Planting a Fruit Tree is Just Not Digging a Hole

Protect the trunk of your young and vulnerable trees!  The trunk transports minerals and moisture between the roots and the canopy, plus it is the main support for the branches. Beneath the bark (tree skin) is a thin green layer, called the cambium, which is the living vascular system of the tree (containing its xylem and phloem). Young trees don’t have a thick bark layer (like calluses on our hands and feet) that has formed thick enough to protect the tree from the rigors of its environment. It is very important this remains undamaged so this nutrient and moisture transport can take place uninterrupted and keep the tree healthy. Read on to learn more about how to protect your trees during their first few years in your landscape and give them all the support they need for a long, beautiful life! Common Issues & Solutions for Trunk Protection Sunscorch and Frost Crack Borers and Insect Damage Protecting Tree Trunks From Deer Deer Repellent Physical Protection Other Methods of Protection Protecting Trunks from Rabbits, Squirrels, and More Protecting Trunks From Physical Damage Protecting Tree Trunks from Storms and Weather Happy Healthy Tree Trunks! Trees can heal their bark, but it takes time, and any damage can cause excessive scarring and open wounds that insects or diseases can walk right into their system like an open door.  If the bark is damaged only partially, it will heal and the tree will continue to grow, though you may see a branch or two that depended on that section die back. If the bark is damaged all the way around the trunks, they will eventually die. This is called girdling, or ring-barking, which cuts the canopy off from the roots. What can you use to protect your tree trunks? Do tree trunk protectors work? Here are the common ways that tree trunks can become damaged, and how you can prevent and treat each. Common Issues & Solutions for Trunk Protection It’s not just young trees, trees with thin bark also need protection! Sunscorch and Frost Crack Have you ever been walking or driving and noticed the trunks of trees painted white? This method is called whitewashing. The white paint or latex paint reflects the sunlight and keeps the bark cooler by protecting it from sudden temperature changes in late fall and winter. Extreme heat and sun can actually blister young tree stems and bark, called Sunscorch. This may be more commonly used in orchards in warmer climates. Wrapping the trunks of young trees with white or light-colored reflective tape also stops Frost Crack which is caused by the sudden freezing at night after an especially warm day in the spring or fall. This can cause the tree to think it's time to grow, and begin moving fluids from the roots into the canopy, but then freeze at night when temps drop, causing the bark and trunk to split open as the liquid expands during freezes. Usually unsightly, sometimes damaging, rarely deadly, but completely avoidable if you are in an area where these temperature swings are a common occurrence. Borers and Insect Damage Whitewashing is also an effective method of reducing re-infestation of borers and other insects. You can spray or mix pesticide into the whitewashing or simply spray it or a dormant oil onto your tree trunk to protect it from insect damage. Setting out lures and traps for typical borers in your area (your County Extension Office can help with that) also helps prevent the bugs from getting into your tree in the first place! Especially in areas with Emerald Ash Borer and other issues in their areas. Protecting Tree Trunks From Deer For most newly planted trees, deer is a nightmare. From torn tree bark to broken branches, deer damage is a common end to smaller trees that have yet to be established. A common result of males scraping their antlers against the trunk of various trees, or all deer eating bark, leaves, and twigs. After some time, serious damage starts to occur. During mating season the number of trees damaged begins to increase. Male deer will use trees as a way to ‘mark their territory’ and to signal other males to stay away. You may also find the soil around your tree dug up slightly or a few branches that have been broken and then chewed on. All very damaging to your tree. Deer Repellent Spray young trees (and all new plants) with deer repellent from day one and reapply per product directions to train deer that this plant tastes bad. Unfortunately, deer repellent doesn’t stop the physical damage from antlers and marking territory. Use deer repellent to make trees smell and taste bad to the browsing deer. It's good practice to spray your tree before nightfall just to remind deer that they don’t like your new plant. Physical Protection The best way to protect your trees is to prevent the deer from having close access to the tree trunk or low-hanging branches. Surround tree trunks with a protective wrap or tree guards made from chicken wire or other metal screening. These cages should stand at least 6 feet tall and should be positioned a few feet away from the base of your young trees. Wooden or metal stakes will need to be placed in the ground with the cage for extra support. This is easy to set up and doesn’t take up space in the landscape. Using a screen, paper or plastic tree wrap, or hardware cloth allows the bark to breathe and rain and snow to dry quickly. Wrap starting at the bottom, just under the soil surface, and wrap up 2-3 feet up (or up to the first set of branches). You can leave it on the tree if the trunk is not being restricted from expanding so it may have to be loosened as the tree grows. Check each year to be sure it is loose enough. Another method is to use Tree Guards which are widely available. The important thing to remember is to select light-colored guards (and not black drain tile) so that during the winter months, the trunks do not heat up (which can kill the tree). Other Methods of Protection Installing a deer-proof fence around your property (about 8 feet) Install motion-detector sprinklers or noisemakers to scare deer away There’s also a great selection of deer-resistant trees available at Nature Hills too Protecting Trunks from Rabbits, Squirrels, and More Rabbits, rodents, and squirrels that are desperate in the winter, plus beavers and occasionally other wildlife, can strip the bark off young trees to eat the inner bark. Adding rabbit or rodent repellent to whitewashing paint, or using chicken wire, metal screening, hardware cloth, or other physical barriers around the trunk of your young tree, helps protect the tree from winter foraging. Be sure to use products that allow the tree trunks to dry quickly following the snow and rainfall. You will want to replace the wraps every few months. This ensures no moisture is building up or insects starting to infest. Using black drain tile pipes on the trunks of the trees is not a good idea as it can allow the trunks to heat up too much and does not always protect them from rodents getting inside. Newly planted young trees, especially Fruit Trees, and Ornamental Cherries, and those more expensive grafted weeping ornamental specimen plants are easily damaged by rodents and rabbits during the winter months. Protecting Trunks From Physical Damage Clipping your tree with a lawnmower or the weedwhacker, kids running into the tree with their toys, and other physical damage can wreak havoc on a young tree in many ways. A classic way that you can protect the bark on young trees is to wrap the trunks with 2-3 inch wide strips of hardware cloth, burlap, or metal screening. If the tree just needs protection from lawn maintenance damage, is a wide swath of mulch or other groundcover around its base to separate it from the turf. This helps two-fold since most flowering and fruiting trees do not like having excessive nitrogen from lawn fertilizer anyway! A ring of mulch extending out past the drip line (the zone where the branches reach out and the canopy casts shade) helps prevent these issues. Turf rarely likes to grow under dense shade anyway. Protecting Tree Trunks from Storms and Weather It’s a good idea to use metal cages combined with a sturdy tree stake as a support system against harsh weather conditions. Take a thin rope or strong string and tie multiple pieces to the trunk of the tree then to the metal cage or stake in a balanced manner. On windy days, this will help keep your new tree stable and straight during its first growing season. This also helps in the event of Hurricanes and strong storms. Happy Healthy Tree Trunks! Straight trunks and healthy bark, keep this essential portion of your tree free of damage and growing tall in just a few easy steps! Check out our all-in-one Tree Starter Kits to keep your young tree growing strong in its first few years in your landscape! Protect your trees and shrubs with the help of Nature Hills and a bit of planning! Happy Planting!

If you are like us, you like collecting some of the dizzying arrays of different perennial Hosta plants for your yard. The diversity of size and color is endless and the new cultivars continue to be introduced every year. Keep your Hosta collection healthy and happy with these tips and tricks! All About Hosta! Some of Nature Hills Best Hosta Plants Hostas With Blue-Green Foliage Largest & Smallest Hosta Hostas White Variegated Leaves Hostas With Yellow Variegated Foliage Hostas With Chartreuse Foliage Beautifully Unique Hosta Varieties! Planting Hostas Great Ideas for Hostas in the Landscape: Basic Hosta Care Pruning & Hosta Division Hosta Pruning Happy Healthy Hosta All About Hosta! A popular perennial with striking good looks, Hosta plants are a landscaping favorite. You’ll find a spectacular selection of Hostas for sale right here at Nature Hills Nursery. Also known as Plantain Lily, Hostas originally came from Japan, China, and Korea. Introduced to the United States in the mid-1800s, the Hosta is a shade-tolerant foliage plant. Hostas are perennials sporting ornate leaves that vary widely in size, with the smallest varieties called miniatures.  Broad and coarse heart-shaped leaves with prominent veins, crinkled or quilted leaves, and the unique ability to let water bead up on their surfaces! Hosta flowers have six petals and are generally white, lavender, or violet, held on stems called scapes. These plants provide an ornamental focal point in any garden with eye-catching foliage. They are also edible and grown as vegetables in some Asian cultures, although they are toxic to some animals in large quantities. These blooms are loved by Hummingbirds and pollinators, and look great in floral bouquets indoors too! You’ll find Hostas for sale online in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and colors. Some are variegated, while others display brilliant hues of blue, green, and even chartreuse. You can find the perfect Hosta plant for your planting zone using our USDA zone filters. You can also filter the Hosta selection by sun exposure levels, color, and other options. Some of Nature Hills Best Hosta Plants With so many Hosta to choose from, here’s a quick rundown of our best sellers! Hostas With Blue-Green Foliage Elegans Hosta Blue Angel Hosta Krossa Regal Hosta - Large, nearly silvery/gray blue-green leaves Arctic Blast Hosta Largest & Smallest Hosta Big Daddy Hosta - Big softly matte blue-green leaves Empress Wu - Can grow 6 feet wide! Mighty Mouse Hosta - Little foot tall and wide blue-green and white leaves Blue Mouse Ears Hosta - Little leaves in ribbed blue-green, 6-8 inches tall Krossa Regal Hostas White Variegated Leaves Patriot Hosta Francee Hosta Wheee Hosta - Ruffled and rippled leaves! Fire and Ice Hosta Remember Me Hosta Hostas With Yellow Variegated Foliage Stained Glass Hosta - Big green and chartreuse leaves Hosta Paul's Glory Rainbow's End Hosta Guacamole Hosta - Bright green mix with fragrant blooms Satisfaction Hosta - Light green-edged green leaves that turn gold in summer Hostas With Chartreuse Foliage August Moon Hosta - bright lemon-green leaves Fire Island Hosta - Lemon-lime leaves Key West Hosta Maui Buttercups Hosta Sum and Substance Hosta - Very light lime-green leaves Beautifully Unique Hosta Varieties! Hosta Waterslide - Curvy and wavy blue-green foliage Fragrant Bouquet Hosta - Fragrant lavender blooms with white and green leaves Praying Hands Hosta - Folded foliage that grows upright to the sky Hosta Fireworks - Curvy leaves are more white than green Abiqua Drinking Gourd Hosta - Big textured, cupped, and curled leaves that catch water Planting Hostas The process for planting Hostas is not much different than any other Perennial. The planting hole should be dug at least a foot deep but the width should be one and a half times the expected mature size of the clump. Check the Plant Highlights section to find your Hosta’s mature spread and situate it so it can achieve its full potential without being crowded. Generally, Hosta roots grow and spread horizontally, so a large wide hole is best. When planting Hostas that are grown in a container: Carefully remove the plant from the nursery pot Sometimes the roots may be bound to the container Tapping the container sides should loosen the roots from the pot If the roots are difficult to loosen, it may be necessary to cut through some of them Shake the excess soil from the roots and set it into the prepared planting hole Take care to plant Hosta at the same level as it grew in the container The area where the leaves and roots meet should be at ground level Soak the root zone thoroughly with water to remove dry pockets and air pockets in the surrounding soil. Top off with a 3-4 inch thick layer of arborist mulch over the entire surface of the root system of your Hosta to keep the roots cool and moist while enriching the soil. For bareroot Hosta, the process is about the same, just ensure the crown of the root is just below the soil surface as far as depth and backfill with native soil, topping with mulch to insulate the roots. Great Ideas for Hostas in the Landscape: Big shade garden perennials Bold color and large-sized foliage Dramatic array of colors - Bright color lights up shade gardens and dappled shade Scented trumpet-shaped blooms for Pollinator Gardens Loves having more moisture - Rain Gardens Spread and are great groundcover/living mulch Edging and great along pathways and driveways Great lawn replacement in areas too shady for Turf Flowers for cut flower bouquets Lovely skirting and underplanting around larger shrubs and trees Great facer plants to hide bare leggy stems Easy to grow and low-maintenance for en masse installations The silvery/blue-leaved varieties look great in Moon Gardens! Basic Hosta Care Vigorous, very easy-care, and fast-growing, Hosta are fantastic herbaceous perennials that are great to use en masse without requiring much in the way of maintenance, and ideal for beginner gardeners and busy gardeners alike! Some Hostas need full shade and appreciate the morning sun, especially when planted in hotter growing zones, which can range throughout USDA planting zones 3 and up to 11. In mid-range climates and cooler growing zones, Hosta’s can tolerate partial sun/shade and especially afternoon shade. Hostas grow best in moist, well-drained, highly organic soils with a pH between 5.5 and 7.5. These perennials do best in well-drained soil that is enriched and won’t become soggy after a rain or water-logged in the winter. Provide regular moisture for young plants and do not let them dry out. Use the ‘Finger-Test’ to ensure your plant is watered deeply. Mulch helps to retain moisture and keep the root system cool. You can top the crowns with mulch or compost for the winter to give them added protection from the frost and snow. Pruning & Hosta Division Dividing Hostas is easy and helps maintain the vigor of the root system and will improve the plant's appearance. Most home gardeners will propagate their Hostas by division and be able to expand their collection! Divide every 3-5 years, Hosta division is best done when no shoots are growing from the center of the mature clump as this bare area detracts from the appearance of the plant. Early spring is a good time for dividing and relocating Hostas because the new shoots are only a few inches high and the leaves have not expanded. Divide just as you see where the plants are emerging before any foliage unfurls and move a small portion of the plant to a new location. Hosta can also be dug and divided in September in the colder regions so they have plenty of time to re-establish. Going around the entire plant with a shovel, push down straight about a foot deep Lift the entire Hosta clump and remove excess soil carefully (a hose works great) Plan out where to make your cuts and how many are needed Use a sharp knife, or sharp spade to make the cuts (2-4 cuts depending on their size) Place the divided plants in their planting holes and backfill, tamping down firmly Water in very well to ensure it reaches the lowest section of the root system Keep them well-watered for the first two weeks Keep the plants consistently moist after plant division Hosta Pruning During the summer, once the flowers have finished flowering, it's time to deadhead to clean up your mounds. Have a little patience, and wait until mother nature puts your Hosta to sleep before pruning. Wait until Jack Frost comes along and kills back the tops of your Hosta plants and let them turn brown before cutting your plants back at the end of the season. This helps keep the dead leaves from retaining fungal issues or harboring snails and slugs over the winter. Allowing your Hosta leaves to turn brown and dry before cutting the leaves off will prevent the spread of viruses between plants. Remove the foliage from the area and either compost it or place it in yard waste bags away from your Hosta and other plants. Happy Healthy Hosta Big bold foliage, and lovely trumpet-shaped blooms on tall scapes, this gorgeous ornamental foliage perennial Hosta will add its outstanding leafy clumps to your garden for years to come! Keep your low-maintenance herbaceous perennials happy and healthy with just a few easy steps! Order your new Hosta and add their delightful color and unique leaves to your landscape with the help of Nature Hills! Happy Planting!

Frilly, textured, coarse foliage in eye-popping colors seems to grow in contrast to the most delicate, airy, and dainty little blossoms ever! There’s just something about Coral Bells in the garden! There has been extensive work done hybridizing and selecting new introductions of Coral Bells. The old-fashioned Alum Root selections were basically grown for the airy wispy flowers born on long wiry stems that hold the flowers above the foliage. While there are still some selections of Coral Bells that were selected for the flowers, now many modern selections have been introduced for the incredible leaf color, with a dizzying array of different species and new hybrids for you to choose from! Check out Nature Hills' favorite Coral Bells and how to keep your favorites looking their best! All About Coral Bells Coral Bells in the Landscape Top 10 Coral Bells at Nature Hills! Coral Bell Care Gorgeous Coral Bells! All About Coral Bells There are around 55 species of Heuchera and all are natives to North America! Also known as Alum Root or Alumroot, or called Rock Geranium, Coral Bells belong to a genus of the herbaceous family of Saxifragaceae. Heuchera is named after a German physician named Johann Heinrich von Heucher. Coral Bells come in a myriad of colors from yellows, oranges, silver, reds, pinks, and purples of many shades and combinations. They are wildly attractive herbaceous perennials but have become more commonly used as landscape plants and en masse plantings! The foliage has pointed lobes and deep, exaggerated venation, often with different colors to really show off their heavily textured leaves! Many can remain semi-to-fully evergreen in mild winters and warmer climates, which for this family is far and wide. With some tolerating chill down to USDA zone 3, and others handling up to zone 10! With colorful stems and wonderful spreading mounded forms, Coral Bells won’t take up much space but have high-impact color to make up for their space-saving nature! All have striking, prominent veins and deeply pointed lobes with dramatic stem colors to match! The dainty flowers are held atop wiry, slender stems that often match the color of the foliage. The flowers can be a range of pink, white, or their namesake coral hue! The graceful and airy ‘bells’ are a delight to every Bee and hummingbird in the area! They are great cut flowers to add to your arrangements too!  Coral Bells in the Landscape Many Heuchera are grown predominantly for the amazing foliage colors! At some point, they do send up flower stalks and they do bloom. Adding both a coarse and airy feel to the sun or shade garden, these unique flowering foliage plants embrace their duality and add considerable interest to the garden well into the autumn and even winter in areas with mild winters! Ideal in the full shade garden and partial shade landscape, Coral Bells light up the garden with their color and elegant blossoms! You’ll have more vibrant colors in cooler zones in more sun, but prevent sun-scorch by planting in afternoon shade in hot climates. You’ll love seeing Champagne Coral Bells' vibrant foliage color peeking out through the frost and gloom of the dreary autumn landscape, or Lime Rickey as it adds a shock of color to the shade!  Add these dainty blooms and lively colors to a Fairy Garden or Children's Garden to help inspire their imagination! Or enjoy soda-fountain-worthy bubbly color to foundation plantings, Rock Gardens, and throughout the dry shade garden like Cherry Cola or Root Beer. They’ll root on slopes, spill over the tops of retaining walls, or creep through the crevice garden in rock walls Fantastic frilly edging along garden beds, the ruffled foliage of Longflower Alumroot adds a native touch to your garden transitional points. Happy rambling under larger shrubs or trees in their shade as facer plants and lacy skirting around their bases, or under an urn or sculpture, Coral Bells add three to four seasons of color, and even vibrant fall color! For year-round autumn vibes, try Zipper or Southern Comfort! Mixed perennial gardens and cottage borders gain incredible highlights, while mixed containers and planters gain a vivid accent and filler! Add exotic pops of color to poolside decks with the likes of the juicy Berry Smoothie, or Miracle Coral Bells. The silvery foliage of Silver Scrolls or Peppermint Spice Coral Bells will add cool calming vibes to your shade gardens and Moon Gardens! Gain a brooding look with the silver-purple Spellbound or purple-black of Obsidian Coral Bells. Pop rows or groupings into pollinator gardens and cut flower gardens where both the flowers and the leaves will look great in your cutting garden! The gorgeous, uniquely variegated Snow Angel Coral Bells will grace your floral bouquets beautifully, and Berry Timeless Coral Bells will become the feature focal point of a floral arrangement! Both have ample nectar for bees, butterflies, and even Hummingbirds! Top 10 Coral Bells at Nature Hills! Primo® Black Pearl has unbeatable deep purple-black foliage! Midnight Rose has deep purple color with pink color-changing spots on the leaves Berry Smoothie has incredibly bright pink and rose blend foliage colorful all season Peach Flambé has peachy red foliage that really stands out! Green Spice has green leaves with a silvery overlay and very pronounced purple veining Snow Angel has green and cream-variegated foliage and rosy blooms and stems Triple Treat is a trio of three fantastic varieties in Lime, Purple and Red! The heat and cold-tolerant Northern Exposure™ Coral Bells handle zones 3 to 10! Lemon Supreme has lemony chartreuse foliage Berry Timeless Coral Bells have outstanding pink and white blooms that take the cake! Coral Bell Care Heuchera can grow in some sun or shade, but most will have the best foliage color and bloom best in 4-6 hours of sun. The key to success is well-drained soil and water as needed to keep the plants stress-free. It is also important not to plant them too deep in the soil. Removing the spent blooms keeps your Coral Bells looking clean and attractive. Some people like to cut the flowers as they arise and immediately use them in flower bouquets, maintaining them as foliage plants only in the landscape. Not a bad option, and a reliable source for bouquet fillers! But if you leave them in the landscape, your pollinators will relish them! Coral Bells appreciate moderate, consistent moisture and thrive in enriched soil that is slightly acidic. All plants appreciate a 3-4 inch thick layer of arborist mulch to hold in moisture and keep the roots cool. These herbaceous Perennials my die back in cold winters, but you can leave the foliage in place to act as additional winter protection and selectively prune out winter damaged foliage in the early spring before new growth emerges for a clean, tidy start to the year.  It is very important never to plant Heuchera too deep in the ground as they hate that. Root division every 3-5 years keeps the growth vigorous and prevents the roots from becoming overgrown and competing with themselves.  Once established, Coral Bells are:  Drought tolerant Cold-hardy, heat, and humidity tolerant Seldom bothered by deer or rabbits Low maintenance and easy to grow Juglone-tolerant, Coral Bells can be planted beneath Black Walnut trees Somewhat Salt/Coastal/Saline tolerant Very adaptable Gorgeous Coral Bells! With brilliant color, dramatic foliage, and dainty bell-shaped blooms, Coral Bells are must-haves for the garden and highly valued assets to the landscape! There’s not a niche these gorgeous plants fill in your world, indoors and out, yard or no yard at all! Check out all the fantastic Heuchera available at Nature Hills and check back often to see all the exciting new varieties that are in store for our enjoyment in the future! Happy Planting!

Bring a dash of passion to your garden with the stunning colors of pink and red that Nature Hills Nursery has to offer!  From the world of cosmetics and fashion which has every possible shade of pink to red, to the natural world outside, pink and red tones seem to both straddle every facet of our lives while also binding them together.  Fill your landscape with these colorful accent colors with a duality complex! Sure to fire up the landscape and create bright beacons that show up and show off in both the sun or shade! Add Passion to the Landscape With Red and Pink Plants! The Science Behind Red and Pink Why Choose Red or Pink Plants? Pink and Red Flowering Perennials Pink and Red Flowering Shrubs Pink and Red Trees Designing a Garden with Pink and Red Caring for Pink and Red Plants Add The Color Passion to Your Garden! The Science Behind Red and Pink Embodying a broad range of human emotions, red is the color of both the Cupid and the Devil, of passion and danger, of fire and power, and the color of both love and hate. We can be so mad we ‘see red’, can be flushed from exertion or passion, or become red in the face from embarrassment or shame. Red means luck in China and is the color of brides and grooms. Red signifies royalty in many parts of the world but is the color of mourning in parts of Africa. Red has been studied at length for its effects on the behavior of our world! In physics, the color red is the longest light wavelength discernible to our eyes. In nature, red is the warning color, signifying blood and danger, and is often a warning worn by toxic/poisonous animals. Plants and flowers that specialize in attracting birds for pollination, developed red blooms to deter bees, who are unable to see this hue.  On the color wheel opposite of green, it’s no wonder why red flowers seem to stand out so much better than anything else in a world of green leaves! Then there is pink!  In grade school, we learn to make pink by mixing red with white, while in actuality, the color pink seems to defy the natural order because it doesn’t technically show up on the color spectrum!  Made up of a mixture of red and violet light - which are opposite each other on the color wheel - so according to science, theoretically … pink doesn’t actually exist! Because of this, our eyes play a trick on us by filling in the gap with pink. Despite this fact, we still have a huge range of luscious pink hues - from baby pinks to bubble gum, cotton candy, ballet pink, piglet pinks and hot pinks, fuchsia, magenta, to blinding neon pink. Pink embodies feelings of innocence and nurturing, playfulness and nostalgia, and takes people back to their childhoods. But like red, pink has its own duality since it can make us think of both innocence and burning passion. Bright and hot pinks are associated with love, romance, and even lust or give rise to a sense of urgency. It’s only in the last hundred years that pink became associated with femininity and was a boy color for ages! Even painting rooms pink has been known to reduce aggression! Flamingos have perfected the impossible pink color, while cardinals and many more are visions in red! It’s amazing how many of our favorite candy and fruit embodies these colors - from strawberries, watermelon, cranberries, and fruit punch.  While red can edge into orange and pink can lean towards purple, and both can stick a toe into coral and salmon - there is a shade, tone, or hue of either of these glamorous colors to match your unique garden style! Why Choose Red or Pink Plants? Red is for love, passion, fire, and romance Red is often associated with luxury, wealth and good fortune Pink symbolizes youth and good health and oozes cheerfulness and affection Pink embraces creativity and wonder and playfulness Both contrast keenly with blues, yellows and purples, meld with white and each other! It’s hard to pick the best from a group this gorgeous! Your perfect pink or red ornamental plant is the one that aligns with your chosen location and function. In other words, it comes down to where you’ll be planting it and how it’s being used! Many plants have red-tinged new leaves, red stems, and of course many with red fall color! Others have gorgeous red berries and luscious pink fruit. Check out some of Nature Hills' favorite examples of these incredibly colored plants - Pink and Red Flowering Perennials These two colors are found in every shade possible in the world of Red and Pink Perennials! Perennial Peonies  Astilbe Bleeding Hearts Coneflowers Sedum Coreopsis Cardinal Flower Hardy Hibiscus - both flowers & foliage! Coral Bells - both flowers & foliage! Dianthus Don’t stop with just pink flowers! Want pink hues that last longer than some flowers can provide in your landscape? Choose a Fire Alarm Coral Bells with delicate pink flowers but gorgeous mauve-pink leaves, or the succulent pinkish-burgundy leaves of SUNSPARKLER Firecracker Sedum. Likewise, SUNSPARKLER® Dream Dazzler Sedum has gorgeous pink foliage and pink blooms that simply dazzle! For rich red hues that last beyond the flowers, choose a frilly and ruffled Cherry Cola Coral Bells, or a red-tinged Red Carpet Sedum! Many types of Hardy Hibiscus have deep red foliage with red and/or pink blooms too! Then there’s the new Geum Blazing Sunset to add some fire to your garden! Include Ferns in shade gardens like Burgundy Lace Lady Fern or Lady in Red, or ornamental grasses like Red Switch Grass in sun, and some of the many red or pink Clematis for height! Pink and Red Flowering Shrubs Pink and red are incredibly common in the flowering shrub world too! And don’t forget that many Roses of all kinds come in a dizzying array of pink and red shades! Then toss in a few Red-Twig Dogwood for red color all winter too! Many Holly and other bushes have red berries for birds and winter décor as well! Find Red-flowering shrubs and pink-flowering bushes in our inventory anytime! Weigela - Pink or red blooms and some even have pink to red foliage! Spirea  Crape Myrtle Lilacs Hydrangea - Especially those in alkaline soils Butterfly bushes Azalea and Rhododendron Althea/Rose of Sharon Proven Winners® Color Choice® Double Take™ Scarlet Quince Deutzia Smokebush Heavenly Bamboo Red Tip Photinia Pink and Red Trees Trees with pink and red foliage are always stand out specimens in the landscape! With the iconic Red Maple and Japanese Red Maples that display red foliage year-round! Plus the new Forest Pansy, Firebird™, and Ragin’ Red Dogwoods, and the Flame Thrower® Redbuds (with pink flowers too!) add dramatic pink and red hues.  The Tricolor Beech trees, and both the Whitewater Weeping Redbud and Carolina Sweetheart® Redbud both have pink variegation in the foliage and look incredible in the light! Mimosa Crabapples - Try Red Baron or Gladiator® Redbuds Dogwood  Magnolia Flowering Cherry Crape Myrtle Flowering and Purple Leaf Plums Many trees have pink new foliage when the leaves first emerge. And don’t forget the many Trees with impressive red Fall Color Shrubs and Fall Color Trees. Plus many more with red berries for winter interest! Designing a Garden with Pink and Red From shade gardens to full-sun backyard landscapes, you can utilize red and pink flowering plants in an endless array of layouts! Many red flowers seem to glow in full sun, while pink seems to cool off the landscape, but you will find both sun and shade at Nature Hills. First, always make sure to read the care instructions found on the Product Pages. This will let you know how much sun, water, and what type of soil a plant needs to thrive. Find your growing zone here to get started! Border beds along walkways & paths Mixed Perennial gardens Brighten the Shade garden Container garden - no yard, no problem! Cut Flower gardens - bring the passion indoors Foundation plantings - bold curb appeal Pollinator garden Rock garden or Xeric berm or border Install a Rain garden for moist soil Separate reds and pinks with intermittent splashes of yellow, orange, burgundy, and magenta to create a warmer-toned flower bed. Use purple, blue, and silver/gray for a cooler contrast. Planting red and white flowering perennials together is an elegant combination that elicits thoughts of celebrations of love like weddings or anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, and fancy parties galore! Plant a garden full of these and pick bouquets for your loved ones. Caring for Pink and Red Plants As with many plants at Nature Hills, these red and pink selections are so easy to care for! Most of these plants do best in well-drained enriched soils and need regular fertility. You are sure to find something for your sun or shade needs with ease! Water new plants regularly until they are established during their first year. During the hottest months of the year, you’ll want to take extra care to make sure your plants are getting enough water.  One of the best things you can do for your gardens is to add a 3 to 4-inch layer of arborist mulch chips around the plants. This will help conserve water and protect the roots from the heat in the summer and the cold in the winter. Plus, mulch keeps weeds down. This means the plant doesn’t have to fight for nutrients and your garden looks great with less work. Find information on pruning your perennials, shrubs, and trees in our Garden Blog! Add The Color Passion to Your Garden! Nature Hills has a wide variety of pink and red flowering plants for you to choose from! If you see any sporty red and popping pink flowers you just can’t live without, be sure to order them immediately. You can place orders any time of the year, and we’ll ship your plants when the time is right for planting in your area, with shipping you can track right to your doorstep! We’re sure you’ll have a garden of red or pink that will make the neighbors green with envy! Happy Planting!

Trees with seeds and fruit have their benefits - and problems - that go along with them. Luckily, there are so many options available these days that it can be confusing when hearing all the various terminology that goes with plant options. So what’s the difference between all these new types of trees and shrubs? Botanical Terminology - Types of Plant Gender Monoecious  Dioecious Perfect Flowers  Sterile and Seedless Plants Other Oddities The Pros and Cons Perfect and Female Plants Pros and Cons of Male Trees Pros and Cons of Sterile/Seedless Plants Weighing Your Options Botanical Terminology - Types of Plant Gender In the world of plants - anything goes! Ma Nature regularly makes up rules, breaks them, remakes them, and then changes her mind once again. So plants have every possibility of reproduction available because of how ‘stuck’ in one place they are! So they of course had to get creative! Monoecious  Monoecious plants have separate male flowers and female flowers on the same plant. The term "monoecious" is literally "one house". Squash for example has male flowers and female flowers on the same plant. Dioecious These plants have male on one plant, and female flowers on another. Some Holly, Ash trees, Kentucky Coffeetrees, and Ginkgo trees are good examples. You need a male plant nearby to pollinate your female plants in order to see any fruit on the female plants. Perfect Flowers  Hermaphroditic flowers have both male and female structures within each individual flower, which are known as ‘perfect’. Each bloom can potentially pollinate itself without another flower. Bees or insects help distribute the pollen, and sometimes even wind. Perfect flowers can either be self-fertile or cross-pollinated. Cross-pollination needs another of the same plant nearby, or a slightly different variation of that plant. For instance, a Royal Ann Cherry Tree needs a Van, Stella, or a Black Tartarian Cherry tree nearby to pollinate it and set fruit. Bees are happy to visit both flowers and pollination occurs. Ma Nature's curveball - In a process called agamospermy, a plant egg can mature into a seed without being pollinated at all! The offspring is genetically identical to the parent plant. Sterile and Seedless Plants Sterile and seedless plants are hybrid cultivars that have been bred not to produce seed at all. This creates a triploid, like seedless watermelons and seedless grapes for instance. The genetics have been tweaked within these plants to make them entirely seedless or sterile. A normal diploid (like you and I) has two complete sets of chromosomes - one from each parent. White a triploid plant has three sets of chromosomes and retains many desirable characteristics, including increased vigor; larger flowers, or a larger fruit set. Then there are Triploids or Polyploidy, which as the name suggests, have three or more sets of chromosomes. Seedless watermelons are triploid which causes them to be seedless. These seeds are created by crossing a normal diploid as the pollinator with a tetraploid (Four sets of chromosomes) parent. Each parent contributes half its respective chromosomes, resulting in one from the diploid parent and two from the tetraploid parent. Sounds confusing but luckily the scientists have it all figured out and you don’t have to worry about seeds while munching on your favorite summertime fruit! Some plants and animals are bred (or have genetic abnormalities) and can become Polyploids that contain three, five, or some other odd number of chromosomes. A sterile perennial Geranium we love is Rozanne, which tries so hard to produce seed that it simply keeps on producing flowers all season long in that quest of trying to make seed. Other Oddities Then there are flowers like those on the Avocado tree which are perfect flowers, but they don’t function at the same time! The flowers are either male or female in the morning and then become the opposite later on or the next day. This means Avocado trees require a Type A and Type B tree planted in close proximity to increase pollination chances. The Giant Amazon Water Lily (Victoria amazonica) is another unusual perfect flower that has evolved a unique process of pollinating itself. Called co-sexual, the flowers open white in the evening, and are fragrant and warmer (called thermogenesis) than the surrounding male flowers. These close for the night trapping insects inside. In the morning, the flowers become female and open, and pollen gets distributed while the insect searches for a way out. Finally, the beetle is released to find another flower and gets trapped to start it all over again. Other plants can even change their sex based on the availability of other plants in the area, or based on their age and their height/sun availability. Lastly, plants like non-flowering Mosses, Liverworts, Hornworts, Lycophytes, and Ferns dispense with flowers entirely and reproduce by spores. The Pros and Cons There are always upsides and downsides to everything, and toying with the genetics of plants has come under scrutiny these days. Plausible, because everything in our environment does eventually affect us. So let's break down the pros and cons of all these types of plants! Perfect and Female Plants By planting trees, shrubs, and plants with perfect flowers, or a female plant with a male nearby, you then enjoy nuts, seeds, and fruit! When this comes to the perfect flowers of our favorite fruit trees like Grain, Nut trees, Apples, Pears, most Berries, and Grapes; having fruit is a great thing! Most of the world is fed on these wonderful plants! Fruit and seeds of these plants also feed birds and other wildlife. But these fruits do have seeds and those seeds do want to grow. Good if you are propagating and expanding your garden, but bad when those seeds come up everywhere and get into trouble. Like a mast year on Maples, or invasive plants like Purple Loosestrife. Especially if we don’t eat the fruit or seeds, like those winged Maple tree seeds, Elms, or Ash tree seeds, and Kentucky Coffee trees, or trees that produce tons of messy fruit like Mulberry trees. These fruits can spread themselves everywhere, come up where they shouldn’t, can clog drains and gutters, and sometimes become invasive. So that’s why having a male-only or seedless cultivar is preferred in today's urban landscapes. Pros and Cons of Male Trees Male-only trees solve the problem with fruit drop and seed dispersal. No fruit means clean driveways and patios, no stains on sidewalks and deck furniture, and you don’t have to worry about birds eating the fruit and spreading their droppings and those seeds far and wide. A sterile Walnut tree will give you the shade without the nuts staining pavement, and a male-only (or sterile) Maple will give you that fantastic fall color and shade without all the little helicopters that sprout up everywhere. The problem with male-only trees though, is that they still produce flowers - flowers chock full of pollen! Great for Bees and pollen-eating insects, but bad for our noses! Those who suffer from allergies are noticing an increase in their symptoms and increased frequency of pollen-related issues now that there are more male trees in the neighborhood! Pros and Cons of Sterile/Seedless Plants From an environmental aspect, having sterile plants reduces the chances of spreading invasive plants around where they are not native, and choking out local flora. Not necessarily meaning fruitless, it simply means the fruit won’t have viable seeds or any seeds at all. In fact, food harvest and fruit size can be increased in sterile plants. Plus, sterile plants can be shipped into areas where their seeded versions cannot due to invasive concerns. However, by planting these in areas they are not indigenous, and local pollinators and native insects often don’t recognize them as a food source. Good if you are trying to reduce pest damage, bad if you are trying to feed the bees, butterflies, and their larvae. Also having sterile plants means your feathered friends go hungry. Most of the issue with sterile plants that won’t produce fruit comes from those who think that changing the genetic structure of these plants (especially those we eat) will ultimately result in changes to our own DNA. While this may seem like woo-woo science, the increase in cancers, behavioral disorders, and the increase in general health issues around the world may just give you some new, literal, food for thought. The other concern is food sustainability and maintaining native plants and landscape cultivars. With reduced genetic diversity and the ability to save seeds for planting next year, having a landscape full of sterile plants leaves us hanging should they die. Entire crops can be taken out with no way of replacing them with their seeds. Some companies make their patented seed and plants with aptly named ‘Terminator’ genes so no one can replicate and grow their own plants and food without a tissue culture lab, or need expensive licensing and permission just to grow them. Weighing Your Options So there’s the good, the bad, and the ugly side to plant gender and how it affects us and our environment. There are benefits and worries to all sides of bringing new and exciting plants to every corner and environment in the US.  So take a look at your options and see what is available before making a decision when landscaping. Alternatives are increasingly easier to find! Look into more careful site selection and your personal needs when choosing plants for your landscape! Cheap prices, massed produced crops, and pretty faces have hidden downsides lurking in their roots, so educate yourself before buying! As always Nature Hills is here to help with our knowledgeable staff, informative #ProPlantTips and Garden Blog, and our innovative ecosystem protecting Plant Sentry™ that ensures compliance with all Federal Agricultural laws and regulations concerning the shipment of plants throughout the country. We are committed to protecting you and your landscape with quality-grown plants that set your garden apart from the rest while ensuring it's safe for all! Happy Planting!