Perennial Favorites – Perennial Favorites

Did you know Coral Bells are native to the intermountain west? Yes, a reddish to pink flowering, green-leaf species and a yellowish green flowered type grow generally on north facing rocky ledges in our canyons. Garden Creek Canyon, for instance, is west of Arimo, Idaho and a great visual destination to visit a riot of late spring flowering Coral Bells. A rock climbers’ paradise, the alum root, as it’s sometimes called, thrives in the rocky crevices of the quartzite uplift. A dwarf form of the Garden Creek Coral Bell, the ‘Sandia Mountain Alumroot’, Heuchera pulchella, is part of our ever-expanding collection of this plant at Perennial Favorites. Note, there are several pages of Heuchera on our availability listing on-line and in our catalog. A long story unfolds as one looks in the rabbit hole of Heuchera hybridization. Just as our nursery was beginning 30 years ago, the reigning ‘Perennial Plant of the Year’ was ‘Purple Palace’, a new hybrid from a California Coral Bells. Its shades of purple and green with white flowers have been a feature in numerous shade gardens. Although new introductions like ‘Obsidian’ are available. Purple Palace still retains its prominence in our listings. There are dozens more to check out as well as propagators using tissue culture that provide an avenue for new introductions. Check out the newest ‘cutest’ Coral Bells in this weeks’ availability list!

Think the comments on internet posts are tough? See what happened when the Washington Post asked its readers to write intentionally angry letters to actual headlines.

Headline: 20,000 Pound Pavement to Help Homeless

Response: Are you people idiots? What the homeless need are homes, not ten tons of additional pavement!

Headline: Maryland Agrees to Tobacco Settlement

Response: Well, that’s all we need – an entire settlement of people devoted to their cancer sticks. What’s next, a drunk-driving commune?

Headline: C.C. United Se Une Hoy a Campana Solidaria Pro Centroamerica

Response: I was disgusted with the sloppy spelling for this article. There were so many typos, I couldn’t understand a word.

A headline from a local newspaper in Brookfield, Wisconsin: Appleton Airport May Soon Be Known as Appleton Airport.

Free: Piano with matching bench seat, very good condition, all keys work probably. Source: Gettysburg Area Merchandiser

Free Vain Screening. Source: Boston Globe

Free rent in exchange for elderly woman. Source: 11points.com Submitted by James Hutchinson, Carroll Valley, Pennsylvania

Spotted in the classifieds: “For sale: cemetery plot, $200, so I don’t have to spend all eternity beside my ex!” New Castle, PA

“Now hiring. Cemetery superintendent. The ideal candidate must be able to supervise in a fast-paced environment.” A.S., via internet

Hot Picks 4/8/22

Perennial Favorites — Wed, 06 Apr 2022 17:40:27 +0000

3.5" Sempervivum Purple Passion

#1 Arabis Snowfix

3.5" Delsoperma Salmony Pink

#1 Geum Tempo Yellow

3.5" Sempervivum Dea

4.5" Primula Oakleaf Yellow Picotee

#1 Phlox Emerald Blue

3.5" Penstemon Firecracker

3.5" Sedum Green Ball

3.5" Delosperma Golden Wonder

#1 Iberis Purity

#1 Arabis Antique Rose

From The Desk Of Bill Varga

“Right isn’t always popular and popular isn’t always right” or so the saying goes. At a U.N.L.A. convention and trade show some 20 years ago, I was hunted down by Preston Cox and Kent Miller following a lecture by a colleague of mine from Utah State University. The passionate lecture on Utah Native Plants seemed to suggest an immediate need to change from current plant choices to almost singly using intermountain native plants. Oops! Yes, we need to take immediate steps to address restraint in overwatering. Plant choice helps but isn’t the most productive way to achieve our overall goal. For instance, the southeast European native ‘Aubrieta’ has been grown at Perennial Favorites since our beginnings 30 years ago. It is a moderately long-lived plant, water efficient to boot, and hot and dry is what this 3-4” spring bloomer prefers! For 2022, we are featuring the Audrey Series, a vigorous, large flowered, longer blooming Rockcress in shades of blue and purple and the Axcent Series of compact, heat resistant plants in red, purple, lilac, and violet eye. We live in a hot and dry climate. We can choose popular and right and put water savings in the bank to boot! We carry a large selection of intermountain natives to blend with the older stand-bys like Aubrieta. Go water efficient. Get popular!!

A DRUNK MAN REPORTED MISSING IN TURKEY JOINED HIS OWN SEARCH PARTY FOR HOURS

When Beyhan Mutlu disappeared, his wife was rightfully distraught. The 50-year-old Turkish man had last been seen by his friends on Sept. 28, 2021. They had all gone out together and spent the night drinking in the province of Bursa in northwest Turkey before Mutlu vanished into thin air – only to reemerge helping out in his own search party.
   In a real-life scenario worthy of Charlie Chaplin’s finest films Mutlu had wandered off alone after his night out and slept in a cabin in the woods. And when his wife and friends couldn’t reach him for hours, they called the police and formed a search party.
   It was only after Mutlu woke up and began to find his way home that he stumbled upon a group of civilians in the woods who had volunteered to help police look for him. Unaware of their endeavor, he began quietly following the herd and keeping pace – becoming utterly confused when they began shouting his name. “I told them I was Beyhan Mutlu, but they continued to search,” he said.
   Only after his drinking buddies arrived and confirmed that Mutlu was who they were looking for that police and volunteers realized what had happened. Fortunately, rescue officials found the incident more humorous than aggravating – and gave Mutlu a ride home.

Hot Picks 3/31/2022

Perennial Favorites — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 21:15:13 +0000

4.5" Lewisia - Elise

3.5" Sempervivum - Cobweb

#1 Heuchera

#1 Saxifraga - Touran Pink

3.5" Geum - Koi

3.5" Dianthus - Olivia Wild

From The Desk Of Bill Varga

You say it all started with ‘Johnny Jump-ups’! Yep, two hundred years ago when the ‘Brits’ were collecting every sort of plant and gardening was becoming fanciful, a certain Lady Mary Elizabeth Bennet was procuring every sort of Viola Tricolor she could lay her hands on. Her gardener, William Richardson, cross-bred many of these selections and what we now know as ‘the Pansy’ was off to the horticultural races. Other well-to-do gentry, not to be outdone, continued crossing species Violas and before long Viola x wittrockiana, a pansy with a ‘face’, erupted to lead the pack! As a young lad, my dad and I drove over to my Uncle Frank’s nursery on a cool overcast fall day. Pansies nestled in wood flats were individualized using the two-inch wood shavings (no plastic in the early 1950’s). Two by four cold frames stored hundreds of flats. Leaf mulch was heaped atop the congregation to finish off winter protection. The organic, earthy smells surrounded us as we chose flats destined for a client’s yard. Perennial Favorites’ Pansy varieties traveled to all parts of the intermountain west in the fall of 2021. Now, in early 2022, we have the most current tender and more hardy Violas listed in the annual and perennial section of the 2022 catalog. Check us out on-line or beg a hard catalog from Ken, Dane, or Brendon. Better yet, stop by and check out our facility and get your catalog to boot!

A New Zealand City Council Fired Its Official Wizard After 20 Years Of Service:

When Ian Brackenbury Channell first appeared in the town square of Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1976, locals were befuddled and bemused. Standing on a ladder while dressed in a cloak and pointy hat, the self-described wizard addressed passersby and cast spells.
   While the police initially tried to forcibly remove him, residents protested in Channell’s favor. Channell continued freely performing on a daily basis and was even declared a Living Work of Art in 1982 by the New Zealand Gallery Directors Association.
   His true legacy began in 1998, however, when he accepted the city’s offer to become the official, state-appointed wizard of Christchurch. For nearly a quarter-century, Channell earned an annual tax-free salary of $11,000 from the city – until October 2021, when the city council terminated his contract.
  Determined to leave aesthetics related to “The Lord of The Rings” behind, the city council curated a new tourism campaign that no longer had any use for the wizard of yore and city spokesperson, Lynn McClelland, said he would ‘forever be a part of our history.’
   But the move left Channell pounding his staff in a furious rage. ‘It implies that I am boring and old, but there is nobody else or anything like me in Christchurch,’ he said. ‘it’s just they don’t like me because they are boring old bureaucrats and everyone likes me and no one likes them.’
   And even though Channell had hoped for Christchurch residents to rally behind him to keep his job, his last paycheck from the city came in December.

2022 Catalog

Perennial Favorites — Thu, 23 Dec 2021 16:10:27 +0000

Hot Picks 10/01

Perennial Favorites — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 19:00:51 +0000

#1 Rudbeckia Goldsturm

#1 Dianthus Kahori

#1 Phlox Ka-Pow White Bicolor

#1 Gaura Ballerina White

#1 Muhlenbergia Undaunted

#1 Coreopsis Sunfire

#1 Achillea New Vintage Violet

#1 Armeria Sweet Dreams

#1 Penstemon Shadow Mountain

#1 Miscanthus Morning Light

From The Desk Of Bill Varga

Have you noticed the bright red to red orange rosehips adorning our Wild Rose (Rosa woodsii) this year? Yes, fall color doesn’t always need be associated with the dramatic color change in our mountains. For sure I’m not down-playing the riot of fall color associated with our Big Tooth Mountain Maples. Our Wild Roses are just close at hand! Well, make some rose hip tea then. Boil some water and pour over fresh rose hips. Use a ¼ to ½ cup hips to 1 cup water. Seep for 10-20 minutes and strain any pulp from your brew. The fresh tea could provide up to 75% of your daily value of Vitamin C along with lesser values of other daily vitamin needs. The plant is also getting something out of hip development. Rest! Yes, the time is near for a break. Slow down and prepare. So, in your garden stop deadheading or pruning your ornamental roses. Breathe, let mother nature take her course, but don’t quit caring. Slow the regular watering, water deeply, but less frequently. If fall and winter rain is below normal, consider an occasional drenching, this is especially important with one or two year old landscape additions. Be in tune and go with the flow!

Puns & Portmanteau’s

Karmageddon: It’s like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it’s like, a serious bummer.

Lasterday: Any day before today.

Left Bank: What the robber did after his bag was full of loot.

Misty: How golfers create divots.

Mosquito: An insect that makes you like flies better.

Mouse Potato: The on-line, wired generation’s answer to the couch potato.

Onosecond: That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you’ve just made a BIG mistake.

Paradox: Two physicians.

Parasites: What you see from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Percussive Maintenance: The fine art of whacking an electronic device to get it to work again.

Perfect Pitch: What it is when you throw a banjo in a dumpster and it didn’t hit the sides.

Pharmacist: A helper on the farm.

Phonecrastinate: To put off answering the phone until caller ID identifies the caller.

Polarize: What penguins see with.

Primate: Removing your spouse from in front of the TV

Hot Picks 9/24

Perennial Favorites — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 17:40:23 +0000

#1 Assorted Chrysanthemum

#1 Anemone Red Riding Hood

14" Combo Pot

#1 Leucanthemum White Magic

#1 Lobelia Starship Deep Rose

#1 Assorted Aster

#1 Anemone Fantasy Cinderella

#1 Rudbeckia Goldsturm

#1 Dianthus Beauties Annabelle

#1 Coreopsis Sunfire

#1 Anemone Dainty Swan

#1 Assorted Chrysanthemum

#1 Anemone Pocahontas

#1 Nepeta Six Hills Giant

From The Desk Of Bill Varga

Bright light, then boom! My dad would assure me as a young boy, “The angels are bowling in the Heaven’s again!” Thunder and lightning can be both terrifying and beneficial. We dread a lightning strike fire, and yet it may bring rain and with just the right amount of rain, a shot of nitrogen to green up the plants which surround us. For sure the grass looked greener after an all-night of an off and on thunderstorm event. Lightning provides a natural way for nitrogen in our atmosphere to be transformed into plant food. It’s called nitrogen fixation by lightning. A flash of lightning is so hot it breaks the strongly bonding atmospheric molecules apart. This free nitrogen quickly bonds with oxygen. The new now nitrogen dioxide dissolves and falls to the ground with rain. Actually a bonus the Governor failed to include in his plea for rain! The nitrogen dioxide in water becomes nitric acid, and finally nitrates which fall to the ground to seep into the soil for plant absorption. So, if your grass looks greener lately, thank Mother Nature! Oh well, some moisture can be said to be truly ‘Heaven Sent’. Thank you angels and you too Governor!

You know you are living in 2021 when…

You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave
You haven’t played solitaire with real cards in years
You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three
You don’t know how to write out a check
Your kids ask if paper money is real
You text the person who works at the desk next to you
You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries
Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen
Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn’t even have the first 20 or 30 years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it
You get up in the morning and go to social media sites before getting your coffee

Hot Picks 9/17

Perennial Favorites — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 16:42:46 +0000

#1 Heuchera Northern Exposure Sienna

4" Pepper Acapulco Purple

#1 Rudbeckia Goldsturm

#1 Assorted Chrysanthemum

#1 Kniphofia Poco Orange

#1 Kale Pigeon Purple

#1 Pennisetum Red Head

12" Pink Chrysanthemum

4" Pepper Acapulco Orange

#1 Kale Nagoya White

#1 Carex Firefox

#1 Purple Chrysanthemum

#1 Coreopsis Moonbeam

#1 Kale Coral Queen

#1 Panicum Northwind

#1 Yellow Chrysanthemum

4" Pepper Red Missile

#1 Kale Pigeon Red

#1 Chasmanthium Little Tickler

#1 Red Chrysanthemum

From The Desk Of Bill Varga

It’s time to think bulbs! Tulips, Daffodils, Crocus, Garlic, yes, Garlic! Even with our serious water shortages, you can feel good about expanding your landscape with these underground water efficient flowering superstars. Here in the arid west, the below the surface stems take advantage of our seasonal moisture patterns to provide seasonal color with little to minimal effort on our part and yes, Garlic, too. Although considered a vegetable, it develops best if planted along with your traditional bulbs in the fall. So, here are some Garlic growing tips: Prepare your planting bed prior to your setting clove starts. In fall, when soil temperatures scale down to around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, which is late September to mid-October, plant your cloves. Choose only the largest cloves. A Garlic bulb may contain between ten to eighteen cloves. Use smaller ones for culinary. I till a row and plant in the furrow left behind by the depth stabilizer. Sets are placed about 6” apart and laid out in the furrow with the pointed top upright. Push each set 3” into the loose soil. As fall work progresses, I mulch with leaves about 2” deep. Soil preparation prior to planting is important. Our clay loam soil is improved by adding an inch of dry horse manure which is well tilled into the area a week or two prior to setting cloves. Let mother nature take her course and harvest next July!

A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client. He was told the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to a parcel of property being offered as collateral. The title to the property dated back to 1803, which took the lawyer 3 months to track down.
   After sending the information to the FHA, he received the following reply: (actual letter) Upon review of your letter adjoining your client’s loan application, we note that the request is supported by an ‘Abstract of Title.’ While we compliment the able manner in which you have prepared and presented the application, we must point out that you have only cleared title to the proposed collateral property back to 1803. Before final approval can be accorded, it will be necessary to clear the title back to its origin.
   Annoyed, the lawyer responded as follows: (actual letter) Your letter regarding title in Case #189156 has been received. I note that you wish to have title extended further than the 218 years covered by the present application. I was unaware that any educated person in this country, particularly those working in the property area, would not know that Louisiana was purchased, by the U.S. from France in 1803, the year of origin identified in our application.
   For the edification of uninformed FHA bureaucrats, the title to the land prior to U.S. ownership was obtained from France, which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain. The land came into the possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the privilege of seeking a new route to India by the Spanish monarch, Isabella.
   The good queen, Isabella, being a pious woman and almost as careful about titles as the FHA, took the precaution of securing the blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels to finance Columbus’ expedition. Now the Pope, as I’m sure you may know, is the emissary of Christ, the Son of God, and God, it is commonly accepted, created this world. Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume that God also made that part of the world called Louisiana.
   God, therefore, would be the owner of origin and His origins date back to before the beginning of time, the world as we know it AND the FHA. I hope you find God’s original claim to be satisfactory. Now, may we have our loan?
The loan was approved.