This past week I visited Zaino's Nursery in Westbury. It's a little known nursery and from the front you'd never know it but in the back they have the most wonderful selection of shrubs & trees.
The most delicious scent filled the air as I was walking past the Pieris japonica section. It wasn't hard to make a decision on which one to take home with me. 'Valley Valentine' had the most amazing color blooms and a nice strong scent. I chose the pot with the least opened blooms so I can enjoy it here for the rest of this month.
Just look at these buds and blooms, this shrub is covered with them. By the way, a well accepted nick-name for this plant is Japanese Andromeda. Here in my garden on Long Island they are very happy with our acidic soil and semi-shade conditions.
This weekend is chock full for us so I will only have a quick post on Sunday morning and will be back to visit all of you on Monday.
Have a great weekend!
19 comments:
melanie ! .. that looks like an awesome shrub to have .. I wonder if it is safe for my zone .. what scent does it remind you of ? .. and yes .. the "kids" are napping, so I'm in garden mode on here!
Joy
Hi Joy, the scent is really sweet, like grape candy to me. The site I checked said it's hardy to zone 5 and zone 4 in a protected site.
This variety gets large but they have lovely little dwarf specimens too. I have one out front and will take a photo when it blooms.
i did not know andromeda is a nickname for pieris. silly me. thanks for telling us! i love pieris. i hope mine does well down here in tennessee. mine is white but i do love the color on yours.
I just wanted you to know I've enjoyed reading your blog this week!
Have a bright and happy day! ☼
What a great purchase .I know this plant as the lily of the valley shrub. I can't grow this here since I'm a zone 8b bordering on 9. I'll just admire yours.
Hy Melanie!!!
In spite of the fact that these days I haven´t written any comment, I visited everyday!! It was becase my holidays finished and I had a lot of work to do but weekend is here again!!!.
I know that your daughter is actually at home !!, happy days !!!
Well, I love pieris too and I planted to around the pond three or five years ago and they look gorgeos!!! I am sure yours will be lovely just this spring!!
Best regards!
Hi Melanie
Your garden looks fantastic.
Regina
Beautiful! I love fragrant plants. Have you ever cut and brought it indoors in a vase? I've been enjoying the scent of my (& the neighbors') fruit trees in bloom...especially the apricot. There are a lot of orchards around me and the smell is wonderful.
Japanese Andromeda isn't listed for my zone, though. Probably just as well, I have very few open spaces at the moment.
Melanie,
Fragrance,beauty, and evergreen...that's a great bargain plant!
Gail
Lovely 1st purchase of the season.
Pieris is on my list to buy soon.
Regards
Karen
Tina, I find the nicknames harder than the botanical names! Sometimes people tell me the nickname and I'm totally stumped as to what plant they're talking about.
Tammy, thanks for the nice compliment!
Vanillalotus, I'm sorry, you're right that it won't grow for you. I'll try to post another photo later for you to enjoy :-)
Maria Jose, I'm coming by for a visit right now! My daughter is back at school but it was nice to see her and hug her. I love the fact that you grow Pieris Japonica in Spain!
Regina, thank you for being so complimentary, I visited your blog today and can see that I will need to come back and see more of your lovely garden in Germany.
Lin, what a great idea! I never thought of cutting a little bouquet of these but I'm going to do it first thing tomorrow morning.
Gail, yes, when you get more than one or two seasons of interest, you get a great plant.
Those little nurseries always seem to have the best stuff. I may be new to my area, but I know where all of the nurseries are already. I always check out all of them of course, but if I find anything I like I snap it up right away!
I saw one of the box stores in town already has plants sitting outside. It seemed funny to me since there is still snow on the ground. There's NO WAY that anyone's going to be able to plant anything yet!
Beautiful plant! I love colorful, fragrent plants. MMMM!
I wish I only bought one garden item this weekend. As it is I spent over $200 on containers and tools but since I have an apartment it's a neccessary evil.
It looks like little pink pearls.
Brenda
Oh...what a great choice! You bring back memories of the Amdromeda I had in my last garden. I think I will have to set out to find a new one for my Sweetside garden this Spring. The smell of this shrub is outstanding!
Carol
Terra Nova Design
I successfully killed two of them. They don't like being planted under an oak tree and they needed more water. I'm so glad to be moving!! My new gardens will be able to have one of these beauties. I may not get back online till next wednesday. You sound busy too--hugs your way.
Hi!!!
What a great surprise to know that you can understand Spanish!!
For your daughters:
Hola chicas!!! es un placer saber que estais estudiando español. Así que aquí me teneis para lo que necesiteis, soy profe!! Cuando querais algo no teneis más que decírmelo y estaré encantada de ayudaros.
Bye!!!!
I planted my first white pieris because I wanted an evergreen shrub. Back then I didn't even know yet that it's a blooming shrub. Then this spring I learned that there are also pink ones and I got some of those this week - they are really great shrubs.
i agree, nicknames can throw you.
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