March Blooms in my Georgia Garden: White Chinese Fringe Bush

I wish you could smell the fragrance coming from our White Fringe Bush, Loropetalum chinense, also known as Chinese Fringe Flower. As you can tell by the bloom, it is in the Witchhazel family.

Pink-flowered Loropetalum has been widely planted around the Southeastern United States in the last several years, used in almost every commercial landscape in Georgia. And for good reason! The many different cultivars are beautiful in every season of the year. But here in my Georgia garden, I also love the white blooming form. Although it doesn't bloom as many times per year as the purple-leafed variety having pink blooms, when in bloom, the White Fringe Bush is absolutely covered with fragrant spidery flowers! (I can't believe I called something "spidery" in a complimentary way, but only when I'm speaking of a flower.)

Although Loropetalum thrives in full sun, my White Loropetalum is planted in almost full shade, and it still blooms in a spectacular fashion.

Although I've read that the white-flowering form of Loropetalum was introduced to the United States during the 1800's, it didn't become popular until after the purple leafed varieties were introduced in the 1980's. 

White blooming Loropetalum is just as easy to grow as its purple leafed (and pink blooming) relative. Full sun to light shade will promote plentiful blooms. 

Mature size is large, 10 or more feet tall and just as wide.  Loropetalum can be allowed to grow as a huge shrub, or it can be limbed up into a tree form, depending on your space.

I have not seen this shrub wilt even in the severest drought or the hottest summer.

Loropetalums grow very well in the Southern parts of the United States, as they are hardy in USDA Zones 7-10.

I do not know the cultivar of my White Fringe Bush, since information I find online describes heights of 4 feet and ours is in excess of 6 feet tall.  That doesn't matter to me. All I need to know is what I see when I look at it in bloom in March every single year. 

Late Summer Blooms for the Georgia Garden

By the end of summer, many plants have grown tired of providing blooms for our garden. Sometimes it can be a challenge to find plants that will fill in this difficult time with flowers. A diligent gardener can find quite a few plants that bloom in late summer. 

You’re probably familiar with Black-eyed Susan and Butterfly Bushes, providing the garden with blossoms this time of year no matter how hot it gets, attracting butterflies by the hundreds. You’ve seen Japanese Honeysuckle on the side of the road, or perhaps you’re even plagued with its invasive qualities in your own garden. 

But have you seen our native Red Trumpet Honeysuckle? Lonicera sempervirens is a non-invasive evergreen vine that blooms almost year round, attracting hummingbirds, butterflies, and many other beneficial insects. Grow it as a groundcover, let it climb an arbor or trellis, or train it to cover a fence. You’ll be rewarded with blooms from spring to fall, and I’ve even seen blooms on mine in December! It will grow in sun or shade, but flowers more profusely in full sun. 

For the shade, try Lobelia cardinalis, our native red Cardinal Flower, loved by hummingbirds. This perennial prefers moist soil, but can be grown in regular garden soil with supplemental water. 

If you have a woodland garden, try the beautiful Plumleaf Azalea, an American native azalea made famous by Callaway Gardens. Rhododendron prunifolium is a rare deciduous azalea with bright red blooms in late July and August. Plumleaf Azalea prefers a cool shady spot with regular water. 

Perennial hibiscus continues to offer up showy blooms in several colors right up until the onset of cold weather. 

And for a little later on in the season, consider adding Swamp Sunflower, a good companion for perennial hibiscus, since they both share a love for sun and water. Helianthus blooms in September with large, bright yellow flowers on tall stems up to 10 feet tall! 

I hope you’ll try some of my suggestions in your late summer garden as you strive to make your garden more beautiful year round.

June Blooms in my Georgia Garden: American Elderberry

Large flat white flower clusters adorn each stem of the American Elderberry Bush at the edge of our garden today. Sambucus canadensis, known as the American Elderberry is a shrubby plant native to the Southeastern United States. This time of year you can spot the large bloom clusters on plants in ditches and moist spots along the roadside all over Alabama and Georgia. Perhaps you've noticed these large flowers on your commute to work or school and wondered what they are. 

The flower clusters provide nectar for all types of pollinators. When you examine the flowers up close, you find that they emit a nice honey scent into the air. Can pollinators smell that? If they cannot, I wonder how they find flowers that have the sweet nectar they want. 

The flower clusters are followed by small purple-black berries in late summer. The berries are adored by birds and make great wine. They do not taste good to me, but once my little boy ate so many that he vomited. The berries should be cooked before ingested. Little boys will eat anything and must be watched constantly, especially in the garden. I am fortunate that vomiting is the only thing he suffered that day. He is now 14 and since then has eaten very many things that horrify me, but that's a story for another day.

Elderberry loves water but is easy to grow in any garden. Sambucus spreads by suckers and reaches a height of 8-10 feet by the end of summer even if cut to the ground in early spring. Plant it at the back of the border or along the edge of your property, so the size will not be a problem. Looks particularly beautiful on the bank of a pond or stream, if you have one.

Sambucus canadensis can be grown just about anywhere in the United States, since it is hardy in USDA Zones 3-9.

Elderberry is not picky about its site, as it will grow great in either part shade or full soil, as long as soil is rich and water is plentiful. Well that's what it prefers, but I've found it will grow in regular soil where water is not plentiful, but just won't get as large, and will be quite leggy.

Whether you use the flowers and berries yourself or not, consider planting Elderberry in your garden. It is a great plant for wildlife.

April Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Week 3

Michelia figo

Banana Shrub, Michelia figo, is a large-growing evergreen shrub in the Magnolia Family. Banana Shrub enjoys shade and regular water. Blooms are highly fragrant and really do smell like bananas. The petals are the color of a banana peel but with a burgundy center. A large bush will fragrance the whole garden and cause your friends to go on a search for the source of the scent.

Calycanthus floridus

A native shrub blooming in my garden this week is Calycanthus floridus, most often referred to as Sweet Shrub, but also known as Sweet Betsy, Bubby Bush, and Pineapple Shrub. Blooms are very fragrant, but the fragrance can vary from one bush to another. Some don't have much of a scent while others will. There's a reddish brown blooming species and a yellow blooming cultivar. The yellow blooming 'Athens' is said to be much more fragrant that the species.

Bignonia capreolata

Crossvine is a vigorous native vine often confused with Trumpet Creeper/Trumpet Vine/Cow Itch, but it's a different plant altogether. Bignonia capreolata is an evergreen vine with orange to red blooms like the flames of a fire. Hummingbirds love it even more than I do. Blooms are fragrant, but we seem to disagree with eachother on what the flowers smell like. Some say they smell like curry, but others insist it's mocha. Crossvine needs a strong support but is not invasive. Native to the Southeastern United States.

Aesculus pavia

Red Buckeye, Aesculus pavia, is my most favorite native tree. This small native tree grows with a shrubby habit and is native to the Eastern United States. It naturally occurs in shady woods but when grown in full sun, the flowers are huge red and yellow spikes that are showy from a great distance. Red Buckeye is one of the first plants to bloom when the hummingbirds return in the Spring. This buckeye is drought tolerant and very easy to grow.

Cherokee Rose: Georgia's State Flower

Probably because the Cherokee Rose is Georgia's State Flower, I am often asked if we grow it. Most have been disappointed or even shocked when I told them that we did not. 

Since it is Georgia's State Flower, one would assume the Cherokee Rose is native to Georgia, but this plant originally came from China. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Although our specialty is plants that are native to these parts, we grow many plants that are native to Asia. However, we do have to be careful with Asian plants, since many can be very invasive here (kudzu, honeysuckle, and wisteria), but that's a separate post.

If the Cherokee Rose is not native to this state, you might be wondering how in the world it became Georgia's State Flower. And furthermore, how did it come to be called the "Cherokee Rose"? There is an interesting legend behind that.

One of our nation's earliest nurserymen, Thomas Affleck, introduced Rosa laeveigata and sold it to landowners all over the South in the 1800's. Since that time, Rosa laeveigata has naturalized all over the state of Georgia. One of the saddest things in history to me is the removal of Cherokee families from their land in Georgia when they were forced to march on foot all the way to Oklahoma. This tragic relocation of the Cherokee became known as the "Trail of Tears." According to the legend, every time a tear hit the ground, a rose grew in its place. That rose was Rosa laeveigata, later to be called the Cherokee Rose.

In 1916, the Cherokee Rose was designated as the State Flower of Georgia with the support of the Georgia Federation of Women's Clubs. Often confused with Rosa bracteata, the McCartney Rose, the Cherokee Rose blooms in Spring and is not invasive.

The Cherokee Rose is a vigorous climbing rose with ferocious thorns, but can be pruned and grown as a hedge. Large white flowers with yellow centers cover the plant in March or April.

Having learned this interesting piece of history, we might decide to produce this beautiful rose after all. If for no other reason than to remind us of an important event in history that should never have happened. Nowadays it seems everyone has something to grumble about. Oh, "Woe is me," they seem to be saying. Well, imagine if you had been a Cherokee, back in 1838.

Look for us to have Rosa laeveigata in the future. Hopefully in the mean time, I can learn to spell it.

Camellia, the State Flower of Alabama

Although Alabama's State Flower is the Camellia, this popular Southern shrub is native to Asia. The first Camellias were brought to Charleston, South Carolina, in the late 1700's by the French botanist Andre' Michaux. Camellias are one of my favorite winter blooming plants. Camellias are often thought of as the Rose of Winter. There are thousands of different types of camellias, but most often what you see falls into one of two categories: Japonica and Sasanqua.

Camellia Japonica has glossy evergreen leaves and large blooms that may be any shade of white, red, or pick. Some even have "variegated" blooms that are spotched or striped. Blooms which can sometimes be very large come in several forms: single, double, semi-double, or peony type. Flowers hold up well indoors. I like to display them in a clear glass bowl.

Sasanqua Camellias have glossy evergreen foliage too, but the Sasanqua has different characteristics. Blooms are looser and appear more delicate, but the plant itself seems easier to grow. Sasanquas tolerate more sun that the Japanese Camellia, and they grow faster and larger too. 

By having a variety of both Japanese and Sasanqua Camellias in the garden, one can have blooms from Fall all the way into Spring. All camellias prefer some shade. Morning sun is okay, but give your camellias some protection from hot afternoon sun. They are all surprisingly drought tolerant once established, but you'll need to water regularly the first few years to get your shrubs established.

A good reference book to add to your collection would be Camellias: The Gardener's Encyclopedia, by Jennifer Trehane.

Although I do love camellias, personally, I think the State Flower should be one that is native to that state. But that's just me. What do you think?

Four Oclock: Fragrant Blooms for the Evening Garden

If you like fragrant plants, the old-fashioned Four Oclock will be one of your favorites. Small pink blooms scent the garden with their sweet perfume every evening during summer. Mirabilis jalapa is a shrub-like multibranched perennial plant that emerges each spring from a large carrot-shaped tuber. The common name Four Oclock comes from its fascinating habit of opening its blooms around 4 oclock in the afternoon. That alone is enough to intrigue me, since I have a natural interest in plants with unusual traits. Although it's called Four Oclock, in our garden Mirabilis actually opens her blooms around 5:30 pm, perfuming the air right about the time it begins to cool off enough to sit in the shade on the patio.

Four Oclock is very easy to grow. Easy to please, four oclock can be grown in sun or shade. Our plants get morning sun and afternoon shade, but four oclock grows equally well in full shade with a reasonable amount of water. She's not a water hog, but good soil with regular water will keep the plant looking healthy and green with plenty of those fragrant blooms. Just so you'll know, plants in our shade garden get very little water, yet still bloom and multiply with profusion. Plants in the sun that receive occasional water perform just about as well as those in dry shade. The few Four Oclocks we have in dry sun are just surviving.

I can't really describe the fragrance--it's just a sweet, pleasant scent that invites me to relax outdoors. You might not notice the scent until your plant gets large with many blooms. And if you're never outdoors in the evening, well...you'll just miss out entirely.

Another important feature of the fragrant Four Oclock is that hummingbirds just adore it! The hot pink blooms are tubular and full of nectar for both butterflies and hummingbirds. You'll further enjoy sitting on the patio observing the tiny creatures flitting about around the plants.

Four Oclock dies to the ground with the onset of winter in colder zones, but re-emerges again in late spring. Hardy in USDA Zones 7-11, mirabilis can be grown anywhere in the southern half of the United States.

I must tell you also that Four Oclock is definitely a reseeder. Toward the end of summer you'll notice small black cannonballs on the plants and the ground beneath. Those are very viable seeds. If you've had no luck growing Four Oclock from seed, that's because these very hard seeds need a cold treatment to break them. It's best to plant them in fall, but most gardeners don't think about it then and seeds often are not available in the big box stores at that time of year. You'll have nearly instant gratification if you go ahead and purchase a tuber instead. Heavy black carrot-shaped tubers will send up a stem very quickly after planting in warm summer soil. Four Oclock tubers are available for summer shipping from Shady Gardens Nursery.