Hello from Sunlight Gardens, your premiermail order source for wildflowers, ferns, vines, perennials, and shrubs of eastern North America. We grow hardy, robust plants that will beautify your gardens and support a diversity of wildlife. We can help you succeed by providing you with solid information, a great selection, and high quality plants. Our plants grow! And rest assured that all our plants are entirely nursery propagated. Our goal for 2008 is to grow the best plants for you in the most sustainable way. One way we will conserve natural resources is to reduce the amount of materials we print - including our catalog. We no longer print a full color, glossy, 36 page catalog. Mailing, paper, and ink costs have sky rocketed along with oil and fuel prices. You can, however, download a copy of our 2007 handbook and catalog to your own computer, if you prefer, and print it out yourself. Our web site is secure. You can order on-line or if you prefer, you can print an order form or use the one in our price list, and send us your order via snail mail. And for those of you in the states to whom we cannot ship plants due to cost and agricultural restrictions (AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, NV, OR, UT, and WA), please feel free to download the pdf version of our handbook and study the web site for information purposes. All in all, we hope you will join us in our efforts to use less of our limited natural resources. Let's make this a better place for our children and all the other critters with whom we share this beautiful planet It’s another very dry summer here in east Tennessee. We’re way below on the rain again. The grass is crunchy and beige (there are some benefits to this, though) and pastures are dry and weedy. The spring woodland wildflowers are happily dormant. But wherever there is any extra water, the summer flowers are exuberant. Summer phloxes, Ironweed, Joe Pye weed and Cardinal flowers are ready in all the drainage ditches. However, the typical drought tolerant plants do not seem phased. Black-eyed Susans, coreopsis, coneflowers, alumroots, trumpet creepers, and butterfly weed are all thriving. The message is to plant for what your site can provide naturally. Mother Nature made drought tolerant plants for a purpose. Or if you are the type that likes to drag a hose around, be sure you are committed. This month, we are thinking of cool moist places to soothe our souls and hot feet. And we would surely want to have the wonderful plant, Dutchmans Pipevine (July’s featured plant), climbing through shrubs or on a trellis. In the wild it may climb 30 feet or more but in cultivation, it makes a nice large leaved vine suitable for screening. Its peculiar pipe shaped, brownish flowers are an added bonus. It is also the host plant for the pipe vine swallowtail butterfly. So after the hungry caterpillars ravage the leaves, you will see the lovely butterflies in late summer. Good companions for pipe vine would be Log Fern, Royal Fern, and Blue Zinger sedge. Just the thought makes me want to take a nice long nap in the cool, cool shade. |
| This Month's Featured Plant | |
Dutchmans Pipe Vine Dutchmans Pipe is a common vine in moist southern Appalachian hardwood forests in coves and along stream banks easily twining 20 to 30 feet high. It has been popular as a porch screen for ages because it is fast growing, has large heart shaped leaves, and has odd little flowers. The two inch pale brownish purple flowers are pipe shaped or s-shaped with a widely flaring triangular "mouth" perfect for catching careless flies. The curious looking early summer flowers are borne sparsely among the wide leaves. Try it on a trellis for screening or let it ramble among shrubs and trees. It likes good moist soil and can take either shade or sun. click here |
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| Good Companions for Dutchmans Pipe Vine | |
| Dryopteris celsa | Log Fern |
| Osmunda regalis | Royal Fern |
| Carex flacca 'Blue Zinger' | Blue Zinger Sedge |
| Search more lists: | |
| Native Plants | Showy Berries & Fruits |
| Good Fragrance | Evergreen |
| Good Fall Color | Semi-Evergreen |
| New This Year | |
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Our 2008 Price List will be mailed soon Request a Price List by mail or download a .pdf Price List (2.8 megs) Our 2007 catalog is available as a .pdf. Catalog: SunlightGardens2007.pdf (7.9 megs) Order Form: SunlightGardensForm.pdf (80 k) Browse our catalog alphabetically by either the latin or the common name. Match plants with your conditions of soil, light, water and more click here to search All our plant descriptions include the temperature zones in which each will thrive. Look at our Hardiness Zone map to determine which zone number matches your location.
Are deer a problem? These plants are generally not tasty to deer. Drought Tolerant Just getting started? Try something easy to grow. Got a green thumb? Want a challenge? Try something difficult or tricky. Or try something not too hard. |
