April Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Weigela

The Weigela behind our greenhouse is absolutely covered with blooms today. This red-blooming bush has rosy red flowers all along every stem. Weigela florida is an old-fashioned shrub that covers itself in Spring with tubular blooms that attract hummingbirds and other pollinators. 

Weigela is not native to the United States, but is considered to be an Antique or Heirloom Plant that was introduced here in about 1860. Weigela can be found in old gardens all over the Southeast and is very popular in Georgia.
 

Give your weigela plenty of room because it will grow quickly to a large size. Don't fret if you have a small garden with not enough room for such a voluptuous shrub--dwarf cultivars are available.

Weigela can be grown just about anywhere in the United States, since it is hardy in USDA Zones 4 - 8.

Although culture requirements listed in books and online recommend full sun, weigela needs part shade here in Georgia. If you are in the Southern states, Weigela will enjoy morning sun only. Hot afternoon sun will scorch the leaves. I usually recommend planting Weigela along with your azaleas, camellias, and hydrangeas, as they like similar garden conditions.

The plentiful blooms appear in April and May and can be white, pink, or Red. One of our shrubs, Weigela florida 'Variegata' has both pink and white blooms on the same shrub amid variegated foliage.

If pruning is needed to maintain a rounded form, do so immediately after flowering.

Weigela is excellent in the shrub border mixed with other shrubs, but also makes an excellent specimen plant and mixes well with native shrubs in natural areas.

April Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Wild Honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens

Lonicera sempervirens
Red Trumpet Honeysuckle

A spectacular vine blooming in our garden in April is the native American Honeysuckle Vine, Lonicera sempervirens. I'm not talking about the very invasive Japanese Honeysuckle that permeates the air with it's strong fragrance and chokes out everything in its path. We don't love that one. Lonicera sempervirens is a well-behaved native vine not often seen growing in the wild. 

The most popular is called Red Trumpet Honeysuckle, so named for its Red tubular flowers that attract hummingbirds. This is a coral red, which is why it is also known as Coral Honeysuckle.

Lonicera sempervirens, unlike Lonicera japonica, is NOT invasive, and should be planted instead of the very invasive Japanese Honeysuckle. Although Red Honeysuckle is not fragrant, hummingbirds will flock around it all summer long. 

Lonicera sempervirens 'John Clayton'

Lonicera sempervirens 'John Clayton' is a yellow-flowering form named after John 

Clayton, the colonial botanist who discovered it

 growing on the grounds of a 17th Century church in Glouchester, Virginia. 

Lonicera sempervirens is a vigorous yet non-invasive flowering native vine that hummingbirds love. Evergreen in most of the Southern states, Lonicera sempervirens blooms almost year round. I've seen blooms on ours in December here at Shady Gardens in west central Georgia. 

Red Trumpet Honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens, is one of the best hummingbird magnets I know of, with its large red tubular flowers that come almost year round in my garden. (We've had a few blooms on our plant in January here in West Central Georgia!) 

Our native honeysuckle flowers during the summer on last year’s growth. A few bright red berries will appear, but this plant doesn't sow itself all over the garden and nearby woods like Japanese Honeysuckle does. 

Grows 10-20' in length and prefers sun. Usually grows naturally in the woods, but flowers much more heavily when grown in full sun. 

Indigenous to the South, this vine can be found growing in woodlands across much of the region, but it is not invasive. It won't gobble up your whole garden like the white flowering Japanese honeysuckle does. 

Trumpet honeysuckle has a long blooming season that starts in late spring and continues sporadically through the summer. It will grow in shade but bloom will be more profuse and foliage will be more lush if grown in full sun. 

Give honeysuckle a fence, trellis, or arbor to climb. The supple vines need to wrap around something so they can pull themselves up off the ground. Honeysuckle grows in any well-drained soil, has few pests, and is fairly drought tolerant. It thrives in containers or in the garden. 

Hummingbirds and butterflies love the nectar-filled trumpets, and songbirds eat the juicy fruits left by the spent flowers. If you need a flowering vine that is easy to grow, try this one. It will make you happy, and the wildlife will love you for it. 

Even if you don't live in the South, you can grow Lonicera sempervirens in your garden, since it is hardy in USDA Zones 4-11.

Find a spot in your garden for Red Trumpet Honeysuckle and the hummingbirds will visit you all summer long.

July Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Campsis Radicans, Trumpet Vine

Hummingbirds love the trumpet shaped bright orange blooms of Trumpet Vine. Campsis Radicans, known as Trumpet Vine, Trumpet Creeper, or as my parents call it, Cow Itch, is a beautiful native plant common in the Eastern United States.

Trumpet Vine blooms with large orange/red trumpet flowers that are a favorite nectar source for hummingbirds and other pollinators. It is for this reason that most gardeners grow Trumpet Vine.

This native vine makes a showy focal point on an arbor, fence, or in a tree. It climbs by attaching itself to masonry and wood, but doesn’t do the damage that some other vines will.

Trumpet Vine looks like a tropical plant but is very easy to grow. It thrives with little care and has low water requirements. It will grow in shade, but blooms better with full sun. It isn't picky about water either. It tolerates wet or dry sites and is very drought tolerant. This plant is not bothered by insect pests or disease.

Trumpet Vine can be grown in most of the United States as it is hardy in USDA Zones 4 or 5 through 10.

Campsis radicans is a very rampant and aggressive vine. If you decide you have time to keep this vine contained, I recommend you grow it in a tree form, as my neighbor does. This makes a beautiful specimen that is easier to maintain. If you prefer to grow it on an arbor, make it a very strong and sturdy one, and let it grow in solitary. It will require some pruning to keep it in check, and having other vines growing with it will make pruning almost impossible. 

Immediately after flowering, remove spent blooms before seed pods develop, or you will have Trumpet Vine popping up in other areas of your garden, probably in the very spot you do not want it.

If you can maintain it and keep it in bounds, you won't regret planting Trumpet Vine when you see all the hummingbirds flocking to your garden.

Attracting Hummingbirds the Natural Way

Many of you put out hummingbird feeders every Spring, having to remember to keep them clean and filled all summer long and into early Fall. I prefer to provide food for hummingbirds the natural way--with plants.

By the way, did you know that because of the high energy of the hummingbird, he eats up to 3 times his body weight every single day?

Hummingbirds can visit as many as 20 flowers in just one minute. In order to have enough food, they must visit hundreds of flowers every day. Woa! That's a lot of flowers!

Quite a few native plants can provide nectar for the voracious appetite of the energetic hummingbird. We have planted Red Salvia, Turk's cap Hibiscus, and Red Trumpet Honeysuckle in our garden. But one of my favorite native plants is very important for the early arriving hummingbirds.

The Red Buckeye Tree, Aesculus pavia, blooms in March, or even late February when the Winter is mild. Since the Red buckeye naturally occurs in the edge of a woodland surrounded by large trees, it usually looks more like a bushy shrub. When planted out in the open, it can become a specimen tree up to 25 feet tall. Like most plants, the Buckeye Tree will produce many more blooms when grown in full sun.

March is a great time to plant the Red Buckeye. You won't see it at the big box stores. Look for it at your local nursery that sells native plants. Young seedlings will begin blooming when less than 3 feet tall.

Your Red Buckeye Tree will become quite a focal point when covered with the large red panicles that come in early Spring. Plant it where all can see and enjoy it.

Source for this plant: Shady Gardens Nursery.

Hummingbirds Love Native Plants

Everyone loves hummingbirds! As a nursery owner, I'm frequently asked for plant suggestions to attract hummingbirds into the garden. Hummingbirds, like other birds, look for food, water, and a safe nesting area when searching for a place to hang out. A good nectar source is very important. I prefer to provide nectar in the form of live plants, since they require less maintenance than a hanging feeder. When I think of plants to attract hummingbirds, these flowering vines are the first that come to mind.

Campsis radicans, Trumpet Vine, or Trumpet Creeper is a very vigorous vine with reddish orange trumpet-shaped blooms all summer long. Hummingbirds adore this vine, but plant with care--Trumpet Vine will take over an area quickly. Best planted away from the house and on a very sturdy trellis or arbor where it's beauty can be enjoyed without fear of wearing out its welcome. Still, you'll need to keep your pruners sharp. Watching the hummingbirds chatter and fly around it is well worth the maintenance to me.

Campsis radicans

Bignonia Capreolata, more commonly referred to as Crossvine, is a less invasive but equally beautiful native flowering vine. While Trumpet Vine is seen in profusion along roadsides in the south during the summer, you'll be lucky to find Crossvine growing freely. Bignonia is in the same family as Campsis, but has a much better behaved and easier to control habit. Blooms are large and trumpet shaped and bloom color can be anywhere from brownish orange to vibrant orange to a deep pinkish red. If your gardening tastes lean more to the exotic and unusual, this plant is for you.

Bignonia capreolata on the Arbor

Lonicera sempervirens usually goes by the name of Red Trumpet Honeysuckle or Coral Honeysuckle because the blooms are a vibrant coral red. John Clayton is a yellow-flowering form found growing in Virginia. Lonicera sempervirens is a vigorous yet non-invasive flowering native vine that hummingbirds love. Evergreen in most of the Southern states, Lonicera sempervirens blooms almost year round. I've seen blooms on ours in December here at Shady Gardens in west central Georgia.

Lonicera sempervirens on the Fence

Flowering vines are an important part of every garden, and the addition of a vine is an important layer for small gardens. In addition, these vines can be grown in containers and added to patio or balcony gardens. Next time you consider a vine for your garden, I hope you'll choose a native plant rather than an invasive exotic one. As you can see by the photos above, imported vines could not possibly be more beautiful than some of our own native flowering vines!