Main Location, North Branford 203-488-2110
Garden Mart, Milford 203-298-0716
Garden Mart, Guilford 203-204-1540
Garden Mart, Old Saybrook 860-339-5345
Archive for the "Perennials" Category
What Not to Cut Back This Fall
Nothing says fall is fully here like realizing that mornings start with a frosty car and cranking the heat to get the windows clear. Unfortunately for your plants, there’s no heater to keep them warm, and right about now, some of your plants are probably looking pretty sad. If you’re like many gardeners, that means […]
Read More
ASTER ‘PURPLE DOME’
With the end of summer’s heat comes the beginning of fall’s color. I love asters and fall brings lots of them. A favorite of mine is Aster novae-angliae ‘Purple Dome.’ Nova-angliae is botanical Latin for New England where this aster is most happy. The flowers are a clear rosy-purple and the foliage is a healthy deep green. Height […]
Read More
FANTASTIC FALL FAVORITES
It’s always a good day for the team when we can take a minute to talk about some of our favorite plants. Fall is a fantastic time to plant, and an even better time to admire the landscape. We put pen to paper and came up with a few of our favorite Autumn plants. If you […]
Read More
Bloom Time!
The perennial department at Van Wilgen’s lives at an interesting crossroads. We watch as the nursery yard fills up with evergreen interest, and the Greenhouse loads up on pansies, and we poke and prod our plants, waiting for the day that they too might be in bloom. Then the evergreen gives way to the spring […]
Read More
Top 8 Perennials to plant right now!
Every spring our gardeners tell us they want to expand their perennial gardens to offer new colors and plants to make it fresh. For those of us that work in the Perennial department it’s no different. We are always on the lookout for something different or even ‘new to us’. Here are a few Perennials […]
Read More
Top Eight Early Spring Perennials
This time of year we are all itching to get in the garden. All it takes is a few warm days, some sunshine and we are all ready to dig in the dirt. At the garden center we get asked all the time, what can I plant now? There are many choices for early spring perennials, […]
Read More
Top 5 Ornamental Grasses
Lets face facts- there are way too many great ornamental grasses to hope to limit yourself to one type. Panicum, bluestems, miscathus, pennisetum- the list goes on and on. But after you’ve gone crazy and put sixteen of every type in your yard, how the heck do you tell them apart? Its actually easier than […]
Read More Help Pollinators survive the Winter
October has arrived and with it comes fall flavors. Pumpkin spice pops up practically wherever you go. And there’s nothing like a freshly picked apple or glass of apple cider. Pollinators know it‘s fall too and they could use some help from your garden. This time of year is known as nectar flow, where many major […]
Read More
Butterflying 101
June 11, Van Wilgens will host our Kids Klub Butterfly Release event! Ironically, we had just as many adults attending last year’s, as we did kids! Gardeners love the world of beauty of butterflies! Here’s an example of how you can cultivate your own. Butterflies can be pretty delicate creatures but can also be very […]
Read More
Coreopsis ‘Lil Bang’
It takes a lot to get our experienced group of plant nerds excited about a new plant. When you spend as much time living, breathing and handling plant material as us, you rarely get your socks knocked off. Last year, we planted Lil’ Bang Daybreak coreopsis, and man, did we fall in love. We planted […]
Read More