Moonlight and Roses

The only thing that could have made our near-5ft tall clump of 'Carolina Moonlight' Baptisia look better this spring was the beautiful color contrast provided by the red 'Double Knockout' Rosa in the background.

False Indigo, Baptisia sp., is perhaps my all-time favorite perennial plant, and the 'Carolina Moonlight' always steals the show in the spring with its vigorous height, although I do have 3 varieties of the shorter purple-toned Baptisia australis hybrids that are gorgeous as well. I love watching every stage of the plant's growth, from the asparagus like buds shooting out of the ground in early spring, to the delicate blue-green foliage, and of course those characteristic pea-family flowers!

The 'Knockout' rose in the back of the border provides a background to make the light yellow Baptisia flowers really stand out. 'Knockouts' have become a common staple in landscapes, offering a re-blooming, disease resistant option for even the most novice rose gardener. Used in the right places, the dark foliage and dazzling flowers give a show all season long... and with this warm spring they are starting extra early. In our sunny perennial border filling with spring flowers, these two beauties really steal the show when they come into bloom at the same time!

Getting the Border Ready for Spring

The first week of March usually marks the start of the spring scramble in this house. All the dreams of garden projects we wanted to get done by spring are now facing a reality of being put off for next year, as we ready the garden for spring. Id already cleaned up the perennials and the roses, and all that was left to tackle was the butterfly bush. Its been a warm winter here as in much of the country, and the shrub still had as much foliage as it did in late fall....until I channeled my inner Edward Scissorhands and gave it a good pruning... from around 8 feet to just under 1 foot.

Butterfly bushes are some of the most commonly used landscape shrubs in our area, and rightly so because of their beautiful blooms that keep coming all summer. But with any widely-used plant, some people buy them without learning how to correctly care for them. The key to keeping your butterfly bush full and healthy year to year is to cut it back with some sharp bypass loppers to about 1 foot in the spring when new growth emerges. 

Now, you do not have to cut a butterfly bush back in the South, as the stems stay alive year round here, but be warned: they will grow to almost 20 feet in this area if not pruned! That and the pruning increases flowering dramatically, and gives the bush a cleaner shape. The most common mistake with this shrub is to cut it back too early (in the fall or early winter) leaving its hollow stems vulnerable to frost damage. Even in the early spring I make sure to make my cuts at least 1/2 inch above a growing point (i.e. a new leaf) in case temperatures drop.

And now all there is to do is throw down some all-purpose fertilizer (I prefer organic products and love the "good stuff" in Espoma's Plantone to give the border a boost in the spring) and just wait for summer blooms!

Staying Cool in the Shade

It has been HOT this week... like 93 degrees and 70% humidity. But what did I expect? Summer was bound to come soon. While the new growth in the sun border is weeping from the afternoon rays, I found a box turtle taking cover below the Hypericum at the entrance to our shady-path garden.

Before this area was a typical problem North-side yard... the kind of place where grass dosent grow and run-off washed out any mulch.  A large oak just on the neighbors side of the fence adds to the shade. With only a kiss of sun for 30 minutes in the mid-day in summer, this is our only deep shade area in the garden. You can see down to our full-sun perennial border at the far end... baking in the afternoon heat. A couple years ago, with only mud and ideas, Brian started with a simple bubble diagram with the central path and general heights of plants along the wall and fence. It made for a great way to plan a beautiful garden and still "plop" some of those clearance plants in as we find them.

Possibly my favorite plants in the area are the Ghost Ferns (Antherium 'ghost') (left), a cross between the Japanese Painted Fern (A. niponicum var. 'Pictum') and the Lady Fern (A. filix-femina). This variety has the best characteristics of both partent plants, with a stunning color and more up-right habit. White blooming Nandinas (Nandina domestica 'alba') (right) add some structure and contrasting lime-green new growth. The flowers are quite stunning as well.

These soft 'Blue Angel' Hostas (Hosta 'Blue Angel') filled a big gap in the shade garden to complete the main part of the path. A gift dug from the yard of one of Brian's co-workers, we split one giant-sized Hosta into 3 still giant size clumps. I am almost embarrassed to say this is the first Hosta I have owned, but having limited shade I was drawn to other textures...

... like the beautiful, glossy, foot-wide leaves of the Giant Leopard plant (Farfugium japonicum 'Giganteum'). In late-October these unique plants are topped with yellow aster-like blooms, but the foliage is really the star of the show.

 To help hide the neighbors fence, we added a Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris). It is the perfect pick for the spot, as it grabs on to climb surfaces with small hairs along the stem. I gave it a trellis to give it a head start, but now it is slowly searching along the fence for the light. It flowers later than the other hydrangeas, usually starting in mid-June here. Speaking of Hydrangeas, the 'Endless Summer' (Hydrangea macrophylla 'Endless Summer') is looking stunning behind our thinking-spot, an East-facing area that is shaded from the afternoon sun.

 The Southern Wood ferns (Thelypteris kunthii) add a magical feel... we sit here often and look out on the garden to unwind from the day.

"Take a course in good water and air; and in the eternal youth of Nature you may renew your own. Go quietly, alone; no harm will befall you." ~John Muir

 

Spring Spotlight: Banana Shrub

With so many things going on in the garden, its hard to keep up on what to blog! So I've decided to start a 'Spring Spotlight' series with some of my favorite plants for the season. Hopefully it will introduce readers to some new plants and inspire some gardening ideas. I imagine this will follow into a 'Summer Spotlight' and so on... but who knows! This spotlight is Brian's favorite at the moment. The smell on a warm day is pure bananas!

Banana shrub (Michelia fugo) is a member of the Magnolia family, with thick evergreen leaves and cream-colored flowers. Hardy only in USDA zones 8a-10b, it was a throwaway plant from the nursery where Brian works due to winter damage. We took it home, nursed it back to health, and it thanked us with a month long showing of banana scented flowers from mid-April to mid-May. Ours is only a few feet tall, but the shrub attains a full size of 10-15 feet tall and wide. It prefers an acidic soil so we feed it Holly Tone a few times a year.

The bugs love this shrub too! Maybe the small spider mite problem draws them in, but I always catch butterflies, arthropods, or beetles sitting on the leaves and flowers. Watching the flowers opening on this shrub were particularly interesting.. I like to think of it as a little botanical study. The bud is encased in a leathery covering which sheds as the petals grow inside. The pink rimmed petals open to show a bright green stamen. As the petals fall off one by one, the stamen is left behind and remains until a new leaf beings to grow.

Introduced to United States in late 1700, this is one of the classic evergreen shrubs of the old south, although the banana shrub is originally from China. It was named after Pietro Antonio Michele, 1679-1737, a Florentine botanist. This plant is new to my garden and we've "Gone Bananas" for it!

"To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment."  

~Jane Austen