Month: July 2011

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The Pyracantha Shrub

Orange Pyracantha Berries by vns2009

TheGardenLady received this comment from a Dr. Rothberg.

Lilac!  Thanks very much for the garden tour.  I’m full of new ideas, some of which will be used in Nancy and David’s new garden in Chatham….What I was trying to think of (for a climbing plant along a sunny wall) is Pyracantha (firethorn).

Dr. Rothberg was interested in a Pyracantha shrub, a spiny, evergreen-spreading to erect shrub, that can be trained to climb up a sunny wall or espaliered. Though Pyracantha has small fragrant white flowers, it is mainly grown for its lovely yellow, orange or red berries.

TheGardenLady does not have a Pyracantha shrub, but neighbors who had one of the most outstanding gardens in my town had one climbing up a trellis near the wall of their house. The wife used to carefully and meticulously prune the plant. With good reason -  she had to be careful because most Pyracantha shrubs have nasty thorns (there is one that has fewer thorns). These thorns can cause an irritating rash or a burning sensation from the prick. The burning sensation from the prick is one reason people say it was given the common name Firethorn. Not only are the thorns sharp, but some people have had a severe or allergic reaction to a prick from the Pyracantha thorn and had to seek medical treatment; though I do not think this is a common occurrence. But when pruning, it is wise to wear protective clothing and leather gloves. The good thing about the thorns is that deer rarely eat this shrub. Birds will build nests in the shrubs and birds, especially cedar waxwings, will eat the pyracantha berries. The birds first choice seems to be the red berries.

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Where have all the butterflies gone?

Cabbage White Butterfly by wwarby

My yard is jumping with squirrels. The Liquid Fence I use seems to keep the deer and rabbits away, though I see deer as well as rabbits in the distance. A neighbor has 3 red foxes living in her culvert. They prevent deer and rabbits from entering her yard. And a reader from Chicago has raccoons living under his deck. So much of the animals’ territory has been reduced that all these animals are now in our backyards. And with this drought the animals are less afraid to come closer to our homes.

I have a lot of birds happily chattering and flying about or enjoying some to the plants- like the finches on the agastache.

But what has happened to the butterflies this summer? Has so much of their environment been destroyed that butterflies populations are dwindling?

The cabbage white butterflies came on schedule and seem to be as numerous as usual. I have a lot of their favorite nectar plants but none of their host plants.

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How to Stay Safe and Cool in the Hot Weather

Please Keep Clean Water in Shallow Dishes to Help Birds Survive The Current Heat Wave!! by Koshyk

My heart bleeds for the parts of our country and the world where people have been under a heat wave for such a long time. Here on the East coast where I live, we had a week of the hot weather but only 3 days of the really brutal weather that others are experiencing. I worry about all of your gardens and farms that have had to suffer this heat wave.

But most of all I worry about you- the gardeners and farmers. I hope you are taking every precaution to prevent succumbing to this heat. After all, if you get sick from the heat, the gardens or farms will not have anyone to help in the future.

Noel Coward wrote the famous song that said, “Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.” I will have to review the lyrics of the song, but I imagine that if Englishmen go out in the midday sun, they must be concerned about their gardens as all gardeners are. And a dog has to venture out in this heat when “nature calls” whether it is mad or not. But they do have products to keep dogs cool.   See here.

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Mulch and Compost – Use Horse Manure

The Magic Of Horses by Big Grey Mare

Another thing to do to your garden to prevent water loss in the time of drought, is to be sure that all your plants have mulch around their roots. Mulch keeps weeds down and helps retain water. There are many different types of mulch that you can use.

Must be gardeners near by by pollyalida

l use aged horse manure as mulch. I am lucky that I know someone who raises horses, ages their manure at least 6 months and then delivers it to my house. The woman said that her horses, who are retired, earn their keep this way so that she “never has to put them out to pasture” so to speak. The adage to never use fresh horse manure on your plants or you can burn them is said with a caveat. I have heard that a thin layer will not burn. But I have never tried it because I would think that even if it didn’t burn, the fresh manure would stink.

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Watering the Garden

Rain Barrel by grifray

The dry days of summer are here. Since I want flowers whether they are annuals, perennials, shrubs or trees, I have to take care of them by watering. But water is a special commodity- clean water is becoming more and more a rare commodity. Water is also becoming more and more expensive. So I try to do watering the right way.

I do not use a sprinkler system which wastes water by sprinkling indiscriminately, or loses water from evaporation as the water sprinkles in the air. I have too many flowers to use a drip system or to figure out where to best place one or many drip hoses. So I stand and water my flowers either early in the morning or after the sun goes down. Really, I water their roots. I try to water deeply enough so that the roots grow down for a stronger root system and healthier plants. Spraying water on the leaves is really not good for the plants in sunny weather, especially not for roses which can get a disease called black spot.

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Box Elder Tree

Acer negundo ssp. californicum California Box-elder by davidhofmann08

When people walk by my yard, they often stop to ask me the name of a shrub, tree or perennial. I believe that seeing something growing in my yard has encouraged others to plant it.

One tree that people have asked me about is one that I did not plant. It grows near the stream at the edge of my property and looks suspiciously like poison ivy with its three leaves. I have even heard this tree referred to as the poison ivy tree though it has many other more common names. While the leaves may resemble poison ivy, the tree can have 5 or 7 leaves but rarely 11 leaves; so if you count the leaves you can feel confident that this isn’t poison ivy. And the tree has a profuse number of hanging seeds that look like a maple tree’s seeds. This native North American tree is really in the maple or Acer family. The Latin name is Acer negundo and is referred to in my area as a Box Elder tree, Boxelder Maple or Maple Ash. In Canada it is known as the Manitoba Maple.

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Flowering Sansevieira

Flowering “mother-in-law’s tongue” by malyousif

TheGardenLady received this question from Cathy.

What are the white flowers ghrowing out of my sansevieira plant?  My friend had this plant for years and she never got them.

Lucky you!

Sansevieria or  mother-in-law’s tongue, like many plants, DO have flowers. They are white or a pale yellow green and some are quite fragrant. Also, you might see nectar balls on the flower stem. These flowers come when everything in the culture is just right- right light, temperature, humidity, etc. Your friend might not have had them growing in this optimum situation or it might have been just ready to bloom when she gave the plant to you. You are lucky to be able to see the flowers in your home. This is not a usual event. So sit back and enjoy the flowers, even though they are not that showy.
See here.

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Shrubs, Perennials and Trees with Chartreuse or Gold Leaves

In the morning light by Quite Adept

Since the email arrived asking for recommendations of plants with burgundy leaves, TheGardenLady has been thinking that some readers might be interested in plants with Chartreuse or golden foliage. When TheGardenLady first saw chartreuse leaves on plants, she couldn’t understand why people would want leaves that look sick. But as the plant producers have created more chartreuse-leaved plants, I have gained a greater appreciation of this color in the garden. The landscape with green, burgundy and chartreuse plants makes for more visual interest, with flowers being almost a gilding to the proverbial lily.

When looking at the name of a plant, if there is the word Aurea in it, it is the Latin word for gold. Of course, the Aurea may refer to the flower, not the leaf.

One example is the Catalpa Tree, Catalpa bignonioides ‘Aurea” This easy to grow Catalpa tree has big, yellow leaves with white flowers.

Then there are a number of golden Chamaecyparis or False cypress:

  • Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Tetragona Aurea’ the Golden fernleaf cypress
  • Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Filifera Aurea’ the Golden threadleaf sawara cypress; Golden threadleaf or Lemon Thread Sawara
  • Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Plumosa Aurea Nana’
  • There is Corylopsis spicata ‘Aurea’ the Spike Winter Hazel that not only gets chartreuse new leaves, it has fragrant yellow flowers as well.
  •  Another example with Aurea in the name is the Cryptomeria japonica the Golden Japanese Cedar Elegans Aurea.

Many of the shrubs or small trees that come in burgundy also come in chartreuse or gold. But there seems to be more chartreuse or golden shrubs than burgundy shrubs.

Because all my friends have the burgundy Smokebush, TheGardenLady had to be different. So I bought Cotinus coggygria ‘Golden Spirit’ Smokebush. I think I prefer the burgundy leaves and wish I had the burgundy smokebush instead; but a friend who has four burgundy Smokebushes (3 came from the mother shrub) she wanted one like my chartreuse smokebush as well. Plant lovers want them all. I am limited because my property has so many huge old trees.

Acer shirasawanum ‘Autumn Moon’by nestmaker

 There are several Japanese maples in chartreuse. Acer shirasawanum ‘Autumn Moon is just one of them.

A short list of shrubs with golden or chartreuse leaves are Buddleia ‘Evil Ways’, Tiny Gold Barberry, Hydrangea like Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Little Honey’, Spirea “White Gold’. There are many others.  See here.

Of course, there are also many gold or chartreuse leaved perennials and grasses like Dicentra spectabilis ‘Gold Heart’ bleeding heart or Golden Japanese Forest Grass (Hakenachloa macra). And don’t forget all the hostas with golden leaves. See here.  TheGardenLady has some Hosta ‘Bright Lights’ that are chartruese with a dark green border that brightens up a dark spot.

For an extensive list of chartreuse as well as burgundy shrubs and perennials check out the Monrovia website.

Monrovia is a company that produces excellent garden plants- they list 2300 in their catalog. They do not sell directly to the customer but if you type in your zip code on their site, they will tell you where their plants are sold in your area.

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Wine and Roses Weigela and Purple Plants Similar to Them

Forest Pansy Redbud by jillmotts

TheGardenLady received this question from Phil.

I am looking for a plant that is similar to a wine and roses wiegela, same color, same leaves but not a root ball shrub. Any ideas?

Wine and Roses Weigela is a lovely addition to any garden and now there seem to be many more plants that have the burgundy or “black” colored leaves. Some of the plants get their best dark leaf color when grown in full sun.

For those who like the dark leaves of Wiegela ‘ Wine and Roses’ there are other dark leaved wiegela to consider. Herman Geers in the Netherlands seems to be one of the major hybridizers of these purple leafed Wiegelas. One charming new burgundy leaf wiegela is ‘Midnight Wine’ This is a low mounding, dwarf version of ‘Wine and Roses’ that can be used as a ground cover. A few other burgundy wiegelas are Wiegela ‘Victoria and Wiegela florida ‘Purpurea’ For a list check out this site.

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Thanks for Your Comments and Questions

Red, White and Blue flowers by fayemozingo

TheGardenLady gets a number of interesting questions, comments and garden related links sent to the blog. I look forward to readers taking the time to comment or ask gardening questions. I am very appreciative of each and every thought that is sent to my blog. For example, I was appreciative of the lady who enjoys Agastache in her garden and enjoyed my comments on the plant, or the frustration of gardeners who have problems getting rid of the plant with the common name ‘Snow on the Mountain.’ This GardenLady not only finds out what readers are interested in when it comes to plants, but I learn from my readers.

Some of the comments are sent to older posts. So I hope the readers of TheGardenLady blog take the time to go through the archives and reread the posts and check to see if there are any new comments at the end of the posts.

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