Bodhisagan's Plants and Rants

Last Sigh of Summer

2007-11-05T19:08:00.000-05:00

The glory of fall has arrived on Crowley’s Ridge! These days I find myself raising my eyes often from my work to gaze in wonder at the vivid scarlet of a sumac, or the blaze of gold in the hickory on the hill, or the blue, blue, blue of the autumn sky.

My flowerbeds are mostly ragtag foliage now but there is one last sigh of summer – Nicotiana alata or flowering tobacco. Some time in the summer months I read that it attracts moths, mostly lunas, which I dearly love, so I bought the first one I came across. I obviously didn’t have my head on straight because I know that luna moths don’t feed at all as adults. They don’t even have mouthparts but emerge from their cocoons only to mate and die within a week.

Nicotiana alata

Doing a little research on flowering tobacco before my purchase would have been wise too as mine have little scent, but I love their colors, the bright, almost neon red and the pale rose. I later read that the newer varieties, which are much more colorful, don’t have the fragrance of the old-fashioned ones. Next year I’ll look for the unimproved white variety for its fragrance but I’ll also plant the colorful ones for their beauty!

Early Autumn Color

2007-10-20T08:59:00.000-05:00

The garden is winding down for the season and there's not much blooming now, although the Sansanqua Camellias are about to start. No doubt that the drought here isn't giving the plants what they need to provide abundant late flowers. There is some interest in the garden now provided by some bright autumn foliage, although the peak is at least several weeks away. The three species featured are all native to the Eastern United States and are reliable providers of early autumn color.

First up is Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora), a plant that's been featured on this blog twice before, for its emerging spring foliage and early summer flowers.

Aesculus parviflora autumn foliage

Close-up of Aesculus parviflora compound leaf

Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica) is not known for showy flowers, but it does have a neat pyramidal habit and consistently adds bright red to the early autumn scene.

Nyssa sylvatica autumn foliage

Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) is another reliable provider of early autumn red foliage and also offers attractive summer flowers.

Oxydendrum arboreum autumn foliage

Autumnal bare bloomers

2007-09-18T08:10:00.000-05:00

On Friday afternoon and evening the garden finally had a good rainfall, receiving almost 2 inches (4.5 cm) after two months with very little precipitation and temperatures well above average. The rain, along with the autumnal air mass that followed it, brought many geophytes into flower this week. All of these "bulbs" are unusual because they bloom in late summer and autumn without any foliage present.

Lycoris radiata, a native of China, has spidery red flowers with long, exserted filaments. After blooming, the tidy, dark green leaves, with a pale central stripe, emerge and add attractive greenery to the garden all winter, disappearing as the bulbs enter dormancy in the spring.

Close-up of Lycoris radiata

Group of Lycoris radiata

Rhodophiala bifida, a native of Uruguay and Argentina, also has red flowers on bare scapes, but the flowers have a different look. The narrow leaves emerge from its long-necked bulbs after the flowers, remain green all winter and go dormant in the spring, but they're long and sprawl around, rather than remaining tidy like those of Lycoris radiata.

Group of Rhodophiala bifida

Not all of these autumn bloomers are red, these Colchicum have pinkish-purple flowers. Unlike the others here, its broad foliage doesn't emerge from its corms until late winter, going dormant in late spring.

Close-up of Colchicum

Cyclamen hederifolium, native to Southern Europe, has pale pink flowers, shaped like shuttlecocks, that arise from flattened corms. It has a long blooming season, during most of the autumn, and the later flowers are joined by dark green, triangular leaves with gorgeous silver markings.

Close-up of Cyclamen hederifolium

Variegated Hedychium

2007-09-09T08:30:00.000-05:00

Back in June I had an early Hedychium bloom, but most Hedychiums bloom here during late summer and early autumn. Nearly all of these gingers have showy flowers and many are also intensely fragrant. Out of bloom they make attractive foliage plants with long tapered leaves alternating along arched stems. There aren't many with variegated leaves, I've got the only two I know of happily growing in the garden.

Hedychium 'Dr. Moy' has subtle variegation, a mixture of grayish-green, sometimes white, streaks and speckles on a medium green background. Without the variegation it would still be an excellent Hedychium because it has very sturdy stems which bear broad foliage and large heads of very fragrant, light orange flowers with darker orange throats. It is a hybrid of H. flavum × H. coccineum and was bred by and named after Dr. Moy, a botanist, now retired, at San Antonio Botanical Garden.

Hedychium 'Dr. Moy' flowers

Close-up of Hedychium 'Dr. Moy' foliage

Hedychium 'Vanilla Ice' is a sport of 'Dr. Moy' with very dramatic variegation consisting of abundant white streaks. Its flowers and growth habits are the same as 'Dr. Moy', and although the loss of chlorophyll reduces its vigor, it's still a decent grower. It was selected and propagated by Messenbrink's Nursery of Nashville, North Carolina.

Close-up of Hedychium 'Vanilla Ice' foliage

Hedychium 'Vanilla Ice' foliage

Hedychium 'Vanilla Ice' flowers

Hippeastrum reticulatum striatifolium

2007-08-29T12:23:00.000-05:00

Hippeastrum reticulatum striatifolium is quite a mouthful, but it's also a very descriptive name. Reticulatum refers to the net-like veining in the flowers while striatifolium refers to the white stripe down the center of each leaf, both are features readily observed in the photograph. This beauty is not planted in the garden, it's potted in a decorative container and spends most of the year on the porch, except during winter when it's in the house.

Curcuma

2007-08-25T12:57:00.000-05:00

Curcuma is a genus in Zingiberaceae family with about 80 species native to Asia. The rhizomes of Curcuma longa are ground to make turmeric, an orange-yellow powder used as a spice in curries. Other species are cultivated for their showy flowers and bold foliage, but they also have aromatic rhizomes, leaves, and stems even though they're not cultivated for turmeric production. The two best performers in the garden so far I grow mostly for their foliage.

Curcuma rubescens has bright red petioles supporting its large green leaves. In bright light, with sufficient moisture, even the leaves will produce red pigments, although never as dark as the petioles. It's known to have showy spring flowers too, but my plants have been reluctant to bloom so far. If they bloom someday that will be great, but even without I am happy.

Curcuma rubescens petioles

'Emperor' is an attractive selection of Curcuma petiolata with excellent variegated foliage, green with a variable creamy margin. It also produces summer flowers, but they're subtle when compared with many Curcuma flowers. They're also mostly hidden by the foliage so they don't really contribute to the overall garden scene, but it's worth your while to part the foliage and take a peek if you enjoy unusual flowers.

Curcuma petiolata 'Emperor' flower

Curcuma petiolata 'Emperor' foliage

Both of these plants are very slow to emerge in the spring, often not showing above ground until late May, causing the gardener to wonder if the cold weather from the previous winter has killed them. However, once they start to grow they do so very rapidly, reaching full height in just a few weeks.

Yes! We have pink bananas!

2007-08-24T19:41:00.000-05:00

We have pink bananas today! Not only are these bananas pink, they're also cute and fuzzy, too bad they're really seedy and not edible.

Musa velutina fruits

They belong to Musa velutina, a small banana that grows about 7 feet (2m) tall and is winter hardy here in Raleigh, North Carolina. Its large leaves give the garden a tropical look from late spring until frost, with additional interest provided by the pink flowers in late summer, followed by the attractive, and unusual, pink fruits. I got my first plants a few years ago from my buddy Bodhisagan, the owner of this blog, and this year I had enough to share with another friend.

Musa velutina

Musa velutina inflorescence

Late Summer Crinum Favorites

2007-08-19T19:07:00.000-05:00

Two favorite Crinums are blooming in the garden now, both are hybrids that have one New World parent, either the Southeastern United States native, Crinum americanum , or its South American counterpart, Crinum erubescens. Both of these species have very fragrant, spidery, white flowers with dark pink filaments. They also thrive on moist soils, as do their hybrids.

Crinum 'Summer Nocturne' is Thad Howard's cross of Crinum erubescens with Crinum moorei. It has large, wide open, sweetly fragrant, white flowers with pink tips. Its tall, purple scapes contrast nicely with its lush, green foliage.

Crinum 'Summer Nocturne'

Crinum 'Royal White' is the first of the ×digweedii hybrids (Crinum americanum × Crinum scabrum) to bloom in the garden, although a walk around the garden today revealed that others are getting ready. Like 'Summer Nocturne', 'Royal White' also has sweetly fragrant, wide open, white flowers, but instead of pink tips it has pink stripes.

Crinum 'Royal White'

Xanthosoma

2007-08-09T21:10:00.000-05:00

Xanthosoma, along with Colocasia, Alocasia, and other genera with large leaves in the Arum (Araceae) family, are commonly called Elephant's Ear. Xanthosoma is a New World genus with about 50 species, all native to Central and South America. Their large leaves make them attractive ornamentals and some species are also cultivated for food, mostly for their tubers, but the young, unfurled leaves are also eaten.

Xanthosoma mafaffa 'Lime Zinger' has a great name because its huge leaves are a shade of chartreuse that's sometimes called Day-Glo yellow. It's a slow grower during the spring, but grows rapidly once hot, humid, summer weather arrives. From a tuber about the size of a baseball, set out after the last spring frost, it can easily grow 6 feet tall and 6 feet wide by the end of the summer if provided with moist, rich soil and partial sun. In the past I've dug mine for winter storage, not a difficult task despite the plant's huge size, but I have enough tubers now to store some and also leave some out for testing.

Close-up of Xanthosoma mafaffa 'Lime Zinger' foliage

Xanthosoma mafaffa 'Lime Zinger'

If 'Lime Zinger' has you reaching for your sunglasses then Xanthosoma violaceum will have you removing them. That's because its leaves are a cool blue-green with purple margins. Its petioles are also purple and on a healthy specimen there's often a purple overlay on the upper leaf surfaces. I haven't been growing this one for long so I'm not sure if it will mature as large as 'Lime Zinger', but I sure hope so.

Xanthosoma violaceum

Close-up of Xanthosoma violaceum petiole

Crinum 'Jubilee'

2007-08-08T08:06:00.000-05:00

Crinum 'Jubilee', a hybrid of Crinum loddigesianum made by Luther Bundrandt, bloomed in the garden at the end of July. It's a beauty with very large, wide open, sweetly fragrant, blush pink flowers. Another plus is the foliage, which is compact, tidy, and broad with a satiny finish, so even out of bloom it's an attractive plant. All of this adds up to a great Crinum which I rank right up there with my other favorites, 'Mrs. James Hendry' and 'Improved Peachblow'

What? Philodendron here?

2007-07-30T10:07:00.000-05:00

One of those plants that brings to us tundra dwellers visions of the tropics is Philodendron selloum. You can find it at any theme park, green house or exhibit where the designer wishes to add a tropical or prehistoric touch.

In Florida, from the panhandle to destinations south, it is as ubiquitous as cabbage palmettos and Cycas revoluta. In those locals it never gets cold enough to kill the stems so the plant meanders about the landscape as one part vine and one part shrub.

I have always wanted to have this plant. I killed a couple over the years (neglect, it's a pretty easy houseplant) and eyed them on vacation in Florida. "Wow" I thought, "imagine, this plant grows as far north as Saint Augustine".

Imagine my excitement when I learned from a venerable plantsman Anniston Alabama that he was familiar with a clump that had grown there for years (Anniston and I roughly have the same climate).

As soon as I became a home owner, Philodendron selloum was one of the first plants I put in the ground. Years later it still surprises me each spring as it returns (watch out for slugs in April, they can really slow the emergence of this plant).Each winter the stems die to the ground, however the clumps that get enough sun do slowly increase and look fantastic. Cool as it may sound, the leaves don't even "fry" until it gets below 25F. So, often mine are still looking good on New Years.

So if you're looking for a little bit of the tropics in your more northerly garden, try The Home Depot and pick up a selloum for $10 and put it in the ground, it won't disappoint you if you live in a warm USDA 7b or higher.

Clethras

2007-07-28T17:20:00.000-05:00

Japanese Clethra (Clethra barbinervis) has something to offer gardeners in every season. In spring and summer it has attractive, dark green foliage that's not subject to significant damage from insects or diseases. During the summer it adds showy, fragrant, white flowers. In autumn the leaves change to striking shades of orange and red, and after they drop the handsome, smooth, exfoliating bark and a nicely stratified branching pattern are revealed and may be enjoyed all winter.

It's another plant that I'd expect to see everywhere, but the only place I've observed any, other than my own garden, is at Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham, North Carolina, where there's a nice grove of them. Here in Raleigh we're towards the southern limit of where it can be successfully cultivated, so it must be sited carefully in moist, well drained soil in partial sun because it will not tolerate any combination of hot sun and dry soil in our climate.

Notice in the photo below that the flowers are all clustered at the top of the plant. This was caused by the April freeze that damaged this plant and others in the garden. The plant pictured lost nearly all of the new leaves and shoots on its lower two-thirds, and along with them the tissues that would have become this summer's flowers. Although the natural form of Clethra barbinervis is a large shrub, it can be pruned to become a small tree, revealing its handsome bark in all seasons. Each year it will grow a few new suckers low on its trunk, but they're easily removed and not much of a maintenance problem.

Clethra barbinervis is not the only Clethra growing in the garden. Its North American counterpart is probably Cinnamonbark Clethra (Clethra acuminata), also a desirable plant, but that's not in the garden, at least not yet. The other Clethra in the garden is the native Summersweet Clethra (Clethra alnifolia), whose common name refers to its summertime blooming of sweetly fragrant flowers. The most common flower color for this species is white, but the form I have pictured is an attractive pink flowered selection named 'Ruby Spice'.

Notice that this plant is covered with flowers from top to bottom. Because Clethra alnifolia is one of the last deciduous plants to leaf out in the spring it completely missed this year's April freeze. Like Clethra barbinervis, best growth of Clethra alnifolia occurs on moist soils. It can take full sun as long as the soil isn't too dry and even thrives in wet soils that would rot the root systems of many plants. In contrast to Clethra barbinervis, Clethra alnifolia doesn't have particularly interesting bark and can't easily be pruned into a small tree. In addition to growing shoots on its lower trunk, it also grows them from its entire root system and without maintenance it will soon colonize an area. It's not that aggressive so this usually isn't a problem, but a gardener considering using it should be aware of this habit.

Hymenocallis 'Tropical Giant'

2007-07-22T14:46:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, in his post about Hymenocallis × festalis (syn. Ismene × festalis), Bodhisagan mentioned that he also grew some sexier Hymenocallis. I can't be sure which he was referring to, but the one featured in this post, Hymenocallis 'Tropical Giant', is one that comes to mind.

Like all Hymenocallis, its flower construction consists of six spidery petals surrounding a central cup (corona). The cup, like that of the familiar daffodil (Narcissus), a genus in the same family, Amaryllidaceae, is featured prominently in the scientific name because Hymenocallis translates literally to "beautiful membrane". A unique characteristic of 'Tropical Giant' is that three of the petals curve down while the other three point out.

Hymenocallis is a New World genus, with species native to the southern United States through northern South America, and all places in between, including the West Indies, but the exact origins of 'Tropical Giant' remain a mystery. In some garden literature it's referred to as a hybrid, but in other places it's attributed to H. caymanensis, a species from the Cayman Islands.

Despite its mysterious origins, one thing that's clear to me is that the combination of bold, glossy, dark green leaves and large, fragrant, white flowers make it one of the finest perennials for gardens in the Southeastern United States. In addition to its good looks it's easy to grow, it thrives in full sun to part shade in average to wet soils. It also multiplies readily by offsets, so sizable clumps develop with time.

Even if we had clear knowledge of its origins, another mystery remains. With all of its desirable qualities I'd expect to see this plant widely grown, yet it's a rarity. I don't know the reason for this, perhaps it is not thought to survive in climates with sub-freezing winter temperatures, or maybe it just needs more publicity, but it's a shame it's not used more frequently.

Passiflora incarnata

2007-07-14T14:40:00.001-05:00

Passiflora incarnata is a wildflower, common in the southern United States and in Latin and South America. It is native to Crowley’s Ridge, the upland in the lowlands where I live and garden in southeast Missouri.

A sprawling or climbing perennial vine, the unusual and beautiful white and purple-fringed blooms are up to three inches across. They open quickly around noon and last but a day. However, bloom time is extended from June through September here in Missouri. Large three-lobed, serrated, deep green leaves add to the plant’s attractiveness. It spreads by underground roots and should be planted where it can be controlled. The two-inch fruit is edible. It is said to be sweet but seedy and mostly benefits wildlife. I haven’t tried one yet but it should be good as it’s what gives Hawaiian Punch its distinctive flavor. The entire plant is used medicinally mainly as a sedative and it is host to fritillary butterflies.

The passionflower as it is commonly called is named not for the passion of love but for the passion of the Christ, the hours of suffering after the Last Supper until his death on the cross. When Christians from Spain arrived in South America, different parts of the plant were reminders to them of the crucifixion. According to their elaborate analogy, the corona in the center of the flower was thought to resemble the crown of thorns. The flower’s tendrils symbolized whips, the five stamens represented the five wounds; the triple stigma, the three nails. Five petals and five sepals that surround the corona corresponded to the ten faithful apostles, minus Peter who denied and Judas who betrayed. The scientific name continues the analogy. Incarnata means to be endowed with a human body. Those Christians believed that the person who was crucified was God in the flesh. Though it was not named for love, that analogy fits too. Great sacrifice always demands passionate love!

Crinums of the Northeast

2007-07-10T21:00:00.000-05:00

Because I want others to enjoy them, and also because I'm curious about where they'll grow, I've sent Crinums to relatives living in the Northeast. Last week I traveled to Greenport, New York to visit family, stopping in Hershey, Pennsylvania along the way, and got to check in on some of the bulbs I've sent, some just recently planted and others that are now fully established.

At the first stop, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the Crinum bulbispermum that I sent several years ago was in bloom. While not in bloom yet, both Crinum 'Seven Sisters' and Crinum 'Mrs. James Hendry' survived last winter in the ground, and Crinum × powellii 'Album' and Crinum 'Cecil Houdyshel' are new additions this spring. All of these are planted in a sheltered location in front of the house with a southern exposure.

Crinum bulbispermum in Hershey, Pennsylvania

At the next stop, in Greenport, New York, Crinum 'Cecil Houdyshel' was in bloom and Crinum 'Mrs. James Hendry' was preparing to bloom with a scape already up. Filling out the group was Crinum × powellii 'Album', a new addition this spring. 'Cecil Houdyshel' and 'Mrs. James Hendry' have survived several winters in this sheltered location against a south facing wall, backed by a hedge and then a two story building, all of this about 50 feet (15m) from Greenport Harbor.

Crinum 'Cecil Houdyshel' in Greenport, New York

C. × powellii 'Album', 'Cecil Houdyshel', and 'Mrs. James Hendry'

Crinums by the shore

Note that in both gardens the bulbs and the sites where they were planted were chosen carefully. All of the bulbs have Crinum bulbispermum in their ancestry and the sites have protected southern exposures and, in the case of the Greenport garden, very close proximity to a temperature moderating, large body of water. So far it's working, the plants are surviving the winters and are growing and blooming well. A really nasty winter could wipe them all out, but the results so far are encouraging.

While I expected to see Crinums at our first two stops because I sent them there, I did not expect to see Crinums in the heart of New York City, but in Rockefeller Center I found the large, red-foliaged Crinum procerum splendens used in combination with Alocasias, Alpinias, bananas, palms, and bromeliads in a really attractive summer display. Obviously none of these can survive a New York City winter outdoors, but I was happy to see them on display in such a prominent location during our summertime visit.

Tropical landscape at Rockefeller Center

Crinum procerum splendens with Alocasia, Musa, and bromeliads

Hymenocallis × festalis - unsexy but cool

2007-06-28T22:11:00.000-05:00

This plant, sold in the trade as Peruvian daffodil, is not as sexy as many of the species types that are now available, which other blog contributors and I collect. Its foliage isn't as dark or as broad and its flowers are less delicate and interesting.

It is however, very easy and reliable in sun to part sun and in regular soil or soil that is wet. Mine sits tight until the first wet period late in Spring or Summer. Then it quickly displays leaves followed by these flowers.

Unlike some of my other hymenocallis, there is no repeat ever for me. That's OK since the show is for a fairly long time and it is sufficiently impressive. I get one show for about three weeks starting in May or June depending largely on rainfall.

So, it may not be so sexy, but I'll keep growing it.

Wie gehts, Ich komme aus Stuttgart.

2007-06-28T21:35:00.000-05:00

Some plants look better in catalogs then in the garden. Some are so exacting as to their requirements, that they never reach their potential.

Canna 'Stuttgart' has for years been that plant. It scorches, is a favorite place for leaf rollers and is all around ugly when unhappy. Oddly, it grows aggressively and I've never been determined enough to kill it altogether, rather, I've moved it about the garden a good bit.

Well after seven years, I think I found a good home. A kind of Goldilocks location where sun, shade and irrigation keep this plant just right. A little snapping off of insect rolled leaves and I have a very tidy and absolutely gorgeous variegated plant.

So thankfully, I left it here in the garden and now I'm being rewarded. I guess there is a morale to this, but I'm just enjoying the show.

Summer, Summer, Summer!

2007-06-28T17:29:00.000-05:00

It's like a merry-go-round! We've had high temperatures above 90°F (32°C) along with high humidity the past few days, so summer is here. So far none of the thunderstorms that pop up each afternoon have delivered any measurable precipitation to the garden, but there's a good chance we'll get a soaking this weekend when a cold front passes through, also delivering a couple of days of cooler temperatures and lower humidity. I try to plan the garden so that it provides interest, if not flowers, every day of the year and adding hardy sub-tropicals to the garden has really improved my appreciation of hot, humid, summer weather. This post is about one of those sub-tropicals, the first Hedychium to bloom each summer.

I think it may be a form of Hedychium coccineum because it has glaucous foliage and small reddish-orange flowers, but it's very short, only 3 feet (1m) tall, and always blooms in June, more than a month before any other Hedychium. While many Hedychiums have fragrant flowers, this is not one of them, but like most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), it's aromatic in all parts and crushing a leaf releases a fragrance much like that of culinary ginger, Zingiber officinale. Other attractive garden plants from the ginger family that spice up the summer garden are Alpinia, Curcuma, and Kaempferia. I'll write more about those later this summer.

Early blooming Hedychium

Crinum 'Patricia Hardy'

2007-06-25T06:30:00.003-05:00

Crinum 'Patricia Hardy' is one of Dave Lehmiller's hybrids, obtained by pollinating Crinum rautanenianum with Crinum moorei var. schmidtii. It has beautifully shaped, lightly fragrant, pale pink flowers and compact, tidy foliage that's upright, arched, and extremely narrow. Its flowers are durable, each one lasting several days, and they're delivered sequentially, so an individual scape can decorate the garden or vase for at least a week. My bulb, a new addition to the garden this spring, extended the show by producing a second scape which began blooming just as the first one faded. With Crinum rautanenianum, an aquatic species from Southern Africa, as a parent, it's unclear whether this hybrid will survive a North Carolina winter, but its other parent, Crinum moorei, performs well here, giving me enough confidence to leave it in the ground for testing this winter.

Close-up of Crinum 'Patricia Hardy'

Crinum 'Patricia Hardy' umbel

Crinum 'Patricia Hardy' with Canna 'Bengal Tiger'

Update on May 26, 2009: 'Patricia Hardy' did not sprout this spring after encountering air temperatures near 10° F (-12° C) in January. I located the neck of the bulb, dug it out, and found it was rotten throughout, so perhaps this pretty plant should be renamed 'Patricia Not Hardy'.

Not Just Another Pretty Face

2007-06-21T22:36:00.000-05:00

Echinacea purpurea, commonly known as Purple Coneflower, is a striking wildflower often standing nearly head high. Its flowers are large and daisy-like with purplish pink rays sweeping back from the spiny reddish cone-shaped central disk. The deep green leaves are rough and tapering. Blooming season for this coneflower is from June to October. It is a native of the North American prairies but its range has spread eastward where it grows wild along open woodlands and roadsides.

This long-lived flower is lovely in the garden and also is excellent for cutting. But that’s not all. Butterflies and other insects are attracted to its nectar and birds such as goldfinch and chickadees relish the seed heads.

And that’s not all! Native Americans used Echinacea for more medicinal purposes than any other plant group. Now it is used around the world, especially in Europe, though it is not native there. In Germany today, more than 200 pharmaceutical preparations are made from Echinacea. This herb has a reputation for enhancing the immune system. Studies have shown that it stimulates the production of white blood cells, which fight infection.

It’s amazing that in one plant there can be such beauty and usefulness too. Echinacea purpurea is definitely not just another pretty face!

Bottlebrush Buckeye

2007-06-21T06:30:00.000-05:00

Back in March, I wrote about the emerging foliage of the native Buckeyes, always in the first wave of woody plants to break dormancy each spring. I like them all, but I have a favorite and it's Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora), named for its panicles of creamy white flowers with exserted stamens and pink anthers. It's my favorite partially because of its beautiful late spring flowers, but it also often produces another grand show in October with bright yellow autumn foliage. It's not a plant for small locations because it spreads slowly underground and eventually makes a large colony, but in the right location along the edge of a forest where it has room to grow it's fantastic.

Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)

Petite Beauties

2007-06-19T21:30:00.000-05:00

Many Crinums are large plants that don't fit well into smaller gardens, but there are some that are small enough and multiply slowly enough to fit into just about any garden. 'Hannibal's Dwarf' and 'Bayou Traveler' are both small enough as individual plants, but the problem is that they don't remain individual plants and before long they're using far more space in the garden than was allocated to them. Here are two of my Crinum recommendations for smaller gardens.

Crinum 'Spring Joy' has fragrant, shell pink flowers and stiff, spreading, sword-like foliage. While its parentage is recorded as an inbred line of Crinum macowanii, its habit of sequentially opening its long-lasting flowers shows influence from Crinum moorei. It has been reported to be fertile both ways and although I've successfully used its pollen to induce new hybrids, I haven't had any success getting it to set seeds. It has fooled me a few times into thinking that it has set seeds, but the swollen pods are air-filled with no seeds inside. I'll keep trying.

Crinum 'Spring Joy'

Crinum 'Ollene' is another nice compact hybrid, the result of crossing Crinum bulbispermum with 'Seven Sisters'. Its foliage is stiff, upright, and moderately spreading and its flowers are white with contrast provided by bright yellow, pollen bearing anthers and a pink pistil. Because it has an extra dose of Crinum bulbispermum in its ancestry, it's probably very tolerant of cold temperatures. While I haven't read any reports of seed fertility in this hybrid, it is a backcross, which increases the likelihood, so I'll be trying to get seeds from this one too.

Crinum 'Ollene'

Butterfly Weed

2007-06-15T21:30:00.000-05:00

Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is a tough, drought tolerant wildflower native to Eastern North America. While not all wildflowers are welcome in the garden, some try to take over the place, and others grow too tall and flop when given extra moisture and fertile soil, Butterfly Weed is a well behaved and beautiful addition to any sunny, well drained location in the garden.

Clump of Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

It bears umbels of small flowers, usually orange, but their color can vary from yellow to near red. The flowers on these plants are orange with red interiors.

Close-up of Butterfly Weed flowers

Pretty flowers buds too

Just about any low maintenance plant with showy flowers would get my attention, but this one goes one step further. It's an important host plant for caterpillars of the beautiful black and orange Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus). In addition to the Monarchs, many butterflies and bees really enjoy the nectar from their flowers, so an established clump in bloom sees more air traffic than Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

Butterfly Weed with Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)

Hippeastrum 'Baby Star'

2007-06-07T11:47:00.000-05:00

Most people are familiar with the bulbs commonly called Amaryllis because they're sold everywhere, often already potted for forcing, just before the winter holiday season. These bulbs are actually hybrids of Hippeastrum, a New World genus, while Amaryllis is a genus of related bulbs native to South Africa. Hippeastrum are great for forcing indoors for winter color, but many also grow well in the garden if the climate isn't too cold.

When grown in containers these bulbs are often planted high, with at least half of the bulb exposed. I don't know if this is the way these bulbs grow in the wild or if this practice was adopted just to allow more space for the roots, but the bulbs would freeze in a central North Carolina winter if planted this way. I bury them completely with about 4 inches of well-drained soil over their tops and in late autumn I refresh the mulch to provide extra protection from freezing. They seem happiest in the garden in part-shade, with too much shade they don't bloom, and with too much sun their foliage is much smaller and pale.

One of my best performers is Hippeastrum 'Baby Star', a compact red-flowered selection with a central white star and a green throat. It returns after every winter and blooms reliably every June.

Hippeastrum 'Baby Star'

Any Volunteers?

2007-06-04T22:25:00.000-05:00

While I often try to coax my garden plants, especially the Crinums, into producing new hybrids for me, sometimes the garden just delivers new plants without any help. This post features a new rain lily hybrid I found in the garden. It's a volunteer, rather than the result of one of my more controlled crosses, but I am very pleased with it so far.

Before I get into the details about this plant I'll provide a little bit of general information about rain lilies. They're members of the Amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae), all native to the Americas, and usually flower in response to rainfall, often within just a few days of a good soaking. These plants are small, but their flowers are relatively large, and if they're planted in quantity they can make quite a show.

The volunteer is a seedling of Zephyranthes 'El Cielo', a rain lily with neat, upright foliage and pink flowers with narrow petals. 'El Cielo' blooms here from April through October, but only rarely does it produce a profusion of flowers, instead a clump will pace itself and deliver them a few at a time over the whole growing season. 'El Cielo' is a good multiplier, forming nice clumps over time, but it's also fertile and will often set seeds.

I suspect that the volunteer's pollen parent is Zephyranthes 'Big Dude', a selection of Z. 'Labuffarosea' and a very different plant than 'El Cielo'. 'Big Dude' has broad and spreading foliage and very large flowers with broad petals that are white with pink tips. It blooms after each rainstorm during July, August, and September, often so heavily that the plants are covered with flowers and the foliage is hidden. Because of this profusion of large flowers, 'Big Dude' is one of my favorite rain lilies. 'Big Dude' is a very good multiplier and rapidly forms large clumps. It will also produce seeds, but appears not to set seed with its own pollen. Despite having good looking foliage during most of the year, one of the drawbacks of all 'Labuffarosea', including 'Big Dude', is a period of semi-dormancy in late spring when their foliage becomes sparse, yellow, and unattractive.

Now that I've introduced the parents it's time to talk about the new baby. Its flowers have similar coloration to 'Big Dude', white with blush pink tips, not as full as 'Big Dude', but much fuller than 'El Cielo'. It got the habit of closing its flowers at night, or in response to the darkening clouds of an approaching thunderstorm, from 'El Cielo'. This is a handy feature, because at least once a summer the flowers of 'Big Dude', which don't close once they've opened, get shredded by a hard rain. Its anthers and stigma are not buried in the floral tube as with 'Big Dude', but they don't stick out of the flower as they do in 'El Cielo'. Its foliage is superior to that of both parents, being broad and frost resistant, but not having an ugly period of semi-dormancy. It's already multiplied into a small clump and it's fertile, setting seeds with its own pollen.

I'll watch this volunteer and if it continues to impress me then I'll be sure to give it a name and share it with other rain lily enthusiasts.

Close-up of Zephyranthes 'El Cielo' × Z. 'Big Dude'

Profile of Zephyranthes 'El Cielo' × Z. 'Big Dude'

A Tale of Two Crinums

2007-05-31T14:42:00.000-05:00

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... No, not that tale, but continuing with that theme, its flowers are white with red stripes, its flowers are red with white edges. The red and white flowers I'm referring to are those of Crinum × herbertii, those tough hybrids of Crinum bulbispermum and Crinum scabrum, whose peak season in the garden is rapidly approaching.

'Schreck' kicked off the season a couple of weeks ago and is getting ready to bloom again, and there are scapes rising on 'Carroll Abbott' and just about every other Crinum × herbertii in the garden. This post will focus on two that are blooming now, one with an unfortunate name, and another with no name, but deserving a good one.

The one with the unfortunate name is 'Pat's Herbertia'. It's unfortunate because Herbertia is the name of an IBS publication, also the name of a genus in the Iris family, while herbertii is the name used for hybrids between C. bulbispermum and C. scabrum. Why its hybridizer, Patrick Malcolm, mixed up these names is unclear, but despite the name, it's a good plant.

When hybridizing Crinum species, unless the seed and pollen parents are very closely related, the resulting F1 hybrids cannot form seeds. Like mules, they're sterile. The comparison with mules is not completely accurate, because the pollen of F1 Crinum hybrids is often viable.

That's what happened with 'Pat's Herbertia', it's a backcross, obtained by transferring pollen from a Crinum × herbertii flower to a Crinum bulbispermum flower. Note that while most Crinum × herbertii are half Crinum bulbispermum and half Crinum scabrum, 'Pat's Herbertia' is three quarters Crinum bulbispermum and one quarter Crinum scabrum, and like many Crinum backcrosses, it is capable of forming seeds.

In addition to having seed fertility, 'Pat's Herbertia' differs from most Crinum × herbertii by its large size, with scapes taller than 5 feet (1.5 m), and its extra glaucous leaves. My only real complaint is that it has very long floral tubes, resulting in flowers that are extra droopy during the hottest part of the day, recovering their posture in the evening.

Crinum 'Pat's Herbertia'

The other Crinum × herbertii doesn't have a name yet, but it's a great plant and really needs one. A clump of it was found in Greenwood Cemetery and after seeking permission from the clump's "owner", who for the record didn't say no, an offset was removed. It turned out to be a vigorous Crinum × herbertii with large, pink striped flowers. Another nice feature is that its flowers face upright and hold their posture well even during the heat of the day.

This excellent Crinum does not match the description of any named Crinum × herbertii, so it's in need of a name. It could be given the name on the headstone where it was found, or if that's not possible, perhaps naming it 'Greenwood' or 'Greenwood Cemetery' is appropriate.

Crinum × herbertii found in Greenwood Cemetery

Strange Alocasias

2007-05-27T22:30:00.000-05:00

Alocasia, along with Colocasia, Xanthosoma, and other genera with large leaves in the Arum (Araceae) family, are commonly called Elephant's Ear. While I grow A. odora and A. macrorrhiza with huge leaves that earn them the common name Elephant's Ear, I also grow some with smaller and even stranger foliage.

Alocasia × amazonica has very dark green, almost black, glossy leaves with raised silvery veins and undulating margins, reminding me of a bat's wing. If billionaire Bruce Wayne ever hires me to design a landscape for the entrance to the Batcave (don't worry Bruce, your secret is safe with me) this plant would be on my short list.

Alocasia × amazonica

Alocasia cuprea is another strange one with silvery green leaves and deeply impressed dark veins, giving it the look of hammered metal. While the previous plant would appeal to Batman, A. cuprea would appeal to Lieutenant Commander Worf because its leaves look just like a Klingon's forehead. Just as strange, the backs of the leaves are a rich, reddish purple.

Alocasia cuprea

Alocasia rugosa is the smallest of the three and may be the strangest. Its stiff, textured, dark green leaves have the look and feel of plastic. Be sure to click on the close-up to get a good look at the details of the leaf texture. Although I bought one, I'd hate to make a living selling them. I can imagine a customer asking me, "Why should I buy your plant when I can get one stamped out of plastic that looks the same, requires no care, and costs a tenth of what you're asking?"

Alocasia rugosa

Night and Day

2007-05-23T21:26:00.000-05:00

Two primroses are blooming in my garden now and they are as different as - well, as different as night and day.

Oenothera speciosa, commonly known as pink evening primrose, opens its petals when night starts to fall. The bowl-shaped blooms face skyward and are a lovely pale pink nearly 2 inches across. Each flower lasts only a day but the plants have a long blooming season. Distinctive features of primroses are the crosslike stigma and four-petaled flowers. This primrose grows 8 - 24 inches high and spreads to 15 inches.

Native to rocky prairies, they encompass a much broader region now. They thrive in poor soil and are a beautiful sight along our southeast Missouri roadsides in late spring. These plants can be used in a wide variety of semi-wild garden settings but they are best planted where you don’t mind them spreading as they can quickly crowd out nearby plants.

Its cousin, Oenothera fruticosa, commonly called sundrops, opens in sunshine and closes at dusk. Deep green leaves are topped by clusters of bright clear yellow flowers, from 1- 2 inches across. Its flowers also last but a day but the blooming season spans several weeks. It grows from 12 - 36 inches high.

Tolerant of poor soil and quite drought-resistant, sundrops are fussy about well-drained soil and full sun. Their sturdy, tidy stems and leaves are in contrast to the pink evening primrose whose foliage is rather coarse and sprawling.

Night or day. Take your pick – or better yet, grow both. They’re sure to catch your eye and make you smile!

Crinum 'Schreck'

2007-05-23T20:23:00.000-05:00

Crinum 'Schreck' displayed excellent timing this year by blooming the same weekend the new Shrek movie opened. 'Schreck' was named by Marcelle Sheppard, who got it from the Schreck family of Vidor, Texas, by the way of her friend, Ruth Dubuisson.

While we don't know the history of the plant before it was found in the Schreck garden, we can be fairly sure that it is a Crinum × herbertii hybrid, the result of crossing Crinum bulbispermum with Crinum scabrum. These hybrids, called milk and wine lilies in the South, can be extremely variable for plant size, flower size and shape, and the degree of striping found on the petals.

'Schreck' is a good example of a medium sized Crinum × herbertii, with well-defined red stripes on nicely shaped flowers. Some have suggested that it's the same plant as 'Carroll Abbott', but I've found consistent observable differences and don't think so.

Hardy Geraniums

2007-05-22T22:15:00.000-05:00

Another group of perennials that bloom in the garden during May is the Geraniums. To avoid confusion with the popular tender plants in the genus Pelargonium, which also go by the common name Geranium, plants in the genus Geranium are sometimes called Hardy Geranium or Cranesbill.

Geraniums generally prefer cooler temperatures than I can provide for them here in central North Carolina, but there are a few that have proved to be satisfactory in this climate. Geraniums give their best performance here when planted in partial shade with moist, well-drained soils, although Geranium sanguineum can take more sun and less moisture and still perform adequately. The native wildflower, Geranium maculatum, blooms in April along the edge of the forest, but I didn't photograph them so they won't be featured in this post.

Bloody Cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum) is the species that's most commonly seen in southern gardens. It has attractive, finely textured, palmately lobed, glossy, dark green foliage which often turns red in late autumn and persists for most of the winter.

Foliage of Geranium sanguineum

The most common flower color is rich magenta, which I like, but some gardeners find it a bit loud.

Typical flower color of Geranium sanguineum

I have two other cultivars of Geranium sanguineum with more subdued flower colors. The first is named 'Prostratum' (var. striatum) and it has light pink flowers with darker veins on short compact plants that make a nice, low groundcover.

Close-up of Geranium sanguineum 'Prostratum'

Geranium sanguineum 'Prostratum' habit

The other cultivar of Geranium sanguineum growing in the garden is 'Album', with white flowers.

Close-up of Geranium sanguineum 'Album'

Another species that does well in the garden is Bigroot Geranium (Geranium macrorrhizum). Its flowers are smaller than those of Geranium sanguineum, but its leaves are much larger and fuzzy, releasing a medicinal odor when touched. It's also mostly evergreen, with some leaves taking on red and purple coloration during the winter.

Close-up of Geranium macrorrhizum

Foliage of Geranium macrorrhizum

Cranesbill, a reference to the beak-like fruits, is the other common name for plants in the genus Geranium.

Beak-like fruits of Geranium macrorrhizum

My favorite Geranium is a hybrid of G. himalayense × G. wallichianum 'Buxton's Variety' named 'Rozanne'. It's my favorite because its large, pretty blue flowers begin blooming in May and continue until frost shuts them down in November. It also has attractive lobed foliage, but unlike the others it's completely deciduous in our climate. It's also sterile, which partially explains its long bloom season. The others seed around a bit, not aggressively, but 'Rozanne' never does.

Close-up of Geranium 'Rozanne'

Foliage of Geranium 'Rozanne'

Calla Lilies

2007-05-18T17:16:00.000-05:00

The calla lilies (Zantedeschia) are putting on a nice show in the garden right now. I have 2 cultivars of the White Calla (Zantedeschia aethiopica), the huge 'White Giant' and the dwarf 'Child's Perfection', and a hybrid calla lily with deep yellow flowers named 'Millennium Gold'.

'Child's Perfection' (aka 'Childsiana') is the dwarf (about 18 inches tall) and I've grown it for about 5 years. It performs best with moist soils and partially shaded conditions that would suit most hostas. If potted and submerged in a garden pond it can take full sun, but in the garden partial shade keeps the foliage looking better during the hottest weather. Their thick, glossy, dark green foliage emerges early in the spring and they bloom a little in April, peaking in May. They sulk during the hottest part of the summer and many of the older leaves turn yellow and collapse. As autumn approaches they become invigorated by the cooler temperatures and produce lots of new, attractive foliage.

Zantedeschia aethiopica 'Child's Perfection'

Calla lilies with daddy-long-legs (Opiliones)

'Millennium Gold' (aka 'Yellow Mammoth') is a recent acquisition, so I can't say much about its long term performance. It has very showy, deep yellow flowers on 18 inch stems and attractive spotted foliage.

Zantedeschia 'Millennium Gold'

'White Giant' is a new addition to the garden this spring and not too impressive yet, so no photos of it in this post. It has white flowers and spotted leaves and is known to grow to 7 feet tall. I've planted it in very moist soil with full sun and so far it's happy and growing.

A visit from "The Bulb Hunter"

2007-05-17T12:08:00.000-05:00

This week, Chris Wiesinger, founder of The Southern Bulb Company, paid a visit to me and the garden. He had a talk at Tryon Palace in New Bern, North Carolina over the weekend and, fortunately for me, decided to stay for a few days and visit some Carolina Crinum growers before heading back to Texas.

Last July, The New York Times published an article, The Bulb Hunter (subscription required), about Chris and his business of finding, growing, and marketing heirloom bulbs that grow well in the Southern United States. After reading the article I contacted him via e-mail and he responded enthusiastically, having known about me through my efforts on the Pacific Bulb Society Wiki to describe and photograph other old favorite southern bulbs, Crinums and their hybrids. During that e-mail exchange I had extended an open invitation for a garden tour and when a speaking engagement brought him to central North Carolina he took me up on it.

Chris was enthusiastic about all kinds of garden plants, not just bulbs, and the time I spent with him was enjoyable. After the garden tour, during which he shot dozens of photographs, we decided to check out the creek behind the house. He was equally enthusiastic about the huge trees and boulders, as well as the diversity of native plants that grow alongside the creek and I think he took as many photographs of the scenery there as he did in the garden.

We ended our visit promising to share and I'll be putting together a box of bulbs to send to Chris soon. I would have liked to have visited longer, but I had an appointment early in the afternoon and couldn't manage it. Hopefully he will return for another visit someday and see how some of the newly planted Crinums and other bulbs have grown. While Chris shot lots of pictures during our visit and displayed some of them on a blog post he wrote about his visit, I didn't take many, but did get one picture of him posing next to Crinum 'Carnival'.

Oh, So Sweet

2007-05-14T20:27:00.000-05:00

Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) any other time is to be grubbed out – and I’ve pulled bushels of the stuff. It does awful damage to our eastern woodlands. It displaces native ground plants, and strangles young trees and anything else that gets in its path. But in May, I’m glad Crowley’s Ridge is not barren of honeysuckle.

Evening time in early May brings the scent of honeysuckle wafting in the window with every gentle breeze. I love the scent of honeysuckle! Not the cloying bottled kind but the fresh one when the first blooms open.

One of her classmates died when my grandmother was a young girl. Being poor, she said, the children cut honeysuckle to heap on her grave and she could never again enjoy its scent. I’m so glad I have no bad memories of that sweet fragrance.

When each grandchild had enough manual dexterity, I taught them how to “suck the honey” as I did their mothers. With my thumbnail, I’d demonstrate how to press carefully just above the base of a bloom so that it cut all the way around but not through the style, then pull gently. When the stigma gets to the opening, there’s a drop of nectar shining, ready to plop in your mouth and savor the sweetness. That’s one of our favorite spring rituals.

There’s a quality to the air here in early May – maybe it’s everywhere, I don’t know – but it’s soft and tender, like someone dearly loved touching your face. Adding to the atmosphere are fireflies and the songs of the cricket frog. It almost makes me swoon for the beauty of it all. And then I’m glad for honeysuckle. For one glorious month, it is, oh, so sweet!

Crinum 'Carnival'

2007-05-12T10:53:00.000-05:00

The Crinum show continues without interruption as 'Peachblow' has passed the torch to 'Carnival'. 'Carnival' often shows random white stripes on its reddish flowers and for this reason it has been described as a chimera by several authors, but unless genetic tests have been performed this claim is dubious. The flowers in these photographs aren't showing that characteristic much, but are showing subtle darker striping on the keels. It is a large plant with foliage that's very broad at the base, tapering rapidly to a fine point. It is not the tidiest Crinum because its foliage can be floppy, but this flaw tends to be more pronounced on younger bulbs, with larger bulbs having more rigid foliage and better structure.

Two-Flowered Knobby Knees

2007-05-09T21:51:00.000-05:00

My Solomon’s Seal bloomed for the first time this week! I’m so excited! It was just a tiny thing last spring when I moved it from the woods and it not only survived but also grew and bloomed. It’s beautiful - a graceful arching plant with lovely bell-shaped, greenish-yellow flowers dangling beneath its deep green leaves.

The scientific name for this plant is Polygonatum biflorum. Polygonatum means “with many knees” which probably refers to its knobby root. Biflorum, of course, means two-flowered. Two is the usual number of flowers at each leaf axil but there can be more. The common name derives from the fact that each year a new stem emerges from the root and old stem scars remain on the rhizome. These scars resemble the seals once used to seal letters with wax.

Besides its graceful beauty, this plant has practical uses. The flowers give way later in summer to blue black berries eaten by birds and small mammals and it also serves as cover for wildlife. The young shoots are edible either raw or cooked. Its roots are rich in starch and can be used to make bread or added to soups.

My sources say that Solomon’s Seal can be grown in either full or part shade but requires moist soil. In optimum growing conditions, its rhizomes slowly spread to form colonies. My little one doesn’t look too impressive right now but if it likes where I put it, maybe in a few years it will!

Crinum 'Peachblow'

2007-05-07T09:41:00.000-05:00

Last week I wrote about Crinum 'Alamo Village' blooming in late April. It was immediately followed by Crinum 'Peachblow' (sometimes written 'Peach Blow'). The two plants seem related to me because both have fairly compact, attractive foliage and nicely scented flowers that open wide with narrow tepals and recurved, clawed tips. The wide open flowers with narrow tepals suggest that they both have the Southeastern United States native, C. americanum, or its South American counterpart, C. erubescens, in their ancestry. The recurved, clawed tips probably come from C. zeylanicum or its relation, C. latifolium. These hybrids may be complex and have genetic influences from other species, but I won't speculate on that.

Unfortunately, one of the other characteristics they share is the tendency for their scapes to topple. Although 'Peachblow' is the most susceptible of the two, both benefit from staking as the scapes rise and bloom. You might notice the handy stake supporting the scape in the picture of the whole plant below.

Wild Child's Wild Garden

2007-05-05T15:30:00.000-05:00

What is it that makes me love wildflowers so? I don’t know – but I do. Perhaps it’s because wildflowers have been evolving for millennia and there is a “rightness” about them that fits their environment.

For many years I contemplated landscaping our home with native wildflowers and plants but I didn’t even know where to begin.

In 1998 my husband and I took a trip into south Texas and came home via Austin. I’d picked up some brochures somewhere that listed Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center as an interesting place to see. It’s a botanical garden dedicated to the native plants of Texas. For plant geeks, it’s awesome! Some of its goals are to help people ”to understand the role of native plants in a healthy ecosystem, to value the natural landscape, and to take action to protect, conserve and restore the natural landscapes of North America”. In several areas of the garden, they made arrangements of exotic plants, and then showed how native plants could be substituted to give a similar look. That impressed me. It was emphasized that when natives are planted in the right locations, they don’t require additional fertilizer or watering as exotic plants often do in normal years. This not only saves the energy of the gardener but also helps the environment.

I came home all excited about “growing native” and I thought and thought about how I could landscape our home. I poured over natural planting books but still nothing seemed possible. I couldn’t bring myself to tear out what I had worked so hard to establish. My opportunity came in 2003 when we decided to build a new home beside our old one. There was nothing on the site to cut down except one spindly shrub and I could handle that! About that time, I learned about Grow Native! which is a joint project of the Missouri Departments of Conservation and Agriculture. Their website, http://www.grownative.org/, has been a continuing source of information and inspiration.

The plants in the front and at the entrance of our new home are all native. In a cleared area just behind the house I chose to plant some things that are not. Other flowers in the bed are native and were chosen because they are attractive to both butterflies and hummingbirds. The plantings among the trees will be shade-loving wildflowers that will look at home there.

A hedge of native shrubs and trees planted along the property line will eventually screen our old house from view. In the front yard, I have tried somewhat to reproduce the look of the woods in back. The trees and shrubs I’ve planted were chosen because they provide food and/or cover for the wild critters found on our land. I spoke earlier about the “rightness” of native plants. They do fit - as do the birds and animals of a certain area that depend on them in so many ways.

I consider our woods to be an extension of my garden. My dream is to bring the wildflowers of the woods to my wild garden for everyone to enjoy.

Aquilegia canadensis

Dicentra eximia

Phlox divaricata

Baptisia Trio

2007-05-02T20:46:00.000-05:00

Several kinds of Baptisia are blooming in the garden this week. Although they look very different, these pea relatives have a few things in common with the plants featured in my previous two posts, Crinum and Paeonia. In addition to all being favorites of mine, what they have in common is that they require patience because they are slow to establish and resent disturbance, are very tough and long-lived once established, getting bigger and better every year, and have attractive foliage and large forms that allow them to serve as anchors in the garden even while not in bloom.

The first to bloom in this trio is the Southeastern United States native, Baptisia alba. As you might have guessed, this one has white flowers. The specimen pictured I have been growing for more than 10 years and each growing season it gets to be shrub sized. Although it reaches its maximum height of about 5 feet while blooming, the foliage really thickens and the plant acquires much more visual mass after blooming.

Baptisia alba

The next to bloom in the trio is Baptisia 'Purple Smoke', a spontaneous hybrid of B. minor and B. alba from the North Carolina Botanical Garden with smoky blue flowers. So far it's been smaller than my largest B. alba, but that might just be the difference in their ages because I have only had 'Purple Smoke' about 5 years. It's topping out at about 4 feet and is now producing lots of flower spikes.

Baptisia 'Purple Smoke'

The last to bloom, although they all overlap, is Baptisia 'Carolina Moonlight', with light yellow flowers. Like 'Purple Smoke', it's also a hybrid (B. sphaerocarpa × B. alba) from the North Carolina Botanical Garden. I've had this plant only a few years and it's coming along just fine. For some reason, I keep wanting to call this one 'Carolina Moonshine', but that has another meaning altogether. Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery refers to Baptisia as Redneck Lupines, so perhaps that explains my association between Baptisia and Moonshine.

Baptisia 'Carolina Moonlight'

Peonies

2007-05-01T21:11:00.000-05:00

Just days after the first Crinum bloomed in the garden the first Paeonia are now blooming too. That's not entirely the truth because the tree peonies bloomed about a month ago and also I usually allow a few suckers from the herbaceous rootstock of the tree peonies to grow and they bloomed about two weeks ago. However, the peonies that I'm writing about in this post are herbaceous, are not serving as the rootstock for a tree peony, and are showing off their stuff in conspicuous garden locations.

First up is Paeonia 'Sarah Bernhardt', with fully double, rich pink flowers. While I like these full flowers, they're very heavy and will perform a face plant into the mud if a spring thunderstorm drenches them while in bloom. We use large rings to support the stems, but these must be placed early as the peonies begin growing or they're very difficult to place later. Also, a really heavy rain will still weigh down the flowers and some of the stems will break where they contact the ring. Despite these drawbacks we continue enjoy these beautiful, fragrant flowers as well as the handsome clump of foliage that remains for the rest of the growing season.

Paeonia 'Sarah Bernhardt'

The other peony to start blooming this week is Paeonia 'Krinkled White'. The single, white flowers are not as fancy as the fully double 'Sarah Bernhardt', but I enjoy the contrasting yellow centers and they also have the advantage of not needing rings to support the stems. The flowers are large, but the stems are sturdy enough to support them, even in a downpour.

Paeonia 'Krinkled White'

Crinum 'Alamo Village'

2007-04-29T07:45:00.000-05:00

The 2007 Crinum season has begun and just like last year 'Alamo Village' is the first to bloom. I took a sequence of photographs over the last few days, first of the buds, then of the first two open flowers, and finally of an umbel full of open flowers. The petals at the 10:00 and 2:00 positions display a gull wing shape that I think is really pretty.

April 27, 4:30 PM

April 28, 7:30 AM

April 29, 8:30 AM

She's not just a pretty face either. Here's a shot of the whole plant so you can see that she's got nice leaves to go with those pretty flowers. The height is just a bit over 3 feet (1 meter).

Crinum 'Alamo Village'

Farewell Narcissus

2007-04-26T21:45:00.000-05:00

Narcissus season is coming to a close in the garden and we've had quite a run, starting in mid-December with N. 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation' and continuing through early May without interruption. Before we say goodbye to the Narcissus until next season, I'd like to show a couple of very eye-catching late varieties.

First up is Narcissus 'Smiling Sun', a perfectly shaped flower with a yellow trumpet and white petals. Some of the yellow from the trumpet spreads onto the petal bases, a really nice touch.

Narcissus 'Smiling Sun'

The last Narcissus to open in the garden is 'Felindre', a poeticus with a nice blend of green, yellow, and red in its sharply defined small cup. It's also nicely proportioned with medium sized flowers on compact plants.

Narcissus 'Felindre'

Unless I've overlooked another late variety, that's it for Narcissus until next year.

Left Behind

2007-04-12T18:47:00.000-05:00

The deep freeze that covered much of the middle and eastern United States this past week also caused much damage on Crowley’s Ridge. One of the things that struck me is that on some of the trees, among dozens of dead ones, there were a few leaves still alive. Though I don’t put credence in premillennialism and have not read the books, it made me think of the Left Behind series. I don’t believe there is anything mysterious about this but I can’t figure out why some lived and others didn’t. The size or position of the leaf does not seem to explain it completely. If anybody has a scientific explanation, I’d like to hear it - or even an educated guess!

Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis)

Hickory (Carya)

Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)

The Iceman Cometh

2007-04-09T21:20:00.000-05:00

If you live in the eastern half of the United States you probably noticed a big change in the weather last week. A strong cold front drove south all the way to the Gulf of Mexico and east to the Atlantic Ocean, spoiling many spring garden displays as it went. The weather station at the airport not far from here recorded a low temperature of 27°F early Sunday morning, it might have been a little warmer or colder here in the garden. As a gardener and lover of wild plants and the animals they feed and shelter, extreme weather events like this are very disturbing to me.

As much as it bothers me, I decided to record the freeze damage in the garden with the camera and then add more photos over the coming weeks and months to show how the plants recover from their injuries. All of the pictures will be of woody plants, both natives and exotics, that are growing in the garden or the adjacent forest. Yes, there was damage to herbaceous perennials also, but some of the most sensitive, such as Hostas, I covered with old blankets.

First up are the natives. These should be well adapted to our climate and not be fooled by the sometimes vague transition from winter to spring, but several weeks of warm weather got them to commit and they paid the price when the cold arrived.

Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)

Fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus)

Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)

Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)

Several other natives were badly damaged by the freeze. I have photos of them but in the interest of column space I am not putting them inline and will link to them instead. They are Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis), Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica), and Yellowwood (Cladrastis kentukea).

Next up are the exotic victims, all native to Asia, mostly Japan, and adapted to similar climates, although perhaps not so uneven in the spring as the Eastern United States. In the photo of Japanese Spicebush below, note that the leaves are undamaged but the new shoot to which they're attached is limp. Hard to say what will happen as they continue to grow, but I'll be watching.

Japanese Clethra (Clethra barbinervis)

Weeping Katsuratree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum 'Pendula')

Crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia 'Muskogee')

Japanese Spicebush (Lindera obtusiloba)

The good news is that most of the plants in the garden, native and exotic alike, got through this late cold snap with little or no damage. Here's the complete report for my garden.

No visible damage

Acer leucoderme, Acer rubrum, Adiantum pedatum, Aesculus parviflora, Aesculus sylvatica, Ajuga reptans, Allium 'Millenium', Alpinia japonica, Amelanchier arborea, Amsonia hubrechtii, Anemonella thalictroides, Aquilegia canadensis, Arum species and hybrids, Aster divaricatus, Athyrium filix-femina, Baptisia minor, Baptisia 'Carolina Moonlight', Baptisia 'Purple Smoke', Chrysogonum virginianum, Clematis species and hybrids, Clinopodium georgianum, Colchicum species and hybrids, Coreopsis verticillata, Cornus florida, Cornus kousa, Crataegus phaenopyrum, Dicentra eximia, Dicentra spectabilis, Disporopsis pernyi, Disporum flavens, Dracunculus vulgaris, Dryopteris species and hybrids, Epimedium species and hybrids, Erythronium species and hybrids, Eucomis species, Eupatorium rugosum, Fagus grandifolia, Geranium species and hybrids, Habranthus species and hybrids, Hamamelis species and hybrids, Helleborus × hybridus, Hesperis matronalis, Heuchera americana, Hydrangea quercifolia, Hymenocallis species and hybrids, Illicium floridanum, Iris species and hybrids, Leucojum species, Liquidambar styraciflua, Liriope muscari, Lobelia cardinalis, Lonicera sempervirens, Lycoris species and hybrids, Magnolia stellata, Mertensia virginica, Myosotis sylvatica, Narcissus species and hybrids, Oenothera fruticosa, Ostrya virginiana, Paeonia species and hybrids, Parrotia persica, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Phlox divaricata, Phlox paniculata, Polygonatum caniculatum, Polygonatum humile, Polygonatum odoratum, Polystichum acrostichoides, Primula kisoana, Primula vulgaris, Prunus mume, Rhododendron atlanticum, Rosmarinus officinalis, Salvia guaranitica, Salvia lyrata, Salvia × superba, Scilla natalensis, Scilla peruviana, Scilla sibirica, Sedum species and hybrids, Smilacina racemosa, Stokesia laevis, Stylophorum diphyllum, Thymus species, Tiarella cordifolia, Thalictrum kiusianum, Trachycarpus fortunei, Tradescantia species and hybrids, Trillium species, Uvularia species, Vaccinium species, Verbena canadensis, Veronica species and hybrids, Viburnum species, Viola species, Woodwardia areolata, Zephyranthes species and hybrids

Some damage

Acer japonicum, Aesculus pavia, Agarista populifolia, ×Amarcrinum, Anemone hybrids, Astilbe species and hybrids, Athyrium niponicum, Baptisia alba, Camellia species and hybrids, Carya species, Corydalis 'Blackberry Wine', Crinum species and hybrids, Farfugium japonicum, Fothergilla 'Mt. Airy', Hemerocallis hybrids, Hippeastrum hybrids, Itea virginica, Lindera obtusiloba, Magnolia sieboldii, Musa velutina, Nandina domestica, Quercus species, Rhododendron canescens, Salvia microphylla, Stewartia pseudocamellia, Styrax species

Severe damage

Acer palmatum, Asimina triloba, Bletilla striata, Buddleia species, Cercidiphyllum japonicum, Cercis canadensis, Cladrastis kentukea, Clethra barbinervis, Chionanthus virginicus, Corylopsis pauciflora, Ilex species, Lagerstroemia hybrids, Liriodendron tulipifera, Nyssa sylvatica, Osmanthus species and hybrids, Oxydendrum arboreum, Perovskia atriplicifolia

No damage, still dormant

Alpinia pumila, Asclepias tuberosa, Callicarpa species, Canna hybrids, Clethra alnifolia, Cryptomeria japonica, Curcuma species and hybrids, Eupatorium maculatum, Hedychium species and hybrids, Hibiscus coccineus, Lavandula species, Osmunda species, Magnolia grandiflora, Magnolia tripetala, Musa basjoo, Musa itenerans, Rhododendron catawbiense, Rohdea japonica, Thelypteris species, Tsuga canadensis

A Walk on the Wild Side

2007-04-01T21:30:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I decided to hike to the back of our twenty-five acres to see how far advanced the red buckeyes (Aesculus pavia) were. Our property is long and narrow and it’s half a mile to the back of it. We only have a couple of buckeyes on our land but there are several nice, large specimens on our neighbor’s property. Their land borders ours on the east so I decided to stay close to the fence line on that side. My camera case was securely hooked to my fanny pack so I could get shots of any woodland blooms I came across.

When I was getting near the back, I came upon an almost impenetrable stand of saw briar (Smilex bono-nox) which must have stretched 30 feet across, in front of me and on the west side. Not wanting to backtrack, I looked for a hole where I thought I could get through unscathed - but somehow a branch I was holding away from me slipped from my hand and raked several long, ugly scratches on my arm. Blood was pooling in big drops when I remembered the tissue in my fanny pack. I pressed it tightly over the cuts and continued to make my way through the rest of the stand, now using only one hand.

Smilex bono-nox

After seeing the state of the buckeyes, I decided I would not return the way I had come but headed west where the undergrowth was not so dense. I was just thinking, “No saw briars here, thank goodness!” when I came upon thick brambles of blackberries ((Rubus fruticosus). A long scrape on my shin is a souvenir from my encounter with them!

Rubus fruticosus

The next day some fluid-filled blisters were proof that when I leaned on my elbows to get that close-up of the rue-anemone (Anemonella thalictroides), I didn’t look close enough for the poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) that grows all over our land. They are tiny when they first leaf out and sometimes difficult to spot.

Toxicodendron radicans

What started out to be a nice springtime tramp in the woods had turned out to be a walk on the wild side! If you’ve ever been pricked by the thorns of a rose or a blackberry, you’ve done battle with a plant, though you may be only an innocent bystander. I’m not in the habit of eating blackberry or saw briar leaves but other animals browse on them. Since plants must keep their leaves in order to make the energy they need to grow, many have evolved ways of protecting themselves. In the case of the blackberry and saw briar, their defense is something like a barbed wire fence. Poison ivy, on the other hand, has evolved a different form. It produces an oily chemical, urushiol, which produces severe pain in the digestive tract when eaten. Herbivores soon learn to avoid it, as do humans, like me, who develop a skin rash when they come in contact with the chemical. You don’t have to make contact with the leaves to be affected either, as touching the stem or the woody vine that clings to trees will do it. That’s why you can get a poison ivy rash in the dead of winter.

This Black Swallowtail is inexperienced or not allergic!

Even when I’m enduring the itch of my poison ivy or nursing my scratches, I’ve got to admire those plants. They can’t run and hide but they sure can put up a fight!

We can complain because rose bushes have thorns
…or we can rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.

- St. Francis de Sales

What's in a Name? Green and Gold

2007-04-01T19:50:00.000-05:00

Chrysogonum virginianum, usually sold as Green and Gold (when offered), is simply that, green and gold. Its pubescent (fuzzy) leaves and yellow daisy-like flowers help make this plant a wonderful groundcover in sun or shade, in very moist to average soil.

Other notable facts about the plant is that it is easy, native, it spreads very quickly, is a snap to propagate, starts blooming early and keeps blooming for months.

My favorite attribute of this plant is its ability to bring yellow to the shade garden. I've had this plant bloom in very limited light and with more moisture than most plants will take. All the same I've had it do well with much more light and much dryer conditions. It's that rare plant that can act as a foil across a large area under varying conditions. Chrysogonum is one of those plants that can "quietly" tie the garden's design together.

Strangely, for all its merits, it is still quite rare in cultivation. I don't get it. Even I have only now reacquired it, years since growing it at my parent's home. Why is this plant so easily overlooked? Maybe it's because its name is so, well, boring.

For whatever reason it is overlooked, this unsung hero of the garden is now blooming its heart out for me and will still be blooming after all the spring flowers have disappeared and the early summer flowers have taken their place. Perhaps if I called it "Greenbacks and Gold Bullion" people might be clamoring for it.

Virginia Bluebells

2007-03-28T20:40:00.000-05:00

Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) is one of my favorite spring wildlowers. The cool blue-green foliage is attractive, but it's the flowers, especially the color combinations provided by the pink buds and blue flowers in the same raceme that really get me excited. I think you'll see what I mean when you view this sequence of three pictures I took of the same plant growing in the garden, one each day, starting on March 26.

Mertensia virginica

Springtime on Crowley's Ridge: Almost Heaven

2007-03-28T15:23:00.000-05:00

The spring peepers are peeping; there’s a green haze through the woods and the air is warm and caressing. Yep, spring has once again come to Crowley’s Ridge.

This ridge is a unique landform, an upland in the lowlands, which rises in southern Missouri and extends southward 150 miles into northern Arkansas where it tapers off west of Memphis, Tennessee. Poking above the surrounding floodplain, it resembles an island in the middle of an ocean. Windblown loess, easily eroded, gives many parts of the ridge its rugged, distinctive deep ravines and steep bluffs which rise to 550 feet.

Some geologists think that this narrow ridge is the strip between the two old channels of the Mississippi River while others believe it was uplifted by a folding of the earth’s crust. Since the area elevation has increased over the years, this theory has some credence.

The vegetation on Crowley's Ridge is more like that found in the Appalachian Mountains to the east than the closer Ozark Mountains to the west. Examples are the American beech (Fagus grandifolia) and the Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera), a yellow poplar which in this area is found growing wild only on the ridge. Ferns and wildflowers abound here from early spring to late fall.

Traditional images of pearly gates and streets of gold have never attracted a plant geek like me but the little woodland plants that are common on Crowley’s Ridge and native to much of the eastern United States are a source of great joy – heaven - to me!

Podophyllum peltatum

Our woods are full of May-apple (Podophyllum peltatum) which at maturity are 12-18 inches. Opening in April, the waxy, white flower attached to the crotch of two large umbrellalike leaves is usually hidden. The edible fruit ripens in May, hence the name.

Dentaria laciniata

The tiny Cut-leaf Toothwort (Dentaria laciniata) is also common in our woods. According to the Doctrine of Signatures, a plant that looked like part of the body was good for treating ailments of that part. Since the small flower in bud resembles a tooth, it was thought to be useful in treating teeth problems. This concept was employed by the herbalists of the Renaissance, and was accepted until the latter part of the 19th century.

Sanguinaria canadensis

Another plant that thrives on Crowley’s Ridge is the Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis). The pale green, palmate, lobed leaf is wrapped around the single, short-lived, dazzling white flower as it emerges and opens.

Though these spring flowers are quickly gone, pausing to open ourselves to their fleeting beauty is to enter into the great cycle of life.

Earth's crammed with heaven.....

- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Tulips in the Deep South

2007-03-26T16:11:00.000-05:00

When most people think of southern cultural idioms, fields of tulips are not one of them. Tulips are generally, and rightfully, considered difficult to grow here in the Deep South.

Despite this difficulty, there are a number of tulips that we can grow as perennials in the south.

The tulip in the first photograph is Tulipa saxitilis. It has tough, thick and persistent foliage and a branched small inflorescence. I like this one, but it has been slow to establish after my initial planting a year and a half ago.

Those that have survived appear to be doing well this year, although some of the flowers appear to be damaged by rot or virus. I hope one year to have many more of these.
Another tulip that I'm growing is Tulipa clusiana , although I think I have a cultivar, it was sold as the species. It has hung around the garden for years, although I have often disturbed them as I forget where they are.

The plant is stoloniferous and should spread once I leave it alone in its home. We'll see if it does this eventually.

Tulipa 'Queen of Sheba' is the strongest performer of all that I am growing. It is a large hybrid lily flowered tulip but it performs great in my garden, unlike most of its ilk.

A gardener from Argentina turned me on to this variety and I've also seen it referenced in some literature I found from NC State. They have an extensive list of Tulips for southern gardens.

Look here for NC State's list: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/quickref/flowers/tulip.html

In its second year in the ground it is bigger than last year and is still present in most of the places I planted it.

The few that have disappeared were located in areas of high disturbance. I will replace those that I have lost and I have no doubt that I will see this plant for years to come.

This fall and into the next I will be increasing the number of tulips in areas where critters won't be much of an issue. Squirrels and their furry friends find that tulips are like chocolate. My more formal, less wooded beds aren't frequented by furry friends and are fine for these and other delicacies.

Although I can't imagine tulips becoming a mainstay in the garden, I will continue to make room for these three and a few other varieties I have yet to try.

Spring Beauty

2007-03-21T14:55:00.000-05:00

While it's true that spring is upon us and beauty can be observed readily, that's not the meaning of this post's title. Instead it refers to a tiny native wildflower, Claytonia virginica, that goes by the common name of Spring Beauty. It grows in profusion alongside the creek and it's one of the first wildflowers to bloom here each spring. The flowers on the plants in our population vary from pure white to pale pink, but my favorites are white with pink stripes.

Claytonia virginica

'Accent', 'Avalanche', and 'Tullybeg'

2007-03-19T21:40:00.000-05:00

We had a real taste of spring last week with high temperatures near 80°F for several days in a row. That ended Friday with the arrival of heavy rain and wind and much colder temperatures following. Before the stormy weather arrived I got some pictures of the varieties of Narcissus coming into bloom.

'Accent' is the first pink-cupped Narcissus to bloom in the garden and like all pink daffodils the color is more accurately described as salmon because there is always some orange present. Each flower opens with white petals and a light yellow cup, which darkens to a rich salmon, fading to a paler salmon before the flower finally withers.

Narcissus 'Accent'

'Avalanche' is the first tazetta to bloom in the garden. It's also called 'Seventeen Sisters' because of the large number of small, extremely fragrant flowers that open on top of its sturdy scapes. Its foliage is fairly broad and gray-green. It tends to emerge early here and the tips often show cold damage. The damaged tips are easily trimmed off if desired, either way it doesn't seem to impact the plant's vigor.

Narcissus 'Avalanche'

'Tullybeg' is the first small-cupped Narcissus to bloom in the garden. Its coloration, white petals with an orange-rimmed, yellow cup, show its N. poeticus ancestry.

Narcissus 'Tullybeg'

'Delibes' and 'Trevithian'

2007-03-11T06:14:00.000-05:00

We continue to have ideal weather for the late winter daffodil display, alternating between brief warm spells, during which more flowers open, and cool, which helps them last. This post will feature two Narcissus, 'Delibes' and 'Trevithian', which started blooming a few days ago and now have enough flowers open to photograph.

Narcissus 'Delibes' attracts attention with its deep yellow petals and wide, flat, ruffled, orange-rimmed cup. Its flower form looks much like N. 'Ice Follies' and not surprisingly, it's also classified as a large cup. It's been a reliable bloomer in the garden and multiplied at a slow, steady rate.

Narcissus 'Delibes'

Narcissus 'Trevithian' is the first jonquilla hybrid to bloom in the garden. Each scape bears very fragrant, deep yellow, medium-sized flowers in small clusters. It has very narrow, dark green foliage, usually taller than the flower scapes, which I had to part to get a clear view of the flowers for the close-ups, but this not as much of a concern in the garden because the foliage is so wispy. Like 'Delibes', it's been a reliable bloomer in the garden and multiplied at a slow, steady rate.

Narcissus 'Trevithian'

The next Narcissus to bloom in the garden will be the small-cupped 'Tullybeg', followed shortly after by the pink-cupped 'Accent'.

Emerging Buckeyes

2007-03-09T09:08:00.000-05:00

While photographing Lindera benzoin flowers yesterday I noticed the beautiful emerging foliage of Painted Buckeye (Aesculus sylvatica), also abundant alongside our creek. I love the crinkled texture and blending of colors of their emerging compound leaves, always the first of the native woody plants to unfurl their leaves here in central North Carolina.

Aesculus sylvatica

I sent pictures to Alani, Bodhisagan, and a few other plant geeks without blogger ids, suggesting that A. sylvatica might be a good subject for a blog post and soliciting their feedback. The consensus was to go ahead and post, but Alani also sent a picture of Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia) foliage emerging in north Florida, so I've included his picture here too.

Aesculus pavia

Update on March 11: Bodhisagan mentioned that it might be interesting to check on their progress in a few days, so here is a shot of the exact same buds about 48 hours later. As Bodhisagan suspected, they've grown rapidly.

Aesculus sylvatica

Update on March 21: My favorite buckeye of all has now leafed out. It's bottlebrush buckeye, Aesculus parviflora, which has beautiful late spring flowers and stunning bright yellow autumn foliage.

Aesculus parviflora

Update on March 26: Wild Child sent her sketch of a young Aesculus pavia she found in Village Creek State Park, Arkansas on March 20. I thought it was cool so I included it here.

Aesculus pavia

Japanese Spicebush

2007-03-07T22:20:00.000-05:00

After all the posts about mostly yellow Narcissus, my last one featured a combination of flower colors with a patriotic theme, but I'm back into yellow again. It's not a Narcissus providing the yellow this time, instead it's Japanese Spicebush, Lindera obtusiloba, a shrub that I grow mostly for its brilliant fall color and beautiful aromatic foliage like that of Sassafras, with left-handed mitten, right-handed mitten, and three lobed versions. Additional interest is provided by the small yellow flowers that line its bare branches in late winter. They're not really showy, many people would walk right by without noticing them, but I like them anyway.

Lindera obtusiloba flowers

The native spicebush, Lindera benzoin, is very abundant alongside our creek. It's mostly absent from the upland areas around the house and garden, but I've found seedlings growing among the Hostas and ferns in moist soils on the northeast side of the house and have transplanted them to suitable locations along the forest edge. Like its Asian relative, it has small yellow flowers in late winter and is aromatic in all of its parts, including the showy red autumn berries, but its foliage is simple without the fancy lobes.

Lindera benzoin flowers

My next post will probably feature Narcissus again because today I noticed the first flowers opening on 'Trevithian', 'Delibes', and 'Accent'. Adding some blue to the mix I also saw quite a few Scilla sibirica getting ready. As soon as I get some good photos I'll share them here.

Patriotic Effects

2007-03-05T22:41:00.000-05:00

Many early Narcissus are mostly yellow, with some variety added by the orange cups of 'Ceylon', 'Jetfire', and 'Pinza' and the pale 'Ice Follies', but it's nice to see some other colors in the garden at this time of year. As the title implies the flower colors featured in this post are going to be red, white, and blue. Because pure reds and blues are not common flower colors I'm stretching the definitions a bit and because the focus is on plants, green will always be part of the mix.

For red, I have chosen a dark flowered form of Helleborus × hybridus. It's not really red, I'd say wine-colored, but it will do. Helleborus × hybridus is a perennial with very attractive, deeply lobed, glossy evergreen foliage, and very long lasting late winter flowers. The flower color is usually dull pink with interior spots, but a range of shades from white to deep purple are possible. It's fairly easy to grow in shade to part-shade, although I've lost a few plants to rot during very wet summers, not a problem if well drained soils are provided.

For white, I have chosen Leucojum aestivum, the so-called Summer Snowflake, which always blooms in late winter or early spring around here. These seem happy just about everywhere I've planted them, are very tolerant of moisture and will not rot even in mucky soils. As far as my color scheme goes, these flowers are white, but add a bit of green to the tip of each of the six petals.

Blue is provided by Ipheion 'Rolf Fiedler', a little bulb from Argentina with star-shaped, bright blue flowers. Although its flowers are sweetly scented, it's not the best cut flower because if a stem or leaf is broken the first thing noticed is a familiar pungent odor, that of its close relatives, the onions.

'Jumblie' and 'Ceylon'

2007-03-05T21:50:00.000-05:00

The temperatures in central North Carolina have bounced around a bit during the past week or so, but there have been no extremes and that's good for the daffodil show. Two more early varieties have come into bloom since my last post and I have some pictures to share.

Narcissus 'Jumblie' is first, it's a sister seedling of the very popular N. 'Tête-à-tête'. Like 'Tête-à-tête', it's an early bloomer with yellow petals and a yellow-orange cup, but 'Jumblie' has very reflexed petals, showing much more influence from N. cyclamineus. Because scale is often hard to show in flower pictures, especially close-ups, 'Jumblie' might be compared to 'Jetfire', but 'Jumblie' is a much smaller plant and the cup has much less orange.

Narcissus 'Ceylon' is next, and it's a favorite of mine, along with its near twin, N. 'Pinza'. In my garden, these two are hard to tell apart, but 'Ceylon' is consistently shorter and blooms a little later.

Although Narcissus are providing most of the color in the garden right now, other plants, such as Helleborus, Leucojum, and Ipheion, are beginning to bloom, so I'll focus on them in my next post.

A few more early Narcissus

2007-03-02T17:34:00.000-05:00

In my previous post I mentioned that some other Narcissus were preparing to bloom. They are not at peak bloom yet, but enough flowers have opened that I've been able get some pictures of them over the past few days.

The first is Narcissus 'Saint Keverne', a yellow flower that's classified as a large cup, but its cup is not as wide as many and is fairly long, so it could almost qualify as a trumpet. 'Saint Keverne' is known to be especially resistant to basal rot and a good substitute for the less heat tolerant trumpets in warmer climates, but it also performs well in colder climates.

Next is Narcissus 'Pinza', one of my favorites, also classified as a large cup. Its thick, nicely-shaped petals are an intense yellow that almost glows and it adds to that a contrasting reddish-orange cup. Because of the extra thick petals the flowers stand up well to hot sun, cold, wind and rain and remain fresh for weeks. If that's not enough, the bulbs bloom reliably every year and multiply well.

Last one featured in this post is Narcissus 'Carlton', also classified as a large cup, and is reported to be the most abundant Narcissus in cultivation in the world. That's probably because it performs well nearly everywhere and multiplies well. Compared to 'Saint Keverne' its cup is shorter with a wider, more flared out rim.

That's all for now, next up is a sister seedling of 'Tête-à-tête' named 'Jumblie'. Also coming soon is 'Ceylon', a close match to 'Pinza'.

Seasonable Weather Returns

2007-02-27T21:34:00.000-05:00

Back in the middle of January the Narcissus were growing rapidly and it looked as though we were going to have a very early spring here in central North Carolina. Some Narcissus in the garden, such as 'February Gold', got off to an early start, others, such as 'Jetfire' and 'Ice Follies', had scapes grow to full height and would have begun blooming in a few more days had the weather remained mild.

But that's not what happened, the weather turned much colder on January 17th and we had our first snowfall of the winter, less than an inch, on January 18th. For the next four weeks winter stuck around and we had temperatures below average for much of that time, including a second minor snowfall on February 1st and an overnight low of 15°F on February 6th.

Narcissus 'February Gold' were at peak bloom when the cold weather arrived and they were able to take the frigid temperatures and snow without noticeable damage. The Narcissus 'Ice Follies' scapes nearing bloom were not damaged either, but a few of the Narcissus 'Jetfire' scapes nearing bloom collapsed during the severe cold. Finally more seasonable weather has arrived and the Narcissus have begun to show signs of life again. Here are a few pictures I took of them last week.

Here's Narcissus 'Tête-à-tête', a petite yellow early bloomer that's been extremely reliable in the garden, blooming well every year and increasing through offsets. It's one of my favorite miniature Narcissus.

Next is Narcissus 'Jetfire', another small one, but larger than 'Tête-à-tête'. It's also been very reliable in the garden, blooming and increasing well. When the flowers first open the color is nearly uniform yellow, but as they age the cup deepens to a rich orange. The swept back look of its flowers comes from the Narcissus cyclamineus in its ancestry.

Next are two photos of the first large Narcissus to bloom in the garden, the very vigorous and popular Narcissus 'Ice Follies'. This has a wide flat cup that starts out medium yellow, but unlike 'Jetfire' which darkens, this one fades with age resulting in a uniformly colored pale yellow flower. 'Ice Follies' has been an exceptional performer in the garden, blooming and increasing well every year.

The continuation of seasonable temperatures this week should coax Narcissus 'Pinza', 'Ceylon', 'Carlton', and 'Saint Keverne' into bloom. I'll try to get some pictures and will post the better ones here. As Narcissus season really gets underway in March there will be dozens of new varieties coming into bloom each week. I'll try to keep up.

Pretty little wild things

2007-01-24T10:12:00.000-05:00

This post will focus on small scale beauty provided by native herbaceous perennials that grow in the forest surrounding our home and garden, the often overlooked pretty little wild things.

Asarum arifolium, commonly known as wild ginger because the odor of a crushed leaf reminds of culinary ginger, Zingiber officinalis, is common in our forest, even in the driest, shady places under mature oaks and beeches where not much else grows. It has very attractive, arrowhead-shaped, evergreen leaves, often marked with blotches of silver between the veins. During the winter, leaves on clumps in exposed positions may take on a purple cast.

Asarum arifolium with silver markings
Asarum arifolium with purple cast

Lycopodium digitatum (Running Cedar) is a clubmoss (fern relative) with fine-textured, evergreen foliage. It spreads underground, forming large patches over time.

Lycopodium digitatum

Heuchera americana (Alumroot) is also very common in our forest, but prefers brighter light and more moisture than Asarum arifolium and is mostly found on the lower slopes above the creek's floodplain. There is much variation in leaf color and the intensity of the markings between the veins.

Heuchera americana, green with silver
Heuchera americana, purple with silver

Trillium underwoodii is native to the Florida panhandle, not North Carolina, but Alani shared some with me and they've done beautifully here. They take our colder winters just fine, but often respond to our winter warm spells by sprouting prematurely. If temperatures are forecast to drop below 20°F after they sprout, I tuck them in at night by laying a blanket over the patch. This is an infrequent inconvenience, the fantastic mottled foliage makes it all worthwhile.

Patch of Trillium underwoodii

A winter hike along Upper Barton's Creek

2007-01-24T10:01:00.000-05:00

The afternoon of January 15th was beautiful here in central North Carolina. We took advantage of the sunshine and 70°F warmth and decided to explore the beautiful creek that flows behind our house. I took many pictures during our hike and will share some of the highlights here. I will be displaying the pictures (click to enlarge) in roughly the order we encountered each scene, starting with a view of the creek while we were making our way down to it and ending with a view of a small waterfall about half a mile upstream.

Upper Barton's Creek looking west (upstream)

The next view is looking east (downstream) and was taken while I was standing in the creek. Amazing that I remembered to bring the camera and wear my boots! This is almost directly behind the house, which isn't visible because it's at the top of the bluff on the right. The dark, reflective surface of the creek in combination with lichen and moss encrusted boulders and rugged terrain clothed in mature hardwood trees make this one of my favorite views on our property.

Bluff and boulders along Upper Barton's Creek

The scale changes dramatically in the next view. About 50 feet upstream the creek flows around a cluster of large rocks. When not flooded the tops of these rocks are exposed and the lee sides are covered with a luxurious growth of liverworts. I have no idea what species these are, but I really like their blue-green color and snake-skin texture.

Liverworts

The next view is of an unusually shaped, multi-trunked sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) growing on the banks of the creek. The kids thought it looked like a giant squid, maybe you agree?

Multi-trunked sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)

The next three views are of trees with exposed roots clinging to the creek banks. In the first view it's hard to tell which way is up because the tree emerges and continues sideways before turning. I am not sure what species are in the first two views, but the last is an American beech (Fagus grandifolia), which was featured in a recent post.

Creekside tree, which way is up?
Creekside tree with exposed roots and moss
American beech (Fagus grandifolia) hugging the bank

Here's a view of the small waterfall that was our intended destination. We continued hiking further upstream and found more pretty scenery and some exceptionally large boulders. I would have liked to have taken more pictures, but the camera's battery was running low.

Small waterfall on Upper Barton's Creek

I hope you enjoyed your virtual hike!

Beeches in Winter

2007-01-14T00:48:00.000-05:00

American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) is one of my favorite trees throughout the year, but I find them particularly attractive during the winter. Here are a few pictures I took to demonstrate, please click on each picture to see a larger version with more detail.

This large, native tree has many winter assets, one of the most obvious is smooth, silvery bark, often covered with colorful lichens. Mature trees usually have massive trunks and dramatic root flares.

Here's a closeup of the bark with an interesting patchwork of lichens.

Additional winter assets include graceful branching, a fine tracery of twigs and buds, and persistent winter foliage. After turning a gorgeous, golden bronze in the autumn, the foliage often remains throughout the winter, especially on young trees and the lower portions of older trees. By late winter, the sun has bleached the leaves, changing their color to a transluscent buff. While not as showy as flowers, it adds a subtle beauty to the winter scenery.

A Boundless Moment

He halted in the wind, and - what was that
Far in the maples, pale, but not a ghost?
He stood there bringing March against his thought,
And yet too ready to believe the most.

"Oh, that's the Paradise-in-bloom," I said;
And truly it was fair enough for flowers
Had we but in us to assume in March
Such white luxuriance of May for ours.

We stood a moment so in a strange world,
Myself as one his own pretense deceives;
And then I said the truth (and we moved on).
A young beech clinging to its last year's leaves.

- Robert Frost

Even though they're deciduous, beeches can make great screening plants for woodland lots and gardens. That's because young trees remain healthy and maintain dense foliage despite heavy shade, and larger trees usually retain lower branches, along with their persistent winter foliage. Really mature trees often lose their lowest branches, but some are able to retain a fair number. Either way, you have to admit that by the time they get that mature the massive trunks provide decent screening!

Narcissus 'February Gold'

2007-01-10T10:08:00.001-05:00

The weather forecasts calling for colder temperatures across central North Carolina were accurate. Highs today will only be in the 40's, with low 20's tonight. Before the colder weather arrived, Narcissus 'February Gold' was preparing to bloom and it continues to make progress, although more slowly, despite the chill. Here's a picture I took in the garden yesterday:

Early in the morning of January 11th we bottomed out at 24°F. When I left for work around 8:00 all of the Narcissus flowers were heavily frosted and bent over. When I returned home after work all were standing up straight and looking great. With highs in the upper 60's forecast for this weekend, I expect that many more flowers will open soon. If I get a good picture of the whole patch I'll post it here.

Update on January 15th: As expected, the warmth over the weekend brought out many more flowers, so here's a picture of a group of them blooming.

Winter Foliage

2007-01-07T22:57:00.000-05:00

In Winter's Thrill, Bodhisagan observed that the flowers of the winter garden are celebrated all the more for their rarity. I agree, and my previous post focused on winter flowers. Before I change the topic, I would like to share a few more pictures of winter flowers that I took in the garden today.

Camellia japonica 'April Blush'

Helleborus × sternii

In addition to early flowers, variegated foliage is a great source of winter beauty. Here are a few pictures I took in the garden today to demonstrate.

Trillium underwoodii

Arum italicum

Cyclamen hederifolium

That's all for now, in my next post perhaps I can show some examples of showy bark, buds, and deciduous plants with leaves that persist into winter.

Warm...

2007-01-02T15:11:00.000-05:00

Recent mild weather across central North Carolina has brought some early blooms to my garden. The first big show is provided by a patch of Narcissus 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation', always the first Narcissus to bloom here.

Another plant in full bloom in the garden now is Prunus mume 'Peggy Clarke', a nice small tree that covers itself with fragrant, pink flowers every winter.

Next to bloom are Galanthus elwesii, Narcissus 'February Gold', and Iris reticulata 'Harmony'. I also saw a Leucojum blooming, but it is too early to tell whether this is a stray flower or will be joined by others in the patch. I'll post more photos when all of these are in full bloom, hopefully soon.

Cold...

2006-12-07T22:21:00.000-05:00

Cold update

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/forecast/MapClick.php?CityName=Dallas&state=GA&site=ffc

Colddddddd!!!

2006-12-05T07:20:00.000-05:00

Cold weather coming. Coldest weather to North Georgia in 2 years. I'm not pleased. It has remained over 20 F since February '05. Forescast cold for Friday morning is 19 f. Let's just say I'm watching that figure very closely.

Why?

My palms and other subtropicals do best when things stay warm, especially out of the teens. Historical averages have us going to mid aughts about once a year, but this decade has had none of that. One trip to lower teens has been most typical and I prefer it that way or warmer. (upper teens '04-'05 and '05-'06 didn't go below 20F).

I usually start to relax by late January when the slow warm up usually starts to scratch its way up. By then, if I look at the long range forecasts and all is clear, I don't have anything to worry about, most years anyway.

So, go away cold. We don't want you here. Carpetbagger!

Some video

2006-12-04T23:15:00.000-05:00

Try this one on for size. I took a little video as a means to better illustrate the layout of my yard. Of course it's a sea of dormancy and my youngish evergreen shrubs aren't providing the cover and greenery they will in winters to come, but....

Go here and check it out. It's pretty long and I ramble as I wet my pants on the roof of my house.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8935451589325303110&hl=en

and part 2

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7906672880921776576&hl=en

Justicia carnea in December

2006-12-01T12:23:00.000-05:00

Here is a rare shot of one of my half hardy plants, which normally blooms mid to late summer for me (much to Alani's surprise when he sees how well it does for me here in the tundra). It got slightly nipped by frost when we had several last month, but it's looking pretty happy right now.

My attire

2006-12-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

It's not that I mean to embarrass my wife or myself. It's not that I'm completely clueless to fashion. I just like to wear comfy things.

It all started (started is a stretch, let's say "flowered") after my wife had a stroke (she's fine now) and I my employer let me work from home a good deal while we helped her recover and I watched the kids etc..

When one works from home there is no magical event that says "Steve, get to the showers, you need to look good for work.". Instead, one gets up and gets the kids ready and then goes to the business of working. When "momma" says that it's time to quit, then it's time to quit.

Another factor is the garden. For me, all clothes are gardening ready, even my shoes for the office. This makes for a lot a reddish stained clothes (GA soils are often red). I just can't seem to find the right mix of clothes and I can't seem to get out of my good ones when I walk through the garden (when does a gardener walk through a garden without pulling a weed or two?).

Well some of my favorites for around the house is this combination:

Black workout pants (the shiny noisy kind)
Black fuzzy house shoes
Brown Jimmy Hendrix T-Shirt (psychedelic man!!!)
Bad hair

Well of course you know I take my 5 year old to kindergarten dressed this way. Also if it is chilly I wear my Dad's old BDU jacket. It adds a touch of the homeless vet to the ensemble.

Bed head and a beard often add to the look. It's not like I think it makes me a quirky eccentric, my wife has accused me of trying for that (I think I pull off homeless psychopath much better anyway). It's just that looking nice when you're working from home is largely over rated. Comfort, especially when one has occasional back problems, now that's important.

Much of this these days has become moot. I go into the office much more and sport my Khakis (if you look at the hem you might see some red clay stains) and I wear decent clothes, even nice ones occasionally.

But on weekends, if you listen closely to the sound of my shovel, rake or camera, you'll see a crazed looking man in Gee pants covered in ghosts, wearing slippers and a Monty Python T-shirt.

Oohhhhh Scary!!!!

Bad Blogger

2006-12-01T11:57:00.000-05:00

We've been nuts and I've had sick kids, wife and me. So the blog new as it is, has really suffered, since it hadn't become quite habit yet. So, please forgive and I plan to keep it rockin'.

Steve

Winter's Thrill

2006-12-01T11:15:00.000-05:00

Winter gardening is an odd thing. Most of my friends out there in plant land lament the winter and eagerly await the return to warmer weather. We do however celebrate every microscopic bloom, every little leaf that comes along this season. It's as though we appreciate what we get just a little more.

In spring the most marvelous flowers are often taken for granted, but in the winter my loquat blooms and tea olives are front and center with Arum italicum and its ilk. I photograph them ad nauseam and ogle at their peculiarness.

During the warmer parts of the winter, we have our Camellias (which are little more than silent or mush factories in January here in the middle South) and hellebores, crocus and narcissus, but late December and January are truly quiet and every peep is absolutely thrilling.

So I guess as much as I hate it, the winter is exciting in a way. I have great anticipation for the silent plants that await me in Spring (especially newly planted ones). Every jasmine flower is a celebration of yellow in a sea of dormant Bermuda grass.

Fun with Louisiana Iris cultivar names

2006-11-21T13:42:00.000-05:00

Here is my first blog entry ever, an attempt at humor with a plant theme, specifically cultivar names of existing Louisiana Iris hybrids and proposed names for their offspring.

What I would like to do is pollinate the reddish flowered 'Handmaiden' with the dark purple flowered 'Black Gamecock' with the hope of obtaining a seedling much like the pollen parent, but with larger flowers on an even taller plant.

If I succeed I am sure that certain nursery owners will have a great time writing the description into their catalogs, but my proposed name for the seedling in combination with the reported parents are likely to generate a few chuckles all by themselves, so here they are:

Iris 'Big Black Gamecock' (I. 'Handmaiden' x I. 'Black Gamecock')

Related links:
The Handmaid's Tale
Shady Deals Nursery Catalog

First gardening rant

2006-11-17T15:42:00.000-05:00

Here we go. I live in an area that was rural less than 20 years ago (pretty darn rural for suburbia even today). People do certain things without thinking in the country. One of them is burning leaves.

I'm not certain why on several acres of more or less "unimproved" land it would seem to be an imperative to rake up and then burn the leaves that have dropped like soil conditioner from the heavens unto one's property.

Apparently, it comes from some notion of cleanliness. So one needs to remove these things in order to be clean, what I like to call, "undirty". Yet the rusty truck parked on the lawn without air in the tires is not "dirty", it's simply in need of tires and a tranny and a new dif and a...

Oddly, my lazy man approach would seem to appeal to most county folk if you got right down to it. I get my fat arse onto my riding lawn mower (an old beater I got for all of $100 last year) and attach the bagging unit.

I ride until it fills (which is really fast). I then dump the contents into the garden as mulch (they're nicely shredded now so they're perfect). I will also put some in the vegetable garden (a very country thing to do) and till it under. What I can't manage goes into the compost heap.

Why do we burn them? Duno. Why do they vote against their own economic well being when they make less than $30k/year? Same reason. They didn't think about it.

So, I go 'round the neighborhood and vacuum all of the leaves I see and throw them into the garden. I smell the noxious fumes less often and my garden smiles.

So please, think before you burn those beauties, or send them to me.

Steve

Welcome

2006-11-16T12:50:00.000-05:00

Hey there, this is my new blog. I've never done the thing before. I'm hoping that this may be a way to take some of the Email discussions I conduct with my internet friends and get it onto this place.

It's late fall, the garden is frost ravaged and rain soaked and I'm up to nothing good as we approach the holidays.

Anyway, that's the state of things day 1 of blogsville. I hope I get really inspired and make this something worth looking at.

Steve