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.

Last month I mentioned some excellent berry-producing shrubs for fall and winter interest. Catherine from Regina, SK quite rightly pointed out that my perspective was just a little bit too geared towards Zone 6. She asked me for a few good berry producers for her colder Zone 2 region.

Below are some very sturdy shrubs and small trees with nice berries or fruit. Most are of a size that works well in the mixed border, combined with perennials of all kinds. As a bonus, including these in the garden is a terrific way to attract various birds for closeup viewing. Check out this link to the PFRA Nursery near Indian Head, SK, for detailed information and photos.

• Peking Cotoneaster
• Cranberry Cotoneaster
• Buffalo Berry
• Sea Buckthorn
• Turkestan Euonymus
• Flowering Crabapple
• High-bush Cranberry (pictured above)
• Red-twig Dogwood
• Hawthorne
• Shrub roses (Rugosa types, especially)
• Mountain Ash
• Snowberry

There were some excellent ideas for gadgets that make perennial gardening easier, just in time for your holiday shopping. Here are a few of the best:

"I found a pair of scissors called 'Cut & Hold'. The cutter is inserted into a 1/2 inch plastic blade so when you are cutting flowers or trimming a plant it is cut and held -- nothing drops in the garden bed. As I am a brand new perennial gardener I thought this was a great idea." -- Margaret, St. Catharines, ON

"Having just come in from raking leaves, I wish to submit the Garden Grabber and its Bag Butler for your contest. I have had this item for about 5 seasons now. Initially, I thought it was a gimmick, but the more I use it, the more I think of it. The Bag Butler holds the bag upright and wide open. The Grabber allows you to reach into the pile, grab up a large bunch of leaves, then place them into the bag, all quickly and easily (as the ad says), with no bending and little effort." -- Gary, Port Colborne, ON

"Your do-it-yourself finial hose guide (last month) prompted me to enter your contest. I had the same dilemma this summer and found the perfect product, called the Pigtail Hose Guide and Sprayer. It is made of mild steel (better than wood!) and has a baked-on green polyester powder coat finish. I cannot tell you enough how easy it is to push in the ground with your foot. You can also attach your sprayer and hose to it to spot water your flowers. -- Marilyn, North Vancouver, BC)

"My favorite garden gadget is my large garden trug. I use it for everything -- it's light weight, bendable and can withstand the abuse of my 4 year old. Couldn't live without it." -- Sarah, Toronto, ON

"I have a handy, dandy tool from Lee Valley Tools called a Japanese Farmer's Knife (see picture, above). I use it to get out weeds with long tap roots and as a trowel for planting small bedding plants and bulbs. It has a ruler on the blade so it can be used to gauge how far apart to plant or how deep, and the serrated edge is useful for dividing the roots of tough perennials. All in all, I find it's one of my favourite gardening tools." -- Anne, Bowen Island, BC)

Trophytaker Daylilies are exceptionally useful summer bloomers. Rigorous field testing has pulled together a select group of varieties that are clearly a cut above most ones currently on the market. To qualify as a Trophytaker the plants must be beautiful, hardy over a wide range of climates and vigorous in habit. They must also have attractive foliage all season and good pest resistance. Most exciting of all, these are long-blooming selections that flower for a minimum of 42 days -- double the blooming time of the average Daylily. Seventeen varieties will be introduced in 2003 with more to follow in future years. The entire lineup may be seen at the Trophytaker Daylily site.

Susan asked me to pass along the fact that various kinds of Patrinia are considered to be the alternate hosts for this disease. Although not widely grown, if you have Patrinia in your garden it's not a bad idea to consider getting rid of it to help slow down the spread of this potentially serious rust problem.

Variegated plants (green leaves striped with white, for instance) are probably the worst kinds of perennials for reverting. There can be a variety of causes, including such things as heat or drought stress, old age, damage from harsh winter temperatures or a late spring frost. It might just be a temporary thing, the plant settling down after awhile and returning to its usual coloration. Sometimes unstable genes are to blame; when this happens, any sections of a variegated plant that return to all-green growth needs to be removed by carefully pruning them out. Left unchecked, these all-green sections are usually more vigorous in habit and will eventually provide competition and take over from the rest of the clump. Burgundy Glow Bugleweed is a plant like this, losing its bright pink and cream variegation after a number of years and becoming all bronze unless reverting shoots are regu larly culled out (removed) by the gardener.

The reverse can also occur, when an all-green plant suddenly produces a shoot or section with foliage that is variegated or perhaps golden yellow. This is known as sporting, and if the shoot is propagated and allowed to grow on its own, it is known as a sport. Sometimes such a plant will be fairly stable (i.e. without a tendency to revert badly) and unusual enough to put into commercial production. Many of the best variegated plants have appeared in home gardens in exactly this way. Some keen-eyed gardener has found and isolated a sport, given it a name and introduced it to other gardeners or commercial growers.

TO ENTER: give us the name of your perennial (as specific as possible) and tell us all about why you love it. Please, no entries for non-perennials (i.e. roses, shrubs, evergreens, etc). Put Best Perennial Contest in the subject line and send contest entries to: John Valleau. Entries must include a full name and postal address to be valid. Contact information will not be used for any purpose other than this contest, so your privacy is assured.