tropicanna canna

OK, Santa. Maybe I let the weeds go a little - no, A LOT - more than they were supposed to this year. And I still haven't gotten around to putting those Tropicanna canna rhizomes (still sitting in the basement) into peat-moss filled plastic bags for the winter. And yes, I could've - and should've - planted a lot more veggies this year.

But I've been nice, too … I shared my hostas and new plants from the Garden Writers Association symposium with budget-strapped gardening friends. I harvested all that bittersweet and grapevine for my godmother, who teaches floral design. And I spent all that time with my daughter, letting her pick out her own seeds and grow her own kids' garden this year.

So cut me a break, will ya - I could really use some of these gardening goodies under the tree!

Air plant ornament

Maybe it’s because I grew up in the 70s, but I really loved this hanging terrarium ornament featured in the November Garden Cuttings newsletter’s home-and-holiday-gift suggestions: “The Glass Globe Tillandsia Terrarium is an attractive living arrangement for a kitchen, covered porch, or anywhere there is indirect light,” it reads, adding that of course, it’s also great as an ornament on any plant-lover’s Christmas tree. Inside the glass globe are are three tillandsia plants: a red Capitata Select, a feathery green Tillandsia Ionantha and a silver-gray Harrisii. The 6-inch glass globe has a 2-inch front opening to remove the plants for watering. Just soak the easy-to-care-for plants in water once a week. Includes a monofilament cord for hanging. $39.95 from Logee’s, (888) 330-8038 or www.logees.com.

Hens & chicks growing kit

Dying to make your owned framed wall art of succulents? I know I am. Now you can grow them – and enjoy them – inside during the colder months, with this Hens & chicks growing kit from Red Envelope. This succulent, more formally known as sempervivum, comes in “understated, but slightly cheeky” white, ceramic planters. “They’re both versatile decorating elements and a perfect way to pay tribute to the family’s “Mother Hen,” reads the catalog. The “chick” size ($29.95) is 5 3/8 x 4 1/8 inches. The “hen” ($39.95) is 7 7/8 x 3 ½ inches. (877) 850-7467 or RedEnvelope.com/Catalog

Fiskars Pruning Stik

“Lightweight pruning stick for getting small branches and vines,” California garden designer and blogger recently wrote on North Coast Gardening. “I use it to prune out of control Cecile Brunner roses and at apple-pruning time.” Well, that’s just what I need for my Japanese wisteria out front (which has been trained – not very well, mind you – into a tree). Every year, my husband battles what he has now named the “Japanese Bumble Tree,” pruning off its long, new growth every week, it seems, just to have it seemingly grow back overnight. See the Fiskars Pruning Stik in action in Gen’s video review (dog included! No, no, not with the product – just for the entertainment of crazy dog people like me). $39.97 at Amazon.com.

Grow your own marinara kit

OK, so I first stopped and looked at this because I thought it said “Grow your own marijuana kit,” which I thought was definitely pushing the envelope, even for the Uncommon Goods catalog (home of the Gro-Bot and Attitude Vase.) But then I realized it was a marinara growing kit – and was still very interested! See I live and grew up in Rochester, NY, which has a huge Italian-American population. So making your own sauce out of fresh ingredients from the garden is a way of life here. And I always set out to do just this with my now-4-year-old daughter. Except in my busyness, I always forget to get the seeds for one of the key ingredients (oregano, basil and tomatoes). And of course, you can go as cheap as you want with this idea – I’m just a sucker for pretty, coordinated products, especially when I give them as gifts.  And this one, especially with its patio-perfect, kid-friendly cherry tomatoes, is just as cute as a button!  The Grow your own marinara kit is $29 through Uncommon Goods. (888) 365-0056 or www.uncommongoods.com

Norpro 1 Gallon Stainless Steel Composter

I keep saying I’m going to start composting, but you know how that goes … Plus, a lot of the composting bins I’ve seen look a lot like the big, green garbage tote I push out to the curb every Tuesday. I’d like something that I can drop table scraps into, but it looks like a piece of the décor. With its charcoal filter and super-tight lid, I also won’t have to worry about bad odors filling up my kitchen, and I won’t have to bring it into the back yard and empty it every single time I drop something in there. And sure, I’d love to get one of those super-dee-duper, commercial-grade kitchen composters I’ve seen for $350. But for now, this bin’s price of $37.59 is a lot more realistic. Find it at Amazon.com.

Winter 2011-2012 is well on its way, with areas of the Northeast already socked with snow. Whether you have snow on the ground or not, however, late fall to early winter is the time to get garden plants like these ready for the cold:

Flower Carpet^®roses

Transplanting. If you live in a warm climate (Zones 7 and higher), you can transplant your carpet roses any time (with the exception of excessively hot and dry locales, in which you shouldn’t transplant from July through September). If you live in a colder climate (Zones 6 and lower), the end of October was the latest you should have been transplanting carpet roses. Just hold off on transplanting until early next spring, when the plant’s still dormant but the soil is workable and warmer days are coming. (Doing this chore on St. Patrick’s Day is a good way of remembering when to do it in the North!)

Pruning. For those living in steadily warm, but not desert-like, areas, late fall to early winter is the ideal time for pruning That’s when flowering is at its lowest and leaves look their rattiest. Trim the plant back by at least half and as small as a basketball immediately before transplanting (pruning stimulates active growth). Water and wait about two to three weeks to feed. In colder climates, if you didn’t get to it before late October, hold off till St. Patrick’s Day (see above). 

Overwintering containers. In warm climates, you can just keep carpet roses in their pot, provided the container is at least 20 inches in diameter. Then just trim the roses back at the appropriate time (see above).

In cold climates, you can just wait for them to start going dormant (around Thanksgiving). Then, pack them closely together into a cool, dry (but not freezing) place like your garage or basement and get them up off the ground (they should be in pots at least 20 inches across and 20 inches deep and provide drainage). Some people like to cover them with hay or burlap for extra protection. Those without a garage can mound them up over the top with hay. Don’t cut back or prune them at this time.

Tropicanna^® cannas

Overwintering. In Zones 7 and higher, wait for leaves to start dying back, then cut back foliage to the soil. In Zones 3 and lower, wait until frost starts killing leaves, turning them  brown or black. Cut the stalks back to about 6 inches, then dig up the rhizomes, being careful not to injure them. Brush off loose soil and let rhizomes dry. Nestle rhizomes into closed boxes or plastic bags full of peat moss (with holes punched in them for air circulation). Store rhizomes in a cool, dry place (not freezing). Cannas grown in containers can be stored in their pots, too.

Festival™ Burgundy cordyline

Overwintering. In Zones 8b and higher, just leave Festival Burgundy cordyline in its pot or in the ground for the winter.In colder areas, it can be brought inside and overwintered as a houseplant. Put it in a window with good light (south-facing exposures are usually the best). For more on overwintering Festival Burgundy cordyline, see this video by Dave Epstein of GrowingWisdom.com.

Volcano^® phlox

Overwintering. Cut back to 4 or 5 inches and remove all dead leaves. Mulch to remove any lingering powdery mildew (Volcano phlox are mildew tolerant, which means they may get mildew, but they won’t die and it generally doesn’t affect the blooms). In areas with hard freezes, protect with mulch, pine straw or leaves to protect from ground heaves. In spring and again in summer, feed with time-release fertilizer.

I'm such a plant nerd – new plant introductions always get me so excited. And there were plenty to be found at this year's annual Garden Writers Association symposium, held in Indianapolis.

My personal favorite:

Blueberry 'Pink Champagne'. This happy accident, courtesy of the USDA, has produced a pink blueberry that's especially hardy in colder climates (Zones 4-9). That's perfect for me, since my Rochester, NY garden is Zone 6b. Available next season via Briggs Plant Propagators, this "rabbit-eye" variety with frosty-pink, edible berries takes full sun to part shade and grows 4 to 5 feet high by 5 feet wide. And in fall, it features fabulous red foliage. Design-wise, it's good in mixed borders and massed plantings, but because of blueberries' love of acidic soil, you may want to plant it with other acid-loving plants or grow it in a container with acidified soil.

And here's a list of some others I'm excited about:

Colocasia 'Bikini-tini'. One of the super-funky plants from Plants Nouveau's new Tropicools™ line of zone 6 – Zone 6! – hardy colocasias. "Anyone living in zone 6 and 7 can now reliably leave these planted in the garden each year," says Plants Nouveau. Well, I've stuck mine in the ground and we shall see … I really hope they're right!

Nandina 'Flirt'. As beautiful and breathtaking as the Southern Living Plant Collection's 'Delta Jazz' crapemyrtle was with its hot-pink blooms against burgundy leaves, it's a fraction away from being hardy in my Zone 6b garden. So my eyes quickly turned to 'Flirt' Nandina, a improvement on the Harbour Dwarf Nandina. "'Flirt' holds its red foliage through fall, winter and spring," read the literature. Wowee! And it's hardy in zones 6-10. Again, I wonder if it's a gamble to grow in Zone 6ish landscapes, since its ability to remain evergreen and hold its red color depends on how severely cold it gets. In my area, I'm close to Lake Ontario with lots of snow cover to insulate such plants, especially if I shelter them in a little microclimate of shrubs near the foundation of my house. Yes, I've been burned on this before. But I've been a long-time lover of nandina, and if I find this variety, I may 'flirt' with disaster!

Well, 2011 continues to give our regional garden bloggers more wacky weather, from record rains to drought-and-drown precipitation. Here’s more on what’s going on in their back yards:

Catie Anderson:  (Willamette Valley, OR)

Well, first a review of the soggy weather this year: In March, we set a record for latest first 60-degree day in a calendar year and a record 28 days with measureable rain. In April, we set a two-month rainfall record (for March/April) of 11.47 inches and the fewest 60-degree days or above – six (the average is 26). As of today, we’ve only had one 80-degree day. Our spring ranked second wettest on record. Impressive, but not tornadoes or floods or fires!

Since then, I've continued trialing a deer fence we made from fishing line and green garden posts. This was very effective – I actually was able to enjoy blooming tulips for the first time in that bed! I am going to use this in other areas in the future. A couple days ago, I watched a pair of does move around the outside of the fence but they avoided the fishing line – didn’t even stick their heads in. The best part is you really can’t see it. In fact, I’ve run into it several times – of course I am a klutz! I’m going to use this method around the plants I’ve put in for the Tesselaar "Great Gardens" contest.

Catie in her raised-bed veggie gardens - fenced in to protect them from browsing deer.

Last weekend, we built raised beds in our new, 8-foot-high, 30- by 40-foot, fenced-in garden and discovered we built it on top of a rock pile. Just my luck! Six hours later I had pulled 400 pounds of rocks out of a 4- by 16-foot bed. Later, I planted tomatoes, basil and carrots and it felt so good to dig in that soft soil. We had fresh basil in our salad that evening. 

Shirley Gardner:  (Boise Idaho)

June 21st – the longest day of the year and we’re just finally having some summery weather. Of course it went from the high 50s to the 90s within a couple of days – whew! The cool temps and all the rain have caused the growing season to be about a month behind here. First time I ever remember not having peonies blooming in time for the cemetery on Memorial Day. My leatherleaf viburnum sure loved the rain, however, and was quite wonderful this year. I love my Color Flash^® Lime astilbes. I planted them around the base of my bloodgood maple and they’re quite happy there. The Flower Carpet^® roses are covered with buds but haven’t started to bloom yet.

We’ve also been working on getting in the new drip lines for the vegetable garden. It’s quite a job but we’re almost done and the veggies are loving that slow, deep watering.

Becky Dziarnowski  Ignacio, CO – La Plata River Valley

The honeysuckle fragrance is heavenly, irises and daisies are in bloom and the wild lupine is ready to blossom. Hummingbirds are fiercely defending their territory with the cicada chorus in the background. The wild roses are fully open, bee balm, clematis, salvia, vinca and lavender all blossoming while the wild sweet pea and lilies are ready to burst. Summer is finally here!

 
Becky's view of the La Plata River Valley in Colorado. 

Luckily for us, no garden pests yet – only us humans fighting off the no-see-ems.
 
My Flower Carpet roses are a brilliant emerald with their first buds ready to open. Even though spring was not too pleasant this year, the vegetable garden is all in and flowers on the verge of creating their beautiful displays. Petunias were slow to start (still just 40 degrees at night), but the daytime makes up for it, hitting 95 degrees today. As soon as the temps stay above 45 at night there will be no holding anything back. Our biggest challenge here is the vast difference in temperature from morning to night. As true gardeners, we wait to discover each glorious new arrival every day. So enjoy, enjoy and if anyone wants to do a little weeding…

From Carmel Booth: (Atlanta, Georgia area)

I guess now that I have been here for 29 years I am considered a native! And we natives know they don’t call it HOTLANTA for nothing! This has been quite a spring! My zone 7ish garden has already seen torrential rains, severe thunderstorms, drought, tornados, sun and lots of hot!! With more days of 90-plus temps, this summer should be its own adventure in gardening!  My daylilies are working overtime, as well as my Flower carpet roses, echinacea, hosta and hydrangeas.

Carmel's tall, purplish-black-leaved Tropicanna cannas in a mixed container

It can be strange weather here. But more often than not, we have beautiful, clear days and it is usually pretty, although hot! The hardest part is trying to figure out if you should/could or need to water! We hadn't had any rain for more than a week so I decided to water last night. This afternoon we had severe storms! (Almost an inch of rain in about 30 minutes, then they were gone!) We also have pretty strict water laws. I try hard to let Mother Nature take care of the watering, but she either drowns us or we can't squeeze a drop out!

In my last post, I discussed the tree I had to remove that provided the shade to my hosta garden.  I have since moved 20-plus plants! Thankfully, I have some wonderful, full-sun-tolerant hosta that I think can stay, but only time will tell. Among them I have Tropicanna^® cannas and a peony. I can’t wait to see them bloom. The white hydrangea and the Flower Carpet red roses look beautiful together.

Please be kind to us this summer Mother Nature!  I really want to see my gardens grow!

Too much – and too little – rain were some of the topics our regional garden bloggers wrote about this past month. Here's the dirt on what's happening in their gardens …

Kari Gagner (far northeastern Minnesota, Zone "3.5"): Born and raised in northwestern Minnesota, Kari considers herself a novice gardener (with a hint of a black thumb) who's continually learning the tips and tricks of the trade. "It will be interesting to see how the summer plays out in regards to my gardening efforts," says Kari, whose 10-month-old son definitely keeps her on her toes. "I am, however, looking forward to having a 'helper' once he gets a little older"

Kari: Greetings from Zone 3.5! (I've coined the term "3.5," as I am in the Red River Valley, just on the edge of Zones 3 and 4, on the Minnesota/North Dakota border). We had a very snowy winter, bookended by a wet fall and an even soggier spring. This year was the third-highest flood on record for the Red River at Grand Forks. Farmers are just now able to get into the fields – which is late for this region! And of course, the weather is making any work outdoors a guessing game. In fact, we are one week away from June as I write this, and we had a frost warning last night! Because of the limited space I have available, I tend to do a lot of container gardening. This year's containers include Tropicanna^® cannas, Wave^® petunias, geraniums, Flower Carpet^® roses and a couple of "salad pots" (lettuce blends, tomatoes and peppers). I'm looking forward to summer's arrival and the warmer weather it will bring!

Pam Word  (East Texas, Zone 7b): Gardening for the last 20-plus years on 3 1/2 acres nestled deep in the Piney Woods of East Texas, Pam loves to push the limits of her zone, so she has a lot of tropicals including gingers, brugmansias, bananas and assorted vines. "I didn't expect to see many of these come back because for the first time in years, we had a week of freezing weather here in East Texas, but most, if not all, are showing their little heads."

Pam: The daffodils, tulips and other spring bulbs put on a great show this spring but are gone till next year. Now the landscape is filled with hybrid lilies and daylilies. My Flower Carpet roses put on a great show in early spring, too. My Fairy^® Magnolias, planted last summer, are leafed out and my Tropicanna cannas are just breaking ground along with my other tropicals. Temps here in East Texas have already been in the 90s and we're behind on rainfall, so this should be a very challenging summer. I look forward to sending more reports as the summer progresses.  In the meantime, happy gardening!

Tonya Cooley (Northcentral  Arkansas, Zone 6B): An avid gardener and reader of gardening magazines, Tonya remembers how her grandma, mom and aunt would always swap flower seeds, bulbs or clippings every spring and fall. "So I guess you could say I grew up with the fever," she says. "I have been gardening on my own for seven years now, using the tips and helpful hints from my mother. One day I hope to have a beautiful flower garden like hers." 

Tonya: When I purchased my home seven years ago, it contained very little of anything in a two-acre yard and it’s been a work in progress. My main concern was the large spruce tree on the northwest corner of my house. With all its shade, I decided it would be a great place for a hosta bed. As it seems with most gardening projects however, the job became more intense when I decided I wanted to add a rock patio where I could enjoy my morning coffee – hard work but worth the extra effort. On the entrance side, I added a heart-shaped arch and my husband and I were married under it – what a joy!  Since then, we’ve moved some Scarlet Next Generation Flower Carpet groundcover roses (bred for even better heat and humidity tolerance) around the arch.

This year I’m adding a water feature, where I’ll be planting some Tropicanna cannas. I am so excited to have started on it! We’ve had tons of rain this spring, but hopefully, we are done with that for a while, and I can finish it before it is too hot!  

Until next time, happy gardening!

Linn Schlinger (Central Virginia, Zone 7a): A retiree who enjoys camping and gardening, Linn lives in central Virginia, which has had its share of real weather extremes the past few years (four years of droughts and high temps, and now drowning rains). The heat, which starts very early in the spring, lasts into October – making gardening a real challenge. "We’re praying like mad for that not to be the case this year," she says, "but so far, instead we’ve been hit with torrential rains and flooding."  

Linn:  Last summer I planted Fairy Magnolias and they are doing splendid. They’ve already grown about 8 inches since I planted them and are full of new leaves. Despite the drought last year, my Flower Carpet roses have come along very well. They are loaded with tons of blooms ready to open up in three to four days. I’m very pleased with these roses compared to others. They just seem to take real well to our poor soil and either drought-or-drown climate. My purple clematis is growing by leaps and bounds! With its first blooming this spring, it had over 50 huge 8- to 9-inch-wide flowers – amazing!   

This spring, we cleared off a large part of our property to expand the lawn and gardens (see above); we planted new grass and covered it with straw. And then … we had to laugh as the heavy rains carried grass seed to anywhere but were it was SUPPOSED to go! Grass is now growing in weird parts of the property and very unusual patterns. So it is with gardening. Mother Nature tends to do things her way.

Until next time, walk in peace.

The following guest post comes from Phillip Townshend, global operations director for Tesselaar Plants, the Australian developer of the colorfully foliaged Tropicanna cannas:

Tropicanna cannas shine at Melbourne

By Phillip Townshend

Well, what can I say to fully describe another successful year at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show in Melbourne, Australia? Regarded as the largest and most successful horticultural show in the Southern Hemisphere, this world-renowned attraction has been going for 105 years, the last 17 of which have been at Melbourne's Royal Exhibition Building and surrounding Carlton Gardens.

The show is still ranked in the top five flower shows in the world and continues to excite, with an estimated 130,000 visitors this year from around the globe. It was especially nice to see our fabulous Tropicanna cannas resplendent in the surrounds of Carlton Gardens as part of the normal planting palette:

Tropicanna cannas continue to draw plenty of interest from gardening enthusiasts around the world, and I think we sometimes forget how versatile this plant is. It performs with low water conditions right through to boggy wetlands and can be used in mass plantings in the landscape or as a feature in containers – all with dramatic effect.

The proof is in these pics of Tropicanna taken at the show – when, by all accounts, they shouldn’t be looking their best here in the Southern Hemisphere's cool autumn weather. But as you no doubt will agree, they look quite stunning. In fact, they seem to glow like stained glass when backlit by the sun.

Tropicannas aside, the Melbourne show is something everyone should try to attend at least once in their life (include it on your Bucket List). After all, it's in Melbourne, often voted one of the most beautiful places in the world to visit. The city is also known for its great food, fashion, art and yes, tons of shopping. So please try to make it – you'll be so glad you did!

 Congratulations!

Four winners have been in announced in a Tropicanna cannas giveaway held this month as part of posts by Amy Stewart and Genevieve Schmidt of the wildly popular Garden Rant and North Coast Gardening blogs, respectively.

North Coast Gardening's Genevieve Schmidt (left) and Garden Rant's Amy Stewart (right) pretending to be Tropicanna cannas in the video accompanying their blog posts about the tropical, colorfully foliaged plant.

The winners, drawn at random, are: Michelle Derviss, Roberta Perez, Pat Leuchtman and Nicky of the 'Dirt and Martinis' blog (she didn’t want her last name listed). All these women were very excited to receive their Tropicanna canna rhizomes, and some of the ones in warmer areas have already planted them in pots.

Tropicanna Gold cannas (top) in a container with torenia 'Viva Catalina Blue' (lower left) and heuchera 'Velvet Night' (bottom right).

“I’ve created a subtropical, Balinese-inspired garden in which the Tesselaar cannas are going to be very happy,” says Michelle, a Novato, California gardener and author of the 'Garden Porn' blog. In her blog comment, Michelle even suggested a great, tropical plant combination that's perfect for container gardens or beds: Tropicanna Gold with a brilliant red foliage plant such as phormium or red banana. “Throw in some big-leafed coleus, some alocasias and a few succulents," she added, "and ya all will have a knockout vignette.”

Speaking of knockout vignettes, check out  these pics of Michelle’s home and "Pina Colada Garden," just 20 minutes north of the Golden Gate bridge.

The original Tropicanna cannas (top) in a container with zinnias (lower left) and lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea' (lower right).

“Thank you so much for the beautiful Tropicannas!,” says Roberta, of Monterey Park, California, who mentioned in her blog comment that her Tropicannas were so gorgeous, some jerk up and stole them on her! “I already have some pots with their names on them!" she says. "I will take photos when they are up!”

 Cool!

Nicky, of 'Dirt and Martinis,' hopes to blog about the Tropicannas and their progress on her site. “I grow in an area that gets hammered with snow in the winter,” she says. “So, I'll take great pleasure bringing these beauties indoors when it gets too cold for them.”

Tropicanna Black cannas in a container with salvia farinacea (left) and dichondra 'Silver Falls.'

Pat Leuchtman, a Charlemont, Massachusetts gardener who authors the Commonweeder blog, hasn't ever grown cannas before, “but I’m ready for Tropicanna drama.”

And with winter hanging on by its icy claws in the Northeast, who there wouldn't?

Again – congratulations, ladies! Enjoy your Tropicannas! And don't forget to send pics!

The original Tropicanna cannas contrasting beautifully against an electric-blue garden wall.

Hey! The wildly popular Garden Rant and North Coast Gardening blogs have been hosting a Tropicanna^® cannas giveaway contest this past week, with the contest starting early last Thursday (March 10, 2011) and ending this Wednesday night (March 16, 2011). That means there are only two more days to post a comment and (and perhaps win a Tropicanna variety pack)!

Genevieve Schmidt (left, of North Coast Gardening and Amy Stewart (right, of Garden Rant) pretending to be Tropicanna cannas.

The contest – and Tropicanna cannas – have been extremely popular with the blogs’ followers, with more than 50 glowing comments posted as of today (Monday, March 14, 2011). Winners of the Tropicanna cannas will be announced next week!

The original Tropicanna cannas (left), Tropicanna Gold (middle) and Tropicanna Black (right).

Amy Stewart (of Garden Rant) and Genevieve Schmidt (of North Coast Gardening) also posted a fun video and photos of them planting the tropical, psychedelically foliaged Tropicanna cannas (as rhizomes) at the home of an artist friend who loves bold colors. “I’m a Tropicannaaaaa!" they shouted in the video, pretending to be the plant.

I particularly liked how Schmidt and one of Stewart's followers suggested some great plant combinations using Tropicanna cannas (Schmidt suggested the first three, along with photos in her post on North Coast Gardening):

Combo 1: Tropicanna canna, Alstroemeria ‘The Third Harmonic’, and Uncinia uncinata ‘Red’

Combo 2: Tropicanna Gold, Euphorbia characias, Calluna ‘Beoley Gold’

Combo 3:Tropicanna Black, Helianthemum ‘Henfield Brilliant’, Clianthus puniceus ‘Red’

Combo 4: Tropicanna Gold with a brilliant red foliage plant such as phormium or a red banana

Feeling inspired? You may also want to check out the video "How to Grow Tropicannas in Containers" (produced by Dave Epstein of Growing Wisdom). Or, see this previous post on the contest for some fabulous container garden combinations featuring the original Tropicanna cannas along with the newer Tropicanna Gold and Tropicanna Black (Black is now widely available to the market after being held back for a few years because of propagation issues). And the word on the street is that Tropicanna cannas will be sold in all different container sizes at all different prices this year! Wahoo!

If you're looking for more information on Tropicanna cannas, or other Tesselaar Plants (like the cool, chocolate-leaved Bonfire begonias that are new for 2011), go to Tesselaar's web site or follow Tesselaar on social media (@tesselaarplants on Twitter and Tesselaar International Plants on Facebook).

So that's it. Don't forget to comment on Amy and Gen's posts, and get in on the chance to win some Tropicanna cannas!

Good luck!

The following guest post is by Genevieve Schmidt, the landscaper and garden writer in charge of www.NorthCoastGardening.com, a site dedicated to gardening in the Pacific Northwest. Her own garden is full of hardy, low-care tropicals, and she can't wait for her new Tropicannas to add to the show!

Get  in the zone – the tropical zone, that is – with a Tropicanna^® giveaway!

by Genevieve Schmidt

I’ll admit it: I’m in zonal denial. While my zone 9 growing conditions are envy-inspiring to my cold-climate friends, there are so very many tropicals that I lust after in books, but can’t grow myself. Angel’s trumpet, bird of paradise, bananas …

So when I heard about the Tropicanna line of cannas, with the brilliantly colored foliage and the cheerful tropical blooms, I was sold! The huge leaves look so vibrant and lush next to my other plants, and they bring a jungle-like look to my low-maintenance garden.

(Editors note): Schmidt loves this image of the original Tropicanna canna in front of a blue garden wall.

I’ve long used cannas as a landscaping plant here in zone 9 – they’re even good for commercial landscapes in zones 7-11, because they need little care, have few pests and look beautiful for a long season.

Genevieve Schmidt of NorthCoastGardening.com and Amy Stewart (right) of the Garden Rant blog, planting Tropicanna canna rhizomes in containers. Both gardeners are huge fans of Tropicanna cannas' psychedelically colored foliage.

If you live in a colder clime, you can easily grow them in a pot and bring them inside over the winter. They look great with the “thrillers, fillers and spillers” planting scheme of using one boldly upright thriller (the Tropicanna), adding bushy annuals or flowering perennial fillers for color, and using a trailing plant as a spiller to soften the strong lines of your container.

If you’re as excited about Tropicanna cannas as I am, head on over to North  Coast Gardening and Garden Rant this week and enter for your chance to win one of five mixed sets of Tropicanna rhizomes. You can watch Amy and me plant them in a local artist’s garden, and imagine where you’ll put your Tropicannas.

It’s the end of another year – and another budget-busting holiday season

So as we wait for January’s slew of mail-order gardening catalogs, it’s time once again to dream – and strategize: How can we afford gardening in 2011?

Here are a few ideas I’ve come up with, after looking at my own walloped wallet and a few consumer trends.

1. Invest in the workhorses

^{Hanging basket of shade-loving Bonfire® begonias}

Gone are the days of primadonna perennials and one-trick ponies that provide interest for maybe a week while they bloom and then don’t pull their weight the rest of the season. Taking their place are plants that offer long-term benefits, save time or money or prevent problems down the road. In other words, buying smart isn't always about money. Instead, it's about finding the best value for your dollar.

For instance, does a drought-tolerant plant that costs 20 percent more than its similar counterpart worth the purchase because you can go on vacation and not have to find a plant-sitter? Can the price for a season-long-blooming shrub be amortized over several years because it boosts the resale value of your home? Does the $40 hanging basket also work in the shade or save space in a downsized or urban dwelling?

2. Take advantage of freebies

^{Flower Carpet® roses with free fertilizer sachet}

TV talk shows have been abuzz the past few months about ways to find free stuff.  Online, you can find free (or at least cheap) gardening products at www.all-free-samples.com, www.freecycling.org, eBay and Craigslist. The iVillage Garden Web forum also lists a variety of links to garden exchanges and trades at http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/exchind/ (or you can Google “plant swap” and your town and state to find plant swaps or similar exchanges in your area). Try to see if any garden plants or products throw in a little something extra to make your purchase worth it. Flower Carpet^® roses, for instance, come with a free sachet of fertilizer perfectly formulated for success.

3. Think “multi-use”

^{Festival™ Burgundy cordyline - overwintering indoors as a houseplant}

Can a garden perennial double as a houseplant, helping to beautify the indoors, boost moods and improve indoor air quality? Can it provide healthy, chemically free food for the family and save on the grocery bills? Can it even become a gift for someone else?

Container plants that can easily be carried in from the patio to serve as a wintertime houseplant are a smart buy, especially in colder climates. For instance, Festival™ Burgundy cordyline offers extreme drought-tolerance and season-long architectural interest, texture and colorful foliage. But it also overwinters nicely indoors as a houseplant.

Why choose between growing ornamentals and edible?  Choose plants that are both! I particularly like lovely leaved, colorful edibles like kale and ‘Bright Lights’ swiss chard.  I can’t say enough good things about ornamental kale – which not only handles drought well, but is growing through the snow on my Rochester, NY front porch right now. Plus, adding fresh, raw produce to your diet improves digestive health and gives you a more youthful, beautiful appearance.

Wondering what the heck to do with raw kale? Here's a recipe from Bob Greene's 'Best Life Diet':

Raw Garlicky Kale

2 Tbs. tahini

4 cloves roasted garlic

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 Tbs. water

1/8 tsp. salt

Fresh, red hot pepper to taste

4 cups raw, well-washed kale, cut into extremely thin strips lengthwise

Toss all ingredients except kale in food processor. Toss kale and tahini dressing together, and serve immediately or refrigerate several hours before serving.

You can even use plants as no-cost, personal gifts in a pinch. For instance, this Christmas, I’m giving gardening members of my family who love my Tropicanna^® cannas some of the rhizomes I dug up for winter.

4. “Green” on the tag = green in your pocket

^{The new Soleil™ petunia – "the petunia that lives on a glass of water"}

Drought-tolerant and pest- and disease-resistant plants not only cut your spending on water and chemicals – they reduce or eliminate the risk of having to replace a dead plant! 

Look for eco-tags that equate the purchase of the plant to a real-life environmental benefit or displays featuring water-wise or no-spray plants.

5. Put your smartphone to use

^{GardenPilot® app on smartphone}

Got a smartphone? Get it out of your pocket and use it to find out which garden center in your area is carrying the item you want at the best price. GardenPilot®, for instance is a great app that allows you to comparatively shop for the best prices in town. 

Well, here's wishing you another year of smart and easy gardening – so you can spend more of your time and money on whatever's most important to you (even if it's well … more gardening)!