Plants of the Season: April - June

TREE: Prunus persicus ‘Redhaven peach'. If you want to have some top-quality large, sweet peaches from your back yard you will want to plant this variety. It is one of the most commonly planted backyard peaches because the fruit does not ripen all at once like most peach trees do. This means that the harvest is spread out and ideal for having fresh peaches on your breakfast cereal for about 3 weeks. These peaches can also be frozen or canned. This is a tree that has been around since 1940 when it was first introduced. For back yards it would be best to plant this variety on semi-dwarfing rootstock to keep the tree smaller. It is a freestone peach. The blooms are large, pink, fragrant and showy in mid spring and they attract bees and butterflies.

Redhaven is a fast-growing vigorous spreading tree and requires heavy pruning once established and thinning as it will set a lot of fruit. It is best to not allow fruit for the first couple of years to grow the tree structure. The Redhaven I planted had over 100 peaches in its third-year post planting thus living up to its reputation as a heavy bearer. The picture is one of a previous ‘Redhaven'.

VINE: Trachelospermum jasminoides ‘Star Jasmine' is a vine that can be used on a trellis or as a ground cover. It is a very fragrant flowering vine that blooms in late spring and early summer. The clusters of star-shaped blooms are petite and complemented by small, shiny evergreen leaves and it attracts bees.

Star jasmine is best planted in the spring and will grow quickly, often adding between 3 and 6 feet per year and can reach a height of 20 feet. However, the first year that the plant is getting established, it may expend much of its energy creating a strong root system and may not grow much above ground. It should be watered well until established but once established, the vine has good drought resistance. It should be planted in full sun although it will grow in partial shade. It blooms best in full sun. It does best in moist loamy soil. Prune star jasmine plants after they finish flowering to encourage new growth. Late summer or fall pruning may reduce flowering the following year. Star Jasmine can be propagated by taking 6 inch cutting immediately below a bud, applying rooting hormone powder and plant in a damp sand and potting soil mix. This picture is of Star Jasmine on a trellis used as a screen at my old home.

FLOWER: Hybrid tea rose ‘Black Magic'; There are well over 10,000 hybrid tea roses and the first one is generally acknowledged to be ‘La France' which was hybridized in 1867. It was created by crossing repeat blooming Chinese tea roses with other roses to create the hybrid tea. The tea in tea roses comes from the use of rose petals to create a tea in China. There are so many hybrid tea roses that are great to plant in your rose garden and others, too, such as polyanthas, grandifloras, and floribundas. Each type has an interesting history of its development by many dedicated rose breeders. For more information on types of roses see: https://www.rose.org/single-post/2018/06/11/rose-classifications . The ‘Black Magic' rose is notable for its velvety dark red petals. It is a world renowned and awarded rose that was bred by Rosen Tantau in 1995. It is a tall upright growing rose with excellent cut flowers.