Acantholimon litvinovii
This week we’re featuring a few SPECIAL PLANTS now available in limited quantities.
Prickly Thrift – Acantholimon sp.: a rare xeric steppe native from Turkey to Iran; prickly evergreen mounds 4”-6” high, 12”-24” diameter; very hard to propagate, we almost never have them, and neither does any other nursery. 3 varieties; wonderful, we’ve grown them in our gardens for years.
Yucca nana
Yucca nana: an 8”-12” miniature yucca! Seed rarely available, so we may never have them again. Yucca harrimaniae: Doll House Yucca: a little bigger than nana, some blue and other variations. Both hardy and cute, especially in the snow.
Jasmine Dianthus courtesy NARGS
Dianthus petraeus ssp. noeanus – Jasmine Dianthus
A water-wise evergreen Dianthus with fine, slender 1”-long dark green foliage forming dense round mounds or mats 8-10” wide. In late spring to summer, 8” stems support masses of finely-fringed white flowers with a wonderful, intense clove fragrance that carries through the garden. Thrives in full sun with sharp drainage (gravelly/gritty soil) and light, consistent summer water. Hardy to Zone 4. If you are the woman that was looking for this plant at Harlequin’s last weekend, we apologize that we didn’t have this plant out for sale. We later found some in a backstock area, and will hold 3 plants for you through Saturday!
Mahonia: We can seldom offer these because most are treated with neonics that poison pollinators. Very tough and adaptable broad-leaf evergreen shrubs with early fragrant yellow flowers and summer-fall blue berries grow in shade or sun. Mahonia repens: local native typically 12” tall or less; M. aquifolium: 5’ high and spreading in time and M. aquifolium compactum: approx. 2 1/2’ tall, almost never available. Ours are 3 years old, grown from cuttings and neonic-free.
Redbead cotoneaster
Redbead Cotoneaster – Cotoneaster racemiflora soongorica: very tough and drought tolerant shrub with showy white flowers and red berries. One of the treasures from the Cheyenne Horticultural Station and introduced by Plant Select. Harlequin’s has had one in the ground for 10 years.
Silver Maple – Acer saccharinum: Not a rare maple, but not common because it is excluded from recommended lists because it is considered too breakable. Mikl’s experience as an arborist for over 25 years disagrees; he says because it is the fastest growing maple and shade-tree the wood is softer so just prune it every 4 years, especially when it’s young, to get a great shade tree with good structure, fast; often 50-60’ tall. Tolerant of poor soil, low and high water. The tree that made Mapleton Hill in Boulder famous.
Rose of Sharon ‘Minerva’
Rose of Sharon – Hibiscus syriacus: 8’-12’ upright shrub blooming in mid and late summer with large, tropical-looking flowers in various colors that draw bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. We have 3 dependable varieties (Diana, Minerva, Aphrodite) growing in our own soil mix in 2 gallon pots, so they are strong and much cheaper than what is usually available.
Russian Hawthorn
Russian Hawthorn – Crataegus ambiguus: 15’ high and wide, very drought tolerant, white flowers in spring, red berries in summer that the birds eat. Great for a screen, dense enough to cut the wind; Good frontier plant to start where little else will grow. Beautiful and can be pruned for a bonsai-character tree look.