Popular in the east are several Viburnum plicatum varieties. These are deciduous, they loose their leaves in the winter, and they prefer light or filtered shade.

We have a good-sized Viburnum plicatum mariesii in the ground that you can see under the deodar tree near the street. It is in full bloom right now. About 8’ tall it is covered with clusters of white flowers in wonderful layers. It will get into the 12 or 15’ range eventually.

Viburnum mariisii picture

We also have a smaller Viburnum summer snowflake tucked in there also. It isn’t as spectacular or as large growing but it has the benefit of blooming all summer long. It grows 6-8’ tall depending on how you train it.

viburnum summer snowflake pict

We also have in the nursery few Shoshone Viburnum. This is intermediate in size with larger flowers.

Generally you can divide the weed control problem into three areas. Perennial weeds, annual weeds, and tree seedlings.
Perennial weeds are those weeds that are growing from shoots, tubers or existing plants growing in the soil now. Bermuda, Nut Grass, Morning Glory and Oxali are typical examples. Here it takes identifying the weed and finding a chemical that will kill it.
Masters Kleen Up is often the answer. It works on Bermuda grass, Morning glory and most other perennial weeds, Monterey Weed Hoe works on Nut Grass applied regularly. Apply the correct chemical as often as you see the weeds growing.
For annual weeds germinating from seed we recommend a two pronged approach. A thick mulch of Forest Humus together with a pre-emergent like Amaze or Surflan will dramatically reduce the weed problem. The Mulch keeps most weeds from germinating by keeping them shaded. The pre-emergent keeps any new weed seeds from sprouting. The pre-emergent needs to be reapplied every 4-6 months; the mulch every 2 years.
As far as tree seedlings are concerned basically we still recommend hand weeding. Sorry!

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If that is true after the rain we had in early April, get ready for lots of color this May.

Some of the most conspicuous May flowers for Modesto are the many types of roses. I especially like using climbing roses in the small yards that are so common now. They give lots of color all summer long and don't take up much sq. footage. Our selection is chosen for maximum amount of color all summer long. My favorites include Cl. Sally Holmes, a single light pink to white; Cl. Eden, an English style double light pink; and Cl. Altissimo, a bold Chinese red single.

We are continuing to expand our selection of perennials in 4" pots with color as the main criteria. Tapien verbena, Bidens, Nemesia, Gold Coin, Scaevola are just a few of the plants we carry. In addition to color perennials we also have a great selection of grasses and other interesting plants for texture and line for pots and small spaces in the landscape.

I would like to invite you down to the nursery and see what new things we have. Check out the displays for new ideas and check out our street plantings for interesting combinations of plants and colors. Go into our perennial section for new plants. And as always Amy is busy putting together interesting combinations of plants in containers. There is always something new and different to look at.

At home Donna and I are slowly getting pieces of the yard set up as a Donna and Jim Garden. We removed one clump of junipers and replaced it with a mixed planting of one landscape rose (for a spot of sun) together with Phoenecia azaleas, Kanjiro sasanqua camellia, a couple of ferns with Australian violet ground cover and accents of Crimson Curls coral bells, carex, lamium and nemesia. We also cut holes in the remaining juniper screen and planted a Chinese dogwood and a Seiryu Japanese Maple.

I expect that we will continue cutting holes in the back side of the remaining juniper screen until we think we are ready to remove the entire bunch of Junipers

We have the best selection of pots and containers anywhere around. In addition to our direct import of pottery from Malaysia and China we bring in interesting containers from several other importers of pottery from Asia. This allows us to have the best selection of pots of all kinds and sizes.