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Carson's Nurseries
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 | Nursery By Design
The newly revamped Carson's Nurseries at 6607 S. Campbell in Springfield, Missouri, is something to see. The entrance invites customers into a flowing, curvilinear arrangement of plants leading up to the biggest gazebo we've ever encountered, one 260 feet in circumference and providing some 5,382 square feet of shade to protect Japanese Maple and other shade-loving plants.
|  | Mike at Work
Mike Jones, Carson's yard manager, likes what the nursery is doing these days in its plant inventory and design. "It's a lot of work," he says, "but it's worth it."
|  | The Gazebo Planter
What an idea--Carson's workers have turned the gazebo into a giant planter by filling the guttering with soil and planting flowers. The flowers are just peeping over the edge, but watch this space for pictures as they grow.
|  | JuLee at Work
"Should I look like I'm doing something?" asked JuLee Courtier, Carson's nursery manager, when we asked for a photo. She promptly set to work removing dead leaves from this striking 'Royal Purple' Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea buttiana). Bougainvilleas are ideal container plants. They bloom more profusely if pinched and if stressed by keeping them slightly rootbound and on the dry side. They also thrive in very bright light and high heat.
|  | 'Minnetonka' Rhododendron
The nursery's new owner is J.J. Cybulski, a young man who seems intent on offering gardeners interesting plant choices at very good prices. The 'Minnetonka' Rhododendron, for example, features deep green, glossy foliage and deep purple buds opening to light purple flowers with a lighter center and a bright greenish tone on the upper parts. It grows to 4-6 feet tall and 4-8 feet wide and blooms early to mid-May in sun or part shade.This picture and the following were all taken at the nursery's South Campbell location.
|  | 'Nova Zembla' Rhododendron
The 'Nova Zembla' Rhododendron (Rhododendron catawbiense grandiflorum) is an exceptionally hardy, heat-tolerant plant that bears a remarkable abundance of brilliant red blooms It grows to 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide and does best in part sun and with protection from north winds. This rhododendron hybrid is extremely popular and the species is native to Appalachia.
|  | 'Knockouts'
Carson's in early May had an exceptionally good selection of 'Knockout' series roses, reds, pinks, and doubles, all in excellent condition. The 'Knockout' shrub roses have literally swept the garden
world for ease of culture, unique beauty, fragrance, disease immunity,
and abundant blossoming into fall.
|  | Pink Knockout Rose
Introduced as the 'New Pink Knockout Rose', this beautiful rose is a sport of the original red-blossoming 'Knockout' shrub rose. Happily, it has all of its parent's virtues. And like all 'Knockout' roses, it does beautifully with as little as four hours of sun per day.
|  | 'Sorbet' Peony
Just beginning to bloom in mid-May, the 'Sorbet' Peony (Paeonia lactiflora 'Sorbet' ) is a recent introduction that bears an abundance of exquisite, double 5-7-inch-wide blooms in soft pink and white. The blossoms have a lovely light fragrance and the rich deep-green foliage turns reddish in fall. The plant is easy to grow and reaches 30 inches tall in full sun or partial shade.
|  | 'Camelot' Foxgloves
Just outside one Carson's greenhouse we found these beautiful 'Camelot' Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea hybrids). The series includes 'Camelot Rose' and 'Camelot Lavender'. This hardy perennial is the first F1 hybrid foxglove ever. What's an "F1 hybrid"? We had to look it up and learned that an F1 hybrid plant is the "first generation offspring of two plants of closely related species or strains." (The "F" stands for"filial," which means "brotherly.") What's good about F1 hybrids? They're generally more vigorous than other hybrids. Now, all that said, 'Camelot' Foxgloves have spectacular flushes of bloom, grow to 4 feet tall, and do best in well-drained soil in shady beds and borders.
|  | Summer Snapdragon
Summer Snapdragon (Angelonia angustifolia) is another Carson's greenhouse goodie and a plant that every Ozarks gardener needs to know. Why? Because it's airy and gorgeous in the garden, blooms like crazy all season long, and despite its delicate appearance tolerates heat and drought. It comes in blue, pink, lavender, white, and blue-and-white bicolor. The plant can grow to 18 inches tall and 14 inches wide. It blooms best in full sun but does well in part shade, too, and prefers humus-rich, well-drained soil. A winner all the way.
|  | Ground Orchid
The Ground Orchid (Bletilla striata) is beloved by many gardeners for its light-green lance-like foliage and delicate lavender-purple-pink flowers in April and May. Once rare, the plant is a true terrestrial orchid. It thrives in part shade and moist, rich, well-drained soil, growing to 1-1/2 feet tall and a foot wide. It's good in beds, borders, and containers. Other common names: Chinese Ground Orchid and Hardy Chinese Orchid.
|  | 'Songbird Cardinal' Columbine
'Songbird Cardinal' Columbine (Aquilegia 'Songbird' Series) is an exceptionally beautiful columbine that bears very large, upward-facing, burgundy-and-white bicolor flowers. The plant grows 1 1/2-2 feet tall with a 1 foot spread. It likes rich, moist soil and blooms in full sun or part shade in April and May. It's especially striking in borders, cottage gardens, shade gardens, and woodland gardens. This plant won the Award of Garden Merit of the Royal Horticultural Society in 2003. Note: The name Aquilegia comes from the Latin word for eagle, referring to the flower's five spurs, thought by some to resemble the talons of an eagle.
|  | Bougainvillea Planting
We're not sure of the varietal name of this Bougainvillea, but we love the way it cascades from this simple pot. Bougainvillea are thorny, woody vines native to South America. The colorful "flowers" are actually bracts, modified leaves that protect the flower, which is small and inconspicuous. The plant and its many hybrids come in hues of pink, magenta, purple, red, orange, white, or yellow. It grows wonderfully well in the Ozarks, providing color all season long.
|  | Bougainvillea x buttiana
This unique Bougainvillea is a hybrid in the famed Bougainvillea x buttiana series, plants known for their smaller, more "shrubby" habit and remarkable colors. We didn't find the varietal name for this one, but a little research suggests it may be Bougainvillea peruviana x buttiana 'Mary Palmer'. In any event, its wonderfully subtle coloration makes it a real winner.
|  | 'Brise d'Anjou' Polemonium
'Brise d'Anjou' Polemonium (Polemoniaceae caeruleum 'Brise d'Anjou)--also known as Variegated Jacob's Ladder--is the answer to a gardener's prayer for bringing new life to the shade garden. Native to France, polemoniums thrive in partial to full shade and fertile, moist, well-drained soil. This hybrid grows to 18-24 inches tall and as wide and bears violet-blue flowers in late spring to midsummer. A centerpiece plant, to be sure.
|  | 'Sun Power' Hosta
Considered by hosta aficionados among the most desirable gold hostas, 'Sun Power' tends to sell out early in the season, if you can find it at all. Its yellow, wavy, twisted and pointed leaves hold their color extremely well in sun or shade. It grows to 30 inches tall and 62 inches wide. Its vase-shaped habit and unusual height make it a real eyecatcher in the garden. Note: Morning sun intensifies the gold, but hot afternoon sun can damage the plant.
|  | 'Evergold' Carex
'Evergold' Carex (Carex oshimensis 'Evergold') is a sedge plant native to Japan that likes wet-to-medium-wet soil and part shade. Its cream-and-green colors are more intense in the shade, but full shade can send the plant into decline. Growing to a foot tall and 1 1/2 feet wide, its compact habit makes it an eyecatching winner at the front of the border. In May, it bears brown flowers.
|  | 'Island Charm' Hosta
'Island Charm' is a small, vigorous hosta with nicely formed leaves yellow in the center and margined with green. The leaf centers gradually turn white as it grows quickly and vigorously into a neat clump about a foot tall and 21 inches wide. In midsummer it bears pinkish-lavender flowers that produce pink seedpods. Praised by some experts as the best white-centered hosta to appear in years, it's ideal especially for edging.
|  | Bishop's Weed
A perfect plant for containers, Bishop's Weed (Aegopodium podagraria) can spread wildly in the garden, smothering other plants and becoming nearly impossible to control. Also called Gout Weed for its use in the past in treating gout, the plant grows about 12 inches high in almost any soil and prefers partial shade but will grow in full sun if kept moist. It's an excellent groundcover for steep slopes, around trees, and wherever it can spread without creating problems. This variegated variety, A. podagraria 'Variegata', is much more popular than the solid green plant.
|  | New Guinea Impatiens
New Guinea Impatiens (Impatiens x hawkeri) are sunloving impatiens noted for gorgeous flower and foliage color and a compact habit that makes them perfect for the garden or container, and they're especially effective in hanging baskets. This bicolor variety of the annual plant exemplifies the remarkable colors and color blends hybridizers are producing today. We're not sure, but we think the varietal name of this one is 'Celebration Rose Star'.
|  | Japanese Fleece Flower
Japanese Fleece Flower (Fallopia japonica 'Variegata') is a perennial with attractive heart-shaped variegated foliage. It grows in shade or partial shade and does best with morning sun. It likes moist, well-drained soil and forms clumps 36-48 inches tall and 24-36 inches wide. New growth is pinkish-coral in color and the stems are pink. In late summer it bears white flowers.
|  | Good Grasses
With ornamental grasses soaring in popularity, Carson's has a good selection at what seem unusually good prices. Shown here are Graziella Maiden Grass, Adagio Dwarf Maiden Grass, New Zealand Crown Sedge, Blue Dune Lime Grass, Hamelin Dwarf Fountain Grass, and Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass. To see how some of these and other grasses look when mature, click here.
|  | Verbena Basket
The trailing habit of Verbenas makes them superb in hanging baskets. This variety is likely 'Purple Homestead' (Verbena canadensis 'Purple Homestead'), a big favorite in our climate. It features beautiful dark purple flowers all season, prefers full sun, tolerates some drought, grows to 6-12 inches tall and 3 feet wide, and attracts bees, butterflies and birds. It's also perennial in the Ozarks, being hardy to -10 degrees. It's clearly a winner.
|  | Planters
You could almost call this mix of plants--coleus, petunias, etc.--an English Cottage Garden in a Box. We'd never thought of it, so we could also call it a result of thinking outside the box. We like this nursery's resourcefulness.
|  | Pink Mandevilla
Mandevillas are much loved in the Ozarks for their lush tropical colors and character. Thriving in our hot, humid summers, they produce glossy green twining vines 15-20 feet long and gorgeous flowers all season. As shown here, they're superb container plants when staked to allow some height. They'll also grow in the garden in full sun to light shade and soil kept moist. We think this plant is Mandevilla 'Alice du Pont' (Mandevilla x amabilis 'Alice du Pont'), also called Pink Mandevilla, a favorite for its luscious, soft-pink blossoms.
|  | Rocks, Too
Even though we grow bumper crops of rocks in the Ozarks--they're everywhere--it isn't that easy to find the real beauties for our gardens and landscapes. Carson's, though, has some dandies. Bravo, we say. And hey, we'll bet they'll even deliver.
|  | 'Striptease' Hosta
Many gardeners think 'Striptease' the most striking hosta yet, and in fact its remarkable color pattern, leaf shape, compact habit, and other qualities earned it the Hosta of the Year award in 2005. A knowledgable gardener tells us the name comes not from the seemingly obvious, but from the "teasing" strip of color down the center of each leaf. 'Striptease' likes partial sun and shade, grows rather quickly to 2 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide, and, obviously, is a perfect focal point in any shade garden.
|  | 'Endless Summer' Hydrangea
The 'Endless Summer' Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla 'Endless Summer') is the answer to a gardener's prayer--the first hydrangea to bloom from June till frost. It blossoms on both old and new wood and the flower clusters are up to 8 inches across and pink to medium blue depending on soil acidity. The blooms attract bees, butterflies, and birds and are also ideal for cutting and drying. The plant is compact, grows to 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide, and does best in full sun to partial shade with moist soil--i.e., don't let it dry out.
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