

We thought it made sense to use lumber for an entrance to a place called Wildwood.  The ranch style look is in keeping with the history of the property.  The color is a bit of a departure though.

White would have been glaringly noticeable.  Black would have been more of an Asian influence.  The deep plum [Benajmin Moore Dark Basalt] was Debbie's suggestion.  She works at Wildwood on weekends and thought the plum color would be 'unique and sharp'.

Next challenge: plants!