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.

Climbing Hydrangea Kerry Woods CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

False Hydrangea, Ann Hamze CC BY 4.0

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

Perlite example

Vermiculite example

Rose of Sharon, an Old Fashioned Heat Lover

Althea or Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus, pronounced hi-BIS-kus seer-ee-AY-kus) is a fast growing, low maintenance shrub. It prefers full sun or slight shade, grows in any type of soil, and is adaptable to most soil acidity levels. Plants can reach twelve feet tall and up to ten feet wide, although most mature at a lesser size. They prefer hot weather, and have the charming characteristic of flowering while everything else is drooping in the heat. The individual flowers look like a smaller version of giant tropical Hibiscus but unlike tropical Hibiscus, they are perennial in zones 5-9. They can be planted closely (five feet apart) to create a flowering hedge.

Rose of Sharon begins to bloom in early summer and continues until fall. Plants bloom on new growth. Tip pruning in late winter will encourage new growth and result in more flowers. Please use hand pruners, not powered hedge trimmers. Flowers come in shades of lavender, pink, blue, white, and bi-color. Older varieties produce large quantities of seed that often spread themselves about too enthusiastically for the typical gardener. This dampened their popularity until hybridists introduced a number of low-seed or no-seed cultivars.

Cultivar ‘Diana’ has pure white flowers that mix well with other flowers and shrubs, and is a strong performer. Several semi-double or double-flowered varieties are available. Some of the newer introductions, like ‘Lucy’ or ‘Blushing Bride’ produce fewer seeds. Fully double Blueberry Smoothie™ and Peppermint Smoothie™ are sterile. Proven Winners ‘Sugar Tip’® has a variegated leaf and pale pink, double flowers. It is seedless and semi-dwarf, reaching six feet. Rose of Sharon is still on the Invasive List in Kentucky and Virginia.

Drought-stressed plants that suddenly receive an onslaught of rain are prone to dropping buds in a condition labeled Flower Bud Drop. Provide irrigation in extended drought to avoid this. Although rare, Leaf Spot and Leaf Rust can damage plants. These are treated with a foliar anti-fungal. Plants are occasionally bothered by Japanese Beetles or aphids. They are deer resistant. Hummingbirds and bees, especially larger bees, love the flowers. For this reason, avoid using insecticides or systemics to combat insect infestations. Instead, hand pick Japanese Beetles and use a strong spray of water to wash aphids off buds and tender new growth.

After several years, Rose of Sharon tends to lose its foliage at lower levels. If this is a concern, plant it behind a perennial that will conceal its lower regions, or intentionally prune it to a single-trunk tree form while the plant is young. This is a hardy, long-lived, low-maintenance shrub and is ideal in a pollinator garden or children’s garden.

This Rose of Sharon is blooming in a parking lot island at my local pharmacy, surrounded by asphalt pavement.

A bee enjoys this bloom.

Cleome, Tall Flowers for the Back of the Annual Border

Cleome (klee-OH-mee) or Spider Flower is a tall plant for the back of the border. Its pink, white, rose or purple flowers open gradually, with the spent stamens developing into long-stemmed seed pods with a spidery appearance. Young palmate leaves mimic Cannabis. Older varieties reach heights of five feet and have sharp thorns hiding along stems to surprise the unwary gardener. Newer cultivars are shorter and have been bred to be thornless.

Cleome grows fast from seed; purchased seedlings may be rootbound and not transplant well. Seeds are best planted in full sun where plants are to grow. Keep seeds moist for three weeks. Plants are heat- and drought-tolerant thereafter.

Cleome reseeds readily but is not invasive. Older stems become leggy and leafless at ground level, so it looks best when planted behind a shorter plant that will hide its base. Older varieties of Cleome flowers have an unusual, lemon-musk fragrance that is more noticeable at dusk. A few people find the scent offensive. Thornless cultivars have lost the scent, too. Flowers attract bees and Sphynx months, large insects that can be mistaken for hummingbirds. Plants are deer-resistant. They look especially nice when planted in large drifts. Self-sown seedlings are often too dense for plants to reach full size. Thin them to a spacing of 12 inches.

To avoid potential for disease, remove plants once they are killed by frost. Rotate plant locations after a few years to avoid attracting harlequin bugs, a relative of the stink bug.

This image shows Cleome buds (top), open flowers (middle) and unripe seed pods (bottom). The long, narrow pods will mature to tan before they burst open to release ripe seeds. Each one of the pods contains 10-15 seeds. Remove the unripe pods if you want to prevent reseeding.

White Cleome pairs well with almost any other flowers

Calycanthus, Carolina Allspice or Sweetshrub

Sweet Shrub is a homely shrub with a heavenly scent. Native to the southeast, Sweet Shrub grows in part shade. It will reach heights of six to ten feet, and spreads indefinitely by suckering. Flowers of the species are nondescript, wine colored, and easy to overlook. Newer cultivars have larger, more attractive flowers but may not be as fragrant as the older type. The flowers have a scent that is described as a cross between strawberry and kiwi. Bruised foliage has a pleasant scent also.

Sweet Shrub (Calycanthus floridus, pronounced kal-ee-KAN-thus FLOR-id-us) is perennial in zones 4-9. It will reach heights up to 12 feet in clay or loamy soil with an acidic or neutral pH. Flowers have strap-like petals (tepals) in shades of burgundy to brown. Newer cultivar ‘Athens’ has white flowers and ‘Aphrodite’ has a brighter red bloom than the straight species. ‘Hartlage Wine’ has larger, showier flowers.

Locate Sweet Shrub in a woodland garden to seating or pathways so that its fragrance can be enjoyed. Flowers are popular with pollinators and shrubs are usually ignored by deer.

This is the native version of Calycanthus, Sweet Shrub. Newer cultivars have larger flowers. Reports indicate that newer cultivar ‘Venus’ is equally fragrant.

Dawn Redwoods with Pumpkin-Spice Colors

The downside of relocating to a new home is the loss of favorite plants in the former garden. Sometimes these are valued for their rarity. In other cases, they serve as reminders of friendships or life milestones.

For me, leaving behind a Dawn Redwood tree was a source of sadness. I received it as a rooted cutting in 2006, at a Master Gardener plant swap. At less than a foot tall and living in a four-inch nursery pot, it was hardly imposing. Luckily, I checked my favorite reference manual (Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, by Michael A. Dirr) and learned that this scrawny specimen that resembled a green feather could reach a mature height of 100 feet with a spread of up to 40 feet.

Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides, pronounced met-uh-see-KWOY-uh glip-toe-stroh-BOY-deez) is one of the few deciduous conifers. It grows fast (up to two feet per year), with a lovely pyramidal shape when young, maturing to a rounded crown. Given average growing conditions, a tree will reach 25 feet or more in ten years. They make a wonderful specimen. The tree in the zone 7 Mary Snoddy garden, now 15 years old, exceeds 30 feet. It has received no supplemental irrigation after the first year.

These trees enjoy moist, acidic soil, and will not tolerate dry locations. Mature trees have a furrowed look to the bark. They are hardy in zones 5 – 8. With age, the lower limbs droop downward with age, giving the tree a graceful look. Lower limbs may need to be removed if they block views or prevent mowing. The foliage turns a gorgeous, rusty orange before shedding in the fall.

It is easy to confuse Dawn Redwood with Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum). Look at the leaf arrangement to distinguish the two. The half-inch needle-like leaves of Dawn Redwood are held on the stem in an opposite arrangement, while the Bald Cypress leaves spiral around the stem. Both trees will do well in soils with limited oxygen. Dawn Redwood tolerates clay soil. In swampy soil, the Bald Cypress will push up “knees” to capture air that is not available to its roots.

Dawn Redwood has no disease problems, although Japanese Beetles occasionally eat the foliage. Deer rarely browse them.

Metasequoias are propagated from cuttings or air-layering. Young Dawn Redwoods transplant easily. They can also be grown as bonsai.

This Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia) is 15 years old and stands more than 30 feet tall.

Same tree as above, showing its summer foliage color.

In spring, the needle-like leaves of Dawn Redwood are a bright green. They darken to a medium green in summer.
This photo by Zhu Bing from Pixabay

Don't Disrespect Ditch Lilies

“Familiarity breeds contempt.” Or so said Geoffrey Chaucer in one of The Canterbury Tales. Perhaps that is why people hold the common orange day-lily, Hemerocallis fulva, in disdain. This “Ditch Lily” was a favorite of southern farmers’ wives in the 1950s and 60s, who prized their showy blooms and ease of growth. It is this effortless growth and rapid multiplication that causes concern. They “have the potential to become invasive,” per Invasives.org.

The common, orange Ditch Lily occurs in every eastern state. Like other members of the day-lily family, they thrive in full sun and prefer a slightly acidic, well-drained soil. They can be used instead of shrubs as a short hedge. They can also be used as a groundcover on slopes where mowing is impractical, and do a super job of preventing erosion. Ditch Lily flowers last only a single day, but they produce many, many buds so the bloom show goes on for weeks. Once all the buds on a stem have flowered, the naked stem can be removed to prevent seed formation and to make the plant look neater. This may encourage additional flowers.

Hybridizers have produced new colors, shapes, and forms of day-lilies. Colors have reached beyond the common orange to encompass all the warmer shades of the color wheel, from yellow to deep red or even purple, and everything between. Flowers are double, striped, freckled, curved. Some of these are highly valued (read: expensive). I particularly liked those with thick, ruffled petal edges until I heard a plantsman describe it as “chicken fat.” Now, I think of Tyson whenever I see those.

Whether your day-lilies are of the dug-it-from-the-roadside variety or one of the exorbitant specialty type, strands of the long grass-like foliage wilt and brown during the growing season. Growers advise us to remove the dead leaves as they occur, and cut off all the dead foliage once it is winter-killed. Rather than grooming my plants regularly to keep them neat, I follow a more radical (tough love) approach. Once half the foliage has browned, I gather it into a ponytail and decapitate it, leaving about four inches of leaf above soil level. Then I give the pruned plant a dose of liquid fertilizer. While plants will not repeat bloom, they do throw new foliage which is fresh-looking all the way to frost. I have not noticed a reduction in plant vigor as a result of this treatment.

Congested day-lily plants will have fewer flowers. To remedy, lift the entire clump, divide them and replant into amended soil. In fertile soil with plentiful water, you may need to divide every other year or every third year. When you lift a mature clump, you will find that it has formed a series of fleshy tubers, almost like a Dahlia. All divisions should have some of these little taters. After a vigorous division several years ago, I swept the damaged pieces off my garden bench into a bucket that contained discarded potting soil from a spent planter. Several weeks later, I discovered that each of the small bulbs had sprouted new leaves and roots. They are definitely survivors.

Day-lilies are drought-tolerant once established, and not prone to damage from insects or disease, although day-lily rust or leaf-streak may appear, as well as damage from thrips or slugs. Deer find the flowers and leaves quite tasty. I understand that day-lily flowers are edible, but have never sampled them. I prefer to enjoy them in the flower border – whether they are the high-dollar, super-hybridized variety, or the simple, old-fashioned orange Ditch Lily.

Ditch Lilies bloom along a country road

"Chicken Fat"

Pretty Petite Primroses

Grocery store flower departments are filled with potted Primroses, basal rosettes of crinkled leaves topped with velvety flowers of intense burgundy, purple, yellow, bi-colors. These members of the Primula family, sold for table-top décor, are subtropical plants treated as annuals. There are hundreds of Primula species. They vary in height from inches to more than three feet. Some grow in rock gardens, others at water’s edge.

In general, Primroses want shade, cool (not frigid) temperatures, moist soil with plentiful organic matter. Primula vulgaris, a yellow-flowered form, is perennial in zones 4-8. It has yellow flowers held in candelabra-like clusters and blooms the same time as Mertensia (Virginia bluebells), which shares the same cultural preferences and makes a great companion plant. The rosette leaves elongate after flowering, up to 8 inches. Given partial shade and plentiful moisture, plants will reseed. They can also be propagated by division after flowering. A row of Primroses makes a great pond-side border. Flowers attract bees.

Plants are prone to insect damage (aphids, thrips, slugs, spider mites) and fungal diseases. All parts are toxic to cats, dogs, and horses.

Primula vulgaris, Common Primrose, is anything but common.

A row of Primroses, seen with neighbors Virginia Bluebells and Geranium. These woodland beauties outlasted the daffodil bloom at bottom right.

Enjoy these grocery-store Primroses as indoor plants, and discard when they begin to look tattered.

A Groundcover as Container Specimen

When is a groundcover not used as a live mulch? When it is a container plant, of course. Lysmachia congestiflora ‘Walkabout Sunset’ has a beautiful, multi-colored leaf and clusters of bright yellow blooms. Initially the common name, Loosestrife, frightened me away from using this plant because I feared it might be invasive. I’m happy to report that this is not the case.

Several cultivars are available. All are low growing (to six inches) and will spread readily since they root wherever stem touches soil. This spreading habit makes it a great choice for edging in-ground water features. Lysmachia is a semi-evergreen perennial in zones 7b to 9a  In my 7b garden, I find ‘Walkabout Sunset’ sheds most leaves and looks dead by late winter but makes a rapid recovery when spring arrives. It will not tolerate temperatures below 15 degrees, so I take a small cutting in autumn and overwinter it in the greenhouse as added insurance against plant loss.

‘Walkabout Sunset’ performs best in part-sun, with a little shade in the hottest part of the day. It prefers damp to wet soil and is undemanding as to soil pH. I sited a potted specimen in full sun and found that it needed more additional water than I was willing to donate, so I relocated it to the raised portion of a birdbath. This solution kept the plant roots damp and gave birds and insects a place to perch when they visited the water source. Everyone was happy.

‘Walkabout Sunset’ is equally attractive when used as a sole container specimen or as an undercover to a taller plant. The variegated leaves have a blue-green stripe that pairs well with a similarly toned container.

You will note that I did not include the pronunciation above, as I normally do. Here goes: ly-si-MAK-ee-uh kon-jes-tih-FLOR-uh. I have observed that some well-known plant experts pronounce the third syllable with a long A while other make it a short A. I thought it would be easier to stick with the cultivar name, but then I found some plants tagged as ‘Walkabout Sunset’ and others as ‘Outback Sunset’ or ‘Waikiki Sunset.’ Are they the same? I cannot tell. What I can tell is that ‘Persian Chocolate’ has purple-ish foliage. Can’t wait to try it in a container with pink Begonias.

Foliage color mirrors container

Birdbath keeps soil wet

What Ate My Plant - Deer or Rabbit?

Why are deer such jerks? Last week, I planted 74 new hydrangeas. That is 74 baby plants that I took as cuttings at exactly the right ripeness, dusted with growth hormone, and inserted into the perfect growing medium. I nurtured them tenderly through the rooting stage, keeping them moist (but not wet) and warm (but not hot). When they struck roots, I moved them lovingly to larger pots and encouraged them with liquid fertilizer until they were big enough to transplant outdoors. My vision was to create a hydrangea forest on one side of the driveway. Two days after I planted them in the soil, I drove by and interrupted a deer feast. One deer stopped directly in front of my car, a tender plant still dangling from her lips like a cigarette, and gave me the stink-eye, as if to say, “Hey, we’re eating here. Go away.”

I had the advantage of witnessing my destroyers, but how does a gardener know what is eating their precious plants if the perpetrator is not caught in the act?  If the damage is above three feet from soil level, it is likely deer-induced. Rabbits nibble at lower levels and are more likely to gnaw bark. Favorite trees include oaks, sugar maples and ironwood. They destroy beans and other vegetables but tend to leave corn, squash and pepper plants alone. Deer can damage tree bark when they rub the velvet off their antlers, but the damage is higher than a rabbit’s and may even show the rub pattern. Rabbits favor new, tender growth while deer are less discriminating and will rip a sample bite from anything in their travel path. It’s like Saturday at the Costco sample kiosks during our pre-COVID days.

The most tell-tale indicator is the edge of the nibbled leaves. If the leaf or stem is severed in a clean edge, your destroyer is of the rabbit ilk. Think of Bugs Bunny* and his nice set of sharp choppers. If the leaves are torn and ragged, it is a deer. Deer do not have upper front teeth so they rip off leaves with their lips, leaving a ragged edge.

Deer scat and rabbit scat are both round pellets, but deer leave theirs in piles (especially when they encounter an electric fence) while rabbits scatter theirs around a bit. The size of the deposit can provide a diagnostic.

There are other culprits. If stems are severed at ground level, suspect cutworms, especially early in the growing season. If leaves show a perfect semi-circular missing section but no other damage, it could be a leaf-cutter bee. Groundhogs (woodchucks) trample the plants on which they feed. Squirrels and chipmunks prefer sweet treats, fruits like strawberries or tomatoes.

If you need positive identification, set up a wildlife camera. A cheaper alternative is to sprinkle powdered limestone on the ground around the plants where damage is occurring. You can usually see animal footprints in the powder the following morning.

So, how do you deter these eating monsters? Theories and products abound. I have tried many of them, with limited success. My best solution to date is a big, honking ugly electric fence that is ten feet tall with a tight woven mesh added along the bottom section. My least successful treatment was hanging bars of Irish Spring soap in my orchard trees. Deer nibbled on the bars of soap before they moved onto my apples. Also, the motion-activated garden sprinkler seemed to attract more deer than it deterred. “Hey everybody, there’s a water party in the Snoddy’s orchard, starting at nightfall. See you there!” It was frustrating to the point of transforming me into Elmer Fudd.*

If you choose to consult Google for a deterrent, please add the following term after your search words:  site:.edu (The word site, following by colon, no space, dot, edu). This phrase will restrict your responses to fact-based information provided by university research and filter out the advertisements and colloquial advice.

*Note: My apologies for the references to Warner Brothers cartoon characters. With our current social distancing, I am watching more television. The Cartoon Network is more soothing than the news channels. If you Gen-Z folks don’t recognize the references, go ask your parents. Or grandparents.

This photo shows a deer’s skull and jawbone. The absence of lower front teeth produces the tell-tale identifier of torn leaves. (I did not shoot this deer. But I didn’t weep over his demise, either.)

This stub is all that remains of what was a healthy foot-tall plant two days earlier.

A common characteristic of deer damage is an uprooted plant, especially if the plant is found to be unpalatable.

Mimosa, Beautiful and Evil

As I walked across our pasture with the dogs this week, a soft scent took me back to childhood, when my favorite tree was the Mimosa.  Mimosas (Albizia julibrissin) are dwarf but fast-growing trees that branch near the bottom, making them perfect for young children to climb. They have a short life span (10 to 20 years, max). I can remember howling when my parents cut the backyard specimen to the ground and quoted Poe’s Raven, “Nevermore.”

Mimosas seem magical. Their pink puffball blooms smell faintly of baby powder and remind one of a ballerina’s tutu. The lacy compound leaves fold up when touched, as a reaction to changes in stem pressure. The magic ends when the blooms drop, leaving behind numerous bean-like seed pods. The unsightly pods remain even after leaves drop in the fall. Herein lies the problem. Those pods contain numerous seeds, all guaranteed to germinate. Everywhere. This nasty habit far exceeds the benefit of a tree that will thrive in heat, drought, and any type of soil. This is one of the first plants to colonize clear-cut fields in the southeast.

Southern Living Magazine’s Steve Bender (also known as The Grumpy Gardener) answered a reader who inquired as to the proper time to prune Mimosa: “Any time you can find a chainsaw.” Click here to read his diatribe against the species. NC State University recommends, “Cut down large trees with a chainsaw and treat outer two inches of cut surface of stump with undiluted glyphosate concentrate (53.8% is preferable).” Click here to read the full article. 

Mimosa is considered an exotic, invasive species. Around a decade ago, a cultivar with burgundy-chocolate leaves came into the trade. It was immediately popular. Alas, those plants are nearing the end of their natural life, so gardeners who utilized them as focal points are now searching for replacements.

Consider using dogwood, redbud or buckeye as a well-behaved alternative.

A sweet fragrance and delicate foliage

A thicket of Mimosas alongside an untended frontage road. They are slowly displacing native species.

Crocosmias Glow In The Heat

When the “feels like” temperatures are in triple digits, many annuals and perennials slow down or even stop blooming. This makes us appreciate those stalwarts that bloom through the hottest days of the year. One of these is Crocosmia (pronounced Crow-KAHZ-mee-ah).

Crocosmia leaves resemble gladiola or Siberian Iris. The blooms occur at the topmost part of a wiry stem. They last a long time as cut flowers. Blooms are most often red (‘Lucifer’ cultivar) or orange, occasionally yellow. Hummingbirds flock to all shades. They look especially great when paired with blue Salvia.

Crocosmia, sometimes called Montbretia, is a type of bulb known as a corm. Corms are much smaller than true bulbs like tulips or daffodils. They create a new bulb each year to sustain them through cold weather. These storage units stack themselves on top of each other, gradually developing into a loose chain, like a sleeve of Ritz crackers, only much smaller. The bond joining the corms is not strong, so they break apart when gardeners attempt to dig them up to relocate them. The corms left behind sprout into new plants, leading gardeners believe that they spread to the point of invasiveness.

Crocosmias are hardy in zones 6 to 10. They look best when planted in groups of 10 or more. Blooming is heaviest when the clumps of bulbs are divided every three years or so. Because they reproduce readily, many gardeners will be happy to share their divisions. They should be planted in full sun to light shade, in slightly acidic soil. Crocosmias are not browsed by deer or rabbits, and are usually ignored by slugs. A winner!

Orange Crocosmia glow when backlit by sunshine.

Vitex - A summer-blooming beauty

I receive a few phone calls every year from people who want me to identify “that tree with purple blooms, looks like a lilac.” That beauty, my friends, is Vitex agnus-castus, commonly called “Chaste tree.” Vitex can be described as a large deciduous shrub or a small tree. Cold-hardy from zone 7b to 11, Vitex tolerates any type of soil and is very drought tolerant once established. They will not survive boggy soils, so err on the side of less irrigation rather than more.

Vitex blooms smell sweet and their five-fingered leaves (resemble marijuana) have a pleasant sage-like fragrance too. The odor means that deer usually leave it alone.

Vitex forms a multi-stemmed tree but can be pruned to a single trunk if the gardener is so inclined. The lavender blooms appear at the ends of branches and point upward, making them look like a cousin to Clethra. Our region is becoming saturated with Crape Myrtles. I love the Crapes, but wish that more people would plant Vitex because of its benefit to pollinators. Butterflies and bees flock to the blooms. They are frequently planted near beehives to increase honey production. There is no fall color to mention, but the loose, rounded crowns have a special charm. They are quick growers, reaching a mature height of 25 feet. Plants thrive in heat, in full sun or part shade. I think they look best as an under story tree, in the partial shade cast by larger trees. A neighboring town used them in the central median plantings along a major highway, which confirms their hardy nature.

The Vitex in the Mary Snoddy garden is at least fifty years old, maybe more. It is starting to show the effects of old age, with a few branches dying here and there. When it reaches the end of its life, I plan to replace it with another specimen of the same type. ‘Shoal Creek’ has the typical lavender bloom, but ‘Alba’ is white and ‘Rosea’ has pink flowers. Several blue cultivars are available, and so are dwarf forms.

I was surprised to read that Vitex is considered invasive in certain areas of the Carolinas and several southwestern states. I have not seen that in my own garden, nor have I seen them proliferate in ungroomed areas.

If Vitex has a drawback, it is that the limbs tend to droop with age. While graceful, this creates difficulty in lawnmowing nearby. The thin bark is easily damaged by string trimmers. Surround them with a ground cover to eliminate the need to prune low-hanging limbs. A grass-like ground cover like Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon) tolerates shade cast by the tree and has the added advantage of absorbing the fine leaves shed in fall. No raking – Yay!

Bumblebees buzzing around the blooms of Vitex angus-caste.

A mature Vitex.

Wonderful Weigela

Weigela is one of those shrubs that puts on a heart-stopping bloom display in the spring, then fades into obscurity the rest of the year. Mature shrub sizes vary from two feet to ten feet. They don’t mind acidic clay soil, and will tolerate limited drought once established. They prefer morning sun and afternoon shade. Weigela florida sounds like they are Florida natives, but they hale from Japan, Korea and North China.

Most funnel-shaped flowers are white or pink with a darker pink reverse. The blooms occur the entire length of the stem, so the pink buds are seen along with the white blooms. I have seen true red and purple varieties offered in catalogs, but have not found them in local nurseries. All colors are loved by hummingbirds and bumblebees. One of my favorites is ‘Variegata,’ which has white edged leaves, making it pretty even when not in bloom. ‘Wine and Roses’ cultivar has a burgundy leaf and a dark pink bloom. ‘My Monet’ has variegated pink and white leaves, pink blooms, and is dwarf (no more than two feet tall) which makes it easy to incorporate into a mixed border.

This deciduous shrub is round and somewhat loose. There is no fall color. The branches of a mature specimen arch similar to Forsythia. Through experimentation in the Mary Snoddy garden, I have found that the shrub looks best if about one-third of the branches are cut back hard (half their original length) immediately after bloom. This forces new growth. Heaviest blooms occur on the youngest stems. I follow the hard pruning with an overall shaping, to restrict size. If pruning is done mid-summer or later, there will be little to no bloom the following spring.

Weigela grows in zone 4 to 8. The further south, the greater the need for a little shade during the hottest part of the day. Deer think they are delicious, so site them away from easily accessed areas. (We all know that deer will take a bus and climb a ladder to reach something they find tasty.)

The name is pronounced wye-JEE-lah. There is not an “i” in the last syllable, so it is not wye-JEEL-yah.

Rampant Wisteria

In my part of the southeast, a purple haze of Wisteria blooms contrasts with the tender green of emerging tree leaves. In the woodlands behind my home, Chinese Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) has climbed to the tops of several trees. Other trees are endangered by their strangling vines. Make no mistake – this is one VIGOROUS vine.

I feel sad when I see an unknowing gardener plant a Wisteria on a wooden or wire trellis. It does not take long before its weight will crush the trellis. Last year, I watched a vine collapse the porch of an unoccupied home in our town. In a matter of weeks, tendrils came through the wooden siding and then through the second floor windows. It was like something out of a horror movie. Wisteria is not as widespread as The Vine That Ate The South (Kudzu) but it is much harder to destroy. I have been struggling to eradicate one planted on our property, using increasingly nasty herbicides, something I normally avoid. Just when I think I’ve been successful, a baby vine springs through the turf some thirty feet away. Sigh…

The deciduous vines are hardy in zones 5-8. They grow to 40 feet or more and bloom best in full sun. The 4-6 inch velvety seed pods are shaped like violins. When dry, the pods pop and eject the lima bean-like seeds, often shooting them ten feet or more. The seeds are toxic, so wildlife rarely spread them around. Instead the plants spread by roots, by stems, or by self-spread seeds. A less vigorous cultivar, ‘Amethyst Mist’ is more easily restrained and looks particularly beautiful when trained to a tree form. It is worth seeking out.

Wisteria is easy to admire. The large clusters of purple and lavender blooms are beautiful. The shape of the bloom resembles a pea blossom, to which the plant is related. Both are in the family Leguminosae. Some people think their sweet fragrance resembles grape KoolAid. The white variety is harder to find but is reputed to be more fragrant.

American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens) is less vigorous than Chinese Wisteria, but it still requires a twice yearly pruning to keep it under control. It is also less fragrant. Both Ameircan and Chinese vines must have a level of maturity (up to ten years) before they bloom, which can be a frustrating wait.

Despite all the warnings about its rampant growth, it is difficult to resist the lure of those beautiful purple blooms. Plant if you dare, but DO NOT let them anywhere close to your sewer or septic systems. The roots seek water and will cause plumbing problems.

A close view of Wisteria bloom cluster.

Vine imitating a boa constrictor, slowly squeezing life out of the tree it is climbing.

This photo was taken from my car window as I drove down a major thoroughfare. A planted vine has escaped cultivation and spread through the surrounding area.

Bloom cluster.