Bush and Shrub Care

Juicy jewel-like nuggets nestled inside a tough leathery exterior, the Pomegranate tree and its antioxidant-rich fruit brighten both your garden and your diet! Bold red, orange or yellow flowers and lovely fine-textured foliage, Pomegranates are ornamental flowering and fruiting trees that are sure to enliven the landscape! If you’re in a warmer climate and looking for a drought-resistant tree with ornamental beauty and amazingly healthful fruit, look no further than Nature Hills' wide selection of Pomegranate tree varieties. Origins of the Pomegranate Tree Pomegranate Tree Care Pomegranate Sun & Soil Requirements Pomegranate Tree Watering Needs Pruning Pomegranate Trees Fertility Thinning Three Seasons of Color Fruitful Healthful Pomegranate Trees Origins of the Pomegranate Tree Pomegranate trees are relatively fast-growing fruit trees that produce highly sought-after fruit. Typically ripening around and given as gifts for the holidays, the hidden gems inside the blushed leathery exterior have been a heart-healthy and diet-conscious addition for decades!  Pomegranates are one of the oldest fruits in cultivation! Since ancient times in the Mediterranean, their exotic beauty and delicious fruit made them wildly popular throughout the Middle East, India, and more arid parts of Southeast Asia and Northern Africa. Pomegranates made their way into Europe through Spain, and the fruit was prized in England even though it did not thrive in that colder climate. English colonists in America tried to import the tree, but those in southern colonies like Georgia and South Carolina were the only ones to see success. The Pomegranate tree was introduced to California by Spanish settlers in 1769 where it continues to thrive today! Pomegranate Tree Care Pomegranates thrive in a wide range of warmer USDA growing zones between 7 through 10. But those gardeners in cooler climates need not despair! You can grow a patio Pomegranate tree in a large planter and simply move it into a bright sunny window, sunroom or greenhouse for the winter!  These are easy-to-grow and low-maintenance fruit trees and require about the same care you’d expect from any other fruiting tree or shrub! They are even disease-resistant and self-fruitful! Full Sun Moderate Moisture & Fertility Loves Mulched Beds Prune Late Winter/Early Spring Plant in Well-Drained Average to Organically Rich Soil Requires ~150-300 Chill Hours Self-Fruitful Drought Tolerant Once Established Pomegranate Sun & Soil Requirements Tolerant to a wide variety of soil conditions and accepting any well-drained soil type, Pomegranates thrive in the full sun all day and for best flowering and fruiting require a minimum of 6 hours of direct light a day.  Pomegranate Tree Watering Needs Requiring average, but consistent moisture, once established these are drought-tolerant trees. Apply water on an even, regular schedule until the roots are well established. An uneven application of water can result in split fruit. Apply a three-inch layer of arborist mulch over the root system. Pull it back away from the trunk by several inches. Apply organic fertilizer for fruiting plants. Follow the directions on the package for both timing and application rates. Once the plant is established, it can survive periodic droughts. However, container plants need careful water their whole life. During dormancy, water once a month at most, and ensure the excess water drains quickly. Pruning Pomegranate Trees Prune in late winter - or before new growth begins to emerge in early spring - to shape and control the size of your tree as needed. Pomegranates can be a bit hesitant to leaf out in the spring, so don’t panic if you are not seeing leaves as soon as the weather warms. Those bare stems mean it is a great time to view the framework of your tree, remove weak or sickly-looking branching, eliminate crossing branches and style your tree specifically for your yard and needs. It’s important to open the canopy up to the sunlight and good air circulation as well. Some varieties of Pomegranate sucker and you can allow them to grow as colonies if you so desire the larger size, spread, and privacy they’ll create! Otherwise, simply remove these suckers when they appear to maintain a clean, single-stem trunk.  You can even prune Pomegranates into smaller shrubs with their limbs to the ground for screening and an easy-to-reach size. Fertility Fertilize Pomegranate trees as they leaf out with a good slow-release and preferably organic fruit tree fertilizer to support their relatively fast growth. If not slow-release, be sure to provide your tree with supplemental fertilizer 2-3 times a year during the growing season. Thinning Sometimes fruit trees can get carried away, or have a mast year, meaning they will have an enormous bounty of fruit and your tree branches may hang dangerously heavy with fruit. Other times multiple fruits can hang on the same branch but each is smaller than you would expect or desire. This is when thinning your fruit tree is necessary. For the largest, healthiest fruit, look carefully at each cluster and remove the smaller side fruit from each branch and leave the largest, healthiest fruit to grow. Do this while the fruit is still small and just starting to form. This pumps all the tree's energy and focus into larger, healthier fruit and prevents your tree's limbs from weakening or even breaking under their burden. Three Seasons of Color The Pomegranate tree is attractive in any landscape and can thrive for decades in warmer planting zones. Pomegranate tree flowers are showy and decorative, bringing a splash of red to your property in the spring that continues well into summer! Their trumpet-shaped blooms attract pollinators, though the tree does not need outside pollination to produce fruit!  Deciduous trees in cooler climates, Pomegranate trees may behave as broadleaf evergreen trees in more tropical zones and areas with mild winters. All growing season, the foliage is dark green and glossy.  Multiple trunks with distinctively twisted bark often appear sculpturally entwined for added visual interest and delight in winter. In autumn, the leaves turn a brilliant yellow as large, round, red fruit conclude the Pomegranate’s three seasons of colorful entertainment! Whether you have room for a large Pomegranate tree like the Tom’s Red or the Purple Heart, or you may need a small tree like the Parfianka for your porch or patio planters, you’ll be delighted with several pounds of late-season fruit each year on a mature tree. Fruitful Healthful Pomegranate Trees Pomegranate fruits are quite unique and always eye-catching! Ripening between August through Winter, ready when they change from their rounded form to a more rugged hexagon shape as the seeds inside swell.  The spherical outer shell is filled with dozens of small ruby-colored seeds clustered inside, with the exception of the Gissarskii Rozovyi which looks more like a Grapefruit inside and out!  The leathery skin ranges from red and green, to orange and brown and even pink. Each features unique pointed ‘arils’ that are all that remains of where the flower once was to create a large rosehip-like effect.  This fruit produces delicious citrus-flavored juice that is sweet with a slight acidic edge. It has been universally acclaimed for its health benefits! Pomegranates are used for juice, jellies, Pomegranate wine and salad dressings. Eaten fresh as snacks, added to desserts and salads, the shiny plump jewels and their edible seeds make any dish look fit for a king or queen!  Featuring a long storage life, the fruit can be kept for a period of seven months under special storage conditions without shrinking or spoiling, in fact, the fruits improve in storage! Becoming juicier and intensifying the flavor! Pomegranate fruit is low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. It contains high amounts of vitamin C, calcium, and iron while also contributing to dietary fiber and folate. Pomegranate fruit contains antioxidants that are purported to help protect blood lipids from oxidation.  Check out Nature Hills Nursery’s YouTube Channel to cut open your Pomegranate fruit and not make a mess! Quite pricey in the grocery store, the beauty, joy and large harvests you’ll enjoy by growing your own Pomegranate certainly outweigh the one-time cost of purchasing a tree!  Pomegranate is Latin for 'seeded apple', and you’ll love having one of these exotic fruits a day to keep the doctor away! Get growing your own Pomegranate Tree with the help of NatureHills.com today! Happy Planting!

The scent of heaven! Honeysuckle Vines are incredibly easy-to-grow and vibrantly flowered woody perennial Vines that make vertical gardening a snap! Their vibrant colors, sweet fragrance, and unusual tubular-shaped blooms delight onlookers both young and old! Named for how kids 'back in the day' would pluck a flower and be able to suck out the sweet honeyed nectar from the end. With all going on in today's environment, it's best to leave that nectar for the many bees, butterflies, beneficial insects, and swarms of Hummingbirds that will be ever drawn to your Vines! (But like how we’re not supposed to eat raw cookie dough … we’re sure you’ll try it at least once!) With the fall planting season upon us, now is a great time to plant one of these remarkable and heaven-scented vines from Nature Hills Nursery today! Planting Tips for Honeysuckle Vines! Planting Made Easy! Basic Care Learning to Climb Pruning Sweet Blooms! Planting Honeysuckle Vines Made Easy! Growing Honeysuckle plants can be done in just about every region of the world, as there are some that grow in dry, arid areas, and others that will grow in Arctic Russia. Here in the States, Honeysuckle Vines thrive in USDA growing zones 4 and up. Soak container and roots until bubbles stop rising                                                                                                            Dig a hole as deep and a bit wider than the container Unpot and loosen roots Place roots in the prepared hole and backfill with soil Water very well and tamp down to remove air pockets Mulch the surface Honeysuckle can be planted from containers all season long. Once a suitable site is selected, the hole should be dug large enough for the root system to spread out - a bit wider than the container it is currently in, but at the same depth as it is currently potted. The roots should be only a few inches underneath the surface of the soil, not too deep - not too shallow. Once in place, the plant should be watered thoroughly. Then check moisture levels using the Finger-Test method on a daily basis to see if you need to water that day or not. Apply a layer of arborist bark chips to hold in moisture and insulate the surface roots. Basic Honeysuckle Growing Conditions & Care It’s fall, so now and spring are optimal planting times! Plus Honeysuckle is relatively easy to care for if the proper conditions are met, and really, it’s so easy going even a newbie gardener can enjoy these beautiful blooms! Full Sun to Partial Sun/Shade   Regular, Even Moisture Well-Drained Alkaline to Slightly Acid Soil Loves Mulched Beds! Most Honeysuckle plants require full sun to flower best, however, the more sun you give other Honeysuckle, the more blooms you’ll enjoy! Plant these Vines in an area of moist well-drained soil that's organic and enriched with plenty of humus for holding additional moisture. While Honeysuckle Vines need a decent amount of moisture in the soil to thrive, standing water will cause rot. Growing should be done in a location with a good amount of soil drainage. The best thing you can do is site your Honeysuckle Vine where there is good air circulation and mulch the root zone to help maintain the soil moisture at more consistent levels.  Learning to Climb When planting Honeysuckle Vines, there should be a sturdy trellis or fence for them to climb because they climb by twining. Technically known as Bines, rather than Vines, due to this climbing method, which means that they will not be able to climb a surface that does not have anything to twist or wrap themselves around.  For sheer walls and areas you want them to climb but have no footholds - secure heavy-duty twine, wire, or wire fencing to the area to give the vines something to grab hold of. Because of this method of ascending, there is no need to worry about persistent suckers or tendrils that dig into the wood. Your fencing and your home's paint job are safe as these will not adhere to your siding like Boston Ivy or Trumpet Vines can! Without strong, suitable support, your Vine will ramble and spill all over the ground, which is great if you want a fragrant, flowering groundcover! Train to climb up any obelisk, arbor, trellis, fence, or staircase railing you desire, so long as it is strong enough to support these plants at maturity. You may need to use soft twist-ties or soft fabric (t-shirt material works great) to secure new tendrils until they can wrap around a new wrung or foothold.  Train up a lattice wall for privacy, train up and around seating areas, on porches and patios, or even on a sunny balcony! You’ll enjoy screening and shade, plus butterflies galore! A vine climbing a staircase or a chicken wire-wrapped column of your porch looks and smells divine! Pruning Honeysuckle Vines Easy to grow Lonicera generally only require an early spring prune to reduce the size or change the shape. Honeysuckle Vines are vigorous, fast growers and will need some pruning every year.  Pruning is generally done in early spring or late winter, removing old and dead growth, and trimming out thick old canes. Be careful not to prune after your Vine has started leafing out in the spring and summer because Honeysuckle blooms on new growth. Because larger, more mature plants can get so big and bushy, they may begin to overshadow their lower branches and stems. This can result in shaded-out growth at the base or interior of the plant. You can either ‘limb up’ your plants and expose the twisted woody stems, or begin a habit of thinning out the tops so that sunlight and air circulation can get to all parts of the plant. Sweet Climbing Blooms! Save garden space by growing vertically while perfuming your landscape with the remarkable, vivid, climbing Honeysuckle Vines from NatureHills.com today! You will be glad you included these easy-care plants in your design! Happy Planting!

Unique and upright, the dramatic Iris plant is an incredibly versatile and adaptable ornamental perennial that has captivated gardeners for centuries! Gently spreading and colonizing areas in your garden and adding an elegant touch anywhere it is planted, the Iris is a garden standard with all the modern advances and resistances needed for today's urban environments.  There are so many varieties of Iris these days that it is enough to make your head spin! From the most blinding pure white blooms to the deepest darkest near black and every color range and combination you can imagine in between! These include some of the true-blue flowers on the market today! Perhaps that’s how they got the name ‘Iris’ which stems from a Greek word used  to describe a rainbow. We know you will want as many of these spring-to-summer-blooming perennial plants in your garden as possible so that you can fill your outdoor world and your indoor floral arrangements with vertical elegant color!  So it’s important to know how to care for these great plants and how to plant, divide and transplant them! The Mighty Iris Basic Iris Care & Location Transplanting New or Established Iris Plants Planting Bulb Form Iris Rhizomatous Iris Basic Planting & Location for Iris Dividing Iris Elegant Easy-To-Grow Iris! The Mighty Iris Found growing ornamentally in gardens dating back to 1469 B.C. in King Thutmose III of Egypt's gardens, and documented here in the US in Virginia in the 1600s. However, there are also a great many native varieties that span forests, meadows, and wetlands throughout the entire continental US and even Alaska!  The Iris is a versatile spreading perennial that colonizes areas both moist/wet to average soil locations by way of underground rhizomes. These rhizomes are actually modified stems where roots form from and new plants shoot up, while also acting like a bulb to store food and moisture underground. Dutch Iris is an exception because they grow from bulbs like Tulips and Hyacinths, which are also modified stems but are more similar to that of an onion. This modified stem allows Iris to adapt to a wide range of climates and soil types, plus an incredible array of moisture conditions! The coldest USDA growing zones 2 - 4 suit these plants just  fine, and they are equally adaptable to hot zones 9 and 10! Sword-like foliage that remains upright all growing season, and forms fan-shaped clumps of green, to variegated green and white stands. The slender buds shoot up in late spring to early summer and often have multiple blossoms per stem. Each Iris bloom is comprised of 3 upright 'flags' or 'standards' and three spilling 'falls' or petal-like sepals.  They can be ruffled, striped, veined, fuzzy, tow-tone or even tri-colored! Many are fragrant and some even smell just like sweet grape jelly! It's no wonder the pollinators can't stay away. Basic Iris Care & Location Iris plants should be planted in an area with full direct sunlight. While some Iris can tolerate partial shade, you’ll notice the blooms will not be as large or last as long as plants that are in at least 6 hours of direct light a day. Japanese Iris tolerates sandy and clay soil, so long as it is well-drained German Bearded Iris does best in sharply drained soils that won’t ever have standing water Bearded Iris is also highly drought tolerant once established  Native or Louisiana Iris is a carefree and easy-going native wildflower of North America and tolerates a wide range of soil and moisture conditions Siberian and Flag Iris love moisture and occasionally wet soils  There are even reblooming Iris like Eternal Bliss and some Tall Bearded Iris Many tolerate being planted under and around Black Walnut trees and juglone Iris are deer-resistant perennials - usually passed by except when desperate  Careful attention to moisture and well-drained soil is necessary to prevent the bulbs or rhizomes from rotting. If poor drainage is suspected, mound up the soil to create a berm 18-24 inches higher than the surrounding soil and plant into that mound. It is recommended to divide Iris, or clean out old rhizomes, every 3-5 years to keep the clumps smaller and stress-free. When the foliage dies back in the late autumn and turns brown/tan, then it is time to remove it. Gently tug any old brown leaves clear from the roots and trim away any stubborn ones to about 3 inches above the ground. Pick up and discard all trimmings and old leaves to prevent harboring mold and disease. Sanitation is very important. Mulch the site well in preparation for winter snow.  Transplanting New or Established Iris Plants Nature Hills offers Iris in both container forms during the growing season and as bareroot (dormant) selections now for fall through early spring planting. While best planted in the autumn as you would other fall-planted ephemerals and Peony roots, you will still have a successful transplant during other times of the year with proper attention and care. Bareroot Iris will arrive at your doorstep dormant and grow the next spring. However, potted Iris arrive in leaf and you may enjoy a bloom or two their first summer in the ground, but let those roots settle in before you see a great display the following year. Planting Bulb Form Iris The Iris x hollandica or Dutch Iris arrives in bulb form and is planted just like planting any other bulb plant. Preferably in the autumn so they can enjoy warm soil and cool fall air to form strong root systems. Planting depth is generally 3 to 5-inches deep and apart, keeping the pointed side up, backfilling with well-draining topsoil, and then watered in well until the ground freezes. Often naturalizing and fragrant, these spring delights are favorites of florists. Let them be free in a small wildflower or prairie setting, Rock Garden, around water features or for general garden use. Create groupings or winding rows throughout your planting beds where they politely spread and fill in all the gaps. Rhizomatous Iris When transplanting Iris that arrive in rhizome forms, such as your Siberian, Japanese and Bearded Iris varieties, be sure to not plant them too deep. Work a handful of bone meal or slow-release organic fertilizer below the roots, then plant so the top of each rhizome is just an inch or so below the soil surface. You’ll see the bumps or shoots of next year's leaves on one side, so be sure to plant with those facing up. The upper 1/3 of the rhizome should be exposed to sunlight.  Basic Planting & Location for Iris Select a sunny spot with at least 6 hours of direct sunlight a day Choose an area where the soil is well-drained Dig a hole about a foot across and deep (or the depth and width of your pot) Add fertilizer or bonemeal at this time Mound soil up in the bottom of the hole back up to about 8 inches or so Lay the rhizome horizontally on top of that mound to check the depth So very important that the top one-third of that rhizome will be exposed to the sunlight Spread the roots out around that mound and backfill the hole with your soil Tamp down to remove air pockets Thoroughly water the soil to settle it around the roots Mulch with some sand mixed with a bit of Arborist wood chips just to keep the roots from heaving during the winter Careful attention to only water the Iris when it gets dry or they will rot if too wet for too long. Although some Iris love standing water, most do best in moist, well-drained locations.  Iris that can grow in water include Siberian Iris varieties and both Yellow and Blue Flag Iris. Tuck these plants into your Rain Gardens or that soggy area where the gutters always drain! When it gets cold, top with a layer of clean, dry leaves, compost or a few inches of arborist mulch over the rhizome for winter insulation. In spring, pull back the mulch to expose the top one-third of the rhizome once again. When planting Iris in bulk, it is important to ensure that all the rhizomes are facing the same direction. This will prevent crowding. Transplanting of established clumps of Iris can also be performed if they are not growing well or seem sickly. Iris that are not getting enough sun should be transplanted into an area of the garden or landscape that will provide direct sunlight for the entire day. The Harvest of Memories Iris is a great pick to add to your summer or fall garden to add a burst of yellow foliage. The Iris has a subtle, sweet scent that attracts pollinators to its blooms. This choice is a great addition to brighten up any garden and bring happy memories to all gardeners who plant it.  Dividing Iris Dividing Iris is a pretty straightforward process as well. It is very similar to the act of transplanting other plants, but there are a few differences that make it require more effort.  Dividing keeps rhizomatous Iris blooming year after year and should be done every three to five years. First, the plants must be carefully dug up so as not to pierce the rhizomes below the ground. Sort out your roots and gently wash the soil off with a hose. The rhizomes should be divided so each section has a fan of stems sprouting out, and a good amount of healthy roots each. You can dig up and divide your Iris clumps right after flowering is finished for the year. For Tall Bearded Iris, divide in July and August for best results. Cut off dead flower stalks and shriveled leaves with a sharp knife or trimmers and then trim the remaining healthy leaves to about 4 to 6 inches in length. Check your rhizomes for any mushy, rotting, old and withering, and suspiciously diseased-looking sections and cut them out cleanly with a knife or sharp spade (sterilize your trimmers and spade between cuts to prevent the spread of anything from plant to plant). Dispose of these possible troublemakers far away from your garden.  Once cleaned up and sorted, choose the youngest, healthiest and most vigorous rhizomes for replanting. These are usually on the ends or outsides of the older central clumps. Replant as noted above for Transplanting new Iris, grouping the young roots to include one or two of the younger bunches of leaves each. Tamp down, water and mulch as noted above. Elegant Easy-To-Grow Iris! Both formal and upright, space-saving and modern, and beautifully fun and cheerful, the elegant Iris is a must-have classic garden perennial that we’re sure you’ll love including in your garden this year!  For those gardeners who already have a few Iris, you already know the ease and versatility of these delightful garden ornamentals! So start your own collection today for neighborhood bragging rights! With names like War Chief, Jurassic Park, Glamazon, Lord of the Rings, Fruit Cocktail, Gnu Again, Celestial Explosion, Disco Music and my favorite colored Iris Social Graces, you are sure to have a hard time picking just one! So head over to NatureHills.com to check out all the gorgeous Iris we have available for shipping today! Check back often because growers are constantly offering new and exciting varieties and colors every year! We ship your plants at the right time of the season and at the perfect planting time for your area!  Happy Planting and Transplanting With Nature Hills!

There are so many perennial plants that show off incredible fall color, colorful autumn berries - and even late-season blooms - right up until a hard frost! Fall planting season is upon us now, so don’t let another year slip past you!  Plant these glorious fall herbaceous perennial plants and ornamental grasses in your garden now so that your garden can end the growing season with a bang! Fall Color Perennial Plants For You! Fall Blooming Perennial Plants Perennials With Colorful Foliage Ornamental Grasses Perennials With Ornamental Berries or Seedpods Sample Fall Color Perennial Garden Going Out With A Bang! Fall Color Perennial Plants For You! Readily returning year after year, staying smaller than shrubs but putting on a heck of a show, and thriving in a dizzying array of climates and conditions, perennial plants are fantastic additions to your garden and have a world of versatile uses! Not only lovely as cut flower gardens, for birds and pollinators, these plants also breathe life into your spring, summer, and fall growing seasons and everything in between! Many have seeds, berries, and dried botanical seedheads or stems for winter interest as well as incredibly colorful leaves to let winter know we’re not going out without a fight! Best of all, most of these plants are low maintenance, return year after year with little fuss, and can be divided as they get older giving you more plants to spread throughout your landscape! It’s a Win-Win! Fall Blooming Perennial Plants Blooms this time of year are a much-needed last burst of color before the dreary winter! Such a luxury to see that final Shrub Rose bloom, or a reblooming Hydrangea still showing color before turning tan for the winter! Here are some of our favorite late-season fall flowering perennials: Asters Rudbeckia  Blanket Flowers - Aka: Gaillardia  Coneflower - Like Cheyenne Spirit Sedum Hyssop - Try a Kudos Gold Hyssop Goldenrod Chrysanthemum Coreopsis - Also known as Tickseed Russian Sage Hebe Joe Pye Weed Aconites Japanese Anemone Ironweed Perennial Sage - Try a Pink Autumn Sage Cardinal Flower - Black Truffle has a unique color Darling fringed and colorful Asters are late arrivals on the flowering scene and come in a wide range of white, pink, blues, purples, and reds! Bright yellow reblooming Black-Eyed Susans flower well into the first frosts. Similar blooms include Creeping Zinnia, and Coneflowers (Echinacea)! Blanket Flowers are vibrant rebloomers in yellow, orange & red shades and similar-looking Sneezeweed (Helenium) creates pinwheels of vibrant color! Equally brilliant are Tickseed Coreopsis, and all provide seeds for hungry songbirds well into the winter. Not only displaying unique foliage, but Sedum also offers long-lasting blooms and dried interest well into the end of the year! For late-season blooms and dried flowers that catch and sculpt the snows that arrive later in the year. Plant among Bluebeard shrubs, Butterfly bush, and Hydrangea. Or annuals like Zinnias, Pansies, and Sweet Alyssum. These fill in the gaps and provide additional color and winter interest. In hot climates, use Oleander and Crape Myrtle! Perennials With Colorful Foliage The foliage is where it’s at with these perennials that hold their color clear into when the first frost-covered mornings! Plant these around your seating areas and fire pits for fall entertainment and the spring blooms and lovely summer foliage these plants provide! Coral Bells Autumn Fern - Like Brilliance, Ostrich Fern & Royal Ferns Barrenwort Bloody Cranesbill Amsonia - Also known as Bluestar Plumbago - Also known as Leadplant Sedum Rodgersia Ornamental Grasses Ornamental grasses are a must-have to include in a fall garden because their summer plumes remain and persist through fall and winter, and many even have colorful fall foliage! Mix among other perennial plants, shrubs and between showy Red or Yellow Twig Dogwoods and Contorted Filberts for lovely interest all year long! Many types of Switch Grass Little Blue Stem - Red October, Blaze, Cheyenne Sky & Twilight Zone Forest Grass - Like All Gold Pampas grass - Big plumes Many types of Flame Grass New Zealand Flax Pink Muhly Grass Northern Sea Oats Perennials With Ornamental Berries or Seedpods Not only do some perennial plants have unique textural seed pods for fall and winter interest, but birds adore picking the seeds out to fatten up for the winter, or for their winter migration. Plus these are lovely plants for dried botanical bouquets and indoor/outdoor décor!  Milkweed and Coneflowers - A favorite for Goldfinches Clematis - Unique seed heads Sea Holly - Unique seed heads Fuller's Teasel - Hummingbirds in summer & songbirds in fall Perennial Hibiscus - Feeds songbirds like Goldfinch, Cardinals, Titmice & Wrens BeeBalm - Sparrow, Goldfinch and Redpolls Goldenrod - Goldfinch, Grouse, Sparrows, E. Towhees, Pine Siskins, and Juncos Liatris - Hummingbirds, Titmice and Goldfinch Alliums - Songbirds  St. John’s Wort - Hummingbirds in summer & Finches in fall and winter Plant among colorful Beautyberry shrubs and Viburnums for eye-catching displays the birds will love you for! For you and your family, including Oregon Grape, Cotoneaster, Sumac, Holly berries and Firethorn. Sample Fall Color Perennial Garden Suitable for a wide range of hardiness zones, these perennials have not only handsome foliage all spring and summer, but also produce lovely blooms either in spring, summer and/or fall, but also have that last breath of color in the autumn months! Best in full sun and most garden soils, these will give you lovely color all growing season long! Blue Ice Amsonia - blue blooms, fall color & low growth Blue False Indigo - larger background perennial, blue blooms & fall interest Cheyenne Spirit Coneflower - bright blooms summer through fall & seedheads Glitters Like Gold Black Eyed Susan - bright yellow blooms til frost & seedheads Sapphire Aster - lavender-blue blooms til frost! Autumn Fire Sedum - summer blooms & fall color plus winter interest Delta Dawn Coral Bells - colorful foliage til frost & spring blooms Arizona Apricot Blanket Flower - yellow blooms til frost & winter interest seedheads Twilight Zone Little Bluestem Grass - purple fall color & persistent plumes Going Out With A Bang! Forget thinking of the fall as your landscape's last gasp before winter, these perennials, when combined with fall-color shrubs, evergreens, and brilliant fall-color trees, step into the growing season with a bang! Your yard will look fantastic when you break out the fall decorations, pumpkins, and scarecrows!  Get ready for bonfires, hot cocoa, hoodies, and fall foliage with help from Nature Hills Nursery! Create a garden that offers color and interest all growing season and beyond! Love your yard spring, summer, fall, and even winter with quality plants from Nature Hills! Happy Planting!

The leaves are starting to turn color and the veggie garden is winding down. But now is not a time for heading indoors to sulk! Autumn is the time gardeners get a boost of energy and optimism as they begin to prep for a bigger and better spring next year!  It’s so nice to work in the yard with the crunch of the leaves beneath your feet, the relief of not mopping sweat from your brow or overheating in the sweltering summer sun. While the temperatures are cooling above ground, giving you an easier time performing all that Fall Clean-up.  It’s also the best time for optimal root formation! It’s Fall Planting Season! Fall Planting By Growing Zone Methods of Fall Planting Fall Planting of Bareroot Plants Fall Planting - Container Grown Plants Fall-Planted Spring Bulbs! Fall Rose Planting Fall Lawn Care The Importance of Fall Watering Get Fall Planting! It’s Fall Planting Season! Your plants may be going to sleep above ground, but below - their roots are hard at work! With the lack of growth topside, all of a plant's energy goes to establishing a strong, healthy root system.  It’s also the perfect time for establishing bulbs, containers, and bareroot plants! It takes a long time for the cold temperatures to creep down into the soil and newly planted plants are going to take advantage of this extended root-producing season. Those fall-planted ornamentals will be producing new roots all fall and even throughout mild winters!  A Successful Fall Planting Starts With Expert Grown Plants! Nature Hills plants are being grown throughout the country, and this broad range of growing conditions allows us to offer a massive variety of plants for sale. Our nursery production areas are outside in the field, growing in the natural elements so plants are better prepared for anything your landscape might throw at them! Nature Hills understands the need to have these plants produced where they will be planted so they will acclimate quickly to their new homes no matter where you live.  What to Expect for Fall Delivery With fall shipments, please know that our plants can be in varying stages of going dormant. A tree or shrub may have some spotted, tired leaves from a year in the elements, or some flowering shrubs may have brown flower heads and no leaves at all. It’s completely normal in the autumn for fruit trees to arrive with no leaves at all! Herbaceous Perennial plants are typically pruned down, perhaps all the way to the soil, so it may appear we’ve shipped you a pot of dirt with some stubble. Nope! You have a power-packed root system that is ready to leap out of the ground in spring! Fall Planting By Growing Zone In some areas of the country, there are other advantages to fall planting! Hot or dry regions of Zones 7 and up, find planting in fall provides a head start on protecting new plants in the unpredictable spring season and later hot summers. Dry climate gardeners are always looking for ways to save money on water! So, purchase and plant your landscaping now to get them shipped right on time! Get them in the ground this fall so you will save money with all the free late-season rains.  Mid-Western and Eastern USDA Zone 5a – 7a enjoy dependable amounts of rain, so the concern for moisture is not typically a problem. However, early fall freezes and wet springs can delay getting plants into the ground before summer. This can add to the amount of time that it takes to get the tree established after planting, so fall planting is optimal.  Sometimes the only problem with fall planting is temperature fluctuations. Zones 3 – 6 can get tricky shipping safely to your area, and for you to plant in should you get an early freeze. Trust us, the experts at Nature Hills have planted trees in the middle of snowstorms. While not exactly fun, the plants did just fine and flowered the following spring. So there are still real advantages to fall planting, even in the cold winter Zones of 3 – 6.  As long as the ground has not yet frozen, you can still plant many plants with complete success!! Cold Climate Prep As unpredictable as weather can be, being prepared is key! In cooler climates, it's a good idea to "pre-dig" your holes (up to several weeks in advance) so that when they arrive, you’ll be ready to go once they arrive. Simply mound up the dirt next to the hole and cover it with straw or even a tarp, as needed, so no one falls in or twists an ankle! When you get your shipment from Nature Hills, determine if you can plant. Can you get your shovel into the ground? Plant in the ground right away If there is a thin crust on top of the soil, use your shovel to break through that top layer Use several trips with a watering can if your hoses have already been winterized Add mulch to cover the top of the soil If the soil did freeze before you could plant, you could try pouring a bucket of warm water on the spot that you are planning to dig. Wait a few minutes to see if it thaws and you can still plant into that soil. Water well to settle the soil in around the roots and mulch. Or try one of the following methods of storing your plant material until an opportune moment arrives. Storing Plants in Zones 3 - 6 If the ground is frozen when your plants arrive, and there is no way to dig a hole, you can store your plants successfully! It’s easy, just follow these steps: Storing a Container Plant: Unpack your plant in an unheated garage and soak the soil well, allowing the excess to drain out. Place the plant - pot and all - in a large garbage bag, leaving the top uncovered. Keep inside your unheated garage or unheated porch.  These plants do not like wet soil, so if the soil in the container is moist on arrival, there is no need to add more water for now. Just check on them weekly and add water as needed. You will have complete success overwintering these dormant plants until they can be installed in the spring. Storing Bareroot Plants: Take your plants out of the box in your unheated garage or porch and remove the small plastic bag from around the wrapped roots - keeping any packing material around the roots, just remove the outside plastic bag. Next, soak the packing material wrapped and the roots together in water overnight and allow the excess to drain out (some material may fall away, but that’s ok!). Then place the wrapped roots inside your garbage bag. Allow the plant tops to be open and uncovered. When you are done, the packing materials and roots will be the only thing inside the garbage bag. Set those bareroot plants inside of your unheated garage or unheated porch. Check moisture periodically. You will have complete success overwintering these plants until they can be installed in the spring. Methods of Fall Planting Bulbs, container, and bareroot plants continue to form new roots very late into the fall or even early winter. It takes a long time for the chill to creep down into the soil and those newly planted root systems are going to take advantage of that long extended root-producing season. Maybe it hasn’t cooled much where you live just yet, but those shorter days, cooler nights, and in many areas more frequent rainfall is a great benefit for your plants. Nature Hills offers dormant bulbs, rhizomes, as well as perennials, trees, and shrubs year-round. Here are a few tips and tricks to ensure the successful fall planting of Container-grown and Bareroot plants. Fall Planting of Bareroot Plants The beauty of bareroot planting is that the plants are less expensive, easy to handle, and easier to plant. Plus, those plants will take off next spring like they have been in the ground for a whole year!  Bareroot are already dormant and acclimated to winter temperatures and establish fantastic in the autumn! Bareroot plants arrive with no leaves and without soil on the roots. They are dug from the field after they have been exposed to frost and remain dormant until they are shipped to you. Stored in controlled temperatures just above freezing and in controlled very high humidity. So bareroot plants can be shipped from autumn through mild winters. All bareroot plants will be carefully wrapped to keep the roots covered and moist at all times during shipment. Establishing a bareroot plant in the fall is simple: Soaking your bareroot plants in water while you dig the hole, or even overnight Keeping even moisture at the roots - right up until the ground freezes for the winter Plant with Nature Hills Root Booster for lifelong symbiotic support at the roots Check soil moisture often and add water as needed Keeping even moisture at the roots is the key to a successful transplant. Water at the time of planting, then a good soaking the next day, and then use the finger-test to feel if the soil needs additional moisture at the roots.  Remember that fall-planted plants will not grow until the following spring. Need to check on their health? Try a scratch test! Important! Always be sure to install your plants at the same depth they were grown at the nursery. You will see a change in color and/or texture where bark changes to roots, and will see where the soil used to be before digging at the nursery. Please pay special attention to the planting depth as so many tend to plant those plants too deep! Fall Planting - Container Grown Plants Container-grown plants can be shipped anytime as long as we are shipping to your area based on temperatures. Getting your newly planted container plants established as quickly as possible is to your advantage! Upon arrival, completely submerge into a tub of water until it stops bubbling Then allow it to drain while you dig the hole Gently loosen the soil on the bottom of the root ball to separate the roots Backfill around the root ball with the soil that was excavated from the hole  Again completely saturate your plants and surrounding soil right away Add 3-4 inches of arborist bark chips Then, use the finger test to know if your plant needs watering or not Important! Always be sure to plant your container plants at the same depth they are growing in their pots. Dig the hole no deeper than the pot it was growing in – but twice as wide or even more. Loosening the soil wider than the size of the pot allows the new roots to easily develop as they spread and re-establish the plant in its new home. Pay special attention to the planting depth so you don’t smother surface roots or expose them to the air, cold, and sun. Planting your plants too deep in the ground is probably the biggest mistake that people make. Trees, even when young, still have a wider trunk right as the trunk goes into the ground. If you are unsure, be sure to pull the soil away from the trunk of the tree in the pots and find the first set of roots - then plant the tree so those roots are just under the soil surface. Fall-Planted Spring Bulbs! There is still plenty of time to plant spring flowering bulbs this time of year as well! Nature Hills has an enormous variety of Peony roots, Iris rhizomes, and a dizzying selection of Tulips, Daffodils, Narcissus, and more for you to plant now and enjoy their cheerful flowers in the spring!  For the same reasons as above, you’ll enjoy big healthy plants that shoot up out of the ground as soon as the temperatures warm in the spring because they’ve been hard at work forming those foundation roots all fall! Don’t forget too there is still time to plant Garlic and plant them about 2-3 inches deep in a sunny location for an excellent crop of garlic next June. Check out all the varieties Nature Hills has available to you here! Fall Rose Planting Planting Rose crowns in fall is incredibly easy, just don’t heap the mulch over their crowns just yet. Keep your plants well-watered at the roots. Then after a few touches of killing frost, then you can winterize your Rose canes. Plant container or bareroot as noted above and mulch well. You can read all about Winterizing and Un-Winterizing Roses in our other #ProPlantTips Garden Blogs! Fall Lawn Care The fall time of the year is outstanding for establishing newly seeded lawns, getting a jump start on winterizing fertilizer and weed control, and spreading compost or topsoil for insulation. Again, the warm soils, cooler air, and better moisture benefits lawns in the fall. Preparing your lawn properly and lawn care maintenance for the fall and winter months takes a bit of planning. The last shortcut mowing should be performed in late summer and you need to start thinking in terms of the lawn going dormant and allowing the grass to grow a little bit longer for the fall and winter months. The Importance of Fall Watering Attention to watering is crucial for success for both newly planted plants and established plants, those in hot, dry, and arid climates and in the summer through heat and drought. So before you wind up the hose for the winter and put it in storage, give your plants one last drink!  That water is saturated with dissolved nutrients and minerals that the plants are storing and using for disease and pest defense next year. Plus water is insulating, protecting their buds from cold and the branches from drying out. Soil type, temperature, and time of the year all make a big difference as to how much water a plant will take up! But it is not just about how much water the plant will take up – it is about keeping the roots of your newly planted plants just moist enough without overwatering or underwatering. Remember, the plants themselves are using less moisture in the fall, this can lead to overwatering quickly! Well-maintained roots eventually grow to seek out food and water on their own, then your plants become less dependent upon you for additional water. It can happen in a little as a week or sometimes as much as a month or more. Once the ground freezes, you can also stop watering, unless the winter has a long period of unexpected warm weather and the ground isn’t frozen. Don’t Overwater – Use the Finger Test! You’ve read it a few times above already - but we can’t stress this enough! For trees, shrubs, perennials, and bulbs alike, proper moisture maintenance is crucial for a successful planting and healthy plant next spring! New roots are best initiated when you are attentive to the soil moisture at the roots of your newly planted plants. That does not mean you just water it every day or once a week. It means you use the finger test to feel the soil daily at the start, so you KNOW when your plants are needing additional water. As new roots form you will notice the plants will need you less frequently and that is the key. This goes for houseplants in the winter too! If you just add water every day to your plants, it could cause those roots to rot which can kill the plant too. Even soil moisture is best achieved by what we call the finger test: Stick your finger up to the 2nd knuckle into the soil and feel If it feels moist – skip water that day If it feels dry - then give it a good drink Importance of Mulch in Fall Adding a two to three-inch layer of shredded arborist mulch or bark chips over the roots of the plants after planting this fall extends that root development season even longer. The addition of mulch prevents the cold from going into the soil as it insulates the soil a bit later into the season. The mulch also conserves moisture and can prevent some weed growth even this fall. Get Fall Planting! There is no better time to renovate or update your landscape than this fall by getting a jump on the spring planting! There is a good reason that fall planting is so great! Warm soil, cooler air, and more moisture! Finally, a bit of relief from the sweltering summer days. We are ready to usher in the new fall season, how about you? Cooler nights are welcome and give your AC bill a break too.  The fall planting season is upon us. Take advantage of this incredible time of year when Mother Nature is on our side!  Happy Planting With Nature Hills Nursery!