March Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Lady Banks Rose

One of the easiest roses of all to grow is the Lady Banks Rose. Rosa banksiae is a thornless rose producing soft fluffy blooms in early Spring. Lady Banks Rose is almost evergreen here in Georgia, if temperatures don't drop below the 20's. 

Lady Banks Rose is drought tolerant and disease resistant by nature. This lovely rose tolerates poor soil too.

Lady Band Rose is an easy care rose that is thornless and almost evergreen here in Georgia. It is a climbing rose that is beautiful growing on a pillar, arbor, fence, or trellis. 

Although Lady Banks blooms only once a year, in Spring it is absolutely covered with small fluffy double blooms.  Blooms are slightly fragrant and come in either yellow, Rosa banksiae 'Lutea', or white, 'Rosa banksiae 'Alba plena.' 

Rosa banksiae originated in China but was introduced to Europe in the early 1800's.  Lady Banks was very popular in the Southern United States during Antebellum times and was usually found on old plantations of the South. The largest rose in the world is a white blooming Lady Banks Rose that was planted in Tombstone, Arizona, in 1885. 

Plant your Lady Banks Rose in full sun for best bloom. This is a fast-growing strong rose that will quickly become very heavy, so plant it near a very strong support. Those inexpensive little trellises at the discount store will not work.

Lady Banks Rose is evergreen in USDA Zones 8-10, but is hardy in colder zones 6-7 where it will lose its leaves in winter. Banks Rose is said to withstand temperatures down into the teens, but we have single digit temperatures every so many years and our established plants lived through that. 

Once established, Lady Banks Rose is quite drought tolerant, but be sure to water regularly the first few years. Lady Banks is somewhat hard to find in nurseries, so you don't want to have to try to replace it.

Lady Banks, unlike many other roses, can be grown near the beach since it tolerates salt spray.

Lady Banks is not bothered by diseases and pests that infect most roses, so you won't need to spray at all.

If you don't have an arbor or trellis, Lady Banks can be grown as a free-standing shrub rose, but must be drastically pruned yearly to keep it in check. If pruning is needed, do so immediately after flowering. 

February Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Camellia Japonica

Yes, we have a camellia blooming just about all the time in our garden from September through April. Right now in the middle of February, we are enjoying the blooms on Camellia Japonica 'Lady Vansittart.' 

Also blooming now is 'Professor Sargent,' another Japanese Camellia.

Camellia Japonica, Japanese Camellia, is an evergreen shrub with large flowers in Fall or Winter, depending on species. There are so many different types of camellias that one can have blooms in the garden from September to April.

Japanese Camellia has glossy dark green leaves that can be up to 5 inches long. If on the underside of the leaves you notice specks that resemble black pepper, spray with insecticidal soap.

Blooms are also large and very showy. Some Japanese Camellias have flowers as large as 5 inches across. These camellias continue to bloom for up to 6 weeks. Flowers may be single, semi-double, or double, and some have ruffled petals or even variegated or striped blooms.

The plentiful blossoms hold up well in a vase for beautiful cut flower arrangements. 

Camellias are easy to grow. Choose a spot with dappled shade or morning sun with afternoon shade. However, some camellias can even tolerate full sun. 'Lady Vansittart' gets hot afternoon sun in our garden.

Camellias are drought tolerant once established. Here in Georgia, I have found that camellias planted before Christmas will do fine through the following summer. Camellias that didn't make it for us were those planted in Spring, so I don't advise Spring-planting for Camellias here in our hot climate.

Camellias like a rich soil, so at planting time, amend the soil with compost or soil conditioner. Water weekly if it doesn't rain, and your camellia will reward you with years of bloom at a time of year when not much else is blooming.

Gardening with Bugs

If you are a gardener, you must learn to accept bugs. In the garden, there are good bugs and bad bugs.  Bad bugs, pests in the garden, are the topic for a later discussion. There are 3 types of beneficial insects you want in your garden: predators, parasitoids, and pollinators. 

Predators such as Lady Bugs, Lacewings, and Praying Mantis eat other bugs. Parasitoids like parasitic wasps lay their eggs on other bugs or insects so their young will have something to eat when they hatch. And of course you know pollinators like bees, butterflies, and moths pollinate flowers so we can have fruits and vegetables to eat.

As a gardener, you will understand the importance of attracting pollinators into the garden. Just like birds and butterflies, insects need 3 things for survival: food, water, and a place to lay eggs.

Very important - do not use pesticides. Pesticides don't know the difference between a good bug and a bad bug, and you do not want to kill off your pollinators.

Creating a garden for the bugs is very simple. Brightly colored flowers will attract all types of beneficial insects to your garden. Choose a spot in full sun near your vegetable garden or fruit trees and amend the soil with compost. You can purchase annuals like cosmos, zinnia, marigolds, and vinca from your garden center or grow your own plants from seed.  Sunflowers are available in both annual and perennial plants. Native plants work best. Variety is important. A wide range of colors and flower types will in turn attract a wide variety of beneficial insects. For a printable list of native plants suitable for your own planting zone, click here.

Beneficial Insects in the Garden

When many people see an insect, the first impulse is to kill it. But not all insects are pests, and many are actually beneficial insects, meaning they do good things like eating harmful insects and pollinating flowers. When we use pesticides to control insect pests, we also kill the good bugs. You probably already know that Ladybugs or Lady Beetles are beneficial insects, feeding on aphids, scales, and mealybugs. But did you know that the larvae of ladybugs look like tiny little alligators and eat even more pests than their parents?

Lacewings are fragile-looking insects with delicate, lacy green or brown wings, large eyes, and very long antennae. Their larvae feed on aphids, scales, mealybugs, whiteflies, and young caterpillars.

The Praying Mantis shows no favoritism and will eat almost any insect (yes, they will eat the good bugs too and will even eat each other!) 

Parasitic Wasps are usually too small for you to see, but you might spot signs of their presence. If you find a crispy-looking brown, inflated aphid attached to a leaf, it was probably the victim of a parasitic wasp that laid its eggs in the aphid so its offspring would have something to eat when they hatched. You might also see caterpillars, cabbage loopers, or hornworms carrying around cocoons of developing wasps. Parasitic Wasps lay their eggs on the back of soft caterpillars so their young will have a convenient food source upon hatching. (Yuck!) 

It's almost time to see the Tomato Hornworm eating up the leaves and even the green tomatoes on our tomato plants. The best control is to pick them off and destroy them, but if you see one with loads of small white things that look like clusters of rice, just leave it alone--the white things are eggs of the Parasitic Wasp! 

Tomato Hornworm with Eggs of the Parasitic Wasp

Grandaddy Spiders, or you might call them Daddy Longlegs, eat aphids, mites, and other garden pests. (No photo this time, because spider photos give me the creeps.)

These are just a few of the many beneficial insects in our gardens. Beneficial insects can be purchased from mail-order sources, but you can attract them into your garden without purchasing them. The best way to attract these beneficial insects into your garden is to just plant more flowers and herbs!