Heritage Perennials® are grown by Valleybrook Gardens, an innovative and leading producer of over 1500 varieties of perennials, hardy ferns and ornamental grasses. Our distinctive blue pots of HERITAGE PERENNIALS® are available from independent retailers and dealers in many parts of Canada and the USA. We're passionate about perennials! We hope this newsletter helps you to enjoy your perennial gardening even more.

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Our best-selling book, the Perennial Gardening Guide is a handy reference used by gardeners across North America — written by our own Horticulturist, John Valleau. Released March/2003 in a brand new 4th edition!

The first plantings I saw (right outside the airport doors) were some rather sad-looking clumps of Agapanthus (Lily-of-the-Nile), but since these don't generally survive outside at home, they seemed exciting nonetheless. Coming across these at an airport, I should have known that they're the California version of Sedum Autumn Joy -- one of those plants that gets used nearly to the point of overkill. Still, the Agapanthus remained an exotic point of interest to my eyes throughout the trip, with their ball-shaped heads in every imaginable shade of blue as well as graceful white ones.

Sacramento and San Francisco enjoy a Mediterranean climate, with arid summers and fairly moist but mild winters. It was immediately obvious that gardening without irrigation is not easy and is rarely done. Water must be cheap, because people water literally every square inch of their properties, and they water often -- otherwise, everything would look like the dry golden hillsides that are the earmark of the native landscape. There are a small number of people utilizing native California plants in their gardens, particularly in botanical garden demonstration areas, but these drought-tolerant plants were seldom evident in the groomed and pampered confines of irrigated borders.

If I had to choose the most fantastic garden of the trip, without a doubt it was The Ruth Bancroft Garden, located in Walnut Creek. This public garden is almost entirely made up succulents of every size and shape, including the variegated Agave pictured above. From huge cactus to low scrambling plants, the colors and textures were so exotic and appealing. What a treat to see these plants growing in the ground instead of containers, and achieving their true size and character! If you're even in the San Francisco area, it's only about a 45 minute drive northwest of the city -- an absolute must see. So, what did I come home with? A sense that gardeners in every region take full advantage of the conditions at hand, but they also like to push the limits as much as possible. For me, just being able to see plants that I'm used to growing as tender container specimens -- thriving and reaching their full potential in an outdoor garden environment -- was a marvelous experience, and one that I can remember for a long time through the many slides I took during those few days. Some highlights of the trip will be posted shortly in our Picture Perfect gallery.

Well, this month's entry pile is deep and full of terrific dog-training ideas! Here is a sampling from the winning entries.

"The Dog's Guide to Gardening:
Relieving oneself in the garden = Amending the soil.
Scarfing down huge quantities of newly mown grass and then relieving oneself in the garden = Composting.
Running through the garden at top speed for no apparent reason = Animal/rodent deterrent; letting all wildlife know that you can be everywhere at once.
Digging in the flower beds = Preparing a hole for new plants.
Grabbing plants, shaking them and then throwing them somewhere = Dividing and transplanting.
Making off with gardening tools = Subtle hint to your owner that they've worked in the garden enough for one day -- time for a walk.
Destroying a plant = Providing an opportunity for your owner to buy themselves something new or providing constructive criticism regarding a planting combination.
Chewing a plant off at the base = Encouraging new growth from the bottom.
Rolling in the garden = Discouraging weed growth.
Chewing off major portions of a shrub = Pruning and encouraging a second flush of blooms." Linda -- Conestogo, Ontario

"My dog Toby is not perfect: he steals stuff from the veggie garden -- peppers and squashes to chew on. Yesterday, he harvested a lovely just-about-ripe cantaloupe that I'd been waiting for. I managed to salvage it before he could do major damage to it. He makes up for his mischievous traits by hunting down rabbits that wreck the garden and muskrats that pull out my pond plants. He is an amazing hunter: he kills a few rodents every week and has even caught squirrels. This won't suit the tender-hearted but it pleases us, especially because there has been a plague of rabbits this summer." Yvonne -- Ancaster, Ontario

"My tips for gardening with dogs:
Have paths that are distinct for your dog to know where he should go and where he shouldn't.
Make sure there are places for him to lounge and play in your garden.
Use (horticultural) lime in springtime where the pee spots are, then seed.
Walk your dog every day. A tired dog is a good dog.
Bond with your dog. A dog that has successfully bonded will do just about anything to please you.
Have toys for your dog. When your dog is playing or destroying something that you would rather not have him do, say "no", give him an acceptable toy and tell him "good dog". They catch on very fast.
Realize that gardens are quite resilient and that no garden is ever perfect. Have fun with your garden and your dog. Helen -- Belleville, Ontario

• Storing Dahlia Tubers for Winter
• Overwinter Storage of Summer-flowering Bulbs, concise but thorough information from bulbs.com, covering most types of exotic tender bulbs.
• Storing Tender Bulbs and Bulb-like Structures. Excellent detailed instructions. Includes many of the more exotic types.
• Canna Care, a very thorough guide to growing and storing these amazing bold-leaved plants.
• Winter Care for Tropical Bloomers has care instructions for Mandevilla and Brugmansia (Angel's Trumpet).
• Winter care of Flowering Maple (Abutilon).
• Everything you need to know about Growing Coleus, including how to take cuttings and wintering indoors. These instructions should work well for a wide range of other tender plants, including Alternanthera, Cuphea, Iresine, Tradescantia 'Purple Heart', Perilla, Plectranthus and a whole host of other nifty things we all bought this past spring.
• If you want to try carrying over your Ornamental Sweet Potato vines, these instructions for regular Sweet Potatoes should work. And yes, the tubers of ornamental types ARE edible!
• What most people know as Geraniums (more correctly called Pelargonium) can be stored in three different ways. See Overwintering Geraniums.
• Overwinter care of Passion Vines.
• Tips on Growing Rosemary Indoors. This should also work well for Lavender.
• Phormium Cultivation includes some advice on indoor winter care.

Rick Darke draws extensively from his own experiences gardening in southeastern Pennsylvania. This places him smack in the center of the eastern deciduous forest region, an area that originally covered most of the eastern half of the continent. Darke takes us through a journey of the forest, investigating the many complex systems that have evolved over time. After showing us what makes up a forest, we learn about woodland garden design, including creating various layers of vegetation, planning woodland walks and learning to think primarily about foliage texture. Darke rounds out the subject with extensive advice on planting and maintaining a woodland garden, and then finally provides an extremely thorough encyclopedia of woodland plants to consider. This book is packed full of absolutely stunning photos, taken by Rick Darke himself.