Garden Walks with Judy: A trip to the garden center

Happy Mother’s Day. I wish flowers for all of you.

This week, I took a couple of garden walks in what might be considered dangerous places. Places where you need to keep your money hidden and your mind clear, where temptations rule and rational minds simply sleep.

The walks I took were through the aisles of two garden centers. It isn't possible to resist buying and then buying more when you are surrounded by thousands of beautiful, colorful plants. I always come back with much more than I can plant in my small garden or put in pots on the deck.

Nevertheless, I stopped at Iowa City Landscaping because their sign said lilac bushes for sale. Of course, I don’t live where I could plant a lilac bush, but that was not going to stop me.

Lilacs have to be the best spring fragrance, and I wasn’t disappointed when I found them. Some of the bushes were the old-fashioned kind, with dark purple, lavender, or antique white flowers. More modern ones claimed that with the right conditions and diligent care, they might bloom again mid-summer.

More: Garden Walks with Judy: The spring tulip bloom

Camilla Dykstra, General Manager, took time away from moving some new evergreens to lead me to the peonies and roses. We talked about the yellow peony which was quite a sensation when it was discovered a dozen years ago.

I was looking for another newer peony, Lauren, which was introduced in 1999, but I did not see it. It has delicate pink petals with a fluffy white center and blooms mid-season. It is a little different but would blend nicely with the others that have been around for nearly a century.

The David Austen roses caught my eye next. I loved all their names — Emily Brontë, Desdamona, Charlotte. Olivia was my favorite, as it was a delicate white with just a slight perfume.

Here is a little history on a rose that has been around since it traveled west on the Oregon Trail. Around the first week in June, this rose called “Harrison Yellow” (sometimes only one r)will be covered with yellow blooms. It has this show once a season and then becomes a beautiful bush. Supposedly, this is the “Yellow Rose of Texas.”

One of my favorite garden centers is located at the Drug Town parking lot on Rochester Street and First Avenue in Iowa City. Barb Schintler, who works there, is great with customers, and as a Master Gardener, she really knows plants. She found the very last “Early Girl” tomatoes for me. These medium-sized and sweet tomatoes come along in mid-July. They are also indeterminate, so you should be eating them deep into fall.

I found some more peonies here. They would make a wonderful Mother’s Day gift. They bloom in early June in glorious colors, such as deep red, pristine white, delicate pink, and bright yellow. I found one called “Julia Rose.”  This is a vigorous peony, tall with light pink petals and a very fluffy center.

Both these garden centers were filled with annuals like wave petunias, dark purple pansies, red and white geraniums, plus all the trailing greens such as ferns and vinca. Perennials, too, like the Iowa City flower chosen a few years ago, the Black-eyed-Susan.

This plant, often called cone-flower or echinacea, is in the Rudbeckia family and is supposed to promote courage and motivation.

Good choice.

Question? Comment?  Email me at Walkswithgarden@gmail.com

Judy Terry is a freelance garden writer who hopes to lead you through many fantastic gardens.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Garden Walks with Judy: A trip to the garden center