An Exotic Addition To My Garden

Creating beautiful flower gardens is satisfying, but part of me is thrilled when I grow something edible. This is the genetic result of my grandparents’ farming background, I suppose. Two years ago, I spotted a beautiful small tree in the most unlikely of places: the parking lot of a rundown gas/convenience store. The tree was tropical in appearance, but remained evergreen and was even flowering in December. I now know that it was Eriobotrya japonica (pronounced er-ee-oh-boh-TRY-ah jah-PON-ih-kah). The common name is easier to say and spell, Loquat (low-kwaht).

Several times I took a few branch-tip cuttings from that tree, but was never successful with propagating it. Last fall, an unexpected opportunity came my way. I enrolled in a horticulture class at a nearby community college. It was a wonderful learning opportunity, and I enjoyed every minute of the lectures and the walks about campus. One of those walks revealed a beautiful Loquat tree in the protected space between two buildings. Underneath the tree’s canopy stood a single seedling, almost three inches tall. Having secured permission from the instructor, I used a pencil to dig it carefully out of the soil, then wrapped it in a foil wrapper that I had stashed in my pocket after eating a granola bar for lunch. I carefully transported this tiny little gem to my car and to my home. It spent the winter in my greenhouse, safely secured in a 4-inch container of potting soil. Although it didn’t show much top growth, a quick check in early March revealed a pot full of healthy roots. I placed it into a larger container and gave it more love, water, and fertilizer. The plant repaid my attention with rapid growth.

There is a story behind the mother tree. The college instructor, Dr. Kevin Parris, is known worldwide for his research and breeding of Magnolias. On a trip to Asia years ago, he ate Loquat fruit from a roadside stand in China, somewhere near Kunming. He pocketed the seeds. With permission, he brought seeds back to the US. The mature tree on campus was a result of one of the four seeds he sprouted.

A potted, mature Loquat. Photo by Salicyna CC BY-SA 3.0

Mature Loquat fruit. Photo by gailhampshire CC BY 2.0

My garden in located in zone 8a, the coolest part of the possible zones for Loquat. They are only cold-hardy down to ten degrees. I prefer in-ground gardening to containers, but decided to grow my Loquat in a pot that could be transported via hand truck to the greenhouse each winter. A mature Loquat tree can reach up to 25 feet tall, but I plan to prune this one to a “standard” shape (like a lollypop) and keep it to 6 feet or less.

Loquats are not selective about soil structure or acidity. They will grow in full sun or part shade. The small, fragrant white flowers are held in panicles that open in fall or winter. They attract hummingbirds, so I have located the container near my pool deck. Our winter temperatures rarely allow fruit formation outdoors, but I am hopeful that the greenhouse winter home may give me a few. Fruits have a flavor similar to apple but with a softer texture. Another common name is Japanese Plum. Deer do not normally damage this plant.

As an addition to the above information, I wanted to share my planting procedure. For my home’s windy hilltop location, I choose large, glazed containers. The size means they don’t blow over so easily and the glazed surface reduces water loss. A large container, however, takes a lot of potting soil. A friend of mine recently recommended the use of several empty water bottles (with cap on) in the bottom of large containers to reduce the soil need.

Ready for a new home

Ensure the new container is level

Coffee filter to slow drainage

Empty bottles to reduce weight

Here is the newly potted Loquat, ready to flourish. It is planted on a slight rise to help me wedge a hand truck under it for transport to the greenhouse for overwintering. I’m expecting great things from this little tree!

Chitalpa, An Improved Version of an Old Hybrid

I occasionally splurge and buy intriguing plants for which I have no intended location in my garden. Such is the case with El Niño® Desert Orchid, an intergeneric cross between Southern Catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides) and Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis). Normally, I avoid horticultural Frankensteins because several years ago I blew the majority of my seasonal budget on Echibeckia, a breeding mashup between Echinacea and Rudbeckia. I had always succeeded with Coneflowers and Black Eyed Susans, so I thought this newcomer was a gardener’s dream. Alas, my plants all failed to thrive (translation: they died during their first season). Desert Orchid convinced me to take another risk.

The pink-to-purple flowers of the Desert Orchid make me think of a love child between snapdragon and orchid. The fuzzy throats add to the beauty. Fragrance is an added bonus. Plants are deciduous, hardy in zones 6-9, long-flowering, heat and drought tolerant, and deer resistant. The label indicated a mature size of 15-20 feet tall and 10 feet wide. I purchased three last fall, each in a 2-gallon container. I planted them in well drained soil and  full sun, and hoped that they would survive. They lasted through their first winter and have already almost tripled in size. I am not certain that mine will show blooms during their first year but they should flower heavily next spring and then intermittently through the rest of the summer.

As I researched the Desert Orchid, I ran across an article in Fine Gardening Magazine – Issue 223 that explained that this intergeneric cross is nothing new. It was first accomplished in the 1960’s but the results were disappointing. Plants were often plagued by mildew. In the 2000’s, North Carolina State University Mountain Crop Improvement Lab resurrected the plant cross, with the intent of improving the end result. Much work and selection continued until 2023, when El Nino™ was declared the best. It was named Plant of the Month (September, 2024) by the University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources.

The growers say that El Nino will flower on new growth, so I plan to cut it back hard in winter and fertilize gently in the spring. This should result in plenty of new growth for the best flowering, and the cutback will keep the plant to shrub-size instead of tree-size.

The accompanying photographs are from the Proven Winners website, https://www.provenwinners.com/plants/chitalpa/el-ni-o-desert-orchid-chitalpa. The trademarked name is El Niño® Chitalpa   'NCXC1' USPP 35,880.

A Verbena For Every Garden

Verbena (pronounced ver-BEE-nah) is a popular garden plant due to its ease of growth, low maintenance, and heat tolerance. There are more than 250 species. Most grown in home gardens are hybrids, Verbena x hybrida.  A long-time favorite cultivar is ‘Homestead Purple,’ which stands alone as a groundcover or works well as a spiller in a container combination. Other cultivars are available with flowers of pale pink, hot pink, bright red, white, peach, and the occasional bi-color.

Verbena x hybrida has a long blooming period and large flowers consisting of flat-topped clusters of individual florets. Plants are cold-hardy in zones 9 and warmer. Elsewhere they are enjoyed as annuals but may return in cooler zones after a mild winter, especially if planted in a protected area. Hybrids are easy to find in nurseries and big box stores. Plant forms range from tall and thin to low and spreading. The upright forms do well in borders, while the trailing forms make an attractive groundcover or hanging basket. They pair nicely with Summer Snapdragon, Angelonia.

Verbenas enjoy full sun and well-drained soil. Plants are drought tolerant. Do not overwater or roots may rot. Butterflies and other pollinators love the flat flower clusters, while deer rarely nibble them. Verbenas tend to flower at the ends of their stems, so by mid-season plants may have a middle with few or no flowers. Gardeners can prevent this tendency toward legginess with an occasional pruning of a few stems. No deadheading is necessary but removing spent flowers will keep the plants looking neat and will encourage more blooms. Superbena® Verbenas, from Proven Winners™ have been bred to resist the powdery mildew that occasionally plagues older cultivars, with increased drought tolerance.

Verbena bonariensis, commonly called Brazilian Verbena or Verbena on a Stick, is a tall variety that can reach up to four feet or more. Its appearance is markedly different from the flat, spreading form of Verbena x hybrida. Its small lavender flowers are held at the top of long, thin stems while its narrow leaves are clustered near the ground. It is a short-lived perennial, grown as a reseeding annual. It has escaped cultivation and spread across the southeastern states, earning a place on the invasive lists in NC, SC, GA, AL, FL and LA. I grow this one in my pollinator area, and while it does spread around a bit, I would consider it aggressive but not invasive.

Verbena hybrids are good plants for new gardeners. They look wonderful planted in masses.

This newly planted container pairs a hot pink hybrid Verbena with pink Pentas and a pink Euphorbia ‘Shades in Pink.’ This combination will tolerate heat and not demand daily watering except on the hottest of summer days.

This brilliant purple Verbena is ‘Enduro Purple,’ an improvement over the old ‘Homestead Purple’ cultivar. Photo by Jim Robbins, used under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Tall “Verbena On A Stick,” Verbena bonariensis.

Walking Iris, Self-Layering Rhizome for Part Sun to Shade

Years ago, I received a Walking Iris as a garden gift from a fellow Master Gardener. It was labeled, Neomarica gracilis. I assumed that it was an ordinary Iris. The giver hesitated to describe it. Not bearded, he said. I expected a flower similar to Siberian or Dutch, or even like Japanese Water Iris, Iris ensata. The first bloom on my plant removed all those misconceptions. The flower was like no other I had ever seen – parts of three, with an unusual brown zebra-striped section in the middle. Each flower lasted only a single day, but every day brought new buds and blooms. Then the magic happened. Walking Iris flowers are held on thin stems. When the flowers are spent, the dying stem flops over onto the ground. The stem tip produces a tiny new plantlet that pushes roots into the soil. Effectively, the Walking Iris air-layers itself into a growing clump, ‘walking’ in all directions. Pretty nifty, right?

Last month, I toured the grounds of a North Carolina gardener. She had a large clump of Walking Iris. The flowers were different from the one I had owned. This called for research.

I learned that the Neomarica genus has been renamed to Trimezia. Common names include Poor Man’s Orchid, Fan Iris, and Apostle Plant. The flower does look like a cross between a Dutch Iris and an Orchid. Like other Iris, the flat leaves are held in loose fans. The Apostle Plant name came from the (incorrect) belief that the rhizome must have twelve leaves before it flowers. [For those of you who did not grow up in a Bible-reading family, Jesus Christ had twelve followers during his life on earth, known as his Apostles.] 

Flower colors of Walking Iris are variable shades of purple, blue, and white depending upon the species and also the sunlight and water they receive, as well as soil fertility. They are hardy in zone 8 to 11, and can be grown as houseplants in cooler zones. They can be grown in full sun to mostly shade, but favor dappled shade for best performance. Plants are evergreen in zones 10-11, but top growth dies to the ground in zones 8-9 winters. They will tolerate heat and mild drought, but prefer consistently moist, acidic soil with monthly light fertilizer applications.

Walking Iris are easy to grow, reaching heights up to 36 inches. They will spread slowly to become large clumps. They are low maintenance, a “plant it and forget it” bulb for woodland gardens, containers, rock gardens, or borders. They are rarely troubled by insects or diseases.

This healthy clump of Walking Iris is flowering mid-April and will continue to bloom intermittently until frost. This part-sun bed is located in zone 7b.

A different color arrangement of Walking Iris.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walking_iris.jpg

A Peek Into My Garden

This has been a busy week for me (hosting a garden event tomorrow), so rather than researching and sharing plant information, I want to share a few photos of my own garden. When our home renovation was completed, I was left with a garden of compacted soil and not much else. Starting from nothing has been both exciting and exhausting. There are a few basic design rules I follow: For small areas, limit the number of colors. Keep color intensities (saturation) similar. Use contrasting foliage textures to provide energy. Start with big and work to small. This means select trees first, then shrubs, then perennials, then groundcovers. Select large-leaf items first, then work down to fine foliage. These are not hard and fast rules, of course, but it is one approach that produces a balanced garden with rhythm and harmony.

My front garden is not large (50 feet x 40 feet, bisected by a 5-foot wide stone walk) so I decided to limit my colors to three: yellow, salmon/coral, and blue/purple. I thought these would translate to lots of choices. There are many perennials and annuals with yellow and purple flowers. I have yellow Goldenrod, yellow Rain Lily, and Melampodium (reseeding annual). For blues and purples, I chose sterile Pugster® Butterfly Bush, Stachys Betony, purple Salvias, and purple Gomphrena, one of my favorite annuals for season-long, intense color.

The coral flower choices have been harder to make. I finally settled on a salmon-hued Coral Drift® shrub rose, pinkish-salmon Salvia, Penstemon, annual coral Zinnia (Magellan bedding type), and peachy Four O’ Clock (Mirabilis jalapa). The last one is labeled as an annual, but in zone 8a it acts as an herbaceous perennial, with all top growth dying in winter and then returning from a thick tap root each spring. The Salvias and Penstemons started flowering early. The Zinnia buds are just beginning to open. They will look great in a few more weeks. And it will be a few weeks before the Four O’ Clocks start putting on their late afternoon show. About the same time, dwarf Hot Poker Plant (Kniphofia) ‘Poco Red’ will start throwing coral-red spikes. If deadheaded, they will flower all the way to autumn. For additional contrast in texture, I added a couple of salmon daylilies, coral-hued Calla Lilies, and several dwarf Joe Pye weeds. I placed silver-hued ‘Powis Castle” Artemisia between colors that might class if seen adjacent. Turns out, there are different opinions of what is coral, peach, and salmon. I filled any empty spots with Purple Heart and fall-flowering ‘Matrona’ Sedum.

There are two Japanese Maples located in this garden. They were planted last year as one-gallon containers, so it will be several years before they become impressive.

Roughly one-third of the garden is elevated, edged by a stone wall that meets the stone walkway. I am concentrating on shrubs in this area. My current favorites are three Incrediball® smooth Hydrangeas, a row of Morris Midget boxwoods that I leave unpruned so I can enjoy their natural blowsy structure, and an underplanting of chartreuse Creeping Jenny groundcover. Not every gardener shares my affection for Creeping Jenny, but mine grows in an area surrounded by hardscape so it cannot expand into unwanted locations. It acts as a living mulch and keeps my weeding in this area to a minimum because it shades the ground so completely.

As you can tell, I have a mixture of natives and imports, trees to groundcovers, broad leaves, medium leaves, tiny leaves, and grass-like foliage. The salvias and Gomphrena suit my gardening style: heat tolerance, low maintenance plants that won’t turn toes-up if I forget to water occasionally. This is the second year for this garden, and it already looks better than it did during its first season. I hope to share more photos later in the season.

This coral Salvia has been flowering for several weeks. It withstood torrential rain, heavy wind, and a few unseasonably cool evenings without damage.

My favorite of all Zinnias, the Magellan series, started from seed in my greenhouse. It has short internodes so is not well suited as a cut flower. Throughout the summer, it will grow new layers of leaves and new flowers, slowly stacking atop the old leaves and flowers like Nature’s Jenga. This limits the amount of deadheading I must do. A win!

This Penstemon (I think it is ‘ Coral Baby’ but I’ve lost the label) has fine foliage, wiry stems, and tubular flowers unlike anything else in this garden bed.

This Coral Drift® shrub rose flowers continuously throughout the spring, summer, and fall. It has not been troubled by black spot and the only insects that damage it are Japanese Beetles, which I hand-pick.

An Unusual Native Shrub for Spring Flowers and Fall Color

One of the top reasons we moved to a country town was to avoid noise, light pollution, and traffic. As the southeast US grows, our car traffic has increased exponentially and my patience with other drivers (too slow, too fast, or too stupid) has shrunk. A “traffic jam” in our current area means we can see four cars at a time. I love the slower pace of life. So, when we left our home to enjoy lunch in a neighboring NC town and saw six cars (gasp!), it meant that our chosen driving route detoured away from the main streets and through an older neighborhood. It was an opportunity to check out home landscaping and scrutinize gardens I would not have otherwise seen. Wonder of all wonders, in the uncultivated ditches of Columbus, NC, a native shrub was putting on her spring show.  Mapleleaf Viburnum was in full flower.

Mapleleaf Viburnum is Viburnum acerifolium, pronounced vih-BUR-num a-ser-ih-FOH-lee-um. Other common names include Mapleleaf Arrowwood and Dockmackie. The fuzzy leaves are shaped like maple (Acer) trees. This shade-loving shrub is native to the eastern half of the North America, from Canada all the way down to north Florida. It will spread via suckers to form a thicket. The flat clusters of tiny white flowers will mature into blue-black berries only when another genetically different plant is around for cross pollination. Like PawPaw, the suckers are clones of the mother plant and cannot pollinate themselves.

Bees and other pollinators love the pollen and nectar of Mapleleaf Viburnum, and birds and small mammals enjoy the fruit.

As pretty as the flower clusters are, I think Mapleleaf Viburnum is at its best in fall, when leaves turn pink, rose, red, orange, or purple. This understory show happens in dappled shade, while most other brilliant fall colors are happening in full sun.

Mapleleaf Virburnum will grow to six feet tall and six feet wide. It wants acidic soil and prefers moisture when young but will tolerate drought once established. It is moderately resistant to damage by deer. Plants can be propagated from seeds or stem cuttings.

You won’t find this gem in big box stores or smaller nurseries. Seek it in specialty nurseries or mail order companies as a beautiful choice for woodland gardens, pollinator gardens, native gardens, or hedges. Shrubs are deciduous, so privacy hedges provide less screening in winter than in summer.

A close view of Mapleleaf Viburnum flowers

This plant was growing in a ditch, planted by nature (birds) and not by human hands.

One version of fall color. Others are orange, yellow, or purple shades, depending upon soil, sun, and weather. This image by Katja Schulz, CC BY 2.0.

Green And Gold, a Native Evergreen Ground Cover

I am convinced that the reason more gardeners don’t use the native groundcover Chrysogonum virginianum is because the name is hard to spell and pronounce. Maybe that explains why it is hard to find in nurseries. The common name, Green and Gold, is a description as well as a common plant name. The evergreen leaves are topped with yellow five-petal flowers. Phonetically, the Latin name is kry-SOG-uh-num ver-jin-ee-AY-num. Practice it a couple of time and you will find that it rolls off the tongue easier than the common name.

Chrysogonum is native to the eastern half of the US. It is hardy in zones 5-9. It grows in partial shade to full shade. It spreads by above-ground rhizomes that will eventually form a dense mat only a few inches tall. According to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Texas, plants grow taller in northern areas (8-10 inches) and are shorter in southern areas (2-6 inches). The stems are fuzzy. Plants bloom profusely for months in the spring, take a flowering break in the hottest part of the summer, and then rebloom less abundantly in the fall. The long flowering period and the ease of restricting its spread gives Chrysogonum an advantage over a groundcover like Ajuga.

Chrysogonum’s yellow flowers are attractive to pollinators and the evergreen leaves are not damaged by deer. They want acidic soil and will be prettiest if they receive additional irrigation during hot, dry periods. Removing spent flowers will result in more flowering, but this is a tedious process and can be ignored without much impact.

Chrysogonum (Green and Gold) as a groundcover in shady woodlands

Native Sundrops to Stabilize a Slope

My garden has a steep incline leading away from the house. We had switchback paths graded into the slope so that we are able to zig-zag down to the creek without mountain-climbing gear. The slope is semi-terraced by the paths. Rainfall plays havoc with the area, washing away the chips on the footpath and occasionally moving the heavy tree trunks positioned to stabilize the edges of the paths. Our deer, foxes, and bears use these flat walkways to travel across the area.

I have established a number of showy shrubs, bulbs, small trees, and perennials along the switchbacks. In my imagination, I see this as evolving into a specimen walk. Right now, I’m concentrating on huffing and puffing up the slope more than the progress of the plants. Because I am a thrifty gardener, my plantings are all tiny when first installed. I am confident that they will either thrive… or die. I allow new plants three years to settle in and demonstate success. I may choose to relocate a few disappointments to different sunlight exposure, but there are too many good plants available to tolerate poor performers. Over the past four years, I have lost a few: Illicium floridanum ‘Florida Sunshine,’ (planted in too much blistering sun), yellow ‘Sunshine’ Ligustrum sinense (not enough water), and ‘Emerald Green’ Arborvitae (all their bark and most branches removed by deer). 

I am trying to be smarter with my plant purchases these days by drafting a “musts” list and a “prefer” list before I hit the garden centers. For this area, plants must prefer full sun, and be deer resistant, drought tolerant, and low maintenance. I would prefer native, spreading but not invasive, long-flowering plants that are attractive to pollinators.

I just purchased and planted six Sundrops, also known as Narrow Leaf Evening Primrose. Native Oenothera fruticosa, pronounced ee·nuh·THEE·ruh has bright yellow flowers that are open only during daytime. It spreads but is not invasive, unlike the pink flowering Oenothera speciosa (UGH!) that I waged war against for years before I could eradicate it.

Sundrops are a drought-tolerant pollinator plant that is reputed to be deer-resistant. The slightly cupped flowers of Sundrops provide nectar for hummingbirds, and birds eat the seeds. They will grow in most soil types and most pH ranges, full sun, in zones 4-8. References say that they bloom from April through August, which is longer than many perennials. They flourish in heat and are used to stabilize soil on slopes. They can play a prominent role in rock gardens, native gardens, cottage gardens, and meadows. I’m looking forward to seeing how long-flowering they are in an area with zero irrigation.

A hedge of Sundrops. Photo by Leonora (Ellie) Enking CC-BY-SA 2.0

New White Hydrangea Is A Winner

I’m always on the search for the newest and greatest garden shrubs, especially dwarf types that I can squeeze in between existing landscape plants. Last fall I ordered a dwarf smooth hydrangea, Invincibelle Wee White® hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens). My garden is already home to several of the Incrediball® smooth hydrangeas, and I absolutely love them. They produce huge white heads early in the season which last a long time before they age to green and then dry to a light tan. Flower stems are strong, so there is no staking of flower heads to keep them off the ground. As long as shrubs are planted in well-drained soil of decent texture in mostly sun, they look good all season long. Last year, I watered the Incrediballs only three times. The only other care they required was a hard pruning in late winter. Here in upstate SC, my Incrediballs already have spring leaves. I hope we don’t receive a late freeze that will damage the tender new growth.

When I read that Wee White was a dwarf form of the Incrediball, I decided to trial one. I ordered a baby (4-inch container) and planted it at the top of a wall where there is well-drained soil with sun exposure from morning until mid-day. New growth is just peeking above the ground.  Lately, though, I have read some less-favorable reviews saying that Wee was not too “wee” -- actually four feet or more at maturity and is commonly plagued with leaf spots. I don’t consider myself an exceptional gardener, but many other folks experience problems I just don’t have, so my hopes are high that Wee White will perform well for me.

The National Garden Bureau keeps me updated on new plants, and there is a 2025 introduction that takes my breath away. Hydrangea FlowerFull® Hydrangea arborescens, a First Editions® Shrubs & Trees from Bailey Nursery, is a show-stopper. It is a 2025 People’s Choice Green Thumb Award Winner. Shrubs mature at four feet, are loaded with flowers, need little maintenance, and are resistant to the leaf issues that plague other smooth hydrangeas. Click HERE if you want to read the full description from the National Garden Bureau info page. This one is definitely worth seeking.

Photo courtesy of the National Garden Bureau. #NGB

Weed Rant: Sticky Weed

Gardeners everywhere are removing weeds from their gardens, hoping to control the nasties before they become deep-rooted and tougher, or at least before they set seeds and spread. One weed that I find particularly challenging is Sticky Weed, Galium aparine, pronounced GAL-ee-um ap-AR-in-nee. Other common names for this pest are Sticky Willy, Catchweed Bedstraw, Cleavers, and Velcro Plant.

The common names relating to its stickiness arise from the curved prickles along the length of the four-sided stems. These prickles grab skin, clothing, and other parts of the plant, making it difficult to discard once pulled, almost like a piece of static-filled plastic wrap refusing to be released from one’s hand. Those same prickles prevent the weed from flattening after harvest so it was once used to stuff mattresses, hence the reference to bedstraw.

The stems can grow up to six feet in length but they are so weak that the plant appears as a vine or groundcover. When an attempt is made to pull the plant from our garden beds, it frequently breaks off at ground level, leaving roots to regenerate a replacement plant. Plants are annuals, so removing them before seeds develop will help reduce recurrence. Seeds remain viable a couple of years, even after passing through the digestive tracts of animals. It is possible to spread the weed through use of animal manures if it was present in pastures.

Sticky Weed has a unique appearance because its leaves are whorled around the stems, with long lengths of stem (“internodes”) between the leaf clusters.

Native Sticky Weed grows across most of the US, in all sun exposures except deepest shade. It is not selective as to soil texture. My research on this plant revealed that the white, four-petaled flowers were once used to curdle milk for cheese making (why?) while the seeds can be harvested and roasted as a low-caffeine alternative to coffee (again, why?). The fruits are bristly, allowing them to travel along on pet fur or the gardener’s socks. An individual plant can produce up to 400 seeds. Sticky Weed’s leaves and stems can be eaten raw or cooked. File that away under “things I hope I never need to know.”

Sticky Weed, Galium aparine

The magnified seeds of Sticky Weed, Galium aparine

Native Vine for Bright Yellow Spring Flowers

Carolina Jessamine is currently beautifying waste places, chain link fences, and unkempt roadsides with its happy yellow flowers. Carolina Jessamine (sometimes labeled Carolina Jasmine) is Gelsemium sempervirens, pronounced gel-SEM-ee-um sem-per-VY-renz. Flowering is at peak right now in upstate South Carolina.

This native, semi-evergreen vine is a favorite of gardeners who want early spring color but do not want to construct supports for heavy vines. Tubular flowers have five petals and are one inch long, held either singly or in small clusters. Vines twine instead of adhering, so they can be induced to climb a solid board privacy fence by running clear monofilament (fishing line) horizontally and diagonally between small screw eyes. Vines may reach twenty feet in length after a couple of growing seasons. Without support, vines become more bush-like as a groundcover. They help prevent erosion when planted on steep banks, and they perform well on fences, deck posts, and trellises.

Carolina Jessamine is cold hardy in zones 6-10. It is undemanding about soil type and pH, but prefers full sun to flower abundantly. The narrow, glossy leaves take on a bronze or purple shade in cold weather. Skip the fertilizer to prevent over-abundant vine growth and fewer flowers. If the plant gets woody with age, blooming only at its upper reaches, renovate by a severe pruning. Take precautions to avoid skin exposure. The sap causes a rash in sensitive individuals.

NC State University reports that Carolina Jessamine is highly flammable and should not be planted within the defensible space of a home. Normally I would ignore such advice, but the recent wildfires all around southern NC and northern SC have led me to reevaluate some of my choices. (Buh-bye, eucalyptus and cross vine!)

All parts of the vine are toxic and can be fatal if ingested. Children who confuse it with honeysuckle can be poisoned by its strychnine-related toxins if they suck the nectar from flowers. This toxicity does not deter pollinators, who visit the flowers without apparent harm. Neither deer nor rabbits browse Carolina Jessamine.

 Carolina Jessamine is the state flower of South Carolina.

Lovely yellow flowers adorn a chain link fence along an interstate highway in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

This Carolina Jessamine has become shrub-like because it does not have anything vertical to support its climbing habit.

In this weed-invested median of a health-center parking lot, Carolina Jessamine grows atop juniper shrubs.

Stay tuned: Next week is a weed rant for aptly named Sticky Weed, also known as Velcro Weed, Catchweed Bedstraw, Sticky Willy, Cleavers, and a few other names I cannot put into print.

Spring Beauty In A Small Package

One precious plant I inherited when I married and moved to the country was a healthy group of Dwarf Flowering Almond. Prunus glandulosa is pronounced PROO-nus glan-dew-LO-suh, which sounds like a Harry Potter spell.

This time of the year, they have pink or white pom-pom flowers on leafless stems. The flowers last only two weeks or so, but what a show! Leaves enlarge after the flowers shed, and the rest of the year, there is nothing to admire. I prune mine down to the height of the adjacent Liriope groundcover (12-16 inches) as soon as the flowers disappear, just to disguise their homely appearance. I attempted to propagate these plants from cuttings but had no success.

When we moved to the current home, I brought along several plants of both the pink and the white. This is when I learned that they don’t enjoy relocation. I’m down to two pinks and two whites, which means that I give the survivors extra tender care. I have never seen Dwarf Flowering Almond for sale in local nurseries. It is available from online sources, but is not inexpensive. This plant is native to China, but has been grown in America for a long time. It was mentioned by Thomas Jefferson in 1794.

Left unpruned, Dwarf Flowering Almond will eventually reach a height of four feet. It does well in part sun to full sun, in zones 4-8, and is tolerant of any type of soil. While plants will tolerate limited drought, they are healthiest and look best grown in moderately moist soil. They will not tolerate a boggy soil.

Plants do not produce edible nuts. Dwarf Flowering Almond is a larval host plant for Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Other butterflies visit the flowers and insects enjoy eating the leaves. By the time autumn arrives, the entire shrub can look tattered. Please keep this one away from dogs, cats, horses, and children. Leaves and stems contain cyanide compounds and can be deadly if ingested.

Wild Garlic Woes

Ugly clumps of wild garlic leaves are marring the dormant zoysia grass around my home garden and the mixed grasses in my pasture. Wild garlic is Allium vineale, a member of the lily family. The strong oniony stench of bruised leaves is anything but lily-like. Mature leaves are 6 to 12 inches in length. Wild onion, Allium canadense, is similar in appearance but wild garlic has round, hollow stems while wild onion has flat leaves that are not hollow. Both these plants are winter perennials that emerge in late fall, grow throughout winter and early spring, then go dormant.

Wild garlic has a teardrop-shaped bulb with a fibrous mat of roots. If allowed to mature, stems will form flowers or bulblets at the top of the stem, resembling chives. Flowers may be pink, white, or lavender. If you decide to mow over the clump, do so before the flowers/bulblets have formed or you risk spreading the misery as seeds are discharged across your lawn.

Wild garlic will grow in any type of soil and any pH. It is both drought tolerant and bog tolerant. It prefers full sun but tolerates shade. It tolerates frosts and hard freezes.

Both wild garlic and wild onion resist eradication attempts. Years ago, I decided to ignore the clumps of wild garlic in my lawn since their appearance was short lived. Mistake! While the top growth is dormant, they are reproducing underground via bulb offsets. Without treatment, they come back larger and stronger from year to year.

“Treatment” can be chemical or manual. I always try to use a non-chemical approach as my first line of defense. Removal is a painstaking chore, best done after a soaking rain has softened the soil. In past years, I used an asparagus/knife weeder which resembles a long-handled screwdriver with a forked tip. My new tool of choice is a hori-hori. It has a wider forked blade that is serrated on one side with a sharp edge on the other. With the hori-hori, I am able to saw through sod and lift the entire clump of garlic bulbs, carefully ferret out the individual bulbs, then replace the lifted sod. The bulbs are further below soil surface than one might expect, so be prepared to dig several inches deep. Use a foam kneeling pad to save wear and tear on the body. Use disposable gloves to avoid stinky garlic hands.

If you choose to go the chemical route (and believe me, I’ve been there!), repeat applications of a nutsedge killer may be effective. In areas outside the lawn, a total vegetation, non-selective killer may be used. Because leaves are waxy, use a surfactant (a soluble product that makes the chemical spray adhere) to ensure lasting contact. Clemson University has an information sheet on best practices. Click HERE to read their information bulletin. There is NO effective pre-emergent herbicide.

While my war against wild garlic is purely for aesthetic reasons, farmers have a more serious concern. Cattle that eat wild garlic will produce garlic-flavored milk (yuck!) and poor-flavored meat. If it is harvested along with cereal grains, wild garlic causes an off flavor and even makes machinery gunk up. Farmers usually battle wild garlic with deep plowing in the fall, burying bulbs so deep underground that they cannot survive. Alternatively, or in addition to deep fall tillage, tilling can be done in the spring while the plants are small – one or two leaves. Simple mowing may weaken the plant, but it appears that frequent decapitation forces the underground bulb to become larger and larger. This is why I recommend hand digging with a tool rather than trying to pull them out. A broken stem leaves the enemy underground, gathering energy to rise again.

Teardrop shaped bulbs

Favorite removal tool

Infestation in pasture

Old Fashioned Candytuft for Early Spring Flowers

Candytuft has been flowering in my garden since the second week of January. While the clusters of white flowers are on the small side, it is always nice to see signs of life when everything else is dormant or dead. Candytuft, Iberis sempervirens (pronounced eye-BEER-is sem-per-VY-renz) is used as a groundcover. Early in the year, the flowers can be sparse but as temperatures rise the blooms are so profuse that they almost conceal the dark green evergreen to semi-evergreen foliage.

Candytuft was widespread in gardens when I was a child, but it has fallen out of favor. I don’t understand why. This plant has a cast-iron constitution. Plants were not pampered at my childhood home. They did not receive fertilizer, soil amendments, or supplemental water. Instead, they went directly into unamended clay. And, for the most part, they thrived. Our foundation beds were edged with Candytuft. It put on a spring show, and then retired into obscurity the rest of the year, allowing attention to focus on the taller shrubs and foundation plantings.

Candytuft has a sprawling habit. Everywhere its stems fall onto soil, it will take root and slowly expand into a pretty edger. Leaves are leathery, narrow, and only an inch long. Flower clusters are about the size of a quarter coin. Candytuft prefers full sun and a neutral to slightly alkaline soil, although those in my childhood home were never limed and they did fine. Plant roots will rot in wet soils. They are hardy in zones 3-8, although they are only semi-evergreen in the colder zones.

Mature plants tend to open up a bit as stems elongate and spread horizontally. Trim with scissors or handheld pruners every 2-3 years to encourage branching and bushy new growth. A light trim when flowering is complete may result in repeat flowering. Plants can be used as a “spiller” in containers, or allowed to drape gracefully over the top of a wall.  Candytuft is rarely damaged by insects or disease. I would like to tell you that they are resistant to damage from deer or rabbits, but my neighbors tell me that their plants have been damaged occasionally, although not ravaged.

I have only seen two cultivars in garden centers: ‘Alexander White’ and ‘Purity.’ The smallest cultivars are ‘Whiteout’ (2-3 inches tall and 5 inches wide), ‘Little Gem’ and “Snowcushion.’

Candytuft is also available in an annual form, Iberis umbellata. It is easy to start from seed, and comes in shades of pink, lavender, purple, red, and white.

Three years ago, this was a 4-inch pot of Candytuft. I allowed stems to root into the surrounding mulch. It is now 30 inches across.

A close view of Candytuft flower

Choose Camellias for Winter Flowers

Hellebores, crocus, winter aconite, and early daffodils are making a show in my garden right now. Camellia japonica flowered, the blooms were blasted to ugly brown by a cold snap, and then dormant buds flowered for a repeat show. There are several species of Camellias, but the most common in southern gardens are Camellia japonica and Camellia sasanqua.

Camellia japonica (pronounced kah-MEE-lee-ah jah-PON-ih-kah) flowers in winter and early spring. It prefers partial shade to mostly shade. These evergreen, broadleaf shrubs are slow growing but make an excellent privacy hedge over time. Planted in a suitable location, they require little if any pruning. They will eventually reach 12 feet tall and up to 5 feet wide. Flowers are up to five inches across, in shades of pink, white, red, and variegated. Flowers can be single, double, formal double, with stamens visible or concealed by the petals. Blooms can be floated in a shallow bowl of water for an indoor arrangement. Shrubs with variegated flowers will occasionally have a few leaves that are mottled with yellow spots as well. This is not a cause for concern.

Camellia sasanqua (pronounced kah-MEE-lee-ah sah-SAN-kwah), sometimes called simply Sasanqua, blooms in late autumn to winter. It will tolerate more sun than C. japonica. It is a fast grower, reaching up to 14 feet tall and up to 7 feet wide. Sasanqua flowers and leaves are smaller than C. japonica. Flowers average 3 inches across, and single in form with yellow stamens. Flowers are pink, red, or white and petals are a bit ruffled. Blooms shed quickly, so they are not good in cut flower arrangements. Flowers appear on prior year’s growth, so avoid pruning for the best flower show.

Camellia japonica leaf on left. Camellia sasanqua leaf on right.

Both these species of Camellias are hardy in zones 7-9. They are adaptable to most soil types and acidic to neutral soils. Their thick evergreen foliage, their shiny leaves, and their resistance to deer damage make Camellias a good choice for southern gardens despite their susceptibility to several types of diseases and insects. Rake up and discard fallen flowers to reduce fungus issues. Clemson University has an excellent fact sheet on potential diseases, prevention, and treatment. Click HERE for their bulletin. Camellia’s dense canopy provides winter protection for songbirds.

Perfect Shrub For Lazy Gardeners

Gardeners’ shrub choices range from new introductions to time-proven plants that grew in our grandparents’ gardens. With numerous available selections, it should be easy to find something for foundation beds that is NOT boxwood or holly, but the search can still be challenging.  When I first encountered Distylium in the early 2000s, my reaction was, “meh.” Now that I have seen it in landscapes, it is one of my top recommendations for homeowners searching for low-maintenance shrubs. While it does not have showy flowers, Distylium checks almost every box to make it a gardener’s dream plant:  low-maintenance, evergreen, uniform appearance, deer-resistant, tolerant of heat, drought, and abuse. Distylium, occasionally called Blueleaf Isu, is available in a range of sizes to fit most foundation beds. It is adaptable to almost any soil type and acidity. And if it outgrows the available space, Distylium will tolerate a severe cutback without sulking.

Akin to witch hazel (the Hamamelis family), Distylium myricoides is spreading and shrublike with arching stems, while Distylium racemosum is more upright and a bit more cold-tolerant. Its mature leaves have a bluish tint and the flowers are slightly larger than D. myricoides. Distylium is flowering right now in upstate SC and western NC, but you can be forgiven if you walk by it and never notice the flowers. They are tiny, reddish, and underwhelming since they have no petals.

‘Vintage Jade’ flowers

Seek a cultivar with a mature height that will suit the intended location. ‘Vintage Jade’ is popular because its size (2 feet tall, up to 8 feet wide) allows the budget-conscious gardener to fill a large area with few plants. It is more cold-hardy than some and can even be used as a groundcover on slopes that make mowing uncomfortable. ‘Coppertone’ has warm bronze new growth that matures to blue-green. It is a dwarf, maturing at 4 feet tall and 5 feet wide, at most. ‘Cinnamon Girl’ is a dwarf with purplish new growth, maturing at no more than 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide. ‘Linebacker’ is the tallest variety I have seen, with mature height of 10 feet. Other cultivars are available; check labels to make the wisest selection.

Distylium prefers full sun but will tolerate partial shade. It is an open shrub but can be tip-pruned in early summer if you prefer a denser look. Plants are hardy in zones 6-9 and will grow in any soil, from clay to sand, and any non-extreme acidity level.

Distylium (pronounced dis-STY-lee-um) is a workhorse shrub that will work well as a foundation shrub, a living privacy fence, in a mixed border, or a specimen plant. It has few pest or disease problems, although it can be troubled by phytophthora root rot if placed into a soil where the pathogen is already present. Plants are reputed to be highly deer-resistant.

In winter, this grouping of Distylium looks fabulous between the yellow foliage of a conifer and the tan foliage of Miscanthus grass.

Winning The War Against Nutsedge

It’s time to start considering how to fight the horrible garden invader, nutsedge. Today’s guest blog is written by Skip Richter, Horticulturist & Host of GardenLine Radio on KTRH 740. He received his master’s degree in horticulture from Texas A&M University, “the source of all earthly knowledge”, and has served as a county horticulturist with Texas AgriLife Extension for 34 years in Montgomery, Travis, Harris, and Brazos County, advising home gardeners and the green industry on research-based horticultural practices. He has served as the National Gardening Association’s regional horticulturist for the southeastern U.S. and is a contributing editor to Texas Gardener magazine. He was selected as a Regents Service Fellow by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.

You can connect with him via:
Website: Gardening with Skip
Instagram:   gardenlinewithskip
Facebook:  GardenLineKTRH
YouTube:   @skiprgarden

Nutsedge (aka “nutgrass”) is not a grass, but rather a member of the sedge family. Listed as the #1 most-troublesome weed in the vegetable, turf and the ornamental categories by the Weed Science Society of America, to know nutsedge is to hate it.

Before we delve into how to control this weed from hell, let’s take a closer look at some important facts about nutsedge. There are two common types of nutsedge: purple nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus) and yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus). They each have key differences that influence which control effort will be effective against them. 

Can’t beat ’em? Eat ’em!

There is a form of yellow nutsedge (known in various parts of the world as chufa, earth-almond and tiger nuts) that’s popular as a snack or mashed food. It is often used to create a sweet, milk-like beverage known as horchata de chufa. The tubers have even been found in Egyptian tombs dating to 3,000 BCE. I think that taking nutsedge with you to the grave is going a bit too far.

I once ordered and grew some chufa nuts (please don’t tell anybody) in my garden to compare them to our regular local yellow nutsedge. They produced tubers that were a bit larger but weren’t very impressive to the palate.

Tubers of our wild yellow nutsedge are also technically edible, with a mild almond-like taste. After chewing awhile, you give up and remove a bit of “sawdust” from your mouth. I’ll note here that edible and palatable are not synonymous. My favorite culinary assessment of yellow nutsedge tubers comes from a National Public Radio story, in which a taste-tester said of nutsedge tubers, “It doesn’t taste terrible.” High praise indeed.

Nutsedge development

Nutsedge often arrives in gardens, lawns and landscapes along with plants, topsoil and/or sod. New plants arise primarily from underground tubers rather than from seeds. Most tubers are found in the top eight inches of soil. But depending on the soil type and the nutsedge species, some tubers will be deeper.

Wet soil conditions wash a substance that inhibits sprouting from the skin of yellow nutsedge tubers, allowing them to sprout. This is one reason why yellow nutsedge proliferates and thrives in wet areas of a lawn or garden.

Nutsedge shoots emerge like pointed missiles from the ground and the leaves emerge from their protective sheath when each shoot reaches sunlight. This protective covering enables them to easily push up through soil or mulch, and even to poke through plastic sheeting and most landscape fabrics when these products are stretched tightly over the soil surface. Once the shoot reaches sunlight and the leaves emerge, and the plant is no longer able to punch through surface coverings.

When a nutsedge shoot reaches sunlight, the plant forms a bulb at its base that produces horizontal underground stems (rhizomes) with new tubers. These tubers can form additional tubers, as well. In one test, a single yellow-nutsedge tuber produced 6,900 tubers by fall and 1,900 daughter plants the following spring. This is one reason this plant is so difficult to control. Diligent efforts to prevent or greatly limit new tuber production are key to controlling nutsedge infestations.

Cultivation and hand-hoeing

Each tuber has approximately seven or more viable buds. So, any attempt at control (such as the ol’ garden hoe) chops off only one shoot; the tuber merely sends up another (after laughing hysterically at the gardener’s efforts). However, tubers expend stored energy to send up new shoots, so prompt removal of new shoots multiple times will weaken tubers and can decrease development of additional tubers.

For hoeing/hand-digging/tillage to be effective, one must remove plants before they have developed more than three-to-five leaves. If left longer, the plants will begin restoring the tuber’s spent reserves. Tubers expend a little over half of their stored energy to develop their first above-ground plant. Therefore, I cannot overstate the importance of constant surveillance and prompt digging or spraying to prevent tubers from replenishing their reserves.

Diligent efforts at frequent cultivation can outlast a tuber’s ability to regrow, but this type of diligent, prompt continual effort is seldom maintained. Control is further complicated by the fact that some dormant tubers are usually present to sprout over time. So, continue to look out for newly emerging nutsedge plants.

Combining control methods

Now that the nutsedge beast sounds impossible to defeat, let me say that it is not invincible. Difficult, yes; but not impossible. You can manage nutsedge, if you use a combination of practices and are consistent with prompt follow-up.

Non-chemical reduction of nutsedge in landscapes and garden beds involves the following practices. While all are not always possible, the more you can do, the better your results will be.
1. Avoid overwatering/saturated soil conditions, which stimulate yellow-nutsedge proliferation.
2. Hand-dig tubers, beginning when the shoots first emerge in spring. If you wait until mid- to late May to begin, you will likely have almost 10 times the number of nutsedge plants you began with. To be effective, repeat-digging is required whenever new plants have developed three-to-five leaves. If you wait longer, the plants will be producing new viable tubers.
3. Rototill the soil to sever rhizomes and bring tubers to the surface, exposing them to dry out. Rake and remove exposed tubers and rhizomes. Sun-drying is more effective against purple nutsedge than yellow nutsedge. Tilling breaks up the underground chain of the tubers on purple-nutsedge rhizomes, causing multiple dormant tubers in the chain to sprout. If you then promptly dig or spray the new sprouts, you can significantly reduce the infestation.
4. Cover future garden beds from spring to fall with a very dense, water-permeable landscape fabric to block out all sunlight. Don’t pull the fabric tightly over the soil surface or else new nutsedge shoots will puncture it. Keep soil moist to promote growth beneath the fabric, which depletes the tuber’s stored reserves.
In a study I conducted in Houston on purple nutsedge, plots were shaded with a loose covering of dense landscape fabric for the summer season. Shaded plots had a 24% decrease in tuber counts, while plots ex-posed to full sun had a 2,400% increase. Also, the 76% of tubers that remained were likely at least weakened, although we did not replant them to check this possibility. While shading won’t eradicate all tubers, it can significantly reduce the number of tubers and can be a helpful part of an organic regimen to manage nutsedge.
5. Solarizing heats the soil and can destroy tubers in the surface few inches. Temperatures over 112 degrees are lethal to tubers. Solarizing won’t destroy tubers deeper into the soil, but if preceded by deep tillage, the effectiveness of solarization can be increased. The clear plastic used in solarizing must be held above the soil surface to prevent it from being punctured.
6. Spray the plants with a systemic product beginning when the first shoots have three-to-five leaves. After the fifth-leaf stage, viable “daughter” plants will be forming on the rhizomes, which will not be effectively controlled by sprays to the original plant. Repeat sprays three-to-four weeks later as new nutsedge plants emerge and have three-to-five leaves.

Organic “top kill” products containing pelargonic acid, ammoniated nonanoate, plant essential oils and acetic acid (vinegar) will kill the weed’s top growth. But they do not do much to control nutsedge, unless accompanied by hand-hoeing.

Suggestions for using sprays

It has been my experience that sprays of glyphosate (such as Roundup and other examples) may kill back the above-ground parts of nutsedge plants but do not provide significant effective control of tubers. Preemergence herbicides used to prevent weed seeds from establishing new plants are of little benefit because nutsedge plants arise primarily from tubers, not from sprouting seeds.

Several products are available on the market to control nutsedge. Repeat applications will be required for effective control. The addition of a surfactant helps the spray stick to and penetrate the waxy nutsedge leaves more effectively. Note that Sedgehammer Plus already contains a surfactant. Note that some products can take two weeks to provide visible symptoms, so be patient. 

Carefully read and follow all directions on the herbicide label. Product formulation and labels can change. The label is the final authority, including over comments made in this article.

Drought stress results in poor nutsedge-control results. Avoid applications of postemergence products to turf stressed by drought or other factors, making it more susceptible to herbicide damage.

Wiper applicators can be helpful

When applying an herbicide product around desirable plants that may be adversely affected, it is best to use a wiper-type applicator to help avoid contact with desirable plants. Wipers apply a small amount of the herbicide directly onto the weed’s foliage, which outcome significantly limits pesticide application rates, environmental concerns and damage to desirable plants nearby. If you’d like to build a simple, inexpensive weed wiper, I have instructions on my website that include product-ingredient names for controlling various types of weeds and trade-name examples.

Nutsedge, although a tough, formidable foe, is not invincible. With diligent, determined, consistent efforts, it can be managed in a home garden and landscape. So, I’ll leave you with these immortal words from the venerated coach Knute Rockne, as they are fitting for the task at hand: “When we get them on the run once, we’re going to keep ’em on the run! … and don’t forget men, today is the day we’re going to win! They can’t lick us, and that’s how it goes! … go in there and fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!” 

Get Ready to Weed and Prune

The best way to avoid weedy gardens is to start removing weeds early, while they are still small and easy to pull. While warm days tempt us to get a head start outdoors, winter still has plenty of punch left. What we can do right now, other than weeding, is prune shrubs and trees that flower on new growth. In my garden, that means Hibiscus syriacus (Rose of Sharon), Buddleia (Butterfly Bush), Roses, Callicarpa (Beautyberry), and Vitex agnus-castus (Chaste Tree) got a moderate pruning yesterday. Later this week, ‘Incrediball’® Hydrangea arborescens and Spirea will get their cutback also. Hydrangeas that flower on stems grown in the prior year (“old wood”), Forsythia, and Azaleas will wait until their blooms have appeared and faded before they get a trim. Do not cut back Artemisia or Lantana until you see evidence of new growth in spring. Any winter pruning may cause these two to die rather than return when weather warms.

Another plant group that received a chop this week are my grasses and grass-like groundcovers. I allow my Muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris ‘White Cloud is my favorite) to remain full size through the entire winter so that I can enjoy the feathery plumes even after the seeds have blown away. Muhly grass looks neater when it is cut back before new growth begins, but please take care to not prune too short. A reduction by half will usually provide a good foundation for spring growth without damaging the crown. Pruning damage to the crown of the plant may stunt future growth or even kill the plant.

A properly pruned Muhly grass

An excellent space filler for zones 5–10 is Liriope, commonly known as Monkey Grass or Lilyturf. There are two types of Liriope. Liriope muscari is a clumping type that prefers full sun to part-shade. It forms a dense mound that enlarges slowly. Liriope spiciata is a spreading type that prefers part-shade to shade. It enlarges by undergrown rhizomes and will also reseed. If you need help remembering which is which, recall that spicata, spreading, and shade all start with the letter S. Both types may look better with a late winter cutback to remove damaged or diseased leaves.

Young Liriope muscari.

Liriope spicata in shade

As an inexperienced gardener, at Liriope pruning time I would raise my lawnmower to the highest blade setting, install the bagging attachment, and mow my Liriope beds. This worked okay for the first year or two, but then I noticed that I was scalping the middle of the clumps of my Liriope muscari. By midsummer, the scalped section looked tan and ugly – like giant green bagels. I have since learned that mature plants mound in the center as they become congested. Your choices are to either hand prune or to divide, separate, and re-plant. Hand pruning a large area can be hard on a gardener’s hands, but my husband gave me a battery-operated pruner last year that makes the task quick and easy. This is a must-have item for the serious gardener. Mine is a Dewalt, but there are many different name brands of this super tool and they all have a different balance point. Pick them up to determine which one is most comfortable to your hand.

You don’t want to miss next week’s guest blog by garden writer and horticulture consultant Robert “Skip” Richter. He is the host of GardenLine on KTRH 740 AM; Saturdays & Sundays 6-10 am. His website is Gardening with Skip. Next week’s blog will tell you everything you need to know about nutsedge.

Almost Time to Start Those Flower Seeds

My catalog seed orders have arrived. I’m always eager to get a head start on the garden season, and must force myself to not start them too early. Each flower seed packet will provide a guideline of when to start seeds. This is usually something like “6-8 weeks prior to the last spring frost,” meaning you count backwards from the frost date to the correct time to sow your seeds. This is a simple concept, but I find that using a printed calendar gives me a visual confirmation that I struggle to obtain when using the calendar function on my mobile phone. The frost date varies from area to area and the germination period will vary from plant to plant. If you don’t know your last average last frost, call your local Extension office and ask. In my area of the country, last frost date is April 15 but I always factor in where Easter falls on the calendar. If Easter is “late,” I delay my seed starting by an extra week. This year it falls on April 20, while some years it may fall in March. It is preferable to delay by a week than to risk transplanting your cherished seedlings outdoors to have them stunted by a late cold snap.

The tools for successful seed starting include: clean containers, good seed-starting medium, quality seeds, and warmth. (The need for light normally comes after germination.) Most big box stores and garden supply stores sell seed-starting kits, a waterproof tray that holds six or eight inserts, segregated into four or six sections. A complete kit may include soil and a plastic snap-on lid or dome cover to create a humid environment. It is easy to recycle plastic trays from year to year (I reuse those from plants I purchased in the past) but it is imperative that the recycled trays, dividers, and covers are clean. Before reusing old containers, I soak them for 30 minutes in a five-gallon bucket of bleach water (nine parts water to one part bleach), then rinse well and dry in the sun.

You can purchase starter items individually from better quality nurseries and farm supply stores: “flats,” soil containers that fit inside the flats (typically 4-packs, 6-packs, but can also be 128 plugs or other sizes), and plastic snap-on lids to retain heat and moisture.

Look for bags of “seed starter mix.” This is a very fine, lightweight soil-like substance that allows seeds to emerge with minimum effort. Fill packs with pre-moistened starter mix. If you cannot find seed starter mix, try vermiculite as a substitute. If the planting medium seems to shed water rather than absorbing it, either use hot water or add a drop of dishwashing detergent to the water used for dampening the mix. I prefer the hot water method, and usually dump a couple of cups of hot water directly into the bag and wait about 30 minutes for it to absorb, shaking the bag a few times for even distribution. Pack the damp mix into the containers, plant seeds at the depth recommended on the package, mist lightly (I use a spray bottle) to ensure seeds get wet, and top with a dusting of dry starter mix. Add water to the flat/tray holding the 4-packs or 6-packs. It will wick up to the seeds without displacing them. This is called “bottom watering.” Top watering (sprinkling the top) can displace seeds or wash them too deep into the starter mix. Give seedlings enough water to keep them from drying out but don’t allow the medium to be so wet that it appears shiny. Too much water can cause seeds to rot, invites gnats, and offers an hospitable environment for fungus growth.

Start with high quality seeds. You can purchase new packages each year, or use leftovers from the prior year, as long as the seeds were stored in a cool, dark, dry place. Some seeds will last several years (tomatoes) while others get stale quickly and should be purchased fresh each year (lettuce, parsley). And a few plants are more successful when started directly in the ground (“in situ”) than from transplants. The seed packet will state “best started outdoors” for these.

A few seeds need light to germinate, while others need total darkness. These seeds must be exposed to light in order to germinate: African Violet, Ageratum, Artemesia, Begonia, Bells of Ireland, Browallia, Chinese Lanterns, Coleus, Coreopsis (Tickseed), Dusty Miller, Aquilegia (Columbine), Gaillardia, Geranium, Heuchera (Coral Bell), Impatiens, Lychnis (Lamb’s Ears), Nicotiana, Penstemon, Pentas, Petunia, Platycodon (Balloon flower),  Poppies, Portulaca, Primrose, Snapdragon.

The following seeds need darkness to germinate: ) Armeria, Calendula, Catharanthus (Periwinkle), Centaurea, Delphinium, Echinacea (Coneflower), Gazania, Nasturtium, Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower).  

African violet, petunia, and wax begonia have such tiny seeds that I prefer to purchase plants rather than start them myself.

Reusing starter trays and packs without sterilizing them may introduce pathogens that will kill off your precious seedlings. It is heartbreaking to see a flat of new seedlings succumb, overnight it seems, to “damping off.” This condition makes stems look like they have been pinched. Once the stem develops this thin, pinched-looking spot, there is no recovery. Remove the seedling and its soil as quickly as possible, to prevent fungal spores from spreading to healthy plants. Prevent damping off by using clean containers, avoiding overwatering, and providing good air circulation.

Certain seeds (zinnia is one) resent root disturbance so much that they are happiest when sown in peat pots rather than in plastic packs. Once the seedling has emerged, the entire pot is planted outdoors and it breaks down in the soil. I have read concerning reports about the dwindling supplies of natural peat, and last year I spotted a new type of “peat” pot that is manufactured from sawdust (of which there is NO shortage). I trialed them in my own seed starts and found them to be equal to peat in every way, so will continue to seek these out.

Peat-free starter pots for seedlings which resent root disturbance

Warm temperatures make seeds germinate faster. Soil heating mats are available online and in nurseries that sell seed starting supplies. These are designed to raise the soil temperature about ten degrees warmer than the surrounding air and are sealed to be waterproof. The mats are the same size as a typical seed flat. The downside of using these germination aids is that they require electricity.

An example of electric seed tray heat mat offered by Amazon. There are many brands available.

Plastic dome covers retain heat and humidity. Once seeds have sprouted, remove any soil warming devices and plastic covers. Cooler temperatures and plenty of light will encourage stocky, strong seedlings. Good air circulation helps keep seedlings healthy. I utilize an old box fan to keep the air moving but do not direct the breeze directly at the seed flats.

A plastic hat for the seed flat allows light to pass through but slows evaporation, keeping the soil damp.

Once seeds have germinated, they need plenty of light to grow and thrive. This can be particularly challenging if you are attempting to start seeds indoors near a sunny window. Insufficient light will result in spindly, weak plants. If weather is cloudy for a long stretch of days, new seedlings will elongate and weaken. If cloudy weather is in the extended forecast, you may need to add artificial light to keep seedlings strong and happy. When I first started gardening, grow lights were florescent. Now, LED lights are preferred because they emit high quality, intense light and use much less energy because they don’t produce heat.

These seedlings are growing tall and skinny - a clear sign that they need more light than they are currently receiving.

This poor seedling has suffered “damping off” from a fungal attack. The problem was likely caused by too wet a soil, as evident from the sheen of dampness on the starter mix.

Gradually acclimate seedlings to the harsh outdoors over a period of 7-10 days. This process is called “hardening off.”  Place seed flats outdoors in a protected area (away from winds and out of full sunlight) for an hour or two each day, gradually lengthening the time. If a day is especially blustery or unseasonably cool, skip it. Once temperatures are warm and threat of frosts and freezes are past, carefully transplant seedlings to their new homes. Handle them by leaves, not stems. A torn leaf does not impact future growth, but a damaged stem usually results in death. Below are my two favorite tools for lifting seedlings from starter packs, both moved from my kitchen: a square tipped sugar spoon, and an angled icing knife.

A sugar spoon is the light size to lift a seedling from a 4-pack seed tray and the angled icing knife is narrow enough to use when lifting from a smaller plug tray.

Starting your own seeds offers the benefit of many more choices than are available from transplants at local nurseries. And it’s fun!

The Mpemba Effect

The southeastern US typically has a few bitter cold days each winter, but our cold snaps rarely continue more than a day or two. The recent winter chill has been long-lasting and brutal. Even South Carolina’s coastal areas saw snowflakes this week, while piedmont and foothills are shivering in the “feels like” teens, even in daytime. Like many other gardeners, I am worried about the impact on my evergreen trees and shrubs. Tree roots are unable to absorb enough to replace moisture that has been stripped from conifer needles by cold winds. Dried out trees and shrubs may weaken, discolor, or even die. The Arbor Day Foundation has an excellent article on when and how to water trees in the winter. The short version: water trees once or twice per month when daytime temperatures are 40F and above. Click HERE to read the full article. Water evergreen containers weekly.

Our senior dogs are content to snooze indoors in their toasty beds, with their food and water bowls nearby. Our outdoor cats have heated cathouses and cat-door access to heated and insulated barns. We are doing our part to support wildlife, keeping birdfeeders full and fresh water available. While we have two creeks running through our woodlands, we also have water bowls all around the property. These are visited by raccoons, squirrels, opossums, skunks, foxes, coyotes, and deer.

Birds of all types cluster around our birdbaths. The birdbaths require regular attention because they are too distant from electricity sources to use water heaters. I assumed that filling these containers with warm or hot water would delay their freezing, but I have learned that warm water will actually freeze faster than tepid water. (Trigger warning: science speak to follow.) This counterintuitive phenomenon is called the Mpemba effect (pronounced em-PEM-ba).

Aristotle first hypothesized this phenomenon, but it was not named until 1963 when tested by a Tanzanian physics student named Erasto Mpemba. Without getting too technical, I can relate that hot water and cold water reach thermal equilibrium at different rates. When two samples of water are cooled, the hotter sample freezes (reaches equilibrium) first. Equilibrium exists when energy is neither flowing in or out of a substance. Water that has formed into ice has a stable volume.

Allow me to quote from an article from the HowStuffWorks website: “For water to freeze and stay frozen, individual water particles have to reach equilibrium. If too much energy surges through nonequilibrium water, it will fluctuate between solid and liquid (at low temperatures) or liquid and gas (at higher temperatures). The sooner that water particles reach equilibrium at low energy levels, the sooner they can freeze…When a vessel of water is submerged in a freezing environment, different parts of the water reach equilibrium at different times. Water around the outskirts of the vessel gets colder faster, which means that it may freeze while water in the middle of the vessel stays liquid. And when you specifically place a vessel of hot water in a freezer… it is also releasing steam from the top of the vessel, and this decreases the total volume of water that needs to freeze. Furthermore, cold water (or even room temperature water) often develops a layer of frost on its surface as part of the freezing process. Ironically, this frost temporarily insulates the water (kind of like how an ice igloo insulates its inhabitants against cold air), which can slow down the overall freezing process. Hot water, at least in the early stages, blocks the formation of frost, which allows cold air to penetrate deeper into the vessel.”

There has been ongoing disagreements and debate among scientists about the Mpemba effect. All sorts of factors come into play: contaminants in the water, size of the vessel, volume of the water, others. While undeniably brilliant, Aristotle and Descartes did not have access to the same laboratories that are available today. Which is why it is significant that the theory was successfully tested in modern times by Zhiyue Lu of the University of North Carolina and Oren Raz of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. Their results were reported in Quanta magazine. Another test, conducted in 2020 by John Bechhoefer and Avinash Kumar, supported the earlier results and was printed in Nature magazine.

While it does not seem logical that my birdbaths will freeze faster when filled with hot water than with cold, I will bow to the professional physicists and change my ways. Our wildlife cannot speak, but I know they appreciate their water sources. And as soon as daytime temperatures become warmer, I will be out there watering my arborvitae, hemlocks, boxwoods, and euonymus while I long for spring’s arrival.