Acer miyabei
Hardier than Acer campestre, to which it is most often compared, but of more appealing form and therefore requiring far less pruning in cultivation. Lacks the invasive character and obtrusive size of Acer platanoides. Very hard to find, it is an excellent urban tree. The best example in America (right) is at the Morton Arboretum in Chicago, a broadly upright tree at 30 ft. tall, dubbed State Street™. … a handsome plant by any measure.
Enkianthus perulatus
Rare, choice upright shrub with heather-like, pure white flowers borne in clusters in April/May. Slender branches complement small leaves, giving it a delicate texture worthy of specimen status in any garden. In the company of azaleas, Kalmia, and camellias, it prefers an acidic soil in partial shade, and puts on a show of fall color to rival any of the best.
January 2021
Dear Friends,
The prevailing sentiment seems to be that most are happy for 2020 hindsight. But while individuals and whole industries suffer the effects of Covid, we in the nursery trade are the beneficiaries of most people staying home and upgrading their “family space” - indoor and out.
For nurseries and garden centers, does it get better than this? Probably not, but not worse for plenty of reasons. Consider these few:
Current nursery liner purchases are for sale more than a year out, on average. So it seems a great investment to pursue a growth strategy within your area of expertise and market niche. Buy liners now, or reconcile your business to a SOLD OUT sign on the door. Pretty obvious … it’s decision time. Lots of value items to choose from in this list. Take the time to give us a call about any items of interest.
Browse this list and book your order with us as soon as you feel confident of your budget, labor and space limits. Add to your present order when other liner suppliers cut your order with them in half. Trust us to be your reliable supplier with the integrity you have come to know from Heritage for 40 years.
From our family to yours, have a safe and HAPPY holiday season.
Mark, Jolly and Staff
Late Fall 2020
Dear Friends,
Happy Thanksgiving from Oregon! We choose to be thankful for all our many blessings … especially in this year of challenges to our sanity like none other.
Here in Oregon, we’re happy because wildfire is no longer on our doorstep, and the 2-week pall of choking smoke is behind us. Election ads are over; whew! We get to work outside where Covid risks are reduced. And almost all of us have had a banner production and sales year.
It seems that the fall colors are more vivid this year than ever, and our staff have been AMAZING, covering for each other and adapting to daily issues with calm and wisdom.
We note your orders with us to date are far earlier than in seasons past, a result of big bumps in garden center demand and low-interest rate housing construction. So it brings us to our own availability.
Like you, we’re sold out of a lot of items. So consider the many line items below - before many of those, too are booked.
Fact is, as supplies tighten, it’s an opportunity, right? Take a calculated, careful risk: choose a selection of new items to engage your customers on items that may offer each of you a chance for more profit, items in addition to the commodity stuff. Substitutes and new choices offer us all that chance to discover for ourselves and our clients those gems we may overlook within plain sight. This is our specialty after all, so trust us to help you make appropriate choices for your zip code and your own market niche.
On Veteran’s Day there was a news feature about an Iowa fellow still flying his small plane –the oldest pilot in the world at age 99. Jolly and I were struck by his parting video comment, essentially: “Take a risk, and keep going forward.” …. wise advice from a fellow who has the experience to know.
So take a risk on some new items and depend on us for the basics, too. Order ahead for next season if you must.
We’ve got your back.
Mark, Jolly and Staff
Cornus kousa var. chinensis 'Snow Tower'®
A perfect street tree, given its narrow form - only 7 to 8 ft. wide after many years. In smaller landscapes, its columnar habit minimizes the likelihood of its crowding out other trees and perennials. Bear in mind all the additional features you've come to expect from Chinese Dogwood:
Finally, with its columnar shape, you can stuff more containers into a can yard or field – more profit per square foot than for spreading trees.
Betula nigra Heritage® 'Cully'
These lightly branched field transplants will explode with new growth next spring, so pot them up in a #10, at least. Triple them up in a #20, or plan for a mix of sizes to fit your own sense of demand.
Compacted or wet soils are often a challenge for landscape firms, so it pays to have these dependable trees ready for sale year-round at a handsome profit.
Ask for more details on additional items we still have before supply gets tight.
For 2021, consider two American native trees noted below, one full size and one diminutive, more shrub-like.
Enhance your landscape tree selection. Keep loyal customers interested, reminded why they depend on you for the best in woodies, the newest varieties and the tried & true classics - hard to find connoisseur items that you can price at a significant premium.
Aesculus parviflora
Bottlebrush Buckeye is a
large shrub, usually 8-10 ft. tall. It tolerates deep shade and bears striking,
upright narrow bottle brush-like blooms of gorgeous white set against the late
spring foliage. Disease-free leaves perfectly accent the flowers. This is a
surprisingly hard to find plant for a garden corner or border beneath larger
trees, and makes excellent songbird nesting habitat. Although its small stature
might suggest a tender nature, it’s remarkably hardy, tolerating winter lows to
- 31°F.
Count on Heritage to offer this unusual native annually, but reserve your
supply early, since we almost always sell out. This is a choice American native
to reserve for your best customers.
Liquidambar styraciflua 'Gold Beacon'
Unique golden foliage in
this American native sets it apart from all other sweetgums. Foliage emerges
light green and quickly changes to golden color without summer leaf scorch.
Autumn foliage is red and orange; growth is only a little slower than typical of
the species.
Sweetgums aren’t head-turners, given their widespread landscape use and
familiarity, but visitors to our greenhouse facility landscape always ask what
it is, having never seen such a healthy specimen of bright golden color and
no burnt foliage.
Simply put, this tree sells itself, but you do have to get them into your
inventory. Have us set aside yours today – give us a ring, or reserve them with
our online order form.
Dear Friends,
To choose just two focus plants from our wide selection of amazing woodies is a challenge. So for fast-turn varieties, our staff chose 3-4 feet tall trees that highlight these characteristics always in robust demand:
COLOR: Acer shirasawanum Moonrise™ 'Munn 001' PP16,718
Among hundreds of varieties of Japanese maples, this remarkable variety is distinguished for its orange-red new growth and completely trouble-free nursery performance. Field visitors here see it from a hundred yards off with, "What's THAT?"
Such a classy maple merits pairing with an upscale container: perhaps a cedar box or large glazed pot set by a front entry or on the deck below a kitchen window. For the field, consider a grow bag or pot-in-pot for year-round sales.
FLEXIBILITY: Carpinus betulus 'Fastigiata'
Let's put it this way: have you ever seen a dead one? Drought tolerant, soil adaptable, dependable, and a vigorous grower, it's the one nursery "fullback" tree performer that picks up 6 yards on every carry. These whips are prime candidates for you to line out or pot up for '21 sales in #5-7 pots. Demand for these liners has tripled in the recent few years, as growers experience their low labor input cost and complete sell-through.
May, 2020
Dear Friends,
Seems like early April was ages ago, given the constant drumbeat of negative news on the virus and unemployment numbers. So we want to give you a detailed update from Heritage …
Here, we insist that each staff member:
The same small workgroups work together daily. This facilitates tracing if someone becomes ill. So far, we’ve found these measures effective. We continue otherwise normal operations.
The good news:
We want to reassure you that we are all-in this season, transplanting a record number of liners from plugs and smaller liners from last year’s crop so you’ll have a plentiful supply of items in several sizes. We’ve continued to replace outdated equipment, renovate our entire softwood cutting bench operation, irrigators in greenhouses, nozzles and valves in hoops, and keeping up with sanitary measures so you don’t get weeds or pests with our product. We’re upgrading staff training all the time and feel we now have our best group of managers and crew ever. Moreover, we have brought back more than a hundred items that we used to grow, but dropped in recent years due to limited sales. We’ll offer these “Connoisseur Plants” in limited quantities of 750 to 1,500 each. So look for that list later this summer and get your order in early for any that jump off the page. We’ll introduce quite a few new plants of our own selection in the seasons to come – columnar forms or unique items that have no trade equivalent.
This is an exciting place to work. We appreciate our staff and our customers; we love the plants, and Oregon is the perfect environment for us to operate. So even in more isolated circumstances now, we find ourselves looking up occasionally and musing, “Does life get better than this?” Maybe. We all work for that prospect. So we count our many blessings, thank our staff daily, thank you for your trust and your business, and wish each of you well.
What can we do for YOU? Peruse this list and let us know. Call or write, and book your order for fall or next spring. We’ll keep you updated via email, our website, and phone.
Kind regards,
Mark, Jolly & Staff