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!

I've long ago stopped growing tender bulbs such as Cannas or Dahlias right in the open ground. These go in big containers, so wintering is a breeze. They get a light frost or two, get hauled indoors, cut back and stuck down in the basement until spring. Occasional watering (maybe once every 3 or 4 weeks) will prevent the roots from shriveling, yet also allow a winter rest or dormancy. In spring the pots get hauled to the light upstairs for a bit of a head start before putting outside again around tomato-planting time.

If you've planted tender bulbs and wonder what they need for successful winter storage, check out "Storing Tender Bulbs and Bulblike Structures" from the University of Minnesota Extension Service. They list pretty much all the exotic, tender bulbs commonly encountered and give very easy but precise storage instructions.

Scott, our amazing website programmer, recently modified our plant profile pages to make them more print-friendly. They now fit nicely onto one page -- perfect for printing and organizing into binders when doing your garden planning over the winter months. How do you find these pages? By using the various search features on the left side of our www.perennials.com homepage. Early in the New Year we will be adding hundreds of new perennials to the database. Never a dull moment!

"There is much to be said about autumn and the garden! I must be honest and say that it is a sad time of gardening for me and it takes forethought to provide the colour and interest to keep me enthused and my spirits up at a time when the growing season comes to a close.
Just as my garden has many rooms it also has many dresses too, each one with its own colour and style. As you said, 'Autumn is such an under-appreciated season in the perennial garden', but if you take a second look there really is a lot to appreciate. In autumn when I look out at my garden I see changes in foliage that come only within this season. Maturing grasses, vines of hops and Virginia creeper, hostas and ferns, give colour changes that allow us to appreciate this season. The speedwell's tall stems of dark green leaves now turn to a hue of yellow green that compliment the last blooms of deep purple. Clematis blooms have given way to fluffy poms peeking out from golden foliage -- saucy ghosts by the door. Late flowering perennials such as the autumn Chrysanthemum, Physalis alkekengi (Chinese Lantern), Heliopsis, sedums, Sneezeweed, Rudbeckia, autumn stonecrop and asters are now the main focal point of the garden -- the last colour before the blanket of winter snow arrives.
In our Zone 3 climate, now is the time to truly savour the end of the growing season. Each autumn I take pause to enjoy these last flowers even to the point of saving them from their frosty end with sheets for just a few more days of colourful blooms. With the annuals cleared away the perennials that are the backbones of my garden are clearly visible -- they stand boldly with the rocks and garden whimsies. The blades of ornamental grasses with plumes of seed heads become more prominent as they mature. I just love how the grasses look -- glad that their colour and form will stay until the spring returns. With autumn it is as though we're given one last chance to see just what our gardens have grown in the past summer season." Kathy -- Edmonton, Alberta

QUESTION: "I have a couple of beautiful Clematis vines in my garden. Should I be pruning them now?" Candace -- Barrie, Ontario

ANSWER: Clematis is a group of plants that our website does not really cover fully -- it's really a whole topic by itself, with the hundreds of amazing selections and species now available.

Our OCTOBER WINNER (drawn at the end of the month) is CHRIS of MARATHON, Ontario. Congratulations! Chris will be receiving a gift certificate for $50, redeemable for Heritage Perennials® at a Dealer of his or her choice.