Loma Vista Nursery News

Plant Choices for Success

Landscape professionals planning for spring installations this fall and winter will have plant palettes top of mind.  At Loma Vista Nursery, we grow plants that offer multi-season interest and deliver maximum client satisfaction. As a Midwest grower of trees, shrubs and perennials, our healthy plants, grown at our nursery in Kansas, are specifically cultivated to thrive in our regional climate. This ensures reliable landscape performance.

Royal Raindrops® Flowering Crabapple – (Malus ‘JFS-KW5’)

Royal Raindrops® Flowering Crabapple

Trees and shrubs form the backbone of any durable landscape, so selecting the right variety is important for optimal placement, reliability and aesthetics. Royal Raindrops® Flowering Crabapple is a perfect landscape specimen for its size, and because it combines high ornamental value with low maintenance. Offering robust disease resistance, this crabapple matures at 15 to 20 feet tall, and has a spread of 12 to 15 feet. Plant it in full sun with well-drained soil for best results. 

Raindrops® Flowering Crabapple produces a spectacular burst of magenta-pink flowers in mid-spring. Glossy foliage follows through the summer, along with small red fruit and yellow-orange to scarlet-red leaves in fall.  This crabapple  is an excellent choice for modern mixed beds and highly refined, traditional landscapes. Consider pairing it with ninebark or provide contrast with upright, deep green arborvitae.

Bloomerang® Dark Purple Lilac (Tree Form) – (Syringa x ‘SMSJBP7’)

Bloomerang® Dark Purple Lilac 

For an extended spring flower show, Bloomerang® Dark Purple Lilac (tree form) is a great choice. Its reblooming habit makes it an ideal specimen shrub in landscapes that require a design focal point. Mature size is 4 to 6 feet tall and wide.

Bloomerang® Dark Purple Lilac requires full sun and good air circulation. Plant in well-drained, slightly alkaline soil and apply a slow-release fertilizer. This initial care prepares the plant for its first flush of fragrant, dark purple blooms in mid-spring. Continuous, lighter blooms persist through the growing season’s first frost. Dark green foliage provides textural appeal in summer.  The shrub’s compact, colorful habit works well in cottage gardens, foundation plantings and informal mixed borders. Consider pairing it with gold-mounded spirea for color contrast or with Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass for vertical accent.

June Snow™ Dogwood (Cornus controversa ‘June Snow-JFS’)  

June Snow™ Dogwood

June Snow™ Dogwood adds elegance to the landscape, from late spring to early summer. Valued for its strong, horizontally tiered branching, it offers instant architectural appeal. The tree matures at 20 to 30 feet tall and wide. It prefers part- to full-sun and acidic, organically rich, well-drained soil. Add a heavy layer of mulch to keep tree roots cool and moist. 

Because its creamy-white bracts appear later in the season, they avoid late frosts that sometimes plague other dogwood varieties. This ensures a consistent annual flower display in late spring, followed by summer ornamental fruit and outstanding red fall foliage. June Snow™ Dogwood is ideal for Japanese or Asian-inspired gardens and mid-century modern landscapes. Pair with large-leaved hostas for textural contrast or underplant with broadleaf evergreens like low-growing holly.

Texas Scarlet Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles x superba ‘Texas Scarlet’)

Texas Scarlet Flowering Quince

Exceptionally tough, this deciduous shrub displays one of the earliest color shows in the landscape. Texas Scarlet Flowering Quince bursts with watermelon-red to scarlet-red flowers before its leaves fully emerge. Maturing to a manageable 3 to 4 feet tall and 4 to 5 feet wide, it thrives in both full sun and part shade. Challenging conditions like heavy clay soil are no problem. This quince thrives in urban pollution and in drought once established. 

Beyond its show-stopping bloom, Texas Scarlet Flowering Quince provides year-round value. It is an ideal, low-maintenance choice for almost any difficult area in the landscape. Its dense habit, vibrant flowers and spiny branches make it an effective barrier or security hedge, as well as a strong focal point. Spring flowers transition into small, aromatic, yellow-green quinces in the fall, which are perfect for making jams and jellies. This quince blooms on old wood, so prune immediately after spring flowering is complete. Good companion plants are forsythia, daffodils and structural evergreens like holly.

Sarah Bernhardt Peony – (Paeonia lactiflora ‘Sarah Bernhardt’)

Sarah Bernhardt Peony 

The classic Sarah Bernhardt Peony is a foundational element in perennial beds. For reliable flowering in late spring to early summer, plant its eyes, or buds, shallowly and no more than 1 to 2 inches deep in full sun. It reaches maturity at about 2 to 3 feet tall and wide. 

Sarah Bernhardt Peony has a large, robust habit and highly fragrant, soft-pink double flowers that provide a stunning, long-lived focal point with minimal maintenance. Large, dark green summer foliage provides textural interest. In fall, leaves turn bronze to reddish-purple. This perennial plant is a perfect choice for cottage gardens, formal garden borders and traditional estate landscapes. Pair with Russian Sage for structural contrast after this peony has finished blooming. Or, plant with daylilies for staggered summer color.

Firewitch Dianthus (Dianthus gratianopolitanus ‘Firewitch’) 

Firewitch Dianthus

For edging or rock gardens, Firewitch Dianthus is a must-have. This low-growing evergreen perennial is prized for its year-round silver-blue foliage. It stays low to the ground, maturing at only 6 to 8 inches tall. Its typical spread is 12 to 18 inches. 

Firewitch Dianthus requires full sun and excellent drainage to prevent root rot. But its generally tough nature makes it a perfect choice for exposed areas. It quickly forms a dense mat that produces fragrant, magenta-pink flowers in spring. Foliage provides year-round color, with copper-bronze hues in cold weather. Because of its drought tolerance, this low-grower is a good choice in xeriscape designs and for defining the edges of contemporary walkways. Mix with coneflowers for complementary summer blooms.

Learn More About Loma Vista Nursery’s Landscape Plants

Loma Vista Nursery grows a variety of hardy plants for Midwest landscapes. Our customers—Midwest independent garden centers, landscape contractors and wholesale distributors—rely on our team of plant experts to learn about the healthy, reliable varieties we grow.

Review Loma Vista Nursery’s plant catalog for detailed information, and visit our website to learn about our values and best practices as a wholesale Midwest plant grower. For assistance with orders or plant-related questions, please send an email to sales@lomavistanursery.com or call (785) 229-7200.

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