Often overlooked as a source of summer and fall color, the Hydrangea has become one of our most popular plants. Sold as a shrub, Hydrangeas are often too expensive to experiment with, and selection is limited. But at Rainbow Mums Perennials, Hydrangeas are all only $16.95, and we typically grow more than 15 varieties.

Hydrangeas respond to acid in the soil by enhancing their color. In neutral soil, most hydrangea will be varying shades of pink from soft baby pink to intense orange bordering on red. In acid soil depending on variety, hydrangeas can range from soft blue to almost purple. Landscapers have confirmed that our hydrangeas start up quicker, and bloom better than larger more expensive plants they have tried.

We carry nine luscious varieties of Ground Covers. We have found that Pachysandra, Vinca, English Ivy, are all expensive to buy, slow growing, and impossible to propagate yourself. We have responded to our customers' requests for ground covers by nearly tripling the varieties that we are growing for them this year. Our new selections are easy to grow, increase rapidly, and are easy to propagate so you can increase the number of your own plants just about whenever you want.

Sedum have been steadily gaining popularity over the years because they thrive in full sun, and dry conditions away from the house and the hose. We grow different varieties every year usually about 15 low growing, and 10 or more upright sedums.

Prized for their interesting colored foliage, sedums offer an array of blooms from pure white, varied yellows and pinks to hot pink thru red. Bloom times are from early spring thru late fall. The upright sedums are striking in their form even before they flower, and the colors they produce in fall are the perfect accent in any New England garden. Add hens and chicks to your order for tucking into walls between rocks where there is almost no soil and a must for any rock garden.

Encouraged by popular demand, we've discovered an exciting way to add new variety and texture to the garden: ferns! It only took a year or two of raising our own plants, and seeing the more mature specimens for us to realize how easy they were to grow, and just how beautiful, even majestic they can become in the shade garden, or just naturalized in a woodland setting. We have at least fifteen distinctly different, colorful native ferns that are displayed in our shade house opposite the main nursery. All of our ferns are mature specimens that have survived winter here and will thrive in a shady moist area. Ferns $14.95

What makes astilbes so popular is the delicate and striking beauty of their feathery blooms in combination with their beautiful and unique foliage. Astilbes possess finely divided, glossy, sometimes fragrant leaves, that are resistant to most insect pests and deer. Their roots are ignored by rodents. They can survive minus 30 degrees and still grow and flourish in a wide variety of moist shady environs. We have some astilbes on our propery in the same spot for nearly 25 years!

For 2011 we have tripled the number and the varieties of astilbes we are offering for sale. As always, the plants are exceedingly full and healthy and may be divided as soon as next year. Astilbes $14.95