March Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Fruit Shrubs and Trees

Before we can feast on the fruit from our growing collection of fruiting shrubs and trees, we get to enjoy the flowers. Some of the prettiest flowering trees in the South are fruit trees. 

Blueberry Flowers

Blueberry Bushes have cute little white blooms in clusters that attract pollinators. Blueberry Shrubs are all-around attractive, really. In Spring you have the blooms against newly developing blue-green leaves. In mid-spring the blueberry fruits develop, beginning as green drupes that gradually ripen into dark blue juicy fruits loved by people and wildlife. Attractive foliage remains until Fall when leaves turn all shades of orange, red, and burgundy. Some or all foliage remains into winter, depending on the temperatures of that particular winter or which part of the country you are in. Blueberry Bushes are gaining in popularity as the word gets out about how nutritious the fruit is and how easy the shrub is to grow. Homeowners are even incorporating Blueberry Bushes into their flower beds and foundation plantings. I've seen a few local businesses adding Blueberries to their commercial landscaping. How exciting!

Crabapple Trees have been used in landscaping for years. The flowers are beautiful, covering the tree canopy with loads of flowers in various shades of pink. But many Crabapple Trees produce a fruit that is not only loved by wildlife but edible for humans as well. 

Peach Trees are not known for being easy to grow. Some maintenance is required. But when you bite into that beautiful peach and feel the juice running down your chin, you know it was worth all that work. 

Plum Trees are beloved by children everywhere. We love to eat the plums either green or ripe, if we can get to them before the squirrels do. 

Our Ponderosa Lemon tree is huge. Originally purchased as a Meyer Lemon, this tree produces huge lemons that have a rough, knotty skin that is very thick. The fruit is very sour and the juice is great for a marinade. When I looked up recipes to decide what to do with the abundant fruits, I found that ours was not a Meyer Lemon after all, but a Ponderosa. Oh well, I'll keep looking for the hardy Meyer Lemon I guess.

Nanking Cherry in Bloom

Our newest fruiting plants are the Bush Cherry or Nanking Cherry. Not usually grown around here, the Nanking Cherry Bushes are growing well, and we are getting lots of fruit from them this year. These bushes will grow to be about 10 feet tall and just as wide, and they produce a small red cherry that is tart and delicious. 

We have other new fruit trees that haven't yet bloomed or produced fruit, and I intend to add as many new fruiting plants as I can until I run out of room.

March Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Forsythia

Known by many as  the harbinger of Spring, Forsythia explodes with bright yellow blooms in very early Spring, or sometimes even in late Winter here in Georgia. Forsythia blooms reliably every single winter, no matter what the weather conditions have been. I have seen the blooms of Forsythia open as early as January or February, or not until March, depending on what kind of Winter we are having.

Forsythia is a deciduous shrub that blooms in late winter or very early Spring with bright yellow blooms that open before leaves appear. The common name, Yellow Bells, seems fitting, because the blooms do look like yellow bells dangling along the stems. 

Although Forsythia is widely grown in gardens all over the Unites States, it is native to China. 

Forsythia blooms well even in shade

Bloom seems to be most prolific when grown in full sun, but we have a few plants growing in the woods where the bright golden yellow blooms are visible from a distance and draw attention to the woodland garden.

Forsythia does not self-sow and become invasive in the landscape, but stem cuttings root easily if you want to make more plants for your garden.

Forsythia grows very large over time (8-10 feet tall and up to 12 feet wide), so

give it plenty of room. The cascading branches are lovely when allowed to grow naturally with no pruning. Stems will root themselves when allowed to touch the ground, and this is an easy way to get more Forsythia plants. Pruning isn't necessary or desired, except to remove old woody growth or dead wood. When pruning, remove old branches to the ground, making room for the growth of new stems. This should be done in Spring, immediately after flowering, since Forsythia will bloom next Spring on the stems from the previous year.

Forsythia, also known as Golden Bells, can be grown in most of the United States, since it is hardy in USDA Zones 5-10.

Forsythia is a fast grower, so you can start with a very small plant. The Forsythia shrubs in our garden have proven to be very drought tolerant and are growing in poor soil that was not amended at planting. 

Forsythia is a great shrub for forcing bloom indoors before it would bloom outdoors. I like to cut long stems in early January and place them in a large vase of warm water. I can watch the buds develop into blooms that will open indoors much earlier than they would outside, reminding me that Spring is coming!

Loropetalum Zhuzhou 

Purple Loropetalum is a beautiful companion for Forsythia. Not only do they bloom at the same time, but even the foliage will provide nice contrast in the garden--Loropetalum with its purple foliage is striking against the bright green leaves of the Forsythia. You'll have to imagine this vision, since I failed to get a photograph of the two together when in bloom. 

March Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Bridal Wreath Spiraea

One of the earliest shrubs to bloom in our Georgia garden is Bridal Wreath Spiraea. The variety we grow is S. cantoniensis ‘Lanceolata’, which is absolutely covered with double blooms that look like tiny white roses. The blooms appear all along the stem, also resembling stems of Baby's Breath, which is common of floral arrangements. I have used Bridal Wreath stems similarly in my floral arrangements when the shrub is in bloom. 

Bridal Wreath Spiraea is very easy to grow. For the showiest bloom, plant in full sun where the large-growing shrub has plenty of room to grow. The arching stems will ultimately reach up to 6 feet tall and just as wide.

This spiraea can be grown in most parts of the United States, as it is hardy in USDA Zones 5-9b. 

Spiraeas are known to be very drought tolerant, and the one in our roadside garden gets no supplemental water at all. The soil in that bed is very hard clay.

What's Blooming in my Georgia Garden in March?

Camellia Lady Vansittart

March is almost over, and the Camellias are still blooming. With this old-fashioned Southern favorite, one can have blooms in the garden from Fall all the way to Spring. Camellia Lady Vansittart has been blooming for more than a month in front of my home with Northwestern exposure. Yesterday I noticed red double blooms remaining on a couple of large camellias that came to me with no label many years ago.

Japanese Quince Toyo-ishiki

Flowering Quince is one of my favorite shrubs for the late winter garden. Texas Scarlet began blooming a few weeks ago with its bright red blooms. Toyo-nishika is an eyecatching shrub with blooms of white, pink, orange, and red all on the very same plant. All I can say is "Wow!"

Loropetalum Zhuzhou

Loropetalum never ceases to amaze me. Loropetalum is a Chinese Fringe Shrub that blooms several times throughout the year. Also known as Chinese Witch Hazel, you can see the similarity in bloom to our native Witch Hazel. Often here in Georgia, just as the shrubs get ready for their first (very early) Spring bloom, a late freeze will turn the buds brown before we can enjoy them. Loropetalum shrubs don't give up though and will form more blooms to try again just a little later. This has been a great year for the Loropetalum. Every one we have is just covered with brilliant hot pink blooms! There's a white-blooming Chinese Fringe shrub too.

White Chinese Fringe Bush

Native Redbud

Redbud is one of my favorite native trees. The largest one I have planted itself right in the middle of the path to the arbor next to my greenhouse. Of course, I did what any native plant freak would have done, and I moved the path, not the tree. That little seedling has grown several feet tall in just a few years. I knew she'd be thankful to me for not disturbing her.

Crabapple

The Crabapple Trees I have were bought several years ago from a nurseryman who is no longer living. I don't remember the cultivar, but the leaves are purple and the blooms are hot pink. In fall, small red apples develop, but the birds and squirrels quickly devour every one of them.

Creeping Phlox

Creeping Phlox is absolutely gorgeous on a slope or spilling over a rock wall. I have tried growing this tough little groundcover to spill over the brick retaining wall beside our driveway. But these pesky chickens (whom I love very much) won't let me have anything planted there. So far they've destroyed creeping phlox, loropetalum pixie, oregano, and ice plant in that spot. I have managed to keep some Lamb's Ear there by surrounding it with rocks. Wish me luck on that. But if you don't have free-range chickens roaming around in your garden scratching up your plants, Creeping Phlox will thrive for you, wherever you plant it. There's a fragrance too!

Bridal Wreath Spirea is spectacular this year. This shrub is completely covered with pure white blossoms that look like tiny white roses. Spireas are surprisingly easy to grow. I don't think this one has ever received any water other than rainfall. It's growing in full sun on a bank in our roadside garden with clay soil as hard as a brick.