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I know it’s rather late but I have just noticed an article on new plants for 2011 and this has prompted me to check a few sites to see what new varieties are on offer this year.

Black and white seem to be common themes with the Black Velvet petunia and the Coconut Ice sunflower with its creamy white petals. Personally I’m not too keen on black flowers in the same way that blue roses do not seem to be quite right in my eyes. Here is a selection from Birds & Blooms.

High Country Gardens are featuring “the exclusive new Agastache “Blue Blazes” and a remarkable new ornamental grass called “Blonde Ambition” Blue Grama that has been chosen a Plant Select Winner for 2011″. Another of their newcomers that caught my eye was the Pink Cotton Lambs Ear (Stachys lavandulifolia).

Monrovia have come up with a number of exclusives with eye-catching names such as Blue Balloon Bluebeard, but the plant that I noticed was the Cathedral Gem Sausage Vine. Not that it is particularly impressive, but apparently it was found growing on the wall of Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire, U.K.

Tipnut is a website that I haven’t come across before. As its name suggests it’s full of tips on everything from household, health and beauty, DIY projects, crafts and gardening. The page I found was “Crafty Gadgets & Gear For The Garden” with a dozen crafty projects for the garden. These include DIY seedtape and a planter’s yardstick as well as various tool organisers. The Garden & Plants page has sections on Homemade Weedkiller Recipes, Raised Bed Plans and Do You Grow Dishcloths?

Queen Anne’s Lace is a wildflower which is common in North Georgia. Apart from its attractive white flowers it has many useful features. The plant is a wild carrot which can be eaten like a carrot when young, but that is the least of its virtues. The seeds can be used to make a tea which apparently “was used for centuries as a morning-after contraceptive”. A tea made from the leaves has many other uses as does the oil made by steam distillation of dried seed. The juice from the roots can treat skin conditions including wrinkles. When mixed with honey and oatmeal you have a homemade facial. Read more..

And finally some practical advice. When you see a title like “Should You Take the Burlap Off the Root Ball Before Planting?” you would expect to be given either a yes or a no, but it seems that you have to make up your own mind. Read more..

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2. Holiday Plants, Mistletoe And Egypt