Great Plant with Identity Issues

I have found the perfect groundcover for sloped garden locations with poor clay soil and no irrigation.

Mezoo is a succulent, trailing annual plant that typically grows to six inches tall or less. In fertile soil and with a little irrigation in dry periods, it may spread to six feet wide. It has fleshy leaves and small flowers that are a bright red or pink color. The succulent stems can be brittle, so if any repositioning is desired, it should be done when the plant is young.

Mezoo will thrive in a wide range of soil types. It is tolerant of both full sun and partial shade. Its drought tolerance makes it a great choice for xeric gardens. Mezoo is a versatile plant that can be used as a ground cover, as a border plant, in hanging baskets, or as a container plant.

Mezoo is low maintenance, susceptible to few pests or diseases, and requires no pruning or deadheading. Mealybugs and spider mites can occasionally be a problem. Mezzo turns to mush with the first hard freeze but established plants will tolerate a light frost. It will not withstand foot traffic.

This is one of those rare instances when I identify a plant only by a common name. I have seen it offered in nurseries as Baby Sunrose, Heartleaf Ice Plant, and Livingstone Daisy. In reference materials, it is listed as Aptenia cordifolia, Dorotheanthus bellidiformus, and most recently, Mesembryanthemum cordifolium 'Variegata'. I may be confused as to the correct binomial identity, but there is no confusion over its beauty and its ability to bring beauty to a difficult planting site.

Mezoo is easily propagated from stem cuttings. My current collection was started from a single plant purchased several years ago. I have already started cuttings for next year to overwinter in my greenhouse. The variegated edge to its leaves means it will brighten a dark area and draw attention to the shrubs it surrounds.

A closeup view of Mezoo’s flowers.

Mezoo in a hanging basket

Photo taken 11/4/2024, after a four week period without rain. This bed is located at the top of a slope. The fleshy leaves of Mezoo contrast nicely with the spreading Yew and does not war with the adjacent variegated Ajuga.

Climbing Hydrangea to Clothe a Tree Trunk

As a result of Hurricane Helene, I have several trees that are missing their tops – bare, limbless trunks a foot or more across, reaching ten feet or more into the air. Because our property is home to a large number of pileated woodpeckers, we do not remove “snags” unless they actively endanger buildings or prized plants. The woodpeckers were distressed by the storm-caused loss of their homes but have quickly adapted. They hammer away to create new cavities. Wood chips piled around tree bases make it easy to detect their new homes. I wanted to plant vines to soften the current stark appearance of the trunks. I considered trumpet vine, cross vine, Confederate jasmine, honeysuckle, clematis, and settled on Climbing Hydrangea, Hydrangea anomala (pronounced hy-DRAN-jee-ah ah-NOM-uh-luh), formerly known as Hydrangea anomala ssp. petiolaris.

Climbing Hydrangea will grow in part sun to full shade, in almost any type of soil. It climbs by twining and also sprouts little sucker feet to adhere to its host. It has white lacecap flowers in summer, attractive green foliage in summer, yellow fall color, and exfoliating bark in winter, meaning it is attractive year-round. Plants are hardy in zones 4-8. They do not get heavy and do not strangle trees. Mature vines are drought resistant.

While Climbing Hydrangea can reach heights up to 80 feet, it is easily restrained to a manageable size. It can also be allowed to grow standalone as a shrub, but may appear unkempt. The vine is slow to establish a good root system and stems grow slowly the first few years. It may take three years or more to produce begin producing blooms. Unlike some hydrangeas, Climbing Hydrangea flowers do not change color according to the soil’s acid level. All flowers are ivory, up to eight inches across, with the centers being small and fertile and the surrounding perimeter being showy and non-fertile.

Climbing Hydrangea can be confused with another vine with similar flower structure, False Hydrangea Vine (Schizophragma hydrangeoides). False Hydrangea flowers may have tints of pink, rose, blue, or purple, and the flower structure is a bit different, with the infertile flowers being larger, and triangular or heart-shaped. Flowers of Climbing Hydrangeas have four petals, while False Hydrangea has a single, heart-shaped sepal.

Both vines are deer and rabbit resistant, but foliage may be damaged by Japanese beetles.

This tiny Climbing Hydrangea will soon adhere and eventually cover the adjacent dead tree trunk with beautiful leaves. It will be a few years before flowers appear.

This hydrangea-covered tree trunk offers wonderful contrast to its bare-barked neighbors.

Helianthus for Sunny Yellow Fall Flowers

While every other perennial plant is winding down at the end of the summer gardening season, the golden heads of Helianthus are approaching peak show. You will notice that I included the genus but not the species. That is because I cannot tell one species from another. What I can tell you is that I spotted this lovely fall-flowering yellow daisy last autumn in a ditch in front of a house with prominently displayed No Trespassing signs. I jumped from the car, snipped one stem of spent flowers, and zoomed down the street before the owners could lock and load.

I stripped the seeds from those dried flowers and started growing them in my laundry room. (This was before the greenhouse arrived.) I had a couple of small plants to set out in spring. They have repaid my care by throwing a dozen lovely yellow flowers per plant. These are hardy perennials for zones 6-9, so I expect the show to improve next year and every year thereafter.

Helianthus, commonly called Swamp Sunflower or Narrow-Leaf Sunflower, is a native that attracts songbirds and butterflies. It has rough, narrow leaves and thin stems that can be damaged by winds or weighted down by its numerous flowers. It is a food source for several butterfly larvae species. Plants are moderately deer resistant.

Perennial species of Helianthus, pronounced hee-lee-AN-thus, share common cultural needs. They flower best in full sun but will tolerate partial sun. They want acidic soil. Plants will get quite tall – to ten feet in fertile soil and sufficient moisture. That is too tall to fit into most garden borders. This too-tall problem can be remedied by pinching plants back several times in spring and early summer to encourage branching and reduce their height. Don’t pinch after mid-summer to avoid removing flower buds.

Allow spent flowers to remain on stems to reseed naturally and your fall garden will soon feature these happy yellow flowers, perfect for inclusion in seasonal flower arrangements.

These are two of the seedlings I started from seed. I will not deadhead them. Instead, I will allow the fallen seeds to start new plants, resulting in a fuller planting in coming years. The bumblebees LOVE these flowers.

Do Not Prune Now

Step away from the pruners. Now. I mean it. This is NOT the time to trim shrubs in the garden. Aside from removing dead or damaged branches, which should be done as soon as they become apparent, leave the cutbacks and neatening until deep winter. For most of us, that means January or February.

Why this moratorium on pruning? Despite the fact that the southeast is in the midst of a period of cool weather, we will likely experience another warm up before real cold arrives. Southeast gardeners joke about this initial cool period being “false fall.” Shrubs that are pruned now will respond with a new flush of growth. This tender new growth is prone to damage when freezing temperatures begin to occur nightly. In some cases, plants wear unsightly shriveled or blackened leaves through winter and into the following spring. In other cases, specifically older cultivars of hydrangeas and azaleas, a fall pruning will result in the absence of spring flowers. Even hydrangeas that are rebloomers (“remontant”) will benefit from pruning restraint until spring arrives. At that time, dead stems are detectable and can be removed without impacting future flowers.

When it comes to fall garden cleanup, people fall into two camps. One group prefers to remove dead annuals, prune back perennials, and add mulch to act as a blanket against temperature extremes and wind erosion. The other group delays cleanup until late winter or early spring, allowing stems to harbor overwintering good insects, provide food and cover for birds, and protect against cold damage. I play both angles. I remove annuals and dead peony foliage, and cut some perennials (rudbeckia, shasta daisy) down to their basal foliage. I leave Lantana and Artemisia alone, waiting for new spring growth to commence before trimming.

Leaves are another controversy. In many subdivisions, I see numerous leaf-filled plastic bags awaiting roadside pickup. I use an opposite approach. I use a leaf-blower to blow leaves out of my flower beds and shrubs onto the grass. Then I cut over the turf with a bagging mower. I empty those leaves, now cut into fine pieces, back into the beds where they fell. They serve as a free insulation blanket to protect plants. The reduced size means they break down quickly instead of sticking together in an impermeable slime layer. Removing leaves from the lawn gives a neat appearance for warm season grasses like Zoysia or Bermuda (dormant in winter) and prevents dead spots in cool season lawns (Fescue) where sun and rain could not percolate down. Rather than adding an excessive layer of chopped leaves to beds and borders, I add any extras to a compost pile where they develop into the precious soil amendment known as “leaf mold” for distribution in the spring.

While cold weather and short days reduce our hours in the garden, it provides time to sharpen shears and hand pruners, and perform maintenance on lawncare machines. Even gutters with leaf guards can have leaves build up along roof valleys. Drain water hoses, add protective insulated boxes over outdoor water spigots, and take expensive watering wands indoors for the length of cold weather. These can freeze and break if they hold water in their sprinkler heads. Empty garden fountains and store delicate containers in a freeze-proof area. Indoors, replace furnace filters and the batteries in smoke detectors. Most important, schedule time to relax in front of your fireplace with seed catalogs and a sketch pad, planning for next year.

An image of my driveway from last year. Thanks to the numerous trees brought down by Hurricane Helene, this year’s appearance will be markedly different.

Storm Surviving Perennials

Many of us in the NC/SC/GA/TN area are in recovery mode from the devastating damage caused by Hurricane Helene. As I write this, Hurricane Milton is getting closer to Florida. In the past, I have written about the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge in Lake Lure, NC. The photos of Lake Lure and neighboring Chimney Rock show heartbreaking damage There will be a long, long recovery.

I’m sure that you have all seen photos of the storm damage, so I won’t belabor the point, but I wanted to share one photo of a house three miles from us that was literally split in half by a toppled tree.

A massive oak tree split my neighbor’s house in half.

My house and barns were undamaged but my woodlands lost many large trees. Just two days after the storm, I sat on my front deck and marveled at the resiliency of nature. Butterflies and hummingbirds worked tirelessly, instinctively aware that cool weather is in the near future. Nearby, pileated woodpeckers complained loudly that their home trees were felled, but then they got busy chiseling new holes. It sounded like a construction crew hammering. A few perennials were unfazed by the thirteen-plus inches of rain that fell. Though many have long passed their peak beauty, Lantana and Cuphea look as good now as they did four weeks ago. So does my white Muhly grass, the focus of today’s blog.

Last year, I installed groupings of Muhlenbergia ‘White Cloud’ and Mexican Salvia. My plan was to highlight the purple and white flowers of the salvia by providing them with an airy white background. Many salvia stems were broken in the recent storm and a few plants were even blown from the ground, but the white Muhly grass looks great.

While many gardeners grow pink Muhly, the white form Muhlenbergia capillaris 'White Cloud' has some advantages over its warmer-toned sister. The white type has a more upright form than the pink. It blooms about two weeks later, so it is a perfect companion to fall-flowering salvia, asters, tall sedums, and chrysanthemums.

White Muhly is cold-hardy in zones 6-9. It will tolerate almost any well-drained soil as long as it is given full sun. To avoid problems, site plants in areas with good air circulation and avoid over fertilization. Spent seed heads look attractive well into winter. Give them a shallow cutback in late winter or early spring, being careful to avoid crown damage.

According to Hoffman Wholesale Nursery, “Muhlenbergia was named after one of the first early-American scientists, Lutheran minister and self-taught botanist, Gotthilf Henry Ernest Muhlenberg (1753-1815). He became interested in botany while hiding from British soldiers during the Revolutionary war.”

Plants grow to three feet tall and three feet wide. They look best when planted as groups rather than as singles. are deer and rabbit resistant. They are native to central and southern US.

This mass planting of Muhlenbergia appears to advantage at the top of a retaining wall.

Plant Bulbs Now For Spring Color

The official beginning of autumn fell earlier this week, the autumnal equinox. It was ninety degrees here, so it didn’t feel very fall-like. This day marks the beginning of nights being longer than days. Days get progressively shorter and nights get longer until we reach the winter solstice, when the trend reverses. To gardeners, the autumnal equinox means it is time to stop delaying and order those bulbs that will be planted now for flowers next spring.

Almost every garden can benefit from the addition of spring-flowering bulbs, whether that is “true” bulbs like daffodils and tulips, or corms, tubers, or rhizomes. I have a special appreciation for bulbs because most of them flower very early, before annuals and perennials have started blooming. Those early flowers give me an emotional boost, reminding me that the cold part of the year is reaching an end and that the garden season will soon begin.

If you are new to gardening or if you are trying to help someone develop an interest, bulbs are a good place to start. The majority are low maintenance. Beyond the task of digging the holes and dropping in the bulbs, bulbs don’t demand much except for an occasional sprinkle of lime or fertilizer. When flowering has finished and the foliage has withered to brown, it can be removed. Bulbs then remain dormant until next spring, when they push their foliage and buds through cold soil to bloom again.

Daffodils are easy and reliable, a good place for beginners or black-thumb gardeners to start. They are available with early, mid-season, or late spring flowering period, and a wide variety of flower types. For the best appearance in the garden, start with a large group of just one type (King Alfred daffodils are a sunny yellow, strong grower that you can find in every big box store at very reasonable prices) and plant them in groups. A grouping makes an impact, while dotting them about in ones or twos just makes flowers look sad and lonely. Check the package instructions for ideal planting depths. I use a bulb auger (looks like a giant drill bit) in my cordless drill to dig holes quickly and easily. It can be difficult to visualize the exact underground distance of your hole, so use a piece of colored duct tape on the augur to mark the desired depth. Keep holes a consistent depth so they all flower at the same time.

Happy bulbs will produce offsets. Once these offsets become numerous, the foliage becomes congested and flowering is reduced. This is an indicator that bulbs should be lifted, separated, and replanted. While one should do this separation and replant process while the bulbs are dormant, I have difficulty in locating them when they are without leaves, so I divide mine just as soon as they start showing signs of spring foliage. While this is not the textbook recommendation, it does not appear to have much of a negative impact on flowering.

Daffodils are an easy choice, but tiny little crocus bulbs flower even earlier, occasionally appearing through snow. Remember snow? My part of the southeast hasn’t seen too much of it in the last few years. Crocus bulbs (corms) are small which makes them a breeze to plant, but also means you need more of them to make a visual impact. Other easy choices are Allium (flowering onion), Ipheion (blue star flower), Muscari (grape hyacinths), Gladiolus, and Squill. I love Tulips, but recent southeastern winters have been a little too warm to give them the cold period they need to appear at their best.

It is almost inevitable – Once a new gardener has experienced success with the easy spring bulbs listed above, an appetite follows for expanding to other types of bulbs. There are bulbs that flower in summer, fall, and winter, so find a reliable seller and expand your choices. My favorite source for ordering bulbs is Brent and Becky’s Bulbs, from Gloucester, Virginia (www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com). Some top-notch local nurseries have a wide assortment of bulbs that are priced individually, allowing you to buy the exact number that you want. Just don’t wait too long to purchase. Popular choices may sell out early.

Bald Cypress, Deciduous Conifer

Bald Cypress, Taxodium distichum (pronounced taks-O-di-um DIS-ti-kum) is an unusual native. It is one of a very small group of trees that are deciduous conifers. The bark of young trees exfoliates in long strips, revealing a warm cinnamon color underneath. It has two types of seed cones. Female cones are large marble-sized green balls held at the ends of it branches, while the male cones are pendulous, darker, and held closer to the tree’s upper interior. Although the tree has tough wood and tolerates heat and humidity, the feathery foliage looks soft and delicate. Needles spiral around the stems. Most trees have an attractive coppery-brown fall color before the feathers shed.

Bald Cypress grows well in coastal areas where it is known for pushing up “knees” when grown in swampy or water-logged soils. Many coastal trees are festooned with Spanish moss. The tree’s tolerance for low-oxygen soils makes it a great choice for heavy clay (read: low oxygen centent) soils in non-coastal areas.

Bald Cypress is hardy in zones 4-9. It needs full sun and acid soil, as trees exhibit an unhealthy yellowing (chlorosis) in alkaline soils. Trees are resistant to damage by deer. Mature trees can reach heights up to 70 feet and widths to 30 feet. The dwarf cultivar ‘Peve Minaret’ reaches 20 feet, despite early labels that called for a maximum height of 8 feet. Several weeping forms are available. Green Whisper® (‘JFS-SGPN’) was discovered in South Carolina and has a warmer, almost orange fall color. Shawnee Brave™ (‘Mickelson’) is widely available, and has a narrow pyramidal form.

Low maintenance and heat tolerance make Bald Cypress a good choice for street trees. Growth rate is moderate to rapid, making the narrow forms an option for planting in new subdivisions, where other trees might struggle in compacted soil of low fertility.

Feathery foliage of Bald Cypress. Photo by Cathy Dewitt CC BY 4.0

Female Bald Cypress seed cones. Photo by Synezis CC BY-SA 4.0

Fall color and form of ‘Shawnee Brave.’ Photo by Jim Robbins CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Wonderful Blue Winged Wasps

I have a new, favorite insect: blue-winged wasps. Some of you may recall that last year I had enormous numbers of June bugs and Japanese beetles hovering over the pasture next to my orchard. (If you want a refresher, click HERE.) At the time, I was determined to purchase and apply a product to kill the grubs that hatch into these eating machines. Life got in the way, and I never did the research to determine which grub killer was the best choice – you know, the right product to address these specific insects, toxic enough to be effective but not so toxic that it would kill beneficial insects. So, the year went by without any insecticide application. And Mother Nature did the work for me, free of charge.

Scolia dubia, commonly known as two-spotted scoliid wasps, blue-winged scoliid wasps or digger wasps, have pretty blue wings, black head and thorax with a rusty-colored abdomen, with a couple of yellow blobs on their rear segments. Females are not aggressive, and won’t sting you unless you really, really mess with them. Males do not have the capacity to sting. They will let you get up close and personal with a cell phone. Despite groups of them congregating in the late afternoon on the wires of my protective cages around blueberry plants, they are known as solitary wasps. This means that they nest alone and feed their babies alone, unlike hornets or paper wasps that live in communes.

When I see large number of these wasps zooming around the pasture just a few inches above the ground, they are shopping for a family dinner. Guess what is on the menu? It is the white grubs that develop into June bugs and Japanese beetles! When the wasp detects a grub, she dives into the soil (see common names above – “digger” wasps) and paralyzes the grub with a sting, then lays her egg on the grub’s body. When the egg hatches, the hatchling’s first meal – a dinner that lasts about two weeks -- is the paralyzed grub. The wasp larva spins a cocoon and becomes a prepupa in the Fall and rests during winter. As warm temperatures return, the prepupa becomes a pupa, which then molts into an adult that emerges in the Spring.

While any insect that hunts and destroys Japanese beetle grubs is a hero in my estimation, blue-winged wasps are also good pollinators. They visit goldenrod often, so check yours out to see if you are hosting these very good bugs.

Blue-winged wasps congregate on fence wire just before dusk.

This blue winged wasp has a dusting of pollen on her head after visiting the nearby pollinator garden.

Not a great photo, but this wasp has detected a white grub under the turf. She drove into the ground and emerged after depositing her egg on the grub.

Passionflower Pops In The Garden

When we first moved to our current property, I was excited to find Maypop plants (Passiflora incarnata, pronounced pas-si-FLOR-ah in-kar-NAH-tuh) growing. This native vine tolerates heat and drought. I found it in sunny areas as well as partly sunny areas, on inhospitable soils that receive no supplemental irrigation. Maypop is cold hardy in zones 5-9. It borders on aggressive in the Snoddy garden. I have tried to eradicate it in several unwanted locations, but it springs back to life from its deep roots. It grows very rapidly, and can be used as a groundcover.

Another common name for Maypop is Passionflower. The intricate flowers are purple and white, with a central structure that was used by Catholic priests in the 16th century to symbolize or describe the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the passion. How did the common name arise? Well, if you step on one of the fruits, it “may pop.”

I allowed several vines to remain in the pollinator bed next to our orchard (okay, I got lazy and allowed them to flourish unchecked). The flowers are beautiful, unlike anything else. I was looking forward to eating the egg-size fruit, which is reputed to be delicious. The internal structure is similar to pomegranate. I kept an eye on them, ready to harvest as soon as the lime-green fruits turned yellow. Unfortunately, the wild creatures that live in our woodlands are not so patient. They removed the almost-ripe fruits from my vines. All but one, and that one lonely survivor showed teeth marks from either groundhogs, opossums, skunks, or rabbits. Sorry, I don’t share food with rodents.

Even without harvesting a single fruit, I am glad that I allowed the vines to remain. Their leaves have fed a number of different larvae and adult butterflies have flocked to the flowers. A common name for the Gulf fritillary butterfly is passion butterfly. While Maypop fruit is edible, the vine stems and leaves are toxic to humans, dogs, cats, and horses. Deer leave the vines untouched, but Japanese beetles devour the foliage. Despite its toxicity, Maypop would make a great addition to a pollinator garden, especially when planted in a container to eliminate root spread and given a trellis to support its climbing via tendrils.  One trusted university source says that the vines are extremely flammable and should not be planted near the home.

It's a Plant-Eat-Plant World

When the parasitic plant Dodder (genus Cuscuta) appears in the garden, it is easy to imagine that someone has dropped a package of yellow drinking straws, or that sprites in the fairy garden have been playing with spray cans of Silly String. The random threads of yellow or orange remind me of those nylon cords used to tie hay bales or pine needle bales. Dodder does not contain chlorophyll and must obtain all its nutrition from another plant, thus defining itself as a parasite. While some parasitic plants barely damage their hosts, Dodder can weaken or even kill a host plant by sucking away its moisture and nutrition.

Dodder starts life as a seed. Once it sprouts, this relative of the common morning glory goes seeking a sugar daddy. When a victim plant is targeted (ten days or less from germination), Dodder inserts a feeding tube, known botanically as a haustorium, to extract sustenance from the host. Once the feeding tube is in place, the roots detach from soil and it becomes completely dependent on the host. It twines around the food source, attaching new feeding tubes as it grows. The stems appear leafless, although tiny leaves are hidden along the rope-like stems.

Dodder has difficulty invading a woody companion, so most of its victims are soft stemmed, herbaceous plants. Several years ago, I spotted a vacant field of kudzu that had been covered with Dodder. It had spread from plant to plant, ensnaring the entire field. It looked like a bizzare mixed-media artwork. Preferred target plants range from clover to dahlias, petunias to potatoes.

Despite its pleasantly unique appearance (I mean, who doesn’t love Silly String?), if you see this plant anywhere in your garden, you should hasten to remove it by pruning away the affected branches of the host plant. This is a viciously competitive pest. If the host has been invaded in numerous places, the entire plant may need to be removed. There are no herbicides that will kill Dodder without killing the host plant as well. The tiny white or yellow flowers appear in late summer to early fall. The blooms produce pea-like fruits that contain four seeds.

Freezing temperatures kill Dodder, so it is less of a problem in locations with winter cold. In frost-free areas, it grows unchecked. In temperate areas where Dodder has grown in the past, be vigilant in spring to remove any new plants that germinate from last season’s seeds.

Dodder forming a net on host plant. Photo By Orangerind - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=124687004

An infestation of Dodder, entirely covering an area of plants of unknown variety.

By Salil Kumar Mukherjee - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=148639645

Marvelous Mondo

Mondo grass (Ophiopogon, pronounced oh-fee-oh-POH-gon) has always been my preferred groundcover choice for shady areas. Less than a foot tall at maturity, it forms a thick evergreen blanket that chokes out weeds. This low-maintenance plant is hardy in zones 6-10. It is salt-tolerant, accepts limited foot traffic and will grow in any well-drained soil. Deer leave it alone.

Also known as Dwarf Lilyturf, Mondo’s white or pale lavender flowers are typically concealed by the foliage. This is unfortunate, because the flowers mature into pretty cobalt blue berries. I like to use Mondo under Crepe Myrtles because it hides their fallen leaves and will protect the Myrtle’s tender bark from damage by string trimmers or mowers.

While it is undemanding, Mondo will look best when it is grown in neutral to slightly acidic soils and irrigated during extended dry spells. The leaves are not bothered by the fungus that sometimes causes Liriope leaves to develop spots and streaks, necessitating a late winter cutback.

Black Mondo planted in a face container

Two Mondos are worth seeking. Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’ is commonly called Black Mondo. The strappy leaves are truly black. They make an eye-catching addition to planters containing pink, blue, or chartreuse partners.

Crystal Falls® Ophiopogon japonicus differs from all others. Sometimes known as Giant Mondo, its leaves reach up to thirty inches in length, although they arch so much the plant height is usually about twenty-four inches. The white flowers are more evident than standard Mondo, and they produce similar metallic blue berries.

My experience with Crystal Falls® (Ophiopogon jaburan 'HOCF' PP17430) has indicated that it does not like to be divided and relocated too often. Select a location where it can spread without invading the territory of other plants. I have successfully grown it in a container, too, but after three years the roots grew so much that it broke the flimsy ceramic pot.

Use any of the Mondos as groundcovers, edger, or in containers. If used as a bed edging, its spread by underground rhizomes must be contained to restrict its reach into flower beds.

Used as a groundcover, this Giant Mondo (Crystal Falls®) will absorb the spent flowers, seed pods, and leaves shed by the Crepe Myrtle in the center of the clump.

Mondo Grass used as an edger. Photo by Jim Robbins. Used under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Closeup view of the brilliant blue berries of Ophiopogon. Photo by Jean. Used under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Sadly, the blue berries are almost concealed by the foliage. Photo by VanLap Hoang. Used under CC BY 2.0

New, Well-Behaved Butterfly Bushes

My favorite flowering shrub (currently, anyway) is Buddelia, commonly known as Butterfly Bush. Before you start criticizing this choice as invasive and non-native, let me tell you that all eight of mine are sterile, in the Pugster® family, hybrids from Proven Winners. I have the blue, which is really a shade of blue-purple. The small size makes them compatible with the perennials in my mixed beds. The ones in the pollinator bed near my orchard are four years old, and have not exceeded the labeled height of three feet.

The positives: Butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds adore the flowers. Plants do not require deadheading, but will look better if the spent flowers are removed. In my zone 8 garden, they are semi-evergreen, retaining enough leaves to avoid looking naked in winter. In colder zones, top growth may die back to the ground in winter and should be removed but spring growth is rapid. Deer and rabbits leave them alone. Shrubs bloom throughout the entire summer and into fall. The conical flower panicles of the Pugsters are unique, resembling a tightly packed lilac. Buddleias tolerate heat, humidity, and drought. They are hardy in zones 5 – 9, and are not picky about soil but do require full sun. For all types and cultivars, spring planting is preferred to fall planting.

The negatives: While butterflies swarm the flowers for nectar, the caterpillars that produce those beautiful insects will not dine on the foliage. Other food sources must be provided for the larvae. Plants flower on new growth, so an occasional cut-back is needed for maximum flower power. Older cultivars are NOT sterile and produce so many offspring they are listed as invasive in nine states. Standard Buddleia varieties can be much taller, up to twelve feet. If the sight of dead brown blooms is offensive (I get it, I’m a bit compulsive in that regard), regular removal can be a twice-weekly chore.

Buddleia is sometimes spelled Buddleja but in both cases is pronounced bud-lee-uh. The leaves have an attractive grayish cast that contrasts with brighter companions. Flowers are lightly fragrant.

The National Garden Bureau has named Buddleia as the 2024 Shrub of the Year. Of particular interest is Baby Buzz®, a dwarf cascading form that can be used in a hanging basket. In addition to the sterile Pugster series mentioned above, Lo and Behold® series and the Miss series (Miss Molly, Miss Ruby, Miss Violet) are sterile and the Chrysalis™ series is low seed set and also small enough to be used in hanging baskets and containers. The Cascade Collection is low seed set on a large plant for a flowering backdrop. Gold Drop and Butterfly Gold have either variegated or golden foliage.

Look closely and you can see: spicebush swallowtail, Eastern swallowtail, Gulf fritillary, a tiny silver-spotted skipper, and a bumble bee.

A Tall Coneflower for Masses of Flowers

Say “coneflower” to most gardeners, and they mentally picture purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea. Purple coneflowers, and all the other colors, are beloved by gardeners for their heat tolerance, ease of culture, and pollinator attraction. In the case of Cutleaf Coneflower, also known as Green Headed Coneflower, this image is completely wrong. Despite the common name, this golden-flowered giant is a Rudbeckia, not an Echinacea. Rudbeckias are widely known by the common name, black-eyed Susan. Like Echinacea, Rudbeckia tolerates heat, humidity, and moderate drought.

I received my first Cutleaf Coneflower, Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Herbstonne,’ from a friend who divided hers. She told me that it was a tall plant that started flowering in early summer and continued blooming until frost. The first year mine reached a height of three feet. Every year thereafter it grew to at least six feet, and one year (lots of rain) even topped out at eight feet tall. True to reputation, this plant produces enormous numbers of yellow flowers from May to frost. It is hardy from zones 3 to 9. It will grow in any soil type and any pH level, in full sun. Stems die to the ground with the first freeze, leaving a collar of green basal foliage at ground level.

I learned that Cutleaf Coneflower’s tall height paired with numerous flowers results in spraddling, a most inelegant way to describe sprawling stems. I experimented with cutbacks early in the season, and discovered that two cutbacks, a tip pruning when stems reach a foot tall, and then a cutback of several inches when they reach two feet tall, will result in a shorter, stockier plant. I used cages fashioned from scraps of fencing to surround each plant, further supporting the stems and giving me a visual reminder when it is time to divide.

Plants spread by underground runners. With time, they will become so congested that the middle will die out. I have included two photos, taken a year apart, as plants emerge in the spring. The need to divide is evident in the second photo. I only irrigate during the worst droughts. Water restriction helps slow down spread by roots, reducing the need for division.

Apart from division every third year or so and the removal of dead stems in spring before new growth starts, there is little maintenance required. I remove the dead flowers from most of my perennials, but not this one. You could remove flower heads once the petals drop to force more flowering, but I allow most spent heads to remain on the stems. The bare green heads are not unattractive and they bring in bird visitors, especially goldfinches. Deer ignore mine, which is an added bonus.

Tall Cutleaf or Green Head Coneflowers at the back, with typical Black Eyed Susans in the foreground.

Prominent green heads are surrounded by slightly-drooping yellow petals.

Hummingbirds Fight Over This Plant

The Snoddy garden is hosting a hummingbird competition that looks like a fusion of Ben Hur and olympian gymnastics. These tiny birds dive bomb each other in a demonstration of jealous rage as they compete over a gangly, strange-looking plant commonly known as Fuzzy Balls, Hairy Balls, or Balloon plant. It is a form of milkweed, formerly known as Asclepias physocarpa, renamed to Gomphocarpus physocarpa (pronounced gom-fo-KAR-pus fy-so-KAR-puh). Fuzzy Balls plant has clusters of small, white, bell-shaped flowers with a pleasant fragrance. The blooms are easily overlooked. The golf ball-size seed pods, however, draw a lot of attention. They are light green to yellow, with dark hairs.

Fuzzy Balls are grown as annuals, but may overwinter in zones 8 and 9, especially in a mild winter. They need full sun to rise to their potential, and are both heat- and drought-tolerant once established. Mature plants can reach six feet in height and are prone to being flattened by summer thunderstorms, so pinch them back several times in early spring to keep plants shorter and create stronger stems. I use a tomato cage around mine for extra insurance. Planting a group of several seedlings close to each other allows for easier caging or staking of the mature plants.

Stems with seed pods can be cut for inclusion into flower arrangements. Their unusual appearance is certain to inspire comments. Cut stems will last a long time in the vase, but seed capsules will rupture once they are completely dry. Left to mature on the plant, ripe seed pods will burst open. Each balloon will have numerous seeds and each of those seeds will have a silken hair attached, for ease of wind dispersal.  I have read that these plants can be invasive in the parts of the deep south, but I have not seen this in zones 7-8.

Plants contain a milky sap that may irritate sensitive skins. They are moderately resistant to browsing by deer. Like other milkweeds, they attract butterflies, including Monarchs.

This speedy girl spent many minutes sipping from Fuzzy Ball flowers.

Ripening seed pods. You can see the reason for the common names, Fuzzy Balls or Balloon Plant.

Why Soil Prep and Plant Maintenance Matter

If you have ever wondered about whether soil preparation was really critical, or if that was just an “in a perfect world” condition, let me share my personal experiences. This spring, I started a new planting bed in an area that had been compacted by construction equipment. In some areas, I carefully dug and amended before planting. Other areas (I got tired and impatient), I just chiseled holes in the sticky red clay of upstate SC and plopped in seedlings. Thankfully, the holes of shrubs and perennials were all loosened and amended. The annuals did not receive the same care because, well, they are annuals.

Here are three examples demonstrating the difference that soil preparation can make. I have not fertilized the plants in these photographs.

Seedlings of the puny trio of Melampodium on the left were placed into unprepared soil three months ago. The trio on the right was installed in loosened and amended soil. They are twenty-two inches tall. These plants came from the same package of seed, were installed the same day, and are only a few feet apart, so they get the same sun exposure.

These Gomphrena seedlings were started from the same seed pack and placed in the ground the same day, three months ago. The plant on the left was placed into unprepared soil. It is five inches tall. The plant on the right was placed into soil amended with a shovelful of soil conditioner. It is twenty-two inches tall. These plants are in the same bed, a few feet apart.

Just like the examples above, these Zinnias were started from the same seed pack and seedlings were planted out the same day, only a few feet apart. The one on the left, placed in unamended soil, is a single stem, four inches in height. The one on the right, planted into amended soil, is well-branched and fifteen inches tall. I feel guilty every time I see the runts.

The final photograph, below, shows what happens when maintenance is ignored. Certain tall plants are prone to “spraddling” later in the season, especially after a hard rain. In early spring, I tip-pruned my Mexican Salvia and Joe Pye Weed. They branched obligingly, and are about two-thirds the height they would have been without the cutback. Joe Pye flowers are starting to open, and the Mexican Salvia will flower in another six weeks or so. I neglected to cut back the Brown-Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia triloba) and last week a thunderstorm took the flowers to the ground, where they remained. I was forced to cut plants back to about a foot. They will recover and produce a few late flowers, but I lost the exuberant show and strong stems that an early cutback would have produced.

These Brown-Eyed Susans were forty inches tall, in full bloom. Then the rain came, and down they went.

The message of this blog: Take whatever time is necessary to properly prepare soil before installing plants. Heavy clay can be improved with soil conditioner, compost, or leaf mold. When you backfill the holes with amended soil, just firm it by hand enough to ensure good root-to-soil contact. There is no need to stamp it like you are angry with Mother Earth. Plant roots need oxygen to thrive.

"Lite" Choices: Perlite vs Vermiculite

The large bag should last a long time.

I finally broke down and bought the mother of all bags of horticultural vermiculite. A whopping four cubic feet, it filled the entire back seat of my small car. In past years, I have purchased standard-sized bags found in home improvement garden centers or big box stores. During the coronavirus pandemic, the product was scarce. I had to make do by recycling media that had already been used for rooting or using smaller containers.

I do a lot of home propagation because I’m too cheap to buy full-size plants at the nursery. Vermiculite is my product of choice when it comes to propagation from cuttings. (If you want the complete details, please see my YouTube channel on small-scale home propagation using a Forsyth pot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsBv12O17MY ). The supersize bag should last a couple of years. Why don’t I use perlite instead, which is available at most garden centers? Are perlite and vermiculite interchangeable? Well, yes and no. Let’s compare these two products.

Perlite is volcanic rock which has been crushed and then heated until it explodes like popcorn. The small, rounded particles look like particles of Styrofoam, but it is unrelated. Styrofoam is manufactured from a petroleum-based product, styrene. Perlite is a renewable resource, assuming that earth’s volcanoes will continue to erupt. It is added to potting soils to make them more porous and can be mixed into heavy soils to reduce compaction. It is neutral to slightly alkaline in pH, odorless, non-toxic, won’t mold, and is easy to handle. It will retain approximately three times its weight in water. While it contains no fertility in its original state, I have noticed several bags that indicate a fertilizer has been added. Perlite is an ideal product for cactus or succulents, usually mixed with some form of potting soil or coir, a replacement for peat moss.

Perlite particles are evident in potting soil.

The downside of perlite, and the reason I avoid it, it that it is so light that it floats. If you have purchased six-packs of annuals grown in a soil mix that contains perlite, I’m sure you have seen what happens when those little plants are installed in flower beds or containers. After rain or irrigation, the white particles float to the top. I find those ghost-white balls unsightly and unnatural looking. That is a personal opinion, so feel free to differ.

Vermiculite is (get ready for a mouthful) magnesium aluminum iron silicate. It is 100% natural, and looks like someone threw a handful of mica into a blender. The product comes in fine, medium, or coarse textures. I prefer the fine-to-medium size, but again, that is personal preference. Vermiculite has a neutral pH. It retains both water and fertility. Mixed into heavy clay soil, it will make the soil more porous and less prone to compaction. I start each new growing season by dumping my propagation pots into my garden beds and mixing it in with the soil. If you plan to use it to lighten clay soil, the coarse grade works best.

Vermiculite retains more water than perlite, so it is preferred when the cuttings or potted plants need a bit more moisture. Perlite drains so quickly that it is not ideal for plants with high water demands.

When I asked a professional propagator his preference, he said that he uses a perlite/peat mix for cutting propagation and vermiculite for seed starting. I’m transitioning away from peat moss use, but a perlite/coir combination should work well. At seed-starting time, especially when starting tiny seeds like begonia, petunia or the like, I place the seeds on top of sopping wet vermiculite, then sprinkle with the very lightest application of dry vermiculite. I only bottom-water, to avoid displacing the seeds. Emerging seedlings have little problem in pushing their way through to sunlight.

Fig Season is Here

Fig season is approaching in the Snoddy garden. I grew up eating fresh figs, and as an adult was surprised to find that not everyone loves them. The sweet, gritty flesh is an acquired taste, like coffee, dates, olives, or beer. For some, the flavor is fine but the texture is unpleasant.

Figs are nutritional powerhouses, containing fiber, antioxidants, minerals, vitamins. Figs consist of 55% natural sugar, making them one of the sweetest fruits available. They can be eaten fresh or dried, plain, stuffed with cream cheese and drizzled with honey, or wrapped in bacon and baked. Figs makes a great canned jam, or they can be combined with raspberries, oranges, and grapes to make FROG jam.

The unique thing about the common fig (Ficus carica) is that what we think of as the fruit is actually the flower. The yellow, green, or purple mature fruits are what is called an “enclosed inflorescence” because the male and female flower grow inside what we consider to be the skin or peel, also called an infructescence. Figs are one of the few fruits that can develop without external pollination (“parthenogenesis”).  A type of wasp enters the fruit through a tiny hole at the base of the infructescense, pollinates the fruit and dies. These entryways are easily seen on the ripe fruit, opposite the stem. The fig interior contains an enzyme called ficain that dissolves and absorbs the wasp, so you aren’t munching on a wasp cadaver as you eat one. Some types of commercial figs have been bred to develop without pollination. If the wasp thing freaks you out too much, buy packaged fruit marked “California figs” or packages that indicate the fruit was raised without insect pollination.

Grow figs in full sun to part sun, in neutral to acidic soil. For best results, plant is humus-rich soil that is moist but well-drained. The plants are tolerant of neglect once established, but light pruning in winter can force the formation of new branches. Fruits are borne on new growth, so a cutback increases fruit yield. With time, plants can become too dense, so prune out a few of the oldest stems each year to increase air circulation. Figs are cold hardy in zones 7-10. Plant them in a protected area in the coolest parts of zone 7. Plants are easy to propagate from cuttings.

Figs are self-fruitful, so you only need one to have a crop. Be aware that these shrubs can grow quite large – thirty feet or so, and up to ten feet wide. Figs live a long time, usually thirty years or more. In my part of the southern US, most home plants are one of three varieties: Celeste, Brown Turkey, or LSU Purple. These have purple to brown fruit. If you decide to try one in your home landscape, consult your Extension agent to determine which varieties do best in your particular zone.

The small hairs on fig’s leaves can cause itching, so wear long sleeves when harvesting. Avoid the milky sap, too, as this can cause skin problems for some people. Don’t feed figs to dogs, cats, or horses. Be aware that birds and varmints will harvest some of the fruit for you. You can drape smaller shrubs with netting to exclude birds, but this is more difficult once the shrubs gain size. I always leave mine undraped and just pay the critter tax of shared fruit.

The entry hole is evident at the bottom of this ripe fruit.

A cluster of unripe fruit. Fig leaves are large.

Small Gardens Mean Fewer Colors

To keep a small garden from looking chaotic, show restraint with the number of flower colors. Smallish gardens can look fabulous with only two colors. This is not to say only two types of plants. Yellow and purple flowers pair well and give the gardener a large number of choices. Repeating the same flower colors but using different sizes of blooms and leaf forms provides attractive contrasts. Because flowers bloom on their own timeline, the use of different plants with the same bloom shades will keep the garden colorful even if some of them are taking a blooming siesta.

For my own small courtyard garden, I decided all perennials and flowering shrubs would be in shades of yellow, coral, and purple. To lure pollinators, I included yellow goldenrod (Solidago) and brown-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia triloba) in the dryest area, and yellow rain lilies in the damp areas near the drainage catch basin. For coral shades, I used Drift roses (small, shrubby, lower maintenance than most roses), coral penstemons, a dwarf Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia ‘Poco Red’) which is more coral than red, and a couple unknown varieties of daylily. For the purples, I chose sterile, dwarf Pugster® butterfly bushes (Buddleia), purpleheart (Tradescantia), purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea), and lavender-flowered Society Garlic (Tulbaghia violacea). All these plants attract numerous butterflies and hummingbirds.

I wasn’t certain that the Cuphea ‘Candy Corn’ that I planted last year would overwinter, but they did and now the yellow and orange flowers look right at home between the corals and yellows. The Gaillardia ‘Spin Top Red’ I planted last fall is more red than coral, but it has bloomed so lavishly that it will remain. Several varieties of Calla lilies in the chosen colors have not begun flowering yet.

This being a first-year garden, there were a number of empty holes in the layout, so I started annuals from seed to fill in the gaps. Next year, those gaps will be smaller as the shrubs and perennials gain size. By year three, annual use will be at a minimum. For now, yellow Melampodium, coral Zinnia, coral Salvia, purple Gomphrena and purple Salvia are providing abundant color. These were chosen not only for their hues but because they flower like mad all summer long and require little in the way of maintenance, other than the occasional removal of spent flowers (Zinnia and Salvia).

My past gardens have never featured coral shades, but I’m loving this color in the new beds. Plans are underway to add peachy/coral shades of Yarrow, Alstroemeria, Lycoris (“Hurricane Lily”), and Chrysanthemum to extend the chosen color palette into autumn. I’m including a few photos of the coral plants.

Testing a Deer Repellant Method

I have been experimenting with ways to keep deer from eating my precious garden plants. Native wildlife habitats are being transformed into new housing developments to accommodate the tremendous population growth in the southeast. Sightings of deer, turkeys, raccoons, possums, bears, and skunks are becoming common, even in city locations. I live in a rural area, where the deer seem to believe that I have prepared a buffet for them. They have a pronounced appetite for my hydrangeas, daylilies, hostas, and sunflowers.

Fencing my acreage would be cost prohibitive. I have tried several repellant tactics that worked only for a week or two: human hair and stinky soap. The birds like the former. The nests in my birdhouses looked like dolls’ wigs. And the deer liked the latter. They gnawed on the bars of Irish Spring hanging in my precious fruit trees. I tried a motion-activated radio (they danced) and a motion-activated water sprinkler (they showered, using Irish Spring, I assume). I also tried the bad smelling deterrents based on pigs’ blood or coyote urine (gross!) and the bad tasting ones based on rotten eggs or hot peppers. These worked until diluted by rain, but smelled so rank that I couldn’t tolerate their use. I refuse to reapply expensive products after every rain, so I have planted strong-fragranced plants like rosemary, society garlic, chives, and catnip throughout my beds. This has been successful in some areas, not in others.

I am a Master Gardener, and only present science-based information, but I feel compelled to share the results of my current deer discouragement experiment involving Milorganite. Milorganite is a mild fertilizer (6-4-0, slow release), in the form of small gray pellets. It is a sterile product manufactured from dried, processed microbes used to break down the intake of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewer District. Don’t be squeamish: It is NOT dried poop. Click here to get the real story on what it is and how it is manufactured. It has a pronounced fragrance, but humans must be a few inches from the product to detect it. Milorganite is not labeled as a deer repellant, but many people recommend using it for this off-label purpose. I decided to give it a try. Like the repellants above, it needs to be reapplied after every rain to be effective.

Call me thrifty or call me lazy, but I decided to develop a means of keeping the product dry from rains or irrigation while still allowing the odor to permeate the protection area. I use small, plastic food storage containers (Amazon) with snap-on lids. I used a regular, hand-held hole puncher to make a series of odor-escape holes around the upper part of the container, filled the containers half-full of Milorganite, and snapped the lids on to make a waterproof “sachet.” I nestled the transparent containers near the base of my hydrangeas and under the leaves of my hostas, where they are almost invisible. Through rain and irrigation, the pellets inside the container remain dry. For eight weeks now, no deer have munched on my plants although I have seen several small herds walk by. I am labeling this experiment a success. I’ll update you, readers, if things change.

Chaos Gardening, a recent trend

I try to stay informed on current gardening trends, so when I heard the new-to-me term “chaos gardening” I went into sleuth mode. Chaos gardening has recently gone viral on TikTok. One site describes it thus: “… letting go of the strict rules that come along with gardening and letting mother nature do the work instead” and “a haphazard and laid-back approach to gardening in which rules and meticulous garden planning are thrown out the window.”

Condensed version: Gather seeds packets, mix them together, and throw them on prepared (tilled, and raked if that is your choice) soil without a plan. Just writing that last sentence made me uncomfortable. I like plants to be arranged in groups of threes or fives, growing into each other in a lush tapestry that is casual but meticulously planned. A random jumble might sound romantic and low maintenance, but tall plants will shade out the shorter ones. Aggressive plants will overtake their delicate neighbors. Weeding will be difficult in the garden’s early stages, because desired plants cannot be distinguished from the undesirables. Seeds vary in their proper planting depths, so some may perish if they are sown too deep or too shallowly. And some seeds need light to germinate, while others need darkness. The advocates of chaos gardening always say, “some seeds won’t come up, and that’s okay.” Maybe for others, but not for me.

I start scrutinizing seed catalogs in late winter, planning new color schemes and flower bed expansions. I allow my imagination to run wild but I reel it in before ordering. By mid-spring, my catalogs are dog-eared and well worn from being thumbed through frequently. Some folks have elegant coffee-table books. My version is the current Baker Creek’s The Whole Seed Catalog, 532 colored pages of luscious heirlooms and recipes that makes me consider turning one of our pastures into a food plot. Then the temporary insanity fades and I return to a more restrained approach. My seed choices are intentional, purposeful, and not part of a random mix.

Chaos gardening is not the same as guerilla gardening, where one spreads seeds onto property they don’t own, like vacant lots or public areas. The intent is to beautify waste places or provide pollinator habitat. Don’t mistake chaos gardening for cottage gardening, either. Cottage gardens may be an informal mixture of annuals, perennials, grasses, herbs, and edibles but they are carefully planned, not random.

If the idea of chaos gardening appeals to you, start with a small area first and select seeds that germinate easily, have similar light requirements, and are not overly aggressive in their growth habits: cosmos, zinnias, marigolds, echinacea, celosia are good for sunny areas. Keep notes of what you sow so that you have an idea of what is emerging. Send me photos of your successes!