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July 2006

The Big Dipper Farm News-ette is an occasional gardening e-newsletter for discussing new plant introductions, gardening tips, quotes, poems, ‘things-to-do-in-the-garden-now’, seminar reminders and much more. Don’t forget the Web Specials at the bottom! It’s free, kept private, spam-less and fun! Garden On!

-Deidre Finley, Big Dipper Farm

I believe that gardens themselves are very healing.
To be surrounded by the exquisite beauty of nature is to experience a healing of the soul.

-author unknown

New Plant Spotlight…

I’m thrilled to highlight these five new, highly exceptional, unusual and hard-to-find plants. Every one of them is spectacular. Take a moment to get to know these beauties. If you’re looking for something new and different, one of these may be a perfect addition.

Honey Bush - Melianthus major 'Antonow's Blue'

A fabulously textural, large plant that some call 'Peanut Butter Plant' for the yummy scent of the crushed leaves. (Like Clerodendron as well) This variety has a rich, nearly iridescent blue hue and strongly serrated edges to the dramatic, arching foliage. Plant this statuesque beauty 4-6'' deeper than normal to increase chances of survival for those in zonal denial or containerize and bring in for the winter. Grown mainly for foliage so cut back hard in late winter to keep in vegetative mode. If you allow it to flower, they are honey scented. The foliage is long-lasting in cut arrangements too. A reasonably hardy plant that grows 4 to 6 feet tall and about as wide. 'Antonow's Blue' is an architectural stunner!

Zones 8-10 (Some manage 7 with protection) See the Honey Bush

Copper Ninebark - Physocarpus opulifolius 'Coppertina'

A wonderful new coppery-orange colored deciduous shrub that has new growth flushed with copper. The copper is most pronounced in the spring as the new growth flushes and then gradually warm to a dark red. Extremely hardy and adaptable, a most remarkable, easy to grow shrub. The clusters of pinkish-white, button-like flowers age to red and are followed by showy scarlet seedheads. Its attractive peeling bark is revealed in the winter making 'Coppertina' a real 4-season shrub! Highly prized in the landscape and as a cut flower. (We’re offering this at an exceptional price.)

Zones 3-7 Height 5-6’ See ‘Coppertina’

Smokebush - Cotinus ‘Young Lady’

Blooming Crazy Lady! Young Lady is an exciting new smokebush from the Netherlands. This unusual shrub is unlike any other smokebush in that it blooms as a young plant and it blooms profusely! In a container it looks like a poodle in a pot with its frothy blooms covering every inch of the plant. Nearly every shoot forms a flower and it throws flowers from early summer until frost. In the autumn the leaf color turns a superb blend of yellow, orange and red. Disease free and drought tolerant.

Zones 4-7 Height 8-10’ See the Smokebush

Hardy Begonia - Begonia grandis 'Heron's Pirouette'

A selection of Dan Hinkley's with huge clusters of brilliant pink flowers on long, bright pink flower-stems. Beautiful and unusual variegation to the foliage. Long, late, non-stop flowering from spring until fall. Surprisingly hardy and is very easy to grow. An excellent bedding plant as well and an obvious candidate for containers.

Zones 6-9 Height 2’ See ‘Heron’s Pirouette’

Variegated Angel's Trumpet - Brugmansia 'Snowbank'

Fragrant, white to peach colored blooms of immense proportions drop from some of the most brilliant and broadly margined foliage you have ever seen. They make large, fast growing container plants in the summer on patios, or set pot in the garden. Prune back in the fall before bringing inside to a sunny window. Can take full sun in the north and strong filtered light in the south. Tender.

Zones 8-11 Height 4-6’ See the Angel’s Trumpet

The butterfly counts not months but moments, and yet has time enough.
Rabindranath Tagore

FYI…. Ginger has been clinically demonstrated to work twice as well as Dramamine for fighting motion sickness, with no side effects.

Cool as a Cucumber? It’s true! The inside of a cucumber on the vine is as much as 20 degrees cooler than the outside air on a warm day.

For the Love of Lavender!

Lavender season has arrived! Luscious waves of sweet lavender are surfing the warm summer breezes. Now’s the time to enjoy all that these wonderful shrubs have to offer.

The nationally renowned Sequim Lavender Festival is next week and lavender faithful are making the pilgrimage to the Olympic Peninsula here in Washington. But if you can’t get there, then grow your own purple paradise. This is one plant that does very well when planted in the heat of Summer as its growth is heat activated and will sometimes die if installed during the cool wet of Spring or Fall. It loves the reflected heat off of a sidewalk, driveway or wall and can tolerate poor soil and ‘forgetful’ watering schedules. This is a beautiful landscape plant that’s unique in it’s many, many uses. Too many to list here. (Try a lavender - honey - mint - lemonade and a porch swing.)

Availability is good and we still have 15 varieties to choose from! See all the Lavenders

Lavandula x allardii 'Giant Lavender'

Lavandula a. 'Goldburg'

Lavandula a. 'Hidcote Superior'

Lavandula a. 'Martha Roderick'

Lavandula a. 'Munstead'

Lavandula x lanata 'Richard Grey'

Lavandula stoechas 'Otto Quasti' (Spanish Lavender)

Lavandula ssp. pedunculata 'Passionne'

Lavandula stoechas 'Pastel Dreams'

Lavandula stoechas 'Wings of Night'

Lavandula x lanata 'Sawyers'

Lavandula x intermedia 'Silver Edge'

Lavandula stoechas 'Snowball'

Lavandula x intermedia 'Grosso'

Lavandula x i. 'Provence'

Received the beautiful plants today and I am so pleased with your fast
service, your willingness to change the order, the excellent condition
of the plants, and the excellent packing of the plants. I took my first
"whiff" of the lavender plants and the scent just made my very tiring
day seem less stressful-they smell wonderful! Just
wanted you to know how pleased I am with everything.
Thanks again so much. Marie S. Plano, Texas

By the way… The city of Mt Vernon, Washington grows more tulips than the entire country of Holland.

“Plants at Work”

'Plants at work' is a national information campaign to inform design professionals, employers and the public about the numerous benefits of interior plants. The benefits are many, going way beyond the obvious factor, they just look great.

So share the following with your nearest office manager.

ü Plants significantly lower workplace stress and enhances productivity by 12%.

ü Plants in the workplace attract, retain and enhance the attitude of today’s selective employee.

ü It’s possible to have an energy efficient, sealed building without the common ‘Sick Building Syndrome.’ Research shows that plant-filled rooms contain 50-60% fewer airborne molds and bacteria than rooms without plants. Plants help with bottom line savings on mounting sick leave expenses.

In a 2-year study in Norway the following reductions of ailments were noted:

Ailment % Reduction

Fatigue 20

Headache 45

Sore/dry throats 30

Coughs 40

Dry facial skin 25

ü Plants help reduce distractions due to office noise.

ü The dramatic aesthetic value to indoor landscaping is the number one reason for interior plant investments. Studies show that interior plantings give a perception of a more expensive-looking, more welcoming and more relaxed environment.

Here’s a link to the ‘Plants at Work’ organization: http://www.plantsatwork.org

Gardening gives me fun and health and knowledge. It gives me laughter and colour.
It gives me pictures of almost incredible beauty. John F. Kenyon

Gardening is medicine that does not need a prescription ... and with no limit on dosage.
- Author unknown

Here’s few of this year’s hottest sellers that are now back in stock. We will be shipping straight through the summer like last year and supplies are looking good!

Coreopsis ‘Autumn Blush’…. is Back in Stock and ready to ship!!

A stunning, new summer beauty that has become one of the hottest of 2006. Lovely light, peachy-yellow flowers with red eyes all summer. In the cool days of spring and fall the flowers take on a wine rose blush. Bright green mounds are covered with large flowers. Easy to grow and doesn't seed around. A truly fabulous new introduction! See Autumn Blush

Japanese Hardy Banana - Musa Basjoo.… is Back in Stock and ready to ship!!

The Japanese fiber banana is the most cold hardy banana in the world and when happy, can grow to about 5 feet in the first year. A large clump reaching to 10 feet can be expected in the second and mature height in the 3rd. With plenty of food and water a Musa basjoo can produce a new leaf in 7-10 days. When fully mature this banana will produce yellow-orange flowers, followed by 2'' long small, inedible bananas. A must-have for the tropical look. Like all bananas, it is extremely fast growing, given rich soil, fertilizer and an abundance of water. See the Hardy Banana

Chinese Ground Orchid - Bletilla striata.… is Back in Stock and ready to ship!!

Exotic, miniature orchid-like lavender flowers, 6 to 30 per clump on this hardy, easy to grow orchid. Naturalizes and colonizes beautifully. Excellent in containers too. Surprisingly easy to grow for such an exquisite flower. See the Ground Orchid

I just received my first order from you. I ordered some Penstemon and Crocosmia. I had been having difficulty finding the colors that I wanted locally. I would just like to tell you how PLEASED I am with my order! They are large healthy plants. Much more than I expected. I will absolutely place another order with you. So many of the mail order nurseries are overpriced and under sized. I hate it when I receive a start of a plant that is barely there.

Thanks again! Cyndi K. - Riverton, UT

Summer Perennial Gardening

This is the time of year when new perennial gardeners are born. Easy to understand when you see a perennial border chock full and overflowing with blooms and lush, colorful foliage. Summer is the best time to shop perennials if you like seeing them in full splendor before you buy. This is the best time to seek out botanical gardens with large displays of perennials. Go on a couple of the many local garden tours (don’t forget a notepad and camera) and see what magnificent things can be done with perennials! It’s not too late to plant them either, as long as you can provide good irrigation as they get established. There are hundreds of varieties that bloom from mid to late summer and fall that will still give you flowers this year if installed now. The heat activated plants like lavender and rosemary do better planted now rather than during the rains of spring or the cool of fall.

So keep filling those holes in the border. There’s plenty of time. And keep your eyes open for something you’ve never grown before.

Almost every person, from childhood, has been touched by the untamed beauty of wildflowers. -Lady Bird Johnson

Naturally Native – Americans of the Month

Tsuga mertensiana - Mountain or Alpine Hemlock

Northwest native conifer, slow growing to 120 feet. Prized for it's beautiful foliage, this tree makes a great yard tree because it is so slow growing. It is less shade tolerant that western hemlock and can take heavy snow loads. Common at high elevations. Mountain Hemlock is also known as a Black Hemlock, Alpine Hemlock and Hemlock Spruce. Zones 5-8 Height 60-100’ See the Hemlock

Asarum canadense - Wild ginger

Heart-shaped deciduous foliage is somewhat fuzzy, attractively veined, velvety green, and leaves get up to 6-inches wide. Unusual purple-brown flowers are at ground level for beetle pollination. If conditions are right, they spread and colonize quickly and vigorously. Crushing produces a wonderful ginger scent but is toxic and is not the culinary ginger. Among the most beautiful and unusual of ground covers for the shade. Zones 4-8 Height 6-12”

See the Asarums

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.

-Frank Lloyd Wright

Monthly Web Specials Orders placed on or before July 20^th 2006 will get the special pricing on the following plants.

Hens & Chicks ‘Red Beauty’ - Sempervivum ‘Red Beauty’ Four-pak Go to

Colorful and beautiful medium sized, fairly open rosettes of gray-green leaves with blood-red tips. Will adapt to almost any condition. Drought tolerant and a great addition to rock or trough gardens and containers. This is part of the Discount Groundcover Program sold in 4 packs only. So 'Quantity - 2' would be an order of 8 plants. Can be used almost anywhere as an excellent evergreen ground cover. Full Sun. Zones 3-9 - Height 2-6” Reg $8.96 Now $3.96 !

Montbretia - Crocosmia 'Emily McKenzie' Go to

(My favorite Crocosmia) Truly impressive bicolored flower, glowing orange flowers with crimson centers and throats on a somewhat shorter plant. One of the best of the bi-colors. An outstanding cut flower. Purchase consist of a minimum of 2 blooming sized corms. They have been planted and are shipped in a 3 x 3 x 5.5” pot.

Zones 4-9 - Height 15” Reg $6.99 Now $2.99!

Wand Flower - Gaura l. 'Passionate Pink' Go to

This New Cultivar is more upright and compact. It has a red to green foliage, in full sunshine the foliage is much redder than green. The shiny pink flowers are held above the foliage and put on a spectacular flower show throughout the Spring, Summer and early Fall months. A real cutie! Great in the border and in containers. Full Sun.

Zones 5-11 - Height 30” Reg $5.99 Now $2.99 !

There is no such thing as an ugly garden… gardens, like babies, are all beautiful to their parents.

-Ken Druse

Did You Know?

Wild plants that you can eat:

Dogwood berries, but not the plant.

Wild rose hips, but not the plant. Hips are high in Vitamin C and are often used in tea.

The white inside part of a cattail. It tastes good! Sort of like cucumber.

Poplar tree bark.

Stinging nettle. Very nutritious.

Dandelions. The leaves make a great salad, and the roots can be roasted and ground into something kind of like coffee.

Wild plants that are poisonous!

Dogwood plants, but not the berries.

The wild rose plant, not the hips

RED elderberries. Purple ones are okay.

And whole lot of other things. If you don't know what it is, don't eat it.

What the caterpillar sees as the end of its life...

The butterfly knows is only the beginning. -author unknown