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.

February Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Fujino Pink Spirea

One of the earliest shrubs to bloom in our Georgia garden is the lovely Spiraea thunbergii 'Fujino Pink.'

Fujino Pink Spiraea in February

Fujino Pink Spiraea is a beautiful, fine branched spirea that sports masses of pink buds along the stems which open to light pink flowers in late winter to early spring before the leaves emerge. This shrub is a soft, airy plant that looks great massed or as a hedge.

Some spiraeas (also often spelled 'spirea') grow very large, but this is one of the small ones maturing to about 4 feet high and wide, making it perfect for a small garden.

Spiraea thunbergii can be grown all over the United States, as it is hardy in USDA Zones 4 - 9.

For best flowering, grow spiraea in full sun, but we have quite a few that receive only part sun and bloom just beautifully anyway. That's typical for our garden, since summer sun can be too intense for delicate foliage.

Spiraes prefer well-drained soil with regular water, but Fujino Pink Spiraea is drought tolerant once established. As I've said before, no shrub is considered established until it has been planted at least a couple of years.

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.

What's Blooming in my Georgia Garden in February: Part 2

Well, it's still February, and now there are even more flowers in our Georgia garden. From my point of view, our weather has been horrible. A few beautiful sunny days warm enough to work outdoors have been sandwiched between lots of rainy cold days amidst dark and dreary cloudy days when the dampness just goes to my bones.

Daphne odora, Fragrant Winter Blooms

If I were a shrub, I would not bloom, and if I were a flower, I would not open. Yet camellias and Daphne shrubs continue to bloom despite all this yucky weather.

Lonicera fragrantissima

And when I walked outside yesterday afternoon, I found Lonicera fragrantissima in full bloom. This variety of Lonicera is known as Winter Honeysuckle since it blooms reliably every Winter. This old-fashioned shrub is also known as Kiss Me at the Gate.

Spirea Fujino Pink

Then I remembered that Fujino Pink Spirea had bloomed earlier this month, and I forgot to mention that in my previous post.

 "Are they still blooming?" I wondered. Yes, yes, they are! 

Now I know what I must do. Since our winter weather can sometimes be too cold and wet for me to venture outdoors, I must plant some of these winter bloomers near a window, to be enjoyed from inside where it is warm!

Spring Rain is Great for the Garden!

Here in Georgia we have enjoyed lots of spring rain! It has been nice to be able to plant so many additions to our garden this year. You see, for the last few years, we have been under severe drought. Summer before last, we lost every single bigleaf hydrangea we had, and they were well-established shrubs we'd had for about 10 years! Needless to say, we've been planting only drought tolerant plants since then. But even drought tolerant plants need water at first to get off to a good start. And water from rain is the best! So each time rain is in the forecast, I'm out there planting again. Our new plantings consist of the following drought tolerant plants:

• Oakleaf Hydrangea
• Evergreen Azaleas
• Native Azaleas
• Hellebores
• Rohdea
• Aspidistra
• Spirea
• Juniper

We've also planted a number of Camellias, since we're getting all this rain. They'll be drought tolerant too, once established. The photo shown was taken at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia. A lake is one thing we lack here at Shady Gardens. Perhaps one day we can install one of those manmade lakes...