Toad Lily Heralds Autumn's Onset

When Toad Lilies start to bloom, I know that autumn is arriving. Toad Lily is a common name for either Tricyrtis hirta (“Hairy Toad Lily”) or Tricyrtis formosana (“Formosan Toad Lily”). It is difficult for me to distinguish between the two visually. Leaves of Tricyrtis hirta are noticeably hairy to the touch. The flowers resemble small orchids, with inner petals and outer sepals that look like petals. Most are white with purple freckles, about one inch across. They can be held individually, but usually occur in clusters. Upward-facing flowers form on arching stems, above alternate leaves held in a ladder-like arrangement. Plants may reach 36 inches but are usually shorter. The intricate flowers are best appreciated when viewed up close. Site them near patios or seating areas if possible.

Toad Lily likes partial to full shade and acidic-to-neutral, moist soil with plenty of organic matter. Hirta is cold hardy in zones 4-8; formosana is cold hardy in zones 6-9. In the Mary Snoddy garden, they pair well with hosta and ferns. They will spread slowly by seeds or rhizomes, and are not invasive. Tricyrtis is pronounced tri-SUR-tiss.

Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds visit the flowers. Plants are occasionally bothered by aphids, which can spread a viral disease, or by anthracnose fungus, which causes orange spots on the leaves. Use soaker hoses rather than overhead watering to prevent anthracnose. Treat aphids with an insecticidal soap rather than a chemical insecticide to avoid harming pollinators. Rabbits like to nibble on foliage. I use Milorganite in the Snoddy garden as a deer repellant, and it seems to have kept the bunnies away also. Now if I could find something non-toxic that would repel voles…

This Toad Lily is just beginning to bloom. Note the overlapping leaves along the stem. The swollen nodes along the stem are buds, waiting to open into flowers.

Go Big for Gomphrena

Visitors to my pollinator garden are all drawn to the same plant. Not the Gaura or Lantana, not the Cuphea or Bronze Fennel. The crowd favorite is Gomphrena, sometimes called Globe Amaranth. This heat-loving annual comes in several different colors, but purple is my favorite. The color is so intense that it glows, and it looks good with any other flower shades. Gomphrena also comes in lavender, white, rose, red, and bi-colors. Blooms resemble large clover flowers.

Gomphrena is easy to start from seed. If you have a greenhouse or other warm, sunny area, start the seeds 8 weeks before the average last spring frost date for your area. Seeds germinate best when barely covered with soil and given darkness. Once seeds sprout, expose them to bright light. They grow rapidly and start blooming while they are still tiny. Mine have shown flower buds when plants were just four inches tall. Grow Gomphrena in full sun and poor-to-average soil. Plants are drought-tolerant once established. They will bloom from spring all the way to frost. The stiff, papery flowers hold their color for weeks and weeks, and will even retain their bright shades if cut and dried soon after they open. Spent blooms will eventually fade to tan and should be removed.

Most varieties will reach 24 inches tall or more by the end of the growing season. ‘Buddy’ is a purple cultivar that reaches only 12 inches (per the seed catalogs; they reach 18 inches in the Mary Snoddy garden). The ‘Gnome’ series has white, pink, or purple blooms and reaches only 6 to 8 inches. ‘Strawberry Fields’ reaches 20 inches and has an orange-red flower. Plants can be pinched back when small to make them bunchier, but they look fine without this additional work.

Gomphrena looks great in many applications. Use them in containers, as single specimens, or planted in swaths. I think they pair well with Zinnias, Marigolds, or Lantana. Butterflies love the flowers and deer leave them alone. Double win!

Gomphrena,Melampodium,Liatris,Zinnia

Gomphrena along asphalt path

Tiny Allium Lookalikes

Most gardeners are familiar with the large, impressive Alliums, also known as flowering onions. Yes, those softball-size purple globes look great towering over shorter plants. They adorned the Mary Snoddy garden several times, but either dwindled down to nothing in a few years or were so tall they needed to be staked. I have limited patience for staking and even less for expensive bulbs that pull a disappearing act, so I moved on to better plants. Then I discovered two diminutive lookalikes, Society Garlic (Tulbaghia violacea, pronounced tul-BAG-ee-uh vy-oh-LAH-say-uh) and Garlic Chives (Allium tuberosum, pronounced AL-ee-um too-ber-OH-sum).

Society Garlic has long narrow leaves and clusters of star-shaped lavender flowers held atop narrow stems. If the leaves are crushed, they give off a strong garlic odor. Plant them in full sun or part sun. They are heat and drought tolerant, but will bloom much more if given plenty of water. They are perennial in zones 7-10. Propagate by dividing mature clumps or taking root cuttings. They are rarely bothered by insects or diseases, although slugs may cause minor damage. I was surprised to find Society Garlic flowers are a favorite target for hummingbirds. A variegated-leaf type is available but I find it to be less cold hardy than the non-variegated form.

Garlic Chives also have long narrow leaves, but their flower clusters are white. Unlike Society Garlic, those flowers are followed by capsules of black seeds. Unless the capsules are removed, they fall to the ground and seeds sprout into ever-enlarging clumps, giving rise to a reputation for invasiveness. Trust me on this one – removing the seed clusters is far easier that removing a zillion little bulbs. Bees and butterflies visit the flowers, but hummingbirds pass them by. Garlic Chives grow in a wider area than Society Garlic, in zones 3-9.  They are not picky on soil type as long as it is a well-drained. They prefer full sun. So, how do you tell Garlic Chives from Onion Chives? Garlic Chives have a solid stem; Onion Chives have hollow stems.

Society Garlic begins flowering in spring and continues through frost. Garlic Chives is a late-summer to autumn bloomer. Deer ignore both these beauties. Either can be closely planted as a flower bed edger to discourage deer from nibbling your favorites.

This clump of Allium tuberosum (Garlic Chives) held up to a heavy thunderstorm just minutes before. It did not flatten the way many other plants would.

Society Garlic flower

Clump of Society Garlic, Tulbaghia

Dicliptera, A Hummingbird Magnet

What plant comes to mind when you hear “Hummingbird Plant”? Bignonia? Lobelia? Salvia? Agastache? Cuphea? Monarda? The list goes on and on. Whenever we want to describe a flower’s attractiveness to pollinators, somehow we throw the label “hummingbird” on it. That is what persuaded me to purchase Dicliptera erecta, now known as Dicliptera squarrosa, whose common name is (you guessed it!) Hummingbird Plant. It is also called “Firecracker Plant,” “King’s Crown,” or “Wooly Honeysuckle.”

Dicliptera (pronounced dye-CLIP-ter-uh) is a perennial with fuzzy gray-green foliage. It is not particular as to soil type, but requires good drainage and full sun to part sun. In one season, it will grow to two feet or so, and about three feet wide. It is impervious to heat and drought. The deep orange flowers start blooming in mid-summer and bloom until frost. Cut off stems at ground level after the first hard freeze, and it will return the following spring in zones 7 to 11. Grow it an annual in cooler zones. Dicliptera can be propagated from softwood stem cuttings in spring. Use care to avoid over-watering cuttings or mature plants, as wet soil will cause root rot.

Dicliptera attracts hummingbirds and butterflies by the score. The plants are upright, making it easy to squeeze them in among other flowers. It is particularly well-suited to xeriscaping or pollinator gardens. If you are planning a nectar garden for next year, check out this list from Clayton State University, located in Morrow, Georgia. Any combination of these will bring bees and butterflies.

The vivid orange flowers of Dicliptera are the siren’s call to butterflies and hummingbirds.

Want pollinators? Plant Zinnias.

Zinnias are one of the most common annuals and have been popular since the 1920s. They are easy to start from seed, are undemanding as to soil, and bloom non-stop from spring through frost. They tolerate heat and moderate drought. The only thing they demand is a full sun exposure. Zinnias come in every color of the rainbow except for blue, including bi-colors and even tri-colors.

Zinnias are categorized into three groups: tall, with long stems, best for cut flowers or the back of the flower bed; short, best for mass plantings in beds or borders; and creeping or spreading, which do equally well in flower beds and containers. Tall varieties may reach heights of 36 inches or so. Flowers can be single or double, and may resemble dahlias or cactus. Cut flowers last a long time in the vase, but remove any leaves that will be below the waterline.

My favorite bedding type is the Magellan® series, which I start from seed every year. Magellans are mildew resistant and have the sweet habit of layering new foliage and fresh blooms on top of the spent blooms. Short internodes (stem space between leaves) mean that spent flowers are concealed by fresh blossoms, reducing the need for dead-heading but also means they are difficult to use as cut flowers.

Lovely pink Magellan Zinnia

Spent blooms are concealed by new leaves and flowers. A little Downy Mildew spots the leaves.

Of the creeping type, the Profusion® series is well named, with a multitude of small blooms on plants that are resistant to Powdery Mildew. Mildew doesn’t affect the flowers, but can make the foliage spotted and ugly. Combat this problem by planting all varieties in locations with good air circulation. Keep the foliage dry when watering – a perfect application for soaker hoses. Avoid boggy soils and over-fertilization, which can result in more leaves and fewer flowers. 

Zinnias do not tolerate frost. Seed can be direct sown once weather has warmed in spring. Plants will grow rapidly to flowering size. I prefer to start mine in peat pots so that I can space them exactly in my flower beds. Why peat pots instead of plastic 4-packs? The baby plants dislike root disturbance.

Some seed catalogs sell Zinnias by separate color, while others only offer a mix. I like to select specific colors, reflecting a different color scheme each year. It is hard to select my favorite combination. Red, pink, and white looked spectacular in the Mary Snoddy garden one year, but then salmon, yellow and purple looked fabulous the next. Seeds can be saved from year to year, but hybrids rarely mimic their parents.

Zinnia flowers are beloved by butterflies and bees, so I filled all the empty spaces between perennials in my new pollinator garden with mixed colors of Magellan. The pops of color will last until frost.

A butterfly enjoys a green and pink bicolor Zinnia, ‘Queen Lime’. Photo by jggrz from Pixabay

A composition of assorted Zinnia colors.. Photo by MrGajowy3 from Pixabay

Tall Zinnias, grown for cutting, can look a little gawky. Site them at the back of the border to conceal their lower sections.

Long-blooming Cuphea

Cuphea is top of my list for long-blooming annuals. There are 250+ species within the genus, which is pronounced kew-FEE-uh. Despite their kinship, two that are widely grown don’t resemble one another: Vermillionaire™ and Bat-Faced.

Butterflies flock to the orange flowers of  Cuphea ‘Vermillionaire’ also called Firecracker Plant. The numerous flowers are look like tiny cigars. Cuphea llavea, “Bat-face Cuphea” has red petals and a purple calyx. In someone’s imagination, it resembles a bat’s face. Bat-face Cuphea looks especially good when paired with deep purple flowers like Petunia, Angelonia, or Periwinkle (the Catharanthus ‘Jams-N-Jellies’ series has a fabulous rich purple variety called “Blackberry”).

Heat-loving Cuphea originated in Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala. They are perennial in zones 9 or warmer, and are enjoyed as annuals in zones 8 and above. (That zone info came from the experts but mine has returned every year in zone 7b. They are located in a microclimate, adjacent to an asphalt drive which keeps the soil warm in winter.) Cupheas tolerate humidity and will withstand moderate drought once established, but look their best when they receive a little supplemental irrigation in the hottest parts of July and August. They are not picky as to soil type. They prefer full sun or mostly sun. They are rarely troubled by diseases, but Japanese Beetles caused significant damage to mine this year. They recovered quickly when the insects departed for parts unknown.

Either of these Cupheas can get leggy after a few months. In that case, prune a few stems back each week. They will branch and throw new buds. The cuttings can be rooted easily, but baby plants should spend their first winter in a frost-free area (greenhouse) before they go into their outdoor homes. They are easily started from seed and will rapidly grow large enough to plant out. Both the Cupheas mentioned above will perform as well in containers as in flower beds. They can be brought indoors as a houseplant in winter. Indoors, water lightly and provide the brightest light possible.

Does this look like a bat’s face to you? Me neither.

Cuphea Vermillionaire™

Mexican Sunflowers for summer and fall color

Shrubs and perennials encompass the backbone of my garden, but a few annuals ensure that there is something in bloom throughout the entire season. Tithonia, Mexican Sunflower, is a gorgeous annual for the back of the border. It starts blooming mid-summer and flowers all the way to frost.

Tithonia is great for a pollinator garden.

Tithonia (pronounced tie-THO-nee-ah) can be started indoors to get a jump on the season, but is easily grown from seed. Baby plants resent root disturbance; use peat pots to reduce transplant shock. When peat pots are planted into the flower bed, be sure that no part of the pot extends above soil level since any portion above ground will wick moisture away from the roots and into the air. Tear off a strip around the top if needed. Plant in full sun. These Mexico natives love the heat and are drought-tolerant. Tithonia does best in well-drained, infertile soil. Rich soil will produce floppy, weak plants with few flowers.

Tithonias grow very rapidly, reaching heights of 3 to 6 feet, with a width of half that. I received my first 2022 seed catalog this week, and was delighted to see a new, dwarf form. ‘Fiesta del Sol’ is supposed to top out at two and a-half feet, which will make it easier to incorporate into flower beds. Most cultivars have flowers with deep, rich orange petals around a yellow center. Red or gold-flowered varieties are available, too. Cut flowers will last a long time in the vase if care is taken to avoid crushing the stems. The fuzzy stems are hollow, which means they can break if sited in an especially windy area. The ease of culture, the bright flowers, and the fuzzy stems mean this is a great choice for a child’s first garden. As a bonus, the flowers are attractive to bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and a host of pollinator insects. They are not plagued by diseases. Deer rarely dine on them.

Tithonia used as an annual hedge, along with other fall-blooming flowers.

Tithonia seeds are large enough for children to handle easily.

Persian Shield (Strobilanthes)

Persian Shield (Strobilanthes, pronounced stroe-buh-LAN-theez) is a heat-tolerant, tender perennial treated as an annual in zones 8b and colder. It has lavender flowers, but is grown for its foliage: deep green overlaid with bright purple and a metallic sheen. The foliage is beautiful in its own right, but when combined with other plants, especially pink or purple flowers, it makes them sing. It is ideal in a larger container. Provide rich, well-drained soil with plentiful moisture. When too dry, the leaves will droop. If a wilted plant is watered immediately, it will perk back up but too many repeats will result in leaf drop. Constantly wet soil will cause root rot.

Persian Shield will grow into a loose shrub up to 36 inches tall and 24 inches wide. It is much more attractive when the stem ends are pinched regularly to make a shorter, bushier plant. New growth is more colorful than older leaves. The plant looks best in partial shade. Too much sun will make leaves crisp around the edges; too little light makes them look faded.

Persian Shield is easy to propagate from stem cuttings or layering. It will survive in my home as a houseplant or in my greenhouse through the winter, but reduced light results in a spindly plant. I overwinter one specimen, then use it as a mother plant for several cuttings in spring. Rooted cuttings grow rapidly. Plants are occasionally attacked by spider mites.

A 14-inch container planted with a single Strobilanthes plant. The newest growth is distinctly more colorful than the older leaves.

A favorite combination: Persian Shield paired with purple Angelonia and red/purple bat-faced Cuphea. Next year I will select a glazed container rather than this terra cotta, to reduce evaporation and the need for daily watering. This photo shows the solid purple reverse side of the Persian Shield leaves.

Mandevilla, Dipladenia, Allamanda

I received a Mandevilla vine as a Mother’s Day gift this year. A wooden trellis was included. It dwarfed the plant. Fast forward two months, and this woody vine is a knockout! Healthy, dark green leaves set off the blood-red, tubular flowers to perfection. The vine has grown enough to cover the trellis without becoming aggressive.

Mandevilla (pronounced man-de-VILL-uh) has large, tubular blooms that attract hummingbirds. Mine is red but I have also seen pink, rose, yellow, and white in nurseries. The vine does not have suckers, but will twine gently around a supporting trellis. They make an ideal mailbox-post accent or hanging basket. Dipladenia (rhymes with Gardenia) is an upright, bushier form of Mandevilla that is now included into the Mandevilla genus. To confuse matters further, some were formerly labeled as Allamanda. The upright forms have smaller, more pointed leaves than the original, viney Mandevillas. All types enjoy rich, moist soil that drains rapidly. A mixture of potting soil, sand, and ground bark works well. Spent blooms fall off without any help from the gardener. Pinch the tips of vines to make plants fuller. In the southeast, Mandevillas will appreciate afternoon shade and frequent irrigation.

Mandevillas are warm weather plants, winter-hardy only in zones 10 and 11. This is why many of them are grown in containers, to facilitate bringing them indoors for winter. Container culture also restricts the mature size. Grown directly in the ground, a vine may reach 15-20 feet. In a container, it will rarely exceed 6 feet. When night temperatures drop to 50 degrees, Mandevilla can be brought indoors to a bright location (no direct sun) and enjoyed as a houseplant, although flowers are fewer than in summer. Water indoor plants sparingly, allowing soil to dry out while giving them a winter rest. Keep an eye out for aphids, whiteflies, mealy-bugs, and scale. Remove any dead or damaged leaves. Prune hard and apply liquid fertilizer when they return to an outdoor location in spring.

Mandevilla ‘Red Riding Hood’

Just the Bear Facts

We moved to a rural area last year to escape traffic, noise, and pollution. The relocation came with an unanticipated increase in wildlife encounters. Specifically, black bears. My first exposure was a few weeks ago, when a juvenile (75 pounds, guessing) wandered by as I ate dinner on the rear deck. Two more similar sightings followed, two different bears, each around sundown. During the same month, our iron shepherd’s hook was bent to the ground one night and our birdfeeders damaged. Someone joked that, in this area anyway, containers of sunflower seeds are known as bear-feeders, not birdfeeders. I did not want to encourage these visitors, so I started bringing the feeders in each evening. Mission accomplished, right? Wrong! Last week, we had a large (400 pounds or more) bear who arrived in broad daylight. The others had departed as soon as I yelled at them, but this fella (or gal) was undeterred by our presence on the deck, vocal appeals, or even the cacophony of a large cowbell. He paused for a photo, finished his meal, and strolled off. In the days following, I realized how little I knew about these magnificent beasts, and most of what I thought I knew turned out to be wrong.

First, there are eight bear species in the world, but the US is native to three: Black bears, brown bears (the formidable Grizzly falls into this category) and polar bears, which reside only in Alaska. Black bears are the most common in the southeast; brown bears are the most common in the central, north, and western US. The following information relates to black bears.

Adult black bears weigh about 500 pounds. They have a double thick coat that keeps them warm and dry. They can run up to 35 mph, for distances exceeding a mile. Their claws are two inches long and curved, when enables them to climb trees lickety-split, although they only climb to escape predators or when pursuing food. Re-read those last two sentences and realize the futility of trying to outrun or outclimb one who thinks you look tasty.

The good news is that, unless a Mama Bear thinks you are threatening her cubs or you are wearing a bacon necklace, it is unlikely that you would be considered edible. Black bears prefer a diet of berries, plants, grubs, and other insects. They will eat fish or small mammals occasionally, and honey whenever they can find it. A full-grown bear eats about 30 pounds of food per day, which keeps them busy foraging for dinner. Bears can swim well. They are capable of walking upright, but they typically assume this posture only when they are curious and want to see better. If a bear is clacking its teeth, huffing aloud, and slapping the ground, it is giving you a message to Go Away.

Black bears are timid and will avoid you if they can. If you must walk though bear territory, it is best to make plenty of noise to alert them to your presence. Given enough warning, a mother black bear will climb a tree with her cubs to avoid you. If it feels trapped, a bear may even charge you in an attempt to scare you into leaving. A bluff charge is not the same as an attack. According to Backpacker Magazine, a bluff usually begins with a hopping motion and with the head held up and ears tilted forward. A true attack starts with a down head.

Black bear attacks resulting in a fatality are rare, occurring once per year, on average. The best course of action is to avoid their territory when you can, carry bear-spray when you can’t, and keep your dogs with you. A scuffle between a dog and a bear never ends well for the dog. Secure your food when camping, and your kitchen trash when at home. Remove temptation and black bears will move on to better food sources. These are wild animals. Treat them with respect and give them space, and we can all get along just fine.

Handsome bear smiles for a photo, taken with a l-o-o-o-ng lens.

Elegant Calla Lilies

Calla lilies are a favorite flower for wedding bouquets and elegant cut arrangements. Even the Latin genus, Zantedeschia, has an elegant sound (pronounced zan-teh-DESK-ee-uh). They are widely available from florists, but a little pricey. How fortunate for gardeners, then, that they are so easy to grow.

Known as Calla lilies, these are not really a lily. Instead, they are a long-lasting South African bulb (rhizome) in the same family as Jack-in-the-Pulpit. Most internet sources and pre-packaged bulbs indicate that the bulbs should be planted 4 inches deep. In the southeast’s heavy clay soil, they want to be planted very shallowly, with the top of the bulb exposed. It can be challenging to determine which side is “up” so look carefully for the growing points. You can plant them outside after the soil is warm, or you can start them indoors if you are looking for a head start. They sulk in cool soil. For most bulbs, size matters – the bigger the bulb, the bigger the plant. In the case of Callas, size is not as important as the number of growing points or eyes. A large bulb with a single grow point will not produce as well as a much smaller bulb that have several points.

Callas prefer average to moist soils with plenty of organic matter but will not survive in a bog. They must have sun to bloom well, but full sun tends to scorch them a bit, so locate them in a partly shaded area. Ideal placement has morning sun, afternoon shade. Provide supplemental irrigation when rain is limited. Plants reach 20 to 30 inches tall. Even when not in bloom, Calla foliage is attractive, almost like an Arum. In the UK, the common name is Arum Lily. Many Callas have white freckles on their leaves. In my zone 7 garden, the leaves remain attractive until late fall. Don’t remove the foliage until it yellows.

Callas are often received as a gift potted plant, then discarded once the blooms fade. Please give them an opportunity to beautify your garden beds. (They do well in containers, too.) My favorite specimens came from a local grocery store. The plants had passed their prime, had been ignored by the staff (no watering), and looked dreadful. I allowed them to remain in their containers while they spent the winter in a cool garage with just a little water. In spring, I planted them outside in rich soil, morning sun, and plenty of water. They repaid my love with numerous flowers. These last a long time in the vase. Calla blooms are a spadix (a spike of tiny flowers) located in the throat of a spathe (a large bract or sheath). While white is the most common color, Callas come in an array of shades: yellow, apricot, pink, purple, deep red, and almost-black.

Callas are listed as cold hardy in zones 7 to 10. If you are cooler than zone 8, provide a deep but light-weight mulch like pine needles or grow them as annuals or houseplants.

Deer and rabbits usually leave Callas alone. The bulbs are highly toxic and may be fatal to humans and pets if eaten. Keep this in mind if you have indoor pets and plan to grow them as houseplants.

I divided and moved these two colors last August, at the worst possible time of the year. Yet, they survived and even bloomed in their new location.

Shrimp Plant

One of my favorite plants is having an identity crisis. First it was Belaperone guttata. Then its name changed to Justicia brandegeeana. Now it is Phlogacanthus guttatus. I’m going against normal practices to call it by its common name, Mexican Shrimp Plant, because it is easier to say and spell. This is a tropical beauty that is cold hardy only to zone 9 (or 8, in a sheltered location). I grow it outdoors in my zone 7 garden during the summer months, then bring it indoors as a houseplant during winter. Though it is considered a shrub, it has never grown above thirty inches tall in my containers.

The plant itself is ungainly, with skinny stems and bland leaves. But, oh, the flowers! It’s not hard to understand how the common name emerged. The unusual salmon-colored flower bracts, accented with touches of yellow and green, form an elongated tubular shape that looks like a cooked shrimp. The true flowers extend from the end of this tube, a couple of white petals with deep red dots There are other bract colors. I occasionally see a yellow-flowered form in the indoor garden center at local home improvement stores. These structurally unique flowers are a favorite of hummingbirds, second only to Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’ in the Mary Snoddy garden. Butterflies like them, too. Flowers last a long time and gradually turn dark when spent. They will drop off by themselves if not removed by the gardener.

Grow Shrimp Plant in fertile, well-drained soil. It likes high humidity but will not tolerate wet feet. It is an understory shrub; morning sun with afternoon shade is ideal. If it gets too leggy or stops blooming well, cut it off just above ground level. It will regenerate quickly. Trimming back a few stems at a time will be less drastic but will result in a fuller plant. The trimmings can be used to propagate new plants. For rooting success, each cutting should have at least four leaves. A rooting hormone helps. Large clumps can also be divided. The stems of older plants tend to be somewhat brittle and may break if exposed to strong winds.

For areas with hard freezes, bring Mexican Shrimp Plant indoors during the cold months. Place it in a bright window and give it a drink of liquid fertilizer. It will continue to flower throughout winter. When the plant is moved indoors, be alert for aphids, spider mites or whiteflies.

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"

Plant Pomegranates for Fruit and Flowers

One of the prettiest flowering shrubs in the Mary Snoddy garden right now is grown for fruit, not flowers. While pomegranate (Punica granatum) is called a fruit, botanically it is a berry. By definition, a berry is produced from a single flower with one ovary, and may have many or few seeds. (Trivia: pomegranates and cucumbers are berries; strawberries and raspberries are not.)

Grow pomegranate in full sun, moderately fertile soil. They will survive in part sun, but flowering will be less profuse. My plant is over fifty years old. It did not fruit well for several years, but an ice storm brought down some limbs on the surrounding trees and it rebounded when given more sunshine. Once established, pomegranates require little maintenance. They tolerate a wide range of soil types (sand to clay, loam preferred) and acidity (pH 5.5 to 7.2), and are drought tolerant. Irrigation to maintain uniformly moist soil will prevent split fruit when rains follow long periods of dry weather.

Shrubs may reach 15-20 feet. A couple of dwarf cultivars are available. ‘Nana’ is only 2-3 feet tall and makes a showy container specimen, looking especially handsome in a blue container. Pomegranate flowers are usually red-orange with an unusual shape (see the photos). Just before opening, the bulbous buds look like miniature versions of the fruits. The plants flower over a long period. Double-flowered forms exist (‘Pleniflora’ is widely available), but they rarely produce fruit. ‘Utah Sweet’ has orange flowers; ‘Flavescens’ has yellow flowers. Regardless of color and whether single or double, flowers are very attractive to hummingbirds. Leaves turn an attractive yellow in the fall, and hold onto the stems for a long time before they fall. Leaves are small and don’t dictate raking unless the gardener is especially fastidious. Most cultivars are hardy in zones 7b to 10. In especially cold winters, they may die to the ground but resprout from the roots and grow quickly.

Pomegranates bloom on new growth, so a little winter pruning will increase flowers and help keep shrubs neat. Plants tend to spread by suckering, and they can become congested if not thinned occasionally.

Fruits are about the size of a large orange. They ripen August through November. The edible part of the fruit is the soft tissue around the seeds, which are arranged in separate chambers within the leathery exterior skin. The seeds are hard, so eating the yummy part involves a lot of spitting out the inedible portion (not recommended for formal dining occasions), but some newer cultivars (‘Angel Red,’ ‘Eversweet’ and ‘Utah Sweet’) have soft seeds that are swallowed along with the flesh, but the soft-seeded varieties are a little less cold tolerant than the others. Plants labeled “Russian Series” are the most cold tolerant.

In ancient Greece, pomegranates symbolized fertility in some stories but represented death in other tales. Hades supposedly used six pomegranate seeds to trick Persephone into staying six months of the year with him in the underworld. It was called “fruit of the dead” by those who thought that the seeds sprang from the blood of Adonis. Its connotation with fertility arose from its association with Hera, the Greek goddess of marriage and childbirth, and its association with Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. Roman women drank pomegranate juice to cure infertility. Some people think that it was a pomegranate, not the apple, the Eve ate and shared with Adam, getting all mankind barred from the Garden of Eden.

While it is no longer considered a magical potion, we recognize the multiple health benefits of pomegranate fruit, usually consumed in the form of juice. The fruit is loaded with good stuff: antioxidants, polyphenols, Vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. A 2019 article in Medical News Today lists 15 benefits, ranging from cancer prevention to heart disease deterrence. Read their full article here, but note that the language stresses what benefit the fruit may have.

Grow pomegranates for the attractive flowers, tasty fruit, pleasant fall color, and ease of culture. The fruits are attractive in fall arrangements. Their coarse texture looks great in wooden bowls. Remove ripe fruit from the shrub with sharp pruners. Fruit will remain usable for several weeks after harvest. Beware - the juice stains.

This pomegranate fruit split with slight pressure, revealing the juicy seeds within.

Pomegranate flower

Pomegranate in bloom

Pomegranate fruit

Pomegranate flower bud

Poppies for Pollinators

Certain plants seem to bloom some years better than others. This year, for instance, the hydrangeas and poppies have been spectacular. There are several species of poppies in the Papaver (pronounced pah-PAY-ver) genus. I am going to focus on three of these: Iceland poppies (P. nudicaule), Shirley poppies (P. rhoeas) and Oriental poppies (P. orientale), and one of their distant cousins, Argemone.

Oriental poppies are, in my opinion, the showiest. The large, intensely colored flowers with a black blotch at the throat make my heart beat faster. While these are perennial, I have struggled to keep them more than a year or two. The Orientals require more winter chill than my zone 7b garden can offer. Without enough cold temperatures, stems are extremely short. Sometimes the blooms are almost concealed by the coarsely cut leaves.

Shirley poppies are grown as annuals. Iceland poppies are short-lived perennials, usually grown as annuals. Both have lovely, crinkled crepe-paper petals. Icelands tend to be yellow, salmon and orange. I prefer the Shirleys, which lean toward pink, rose, red and white or bi-colors. For years, I struggled to grow these from seeds until I finally learned the key to success, which I will now share with you. Prepare your seed bed in fall. Rake it smooth and scatter the seeds on top in the month of November. Don’t cover them; let Mother Nature handle the winter water schedule. Seeds are tiny and it is easy to over-sow. You can mix the seeds with dry sand to sprinkle a more even distribution. Seedlings will emerge in early spring without any additional care or mollycoddling. They put on a show before other annuals even think about blooming. Once the blooms have faded, you can rip out the ugly, dying plants or leave them in place for a few weeks and they will drop seeds for the following year. All poppies need full sun. Avoid fertilizing, which may result in an abundance of leaves and few flowers.

Red Papaver rhoeas are also known as Corn Poppies or Flanders Poppies, and are a reminder of fallen soldiers. A Canadian doctor, John McRae, wrote a poem honoring fallen WWI soldiers. As students, many of us memorized “In Flanders Field the poppies blow…”

I enjoy my poppies in situ, but if you prefer to bring yours indoors, pick them when the flowers are just starting to show color and sear the cut ends with a flame before placing them in water. Poppies are the early spring stars of my pollinator garden, where the honeybees are so numerous that it sounds as if the flower bed is abuzz. Bonus: Deer rarely browse poppies. North Carolina has planted huge swathes of these along some of its highways. They are gorgeous. NC Department of Transportation produces a free booklet describing their roadside wildflower program. It is chock full of great info. Find the link here.

There is another member of the broad Papaveraceae family that adorns my garden. Argemone, “Prickly Poppy,” is not to everyone’s taste due to its prickly leaves and stems. A. mexicana, “Mexican Poppy” has yellow flowers. A. polyanthemos is white. Prickly Poppy will reseed everywhere. It has a deep taproot that means it will endure drought, but also means than its numerous seedlings are a challenge to remove. Damaged stems exude a bright yellow sap that causes skin irritation. Still, I dearly love scratchy, thorny, evil plants, so will have this one in the Mary Snoddy garden forever.

This patch of poppies brought honeybees from all directions. It is located in the midst of my home orchard.

Flanders poppies. Photo by ViJakob from Pixabay.

Prickly Poppy (Argemone), showing off her spiny personality. Those seed pods and buds have needle-sharp prickles.

Rhododendron Family - Part 3: Native Azaleas

Native Azaleas are less in-your-face showy than other members of the Rhododendron family, but they are my favorite. They are native to the US, unlike the popular Popsicle-colored, evergreen Asian Azaleas that are found in many southern landscape plantings.

The Natives are taller and more open than their Asian counterparts. They are deciduous, losing every leaf in winter. In spring, the flowers appear before leaves.  The vivid yellow, orange, red or pink blooms glow like torches in the woodland areas where they occur naturally. Given the proper soil (moist, acidic) and light (morning sun, afternoon shade), they perform well in home gardens also. When not in bloom, they fade into obscurity. They look best when incorporated into a natural area rather than jammed against a house foundation. A mature plant may reach 10 to 15 feet, so site accordingly.

There are more than a dozen species of native Azaleas. Many are fragrant. Clemson University has compiled a useful fact sheet, listing species, colors and bloom times. Find a link to their information by clicking here.

According to Alabama and Auburn University Extensions, there are several hybrid groups that are more heat tolerant than most: Aromi hybrids, Auburn series, Confederate series, Sommerville series, Strickland Azaleas, and Clarence Towe’s selections. My friends in the nursery world recommend ‘Admiral Semmes,’ a yellow-flowered shrub in the Confederate series as a strong performer. I cannot distinguish a Piedmont Azalea from a Pinxter Azalea. Both have pale pink flowers with protruding stamens that are beyond gorgeous. Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds flock to all the native Azaleas. Unfortunately, they are also a deer favorite.

Plants may be propagated from seed or root cuttings. I have experienced failures with both, so will be content to purchase mine from a garden center. Native Azalea is the state wildflower of Georgia.

This ‘Admiral Semmes’ (a Confederate hybrid) is in full bloom, with flower trusses that would rival its showier cousins, the Rhodies.

Pinxter Azalea. Photo by Jerry King, Reidville, SC.

Close view of an ‘Admiral Semmes;’ flower.

The bud of a Flame Azalea inspired its name, since they look a bit like candle flames. This photo Image by Rebecca Matthews from Pixabay

Rhododendron Family - Part Two: Azaleas

If the south had a signature shrub, it would likely be Azalea. Anyone who has watched the PGA Masters golf tournament at Augusta National or traveled through Charleston, SC in springtime can identify the gorgeous members of the Rhododendron genus known as Azaleas.

Give Azaleas acidic soil with plentiful organic matter and partial shade. They especially like the filtered shade of tall pines, it seems. Too much shade and they won’t bloom; too much sun and the leaves get crispy. Stressed plants are susceptible to damage from lacewing insects. Azaleas have shallow roots, so should be irrigated in hot, dry weather. They will not tolerate drought or constantly wet, boggy soils. They are not heavy feeders, so little fertilizer is needed. The University of Georgia Extension has an excellent bulletin on selecting and growing Azaleas. Read it by clicking here.

A lanky plant can be made more attractive by removing awkward long shoots. To provide better air circulation, plants can be thinned by removing some of the inner limbs. Use hand pruners or loppers for either job. Electric hedge trimmers produce unattractive round blobs. It is best to do any pruning immediately after petals shed, to ensure that you are not removing buds that will become flowers next year. While I see many examples of Azaleas that have been pruned into a tight hedge, this is not the best use of the plant. Allow them to retain their native irregular shapes and they will look more graceful.

Azaleas come in all shades of pink, rose, red , lavender, purple and white. Many have attractive contrasting freckles. When I worked in a plant nursery, my customers’ favorites were pink ‘George Lindley Tabor’ and white ‘Mrs. G. G. Gerbing.’ (The latter is much more attractive than ‘Delaware Valley White,’ which seems to hold onto its spent blooms forever.) In recent years, a personal favorite are the Satsuki hybrid Gumpo (please, NOT Gumbo) Azaleas. Gumpos are dwarf, reaching only two feet. They have dense, evergreen foliage and bloom a little later than the more “traditional” types. They tend to be uniform in size, making an attractive foundation plant.

Azaleas put on an amazing show in April and May, then fade into obscurity the rest of the year — except rebloomers. The best known of these, Encore® Azaleas, have led nursery sales since their introduction. Encores are aptly named, since they rebloom in the fall, although the autumn show is never quite as spectacular as the spring performance. They tolerate more sun than most other cultivars.

Like other members of the Rhododendron family, all parts of Azaleas are toxic to both humans and pets. Deer prefer to munch on new, young, tender shrubs; they exert less damage on older, tougher specimens.

Rhododendron Family - Part 1: Rhodies

Rhododendrons, Azaleas, and Native Azaleas look different from each other, but all are members of the Rhododendron genus. When I first started learning about plants, I found this terribly confusing. It made me think of the Newhart television show from the 1980’s: “Hi, I’m Larry. This is my brother Darryl. This is my other brother Daryl.”

There are more than 800 species in the Rhododendron (pronounced rho-doh-DEN-dron) genus. This huge family can be divided into three main types. Those known as Rhododendrons have large, leathery evergreen leaves and rounded bloom clusters about the size of a softball. To make a distinction, I’ll refer to these as “Rhodies.” Azaleas and Native Azaleas have smaller leaves and may be evergreen, semi-evergreen, or completely deciduous. Rhodie flowers have ten or more stamens; azaleas have five stamens in their funnel-shaped flowers. This week’s blog will focus exclusively on Rhodies. I’ll discuss Azaleas in the next blog.

Growing Rhodies in the hot, humid southeast can be a challenge. One gardener told me the secret to her success: “Plant it low and it won’t grow. Plant it high and it won’t die.” She planted her Rhodies by placing the rootball in a shallow depression, piling a 4-inch volcano of loose mulch on top, and watering abundantly. Rhodies need acid soil with a high humus content and moist but well-drained soil. They absorb water through their leaves as well as their roots, so they prefer overhead irrigation. Take care to soak the entire root zone. This is one shrub that does not perform well with soaker hoses or drip irrigation since the root zone is not uniformly dampened. Water in the morning so that leaves are dry before temperatures drop at day’s end. This will help to prevent fungal diseases.

Rhodies hate heavy clay soils, so amend the planting area with ground bark or peat moss or both. Partial shade or filtered sun is best. They have an affinity for the shade cast by tall pine trees. Too much sun bleaches and crisps the leaves; too much shade means few or no flowers. Avoid planting in windy areas. Fertilizer is rarely needed unless one wants to increase the growth rate. Any fertilizing should be done after blooms fade, using a product that is labeled “for acid-loving plants” like camellias, gardenias, hollies, and hydrangeas. Use particular care in removing weeds, since Rhodie roots are shallow and resent damage from cultivation. Limit pruning to the removal of spent flower heads. Such removal will prevent the plant from trying to form seeds and will result in a stronger plant. A gangly plant can be made more attractive by pinching the growing tips of limbs to force branching.

In the warm southeast, search for heat-tolerant cultivars like ‘English Roseum (light rose flowers), ‘Roseum Elegans’ (lavender pink flowers) and ‘Nova Zembla’ (red to dark pink flowers). These will range in height from six to ten feet at maturity, with an equal spread.

All parts of the plant are highly toxic to humans and pets.

I inherited this Rhodie with the property we bought, so I don’t know the variety. I love her freckles.

The leaves of this Rhodie are not diseased; they are covered with pollen shed by the oaks and pines overhead.

Lovely Mountain Laurel

Mountain Laurel, Kalmia latifolia (pronounced KAL-mee-ah lah-tih-FOH-lee-ah), is in full bloom in the Mary Snoddy garden. I tried without success to grow this beauty at my former home, where it repeatedly failed in heavy clay soil, sticky humidity, and hot temperatures. The cooler conditions here along the NC/SC border must be ideal. It would take a machete to penetrate the thickets that grow in the rocky soil around our creek. There is also a sizeable planting at the corner of the bedroom deck where I enjoy my morning coffee. The bumblebees visiting flowers were so plentiful this morning that it sounded like a small engine humming.

All part of Mountain Laurel are toxic to humans and animals, especially goats and sheep. (Foraging deer, however, are unharmed.) Bees are not harmed by the pollen but, per Wildflower.org, if one eats honey made with a high percentage of nectar from Mountain Laurels, you can become quite sick (nausea, dizziness, sweating, low blood pressure and numerous other potential unpleasant side effects). On a different internet site, I saw information on “Mad Honey” which is dark red and slightly bitter. Mad Honey is sourced from Laurels and Rhododendrons in Turkey and Nepal, and causes hallucinations similar to LSD or magic mushrooms, but can also cause a slow heartbeat or loss of consciousness. (I always wonder what kind of person volunteers to test something that can either give you a smashing high or kill you.) According to AtlasObscura.com, Pompey The Great’s army was destroyed  in 69 B.C. when sneaky locals placed Mad Honey along their marching route, waiting until the soldiers were honey-drunk, then swooped in to massacre them. Read the article here.

Because bees visit so many different types of flowers to obtain nectar and pollen, the honey we purchase is a blend from many sources. Concentrations of Mountain Laurel toxins are highly unlikely unless you are purchasing honey from a beekeeper with few hives and many Laurel plants.

It is fascinating to watch bees visit Mountain Laurel flowers. Flowers occur in clusters as the tips of branches, Buds are star-shaped lanterns tinged with pink. They open to white, five-petal flowers. The anthers are held in a tiny pocket in the petals. When a bee (usually a bumblebee) visits, the anther springs up to shower the visitor with pollen. The process has been compared to a child’s pea-shooter. Bees complete cross-pollination when they visit other flowers.

Mountain Laurel in full bloom.

Kalmias grow in poor, acidic soil. These evergreens prefer partial shade but will tolerate full sun or mostly shade. The growth rate is slow. In an area with fertile soil and plentiful water, they may reach heights of twenty feet or more, but six-feet is most common. On young plants, the bark is smooth, reddish-brown. Older trees have cracked bark that sheds in strands. Limbs and branches are gnarly and crooked, looking like they belong in the Evil Forest of fairy tales.  Native Americans made spoons from the wood of Mountain Laurel, giving rise to a common name, “Spoonwood.” Because of the wood’s strength and durability, it was later used in the creation of weavers’ spindles and tool handles.

There are numerous varieties for sales in nurseries. Some of these (‘Elf’ and ‘Minuet’) are dwarf; others feature greater heat tolerance.

Closeup view of Mountain Laurel Flowers

The gnarly limb structure of mature Mountain Laurels.

Two New Shrubs for Short Hedges

Recently, several gardening friends and I climbed into our cars (and truck) for a trip to Head-Lee Nursery in Seneca, SC. I was fortunate enough to run into Bill Head (who introduced Wisteria frutescens ‘Amethyst Falls’, a well-behaved sterile vine with beautiful purple blooms but none of the nasty invasive qualities of Wisteria chinensis). I asked which were his favorite new plants for 2021, and he named two. One of these was Ilex opaca ‘RLH-I0-1’. Before you yawn and dismiss this as “just another holly, let me say that there is nothing “average” about Ramblin’ Man™ Weeping Holly. You read that correctly: It is a weeping form of our native American Holly.

Ramblin’ Man™ will spread to ten feet wide but no more than two feet tall. Use it as a groundcover or an accent. I snapped the accompanying photograph of the plant in a nursery container. The weeping stem habit is evident. This is such a new intro that cultural information is scant on the internet, but it is safe to assume that this holly will enjoy the same cultural conditions as other Ilex opaca: full sun to mostly sun; moist, acidic soil; zones 5-8. American Holly has leathery, evergreen leaves. It tolerates neglect and is not normally browsed by deer.

The second recommended shrub was Clinopodium georgianum ‘Sweet Savannah™ Calamint.’ I expected a plant with the gray-green leaves of a Nepeta, but Sweet Savannah™ has deep green, aromatic foliage. This beauty is only 12 inches tall but will spread to 30 inches wide, in sun to part shade. A member of the mint family, it is cold hardy down to twenty degrees. It is a great plant for short hedges or foundation plantings. In autumn, it is covered with attractive lavender flowers. Mr. Head shared a photo of the plant in bloom, shown below. This improved native checks all the boxes: easy to grow, deer resistant, pollinator friendly, heat and drought tolerant.

Calamint is the Perennial Plant Association’s 2021 Perennial of the Year.

Ilex opaca ‘Ramblin Man’

Sweet Savannah Calamint