This tall yellow wildflower loves the heat and seems to laugh at drought. Five or six feet tall on sturdy stems, Wild Senna (Senna hebecarpa) has typical pinnate Pea Family foliage but the individual flowers are more open than typical in the family. Wild Senna belongs to an early-evolved branch of the Pea family tree. The… Continue reading Wild Senna Beats the Heat
Category: Featured Plants
Upland White Aster
All the hot weather in July has brought on the bloom of Upland White Aster and very pretty it is, a neat, relatively low-growing aster, with shining white flowers. I thought I had better label my pots of young Upland White Aster, just in case anyone, inspired by the blooming plants in the garden, wanted… Continue reading Upland White Aster
Talinum: a pretty, hardy succulent
The long, blistering-hot dry period we just went through proved the garden value of a pretty, hardy succulent from the American mid-west. Rock Pink (Talinum calycinum) is a member of a genus which includes some summer-rain-intolerant species from the Rockies, collectively called Fame Flowers. We are growing Rock Pink for the first time this year.… Continue reading Talinum: a pretty, hardy succulent
Kalm’s St. John’s Wort
A really lovely, small, summer-flowering shrub that I am sure many people would want in their gardens, if only they knew it. With fine-textured foliage, a hardy and adaptable disposition, and conical orange seed pods which continue the show through August, Kalm’s St. John’s Wort hardly needs more appeal, but I can add that it… Continue reading Kalm’s St. John’s Wort
Small-flowered Sundrops
It is difficult to convey in a photo the great charm of Small-flowered Sundrops (Oenothera perennis). I was heartened recently when some discerning customers at the nursery made a bee-line to it. Compared to the enormous luminous flowers of Ozark Sundrops (Oenothera macrocarpa), or the great flower masses of citrine yellow of Common Sundrops (Oenothera… Continue reading Small-flowered Sundrops
Shining Rose
Another wild rose we are propagating at Beaux Arbres is Shining Rose (Rosa nitida), also known as Maritime Rose. I collected the seed for this species in Nova Scotia. I understand it occurs in Quebec along the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore but it does not occur naturally in the Ottawa valley. I particularly like… Continue reading Shining Rose
Wild Roses
Smooth Rose (Rosa blanda) is in full bloom at Beaux Arbres. We carry three species of wild rose: Smooth Rose, Shining Rose (Rosa nitida) from the Maritimes, and Virginia Pasture Rose (Rosa virginiana). All are beloved by bees.
Sun-loving Violets
by Trish Murphy This article was originally published in OHS News, April, 2018, the newsletter of the Ottawa Horticultural Society. One of the things we think we know about violets is that they grow in shade, shyly, among mossy rocks. The other thing we think we know about violets is that they invade lawns. Many… Continue reading Sun-loving Violets
What did well in the garden this year
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) loves sogginess in the spring, so it’s no surprise that this was a great year for the tall, red, hummingbird favourite. More surprisingly, Bird’s Foot Violet (Viola pedata) was another species that did well this year, This is a violet for sun and infertile, sandy soil. That is what it gets… Continue reading What did well in the garden this year
Beaux Arbres Plantes Indigènes / Native Plants 