Our MPC is stocked for spring
Like most of you, we have been anxiously anticipating an early start to the 2021 season. In past years, customers have often been reluctant to start taking plant material until later in spring, but I think we have all sensed for weeks that this year will be different. The culmination of the 2020 season, combined with big expectations for 2021, has made us more than a little impatient to get started. With that in mind, our Kenosha crews have been diligently working to fill up our Mariani Plant Center (MPC) over the past few weeks with fresh field-dug and outsourced B&B material, and we couldn’t be more excited about our lineup of readily available, above-ground trees and shrubs. Our MPC manager, Autumn Scott, individually selected and tagged most of the material that is now or will be available in the coming weeks.
For starters, we can’t stop talking about the 9’ Star Power Junipers that landed last week. The star-like foliage on this Johnson’s Nursery introduction may give it a delicate appearance, but this is a tough, adaptable, fast-growing cultivar that is drought- and pollution-tolerant. Star Power™ Juniper requires little pruning and makes an excellent, deer- resistant screen.
We have also just stocked 6’ and 7’ Cornus kousa and they look especially nice right now. Kousa Dogwood is a tree for every season, with its lovely exfoliating bark, long- lasting white flowers that bloom above the foliage in June, showy fruit, and burgundy- red fall color. Cornus kousa is a hardier alternative to Cornus florida. It works well as a small specimen tree or large shrub for residential areas.
Another one of Autumn’s top picks from the MPC is Viburnum ‘Mariesii’. This old-fashioned shrub, characterized by its unique horizontal branching pattern, will be blooming soon, with profuse masses of flat, white flowers appearing in April or May. Fall color is an attractive reddish purple.
Availability of Spruce, Pine, and Hemlocks is somewhat limited right now, but we will have Pinus strobus, Tsuga canadensis, Picea omorika, and Picea abies landing in the next two weeks. We also have Thuja ‘Green Giant’ arriving the week of April 5 th , and Chamaecyparis ‘Golden Mop’ will be in stock by mid-April.
If you have a lot of space in an area away from foot traffic, Liquidambar ‘Moraine’ will make a unique, large shade tree. ‘Moraine’ is a fast-growing, cold-hardy cultivar of Sweet-gum that is recommended for our area, with outstanding red fall color.
It’s not spring without blooming Magnolias, and we will have ‘Ann’, ‘Jane’, and Magnolia x soulangeana in stock in the MPC within the next week. We also have plenty of above-ground Maples that are ready to ship now, including State Street™, Redpointe®, Armstrong Gold®, and Fall Fiesta®.
Whether you are looking for a unique specimen plant or you need to complete a landscape job outside of traditional dig windows, our MPC, located at our Kenosha nursery, stocks above-ground plant material all season long. We have stocked our yard much earlier this spring than in the past, and we are ready to get a jump-start on the season!
