February Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Hellebores

Since Georgia has many days of nice warm weather in Winter, I'm adding as many winter blooming plants as I can find to our garden. Hellebores are evergreen perennial plants that bloom after Christmas in a rainbow of colors in shades of magenta, rose, mauve, and cream. Some blooms are even speckled. 

Often called Lenten Rose or Christmas Rose, Hellebores aren’t really roses at all, but are in the buttercup family. Hellebore is a very low-maintenance plant that thrives in dry shade—that’s right, dry shade! 

When not blooming, Hellebores have interesting, shiny, dark green foliage with leaves often serrated or even palmate.

It is a long-lived perennial offering years of beauty in the shade garden.

Hardy in USDA Zones 4-8, hellebores require no special care. 

They spread with time, self-sowing to form clumps up to 2 feet across in just a few years. Amend the soil well with organic matter when planting, and you’ll be rewarded with many years of beauty. 

Hellebores are a great substitute for Hosta, but are even better. Hellebores are evergreen and deer proof - the deer will not eat them! 

No matter what you decide to plant in your garden, get out there and enjoy it. And remember to thank God for the rain we’ve received!

January Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Loropetalum

Loropetalum Ruby

Loropetalum has become my favorite non-native shrub. Some varieties bloom off and on almost year round here in Georgia. 

Loropetalum is a Chinese Fringe Bush with pink blooms and usually purple leaves. It complements most plants and provides a nice contrast in the garden. The evergreen leaves are beautiful any time of the year. 

Blooms are a vibrant pink fringe flower and come several times a year here in Georgia. Although some growing instructions indicate Loropetalum needs consistently moist soil, I've found that requirement to be untrue. Loropetalum is quite drought tolerant here, and our summer droughts are brutal. I think the key to survival is to plant the shrub in Fall so it has time to dig its roots in deep before the heat and drought of summer arrives.

Available in a large variety of different mature sizes, there's a loropetalum suited for every garden. Lororpetalums with mature sizes of up to 6 feet according to the grower tag have easily reached 10 feet or more here, and that's even after I pruned them in an attempt to keep them smaller. I eventually gave up on that and decided to let them just be as big as they want to be. Some of our Loropetalum shrubs are actually small trees. 

Zhuzhou is our largest Loropetalum. We are using this variety in a mixed shrub planting to screen out our neighbors wire fence. It's fast growth has been much appreciated here. The vivid fuchsia pink fringe flowers on a large tree-like shrub up to 10 feet tall make this plant an eye-catching specimen in the garden. 

Loropetalum Ruby is special because it maintains its purple leaves year round and blooms profusely several times a year.We have quite a few of this large-growing variety in our garden, and they are easily 10 feet tall.

If you have a smaller garden, you'll like Plum Delight, which is a more compact shrub maturing at about 6 feet tall. Foliage is a striking blackish purple or a deep burgundy, and the dark pink fringe flowers are larger than those on other varieties.   

Purple Diamond is an even smaller shrub considered to be semi-dwarf at a mature size of about 5 feet tall and wide.

The smallest development I know of is Purple Pixie, which is a dwarf shrub with a lovely cascading habit that will only be about 3 feet tall at maturity. This one is beautiful in a large pot. The leaves stay deep purple year round here in our garden.

If you visit our garden, you'll notice I am a collector of Loropetalum shrubs. We have twelve or more, and I keep planting them. Loropetalum is one the easiest to grow shrubs one can plant. And I love anything that blooms several times a year! As far as I know, Loropetalum is not invasive, so it is welcome among our native plants. If you don't have Loropetalum, you should get one. Or two, or three!

June Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Althea, Rose of Sharon

I can't believe some of my Altheas are already blooming. Althea, also known as Rose of Sharon, usually blooms here in mid-Summer. I love this plant, but I am always thankful for the blooms that usually come in July and August. I'm not sure what to think or how to feel about this. Although I am always grateful for blooms, I can't help but I wonder what I will have blooming in July and August. For that, I guess, I'll just have to wait and see.

Althea is an old-fashioned shrub that grew in gardens of our grandmothers, but it is seldom sold in modern day garden centers. This deciduous plant will grow 8 feet tall or more and blooms reliably even in full shade. 

Blooms can be large or small and come in shades of pink, red, lavender, white, and even blue (still looks lavender to me.) Flowers can be single or double, and they can be quite large.

Rose of Sharon is very easy to grow. Although its botanical name is Hybiscus syriacus, and it truly is in the Hibiscus family, Althea will grow and bloom quite well in dry conditions. I have some in the woods that never receive any supplemental water, and they have grown to be quite large. These water-starved shrubs bloom just as well as the ones I water regularly.

Althea is a popular shrub in old gardens of the South, but it can be grown all over the United States. This old-fashioned favorite is hardy in USDA Zones 5-9. It tolerates air pollution, heat, humidity, and salt air. And if you don't have much shade, you should know that Hibiscus syriacus, like any hibiscus, will grow in full sun too. Here in my garden, the most beautiful altheas are growing in a spot where they receive morning sun and afternoon shade.

Since it blooms on current season's growth, you'll have more flowers if you prune it back hard in late winter or early Spring. Pruning them probably would have kept mine from blooming so early this year, since they started blooming in Spring! I made a note to remind me next year.

Although Althea loses its leaves in Winter, it still makes an excellent privacy screen, since it leafs out very early in the Spring. Foliage is dense on this tall shrub. I love it at the property line, where it helps to screen out the neighbors, but it makes an excellent foundation shrub too, as long as it is not planted in front of a window.  With so many bloom colors and types available, one could plant a very long privacy screen using different bloom colors.

Many new cultivars have been developed which claim to not set seed, but I must be honest and say that most of mine are reseeding anyway. Apparently they did not read the grower's tag! Perhaps due to our long summers after the bloom, they do have time to set seed here. To prevent unwanted seedlings, prune just after flowering instead of waiting until winter.

My red-blooming Althea, Amplissimus, has blooms that are a deep pinkish red and very fluffy like flowers of a hollyhock.

Blooms on Aphrodite resemble a hibiscus flower. Large single blooms are deep pink with a red eye.

Althea Blushing Bride is probably the fanciest one I have. Fluffy bicolored blooms are a soft pink with a dark burgundy center.

Diana has pure white blooms that are very large, but is not blooming this year and probably won't . Someone ran into her with the lawn tractor and tried to prop it up as if I would not know. Last year, I measured blooms that were 5 inches across!

Minerva will bloom a little later, since it is planted in deep shade. 

If you are looking for an easy to grow, low-maintenance shrub that blooms in Summer, you won't be disappointed with Althea.

Perennial Plant of the Year: Amsonia Hubrichtii, Blue Star

The Perennial Plant Association has already chosen the 2010 Perennial Plant of the year. Amsonia hubrichtii, often known as Blue Star, is native to the state of Arkansas, but grows well in most parts of the country.

Amsonia Hubrictii is at its best in Fall

Amsonia hubrichtii has very fine-textured foliage which makes it ideal for pairing with ornamental grasses.  

Clusters of blue flowers in May are lovely, but to me this plant comes alive in fall. I'm crazy about the bright golden color that develops with the onset of cooler weather. 

The fact that this plant grows well in both full sun or part shade makes it an easy choice for just about every garden. Like most native plants, Amsonia is drought tolerant once established. 

Probably another reason this perennial is so favored is its lack of problems with insects or disease. I have not noticed the deer munching on it either.

As you can see in the above photo, when massed in groups of 5 or more, Amsonia hubrichtii makes quite a show.

The Winter Garden

Since a Georgia winter has frequent warm days, we enjoy spending a lot of time outdoors even in January and February. Although native plants are most important to us, finding native plants that are showy in winter can be challenging. We do have many non-native evergreens in our garden. In addition to the popular choices of Azaleas, Camellias, and Hollies which we all must have, here is a list of some less common plants I've found to be truly easy to grow:

• Daphne odora - Fragrant Winter Daphne - a compact evergreen shrub available with variegated foliage and winter blooms of either pink or white. Extremely fragrant! Drought-tolerant and shade-loving. (Requires very well-drained soil.)
• Fatsia Japonica, Japanese Aralia, is an evergreen shrub with large hand-shaped leaves. Fatsia sends up a weird looking white bloom spike in winter. Very drought-tolerant. Likes deep shade.
• Rohdea Japonica, Japanese Sacred Lily or Nippon Lily, is an evergreen groundcover that loves dry shade. Once established, Rohdea is the perfect plant for a Christmas garden, since the insignificant summer flowers turn into large, juicy-looking (but poisonous) red berries just in time for Christmas.
• Mahonia, sometimes called Grape Holly or Leatherleaf, is one of my favorite evergreens for shade. Mahonia has an irregular growth pattern that I find difficult to describe, so I've included a photo above so you can see it for yourself. The prickly holly-like leaves are evergreen, and the plant is most attractive when grown Notice the purple berries on our plants. Very showy yellow blooms appear right around Christmas and last about a month. Since bees come out here in winter, the flowers are well-pollinated so the 'grape-like' berries develop by spring. The birds don't eat them until they shrivel like raisins.
• Aspidistra elatior, Cast Iron Plant, truly lives up to its common name. Spikey leaves resembling a peace lily or Mother-in-law's Tongue are evergreen. Aspidistra enjoys deep shade and tolerates drought as if she enjoys it!
• Hellebore, Lenten Rose, is an perennial/groundcover plant with palmate evergreen leaves. Hellebores display a variety of different colored blooms in winter, often when it's just too cold to go outside, so plant them in shade where you can view them from inside!

For more information and photos of these plants, visit Shady Gardens Nursery.

Fall Planting is Best for Azaleas, Hydrangeas, and Most Other Shrubs

Fall is the best time to plant shrubs and trees. Our weather usually begins cooling off in September, making gardening easier on both the plant and the gardener! Although daytime temperatures are still hot, our nights are cooler. October is a great time to plant Azaleas, Blueberries, and Hydrangeas. This time of year just brings better weather for shrubs to establish themselves without having to fight for their lives! So if you dream of beautiful blooms covering your yard on shrubs like azaleas, hydrangeas, snowball bushes, etc, do yourself and your plants a favor and plant them now, instead of waiting until spring. If your dream includes eating tasty blueberries from your own garden, plant those now too! Since we still are not receiving regular rainfall, you’ll need to water newly planted trees and shrubs once or twice weekly, especially while these hot days continue. Shrubs planted in fall will have a head start over spring planted ones, and will have a greater chance of survival during our heat wave next summer. Even though the top growth of the plant will be dormant and might not even have any leaves, the roots will continue to grow through the winter. So get out there and enjoy the beautiful weather we’re having, and remember to pray for rain!

Drought Survival Tips

If you're in the Southeast as we are, I know you're thankful for the rain we've been receiving. I'm now encouraged and excited about the upcoming gardening season, and we're again making plans about what to plant. The whole state of Georgia, as well as much of our country, sufferered tremendously from the drought last year. We'd be wise to plan ahead to be hit hard with it again this year. Currently I'm studying on what plants in our garden made it through the drought last year, and searching for new varieties of those to add this year. I'll let you know in future posts what I find out!

As we dealt with the drought during the past few years, we've come upon a few tips for survival, and I thought I'd share them with you:

• Conserve water every way you can. Save water for later use by leaving a bucket in the shower or fill buckets from leftover bath water to use for watering plants. Install a rain collection barrel to collect rain now while it's plentiful.


• Amend the soil with compost. Well-amended soil retains water better, and plant roots are better able to move freely through the soil to reach available water and nutrients, making for healthier plants ready to fight the drought.


• Plant drought tolerant plants! If you must have some of the plants that are less able to cope with water shortages, plant them close together in a spot where you can easily water them with reclaimed water.


• Mulch, mulch, mulch! Apply a thick layer--up to 4 inches thick--of a good organic mulch. Don't use things like gravel unless you're growing cactus. And it turns out that mulch made from recycled tires could be cancer-causing, according to a report from Environment and Human Health Inc http://www.ehhi.org/reports/turf/). Good organic mulch not only retains soil moisture and protects roots, but also breaks down in time, enriching the soil.

Remember to check back soon for my suggestions on drought tolerant plants for your Georgia garden.

Italian Arum for the Winter Shade Garden

An unusual perennial I enjoy seeing in the winter garden is Italian Arum. Just as the Hostas disappear for the winter, the beautiful deep green leaves of Arum Italicum emerge. The variegated leaves are arrow-shaped and very unusual, sometimes growing quite large—up to 12 inches long on mature plants. Italian Arum is a tuberous perennial, which is probably why it is so hardy and tolerant of the drought so common in Georgia. The leaves are variegated green and white and last until May. Mature plants produce an Arum-type spathe in spring followed by bright red berries that remain on the stalk even after the leaves have disappeared. Italian Arum forms a nice clump of leaves about a foot tall, and is a great companion plant for any perennial that dies down for the winter. It grows well with hosta, ferns, and hellebores. As the hosta leaves emerge, Italian Arum will go to sleep for the summer, storing energy for an even better show the next fall. An added bonus is that deer will not touch Arum Italicum! For information on how to purchase this plant, click here. I hope you’ll enjoy the warm spells we have in between the cold snaps by getting outside, and remember to pray for the regular rain showers to continue!

Rohdea: Beautiful Year Round in Dry Shade!

Rohdea Japonica, also known as Japanese Sacred Lily, is a low-growing evergreen plant that is a great substitute for Hosta. Rohdea actually thrives in dry shade gardens, and is not bothered by deer. A native of the Orient, Rohdea should be more widely planted here. Its low-maintenance and tolerance for poor, dry soil make it an easy plant to grow, even for busy gardeners. The 1 foot long deep green leaves form an upright vase-shaped clump that will cover a 2 foot area in several years. In late fall the insignificant flower stalks will develop into a 6-inch stalk of bright red berries at the base of the plant--just in time for Christmas! The berries are eaten by birds and squirrels which help to disperse the seed for more plants in the garden. Usually difficult to find in the United States, Rohdea is highly prized in Japan, with some fancy-leaved varieties often selling for thousands of dollars. If you can find it, Rohdea is definitely worth planting in the garden. Rohdea Japonica needs shade and will even grow in very deep shade with little water. This drought tolerant plant is perfect for a xeriscape garden in shade. Hardiness: USDA Zones 6-10.

Hellebores: Winter Blooms in Dry Shade Gardens

Since we have many days of nice warm weather here during the winter, I like to find plants that will bloom in winter. Hellebores are evergreen perennial plants that bloom after Christmas in a rainbow of colors in shades of magenta, rose, mauve, and cream. Some blooms are even speckled. Often called Lenten Rose or Christmas Rose, Hellebores aren’t really roses at all, but are in the buttercup family. Hellebore is a very low-maintenance plant that thrives in dry shade—that’s right, dry shade! When not blooming, Hellebores have interesting, shiny, dark green foliage with leaves often serrated or even palmate. It is a long-lived perennial offering years of beauty in the shade garden. Hardy in USDA Zones 4-8, hellebores require no special care. They spread with time, forming clumps up to 2 feet across in just a few years. Amend the soil well with organic matter when planting, and you’ll be rewarded with many years of beauty. Hellebores are a great substitute for Hosta, but are even better. Hellebores are evergreen and the deer will not eat them! No matter what you decide to plant in your garden, get out there and enjoy it. And remember to thank God for the rain we’ve received!