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Edible Alert | Rare Plant Alert | Small Space Alert | Mail Order Alert

Discover and Grow Paw Paws

The nursery is now open for our 20th anniversary season! Seven Days a Week, 10am-5pm, including all holidays until November 13th, 2023.

Upcoming Garden and Botanical Tours

With the relaxation of Covid travel restrictions, we are looking forward to some amazing tours. Join Gary to explore the horticultural and botanical world up close and personal!

In this Issue

1. Discover and Grow Paw Paws
2. New Additions to the Citrus & Rare Fruit Pre-Order
3. Grow Gourmet Garlic
4. 50% Off Houseplants and Friends
5. 30% Off Hydrangea
6. The Fall Citrus and Rare Fruit Pre-Order
7. The Great Rose Pre-Order 2024
8. Spring Bulbs and Bare Root Pre-Order Launched
9. Cypripedium - Save $10 per plant
10. Opuntia Cactus Pad Pre-Order
11. You can plant new plants all summer long
12. Main Mail Order Catalogue

Discover and Grow Paw Paws

These hardy trees produce delicious fruit with tropical flavours

Paw paw (Asimina triloba) is an intriguing eastern North American understorey tree that grows across much of the eastern US and into southern Ontario. It is a member of the Annonaceae (Custard Apple or Soursop Family), a primarily tropical plant family that brings us custard-apples, cherimoyas, sweetsops, soursops, and ylang-ylangs. Only a few members of this family extend into temperate regions, paw paws being the most significant for temperate gardeners and fruit lovers.

Paw paw trees in cultivation generally grow to about 10-20 feet tall and slightly less wide. They are deciduous with large, subtropical-looking foliage. The flowers are usually deep burgundy or purple and are pollinated by flies and beetles that are attracted to the somewhat fetid odour. Paw paws are self-infertile so at least two different cultivars will need to be grown to pollinate each other and get fruit on both plants. The fruits which, can look a bit like a green mango, are ripe when the skin starts to turn brown and the flesh softens. They are sweet with a custardy texture and taste like a unique combination of banana, mango and cantaloupe! They are truly delicious. Paw paws ripen in late summer and fall.

Paw paws trees are small to medium in size making them perfect for city gardens. They can also be grown in full sun to part shade.

Paw paw fruit look a bit like a kidney-shaped mango. Inside the soft flesh offers a blend of delicious tropical flavours.

Paw paws were eaten by Indigenous Peoples who ate the fruit fresh or made them into cakes and sauces or dried and stored them as a winter food source. They were also consumed by European settlers. However, large scale cultivation of paw paws never caught on. This is perhaps because the soft, ripe fruit does not transport well and needs to be eaten or processed fairly quickly when fresh. These days paw paw fruit are commonly eaten fresh or used to make ice cream, pies, cakes, and other desserts, often substituting for bananas in banana-focused recipes.

Fresh paw paw fruit can often be found at farmer’s markets in the eastern US and at many festivals that celebrate this unique fruit. Beyond the native range of Asimina triloba really the only way to get paw paw fruit is to grow your own.

Paw paws are native to rich, moist, shady bottom lands of deciduous forests. They can be grown in full to part sun though young plants often appreciate some shading for the first few years. They are tolerant of a variety of soils as long as they are well-drained with good fertility. They are hardy to zone 5. Paw paws should be planted close together – 10-30 feet apart – to ensure that pollinating insects can easily travel between plants. Seed grown plants can take 6-7 years to reach blooming and fruiting size though we have often seen flowers on grafted plants that are only 2-3 feet high. That being said, trees will need to reach about 6 or more feet high before they begin producing good crops.

Important breeding work carried out at Kentucky State University and by other experts like Neal Peterson has brought us many notable cultivars with excellent attributes as compared to seed-grown trees such as early-ripening, enhanced fruit flavour and size, greater productivity, and, in some cases, precociousness with good crops even on relatively young plants.

This fall we are excited to offer 14 different named cultivars. Gardeners in cool summer climates such as the West Coast should consider growing the earlier-ripening varieties in order to get good crops before the season begins to cool.

Citrus & Rare Fruit Pre-Order

New Additions!

We are pleased to add a cool selection of highly desirable fruit trees and bushes to the Citrus and Rare Fruit Pre-Order including paw paws, pineapple guavas, jujubes, and more.

These will be late arrivals shipping in to us around October 20th whereas the rest of the pre-order will be available in September. If you are a local customer and have both September and October items, we will contact you to let you know when each group is ready for pick-up. You can elect to do two pick-ups or a single pick-up in October. Just let us know. If you're a mail order customer and you have selected both September and October items, we will ship once you order is complete unless your order is large enough to require two boxes or unless you instruct us that you want two shipments.

Have fun shopping!

Grow Your Own 

Gourmet Garlic

13 Different Kinds!

Garlic has been grown by humans as a food and a medicine for thousands of years and is today one of the most common and ubiquitous of food flavourings across so many cuisines and cooking styles. Yet many people think that there is just one kind: that white one you get at the supermarket. In fact, there is a whole world of different garlic cultivars to discover, each with their own textures, flavours, and levels of spiciness and with characteristics that change when used fresh versus the skillet or the oven. Other than the farmers market, it is hard to come by gourmet garlic cultivars so the best way to acquire them for your kitchen is to grow them yourself. Luckily, that is very easy.

This year we are pleased to offer 12 different types of gourmet garlic for your horticultural and culinary pleasure. Read on to learn more about each one and how to grow garlic in your garden (and in containers).

Discover 13 Different Types of Garlic

'Bogatyr' 

Allium sativum 'Bogatyr' is a purple stripe hardneck garlic. It has a strong, fiery, long lasting heat and is one of the hottest hardneck garlics.

'Duganski' 

Allium sativum 'Duganski' is a purple stripe hardneck garlic. It has a strong, pungent flavour with a rich mellow aftertaste.

Elephant Garlic

Allium ampeloprasum, or elephant garlic, produces much larger heads than regular garlic that are milder in flavour.

'German Red'

Allium sativum 'German Red' is a hardneck Rocambole type garlic that offers classic, robust garlic flavour - full-bodied, strong, and spicy.

'German White' 

Allium sativum 'German White' is a hardneck Rocambole type garlic that offers classic yet mellow, moderately spicy flavour.

'Legacy' 

Allium sativum 'Legacy' is a celebrated hardneck Rocambole type garlic that was found on a farm near Blyth, Ontario.

'Metechi'

Allium sativum 'Metechi' is an heirloom garlic that is one of the best for production producing huge bulbs with a spicy, hot flavour.

'Mexican Purple' 

Allium sativum 'Mexican Purple' is a purple stripe hardneck garlic that is very spicy hot when raw and mild and delicious when baked.

'Music'

Allium sativum 'Music' is a porcelain hardneck type garlic that is the most popular type planted in Canada.

'Russian Purple'

Allium sativum 'Russian Purple' - Allium sativum 'Russian Purple' is fiery and spicy eaten fresh and rich, complex and garlicky when roasted.

'Russian Red'

Allium sativum 'Russian Red' is a purple stripe hardneck type garlic that is fiery and spicy eaten fresh and rich, complex and garlicky when roasted.

'Siberian' 

Allium sativum 'Siberian' is pungent and hot without being too spicy and mild, delicate, creamy and sweet when cooked.

'Spanish Roja' 

Allium sativum 'Spanish Roja' is a superb, heirloom hardneck Rocambole garlic that is hundreds of years old. It has a deep, rich, complex flavour.

How to Plant and Grow Garlic

Garlic is easy to grow and very hardy, especially the hardneck types, so Canadians across the country can partake in the delicious pursuit of growing their own garlic. 

Garlic is best grown in the ground but you can also grow them in containers. When you receive your garlic they will be in heads. They should be broken into individual cloves and planted, pointy end up, about 2 inches below the surface and 4-6 inches apart in a full sun position. Garlic can be planted in the fall from September to November depending on your climate. A good guide is to plant around the time of the first frost. The soil should be well-drained to avoid rot but with added compost for richness to encourage good growth. In containers use a high quality potting mix with about one third added compost. 

Garlic will begin to establish roots once planted. They will sit dormant for the winter and emerge in the spring though in mild climates you can see growth emerge in the winter. In the ground and in containers make sure to apply a high quality bulb fertilizer with a high middle number once green growth begins to encourage the development of nice plump heads. When the flower heads begin to form you can remove them to keep all the energy going to the bulbs. 

Garlic will be ready for harvest about 8-9 months after planting in the summer. It will tell you when to harvest. When the foliage begins to turn yellow and about half or more of the foliage whithers you can pull up your garlic. If you’ve provided full sun, good water, and good rich soil and fertilizer, you should discover beautiful, delicious heads of garlic ready for your culinary adventures. In some cases if a clove hasn’t formed a very good head, you can replant it and allow it to grow for another year.

Garlic is not only a healthy and delicious food, it can also help keep your garden free from insect pests. Its strong aroma doesn’t just repel vampires, it can also ward off aphids, whiteflies, and other nasties from your roses, perennials, and other nasties.

Garlic is not only delicious, it is also useful in keeping a healthy garden by attracting beneficial insects to its flowers and repelling bad insects with the fragrance of the foliage. 

The only question is: how many different types do you want to grow for your culinary pursuits?

50% Off

Houseplants, Annuals, Tropicals, Select Succulents

It's time to find homes for some great plants, fellow gardeners. We probably grew too many of some of these plants and now you can benefit by adding them to your collection and saving. We have all kinds of houseplants on sale plus tropicals and subtropicals like red abysinnian bananas, brugmansia, alocasia, bougainvillea and more, various annuals many of which could be overwintered inside, and select succulents.

You'll find all these plants marked as blue tag specials on carts in our parking lot and just as you enter our gates into the nursery.

See you soon!

In person shopping only. Sorry. Not for mail order.

30% Off Hydrangea

Friday Aug 11th - Sunday Aug 20th

Ok. Someone might have ordered too many Hydrangea. They need homes too. They are spectacular. We have all types available now many of which are in bloom!

In person shopping only. Sorry. Not for mail order.

The Fall Citrus & Rare Fruit Pre-Order

216 amazing edibles for your growing and eating pleasure!

We are excited to offer our largest selection ever of fall Citrus - 89 different varieties - with new cultivars including cold tolerant and hardy varieties! We also offer an amazing selection of other interesting, unusual, and tasty subtropical and tropical fruiting and edible plants plus a few of their hardy friends. In total we have 216 rare, unusual and cool edibles for your growing and eating pleasure. We are also working to secure supplies of paw paws, jujubes, and pineapple guava for fall. If we are able to get these plants, we will do a second launch in early September and announce first in the Edible Alert then in the main E-Newsletter. Enjoy!

Available for: Shipping and Pick-Up - Select your preference at check out.

Estimated Date: September for the main selection. If we are able to add items in a second launch, these will be available in October. 

Plant Details: These plants are available in 11cm, 15cm, 1 gallon, 5x12 inch band pots, and 3 gallon pots. In terms of the Citrus, 1 gallon potted plants are usually about 1-2 feet high with some branching beginning, 5x12 inch band pots are usually 2-3 feet high with good branching, and 3 gallon pots are usually about the same height but with more branching and larger root balls for faster establishment and greater overwintering success. The 5x12 inch band pots of avocado and olive are usually 3 feet tall or more! These larger plants will cost more to ship but are certainly worth it.

Shipping Details: We will prioritize shipping to our colder climate gardeners once our shipments arrive. Should it be too cold to ship to you due to bad weather in October, we will hold your plants and ship in the spring. Citrus and other plants in this pre-order can be quite tall and require large boxes. For this reason, it is possible that for some orders, especially large orders that require large boxes or multiple boxes, your shipping costs may be higher than what you are quoted by our system when you place your order. In this case, you will be asked to pay an additional shipping amount. We do not make money on shipping but we must charge appropriately to cover our costs. Thanks for your understanding.

*Mixed orders will be charged an administrative fee of $5 per pre-order/main catalogue order to cover our costs of separating and organizing your orders. As a rule, all pre-orders ship separately due to timing and different packing requirements. In some cases we may be able to combine some pre-orders to ship together if you send us a detailed email listing all of your orders. While we will do our best, we cannot guarantee that any pre-orders will ship together.



Cancellations and Changes: Once plants are ordered, they are reserved for you and can’t be sold to anyone else. We view your order as a commitment you have made with us in good faith. For this reason, cancellations for full refund will only be accepted until September 1st, 2023. After that date you can choose to cancel for a refund minus a 25% restocking fee or cancel for a full store credit. Additions can be made at any time. If you are a pick-up customer simply place another order and put a note about your previous order(s) in the Order Comments box at the end of checking out. If you are a mail order customer, email us with your additions. We'll add them, adjust your shipping charges, and contact you for payment.

*Mixed orders will be charged an administrative fee of $5 per pre-order/main catalogue order to cover our costs of separating and organizing your orders. As a rule, all pre-orders ship separately due to timing and different packing requirements. In some cases we may be able to combine some pre-orders to ship together if you send us a detailed email listing all of your orders. While we will do our best, we cannot guarantee that any pre-orders will ship together.

The Great Rose 

Pre-Order 2024

1st Launch

113 Roses including 59 New Cultivars!

We are excited to begin offering pre-orders on our largest selection of roses ever for the 2024 season! Roses will be available in various launches as we receive confirmations from our growers:

1st Launch: August 2023 - 113 different cultivars including David Austin, Brad Jalbert, Meilland, Kordes and other roses. In all there are 59 new roses to discover!

2nd Launch: Early Fall 2023 - Patio Tree and Standard Tree Roses

3rd Launch: Late Fall/Early Winter 2023 - More David Austin, Kordes, Meilland, Jalbert and other top roses

4th Launch: February - More David Austin roses including some of the new cultivars! 

To be the first to know when a launch occurs, sign up for the Rose Alert.

Available for: Shipping across Canada and Pick-Up at the Nursery in Richmond, BC.

Estimated Date for Pick-Up/Shipping: March/April 2024

Plant Details: Roses are top grade bushes. All roses are grafted unless "own root" is noted in the plant details. The rootstocks are specially selected for the Canadian climate.

Shipping Details:

Local Pick-Up Customers: Be the first to pick up your order by electing to receive your roses bare root. The earlier a rose is planted, the better it establishes. On the very last page of the checkout, click the link to open the comments box and type "Bare Root". We will assemble your order first and notify you for pick-up. Bare root orders must be picked up within 1 week. Otherwise roses will be provided potted. Potted pre-orders are held for 4 weeks after which time your plants are returned to general inventory, a 25% restocking fee is deducted, and a credit note for the nursery is issued. No refunds are given.

Courier, Freight, and Mail Order Customers: Shipping will take place in March/April as weather conditions are safe for shipping and about to be warm enough to plant. Roses can be planted as soon as the ground is workable in early spring. For cold climate gardeners we may have to ship slightly before conditions are right for planting if plants are flushing too quickly in our mild spring. In this case you can pot up your roses and keep in a frost-free location until it is warm enough to plant outdoors. All roses will be shipped bare root except if you live in Metro Vancouver or other BC municipalities where courier or freight shipping is cost effective. If you have a preference, please let us know in the Order Comments section at the end of the check out process. We will try to follow your preference but cannot guarantee it as each order and shipping location presents its own unique challenges.



Cancellations and Changes: Once plants are ordered, they are reserved for you and can’t be sold to anyone else. We view your order as a commitment you have made with us in good faith. For this reason, cancellations for full refund will only be accepted until January 15th, 2024. After that date you can choose to cancel for a refund minus a 25% restocking fee or cancel for a full store credit. Additions can be made at any time. If you are a pick-up customer simply place another order and put a note about your previous order(s) in the Order Comments box at the end of checking out. If you are a mail order customer, email us with your additions. We'll add them, adjust your shipping charges, and contact you for payment.

*Mixed orders will be charged an administrative fee of $5 per pre-order/main catalogue order to cover our costs of separating and organizing your orders. As a rule, all pre-orders ship separately due to timing and different packing requirements. In some cases we may be able to combine some pre-orders to ship together if you send us a detailed email listing all of your orders. While we will do our best, we cannot guarantee that any pre-orders will ship together.

Spring Bulbs & Bare Root Launched!

637 Amazing Species & Cultivars for your Spring Garden

We are always excited to launch a new pre-order. But we really do love launching our spring bulbs and bare root! There is so much diversity. So much colour. So much intrigue.

This year we have expanded our peony, bearded iris, and tulip selections and, as always, are bringing you tons of new options for your garden - more than 140 different bulbs and bare root that we have never offered before.

Have fun exploring!

Cypripedium Hardy Lady's

Slipper Orchids

36 Stunning Treasures for Part Shade

+ Save $10 Per Plant When You Pre-Order

Are you ready to explore the beautiful and rewarding world of hardy orchids? Try our lady's slippers. Most are hybrids with extra vigour and ease of growth. They can double in size each year under good conditions! That is something to behold.

Learn more about growing lady's slipper orchids.

Save $10 on Each Bare Root Cypripedium

Every year we offer lady's slipper orchids as bare root in the fall and potted in the spring. Bare root is the best way to establish Cypripedium when they are freshly dug. We'd like to acknowledge your efforts and encourage fall planting by offering $10 off each bare root. Your savings will be automatically added at check out. Have fun! 

Opuntia Cactus Pad Pre-Order

28 Dangerous Suspects Available for Pre-Order Now!

The garden can be a dangerous place, especially when it includes hardy cactus! We're pleased to offer a selection of 28 different Opuntia and Cylindropuntia for pick-up or shipping in August and September once this year's pads are fully developed. We are discontinuing growing cactus rooted in pots so both local and mail order customers will need to order from the pre-order. Cactus pads are easy to root in free draining media by laying them flat on the ground or by burying a small portion of the base. 

Have fun exploring!

Main Mail Order Catalogue

1200 Amazing Plants for Canadian Gardeners

We are so excited to launch our Main Mail Order Catalogue for the new season. We have so many amazing plants to share with you this year including more than 300 plants that are new to horticulture or new to our mail order catalogue. At 1200 plants, this is our largest selection ever. We hope you enjoy shopping for your new treasures.

We welcome orders for both shipping and pick-up. If you're a pick-up customer, please follow this link to our Plants to the People page and read the "What type of customer are you?" section to understand how your order will be handled and for advice on how to best use the services connected with our mail order site.

Please remember to place separate orders for the Main Catalogue and the Pre-Orders as all must ship at different times. Please don't mix main catalogue items with pre-order items and please don't mix pre-orders together. All the sections in the main catalogue can be ordered together as these plants all come ready in May and June.

There are lots of plants to go around. Please forward this email to all your gardening friends across Canada!

Help Us Spread the Word

Please tell your friends and family about Phoenix Perennials. Share this email with them, tell them about your mail order plants, or bring them with you to visit the nursery.

Thanks so much!

Check us out on Social Media!

請加入我們新的微信和小紅書社交媒體賬戶，獲取有關玫瑰、牡丹、亞洲食用植物等的信息!



For our Chinese customers, please join our new WeChat and Red Book social media channels for information on roses, peonies, succulents, Asian food plants, and much more!

Update Your E-Newsletter & Alert Subscriptions

You can manage your subscriptions to our E-Newsletter and occasional subject-based Alerts at any time by clicking on the "Update Profile" link at the bottom of every E-News or Alert. The E-Newsletter comes out twice a month. The 18 different Alerts come out occasionally when we have something exciting to tell you:

Happy Gardening!