Archive for the ‘Shrubs’ Category
And how ’bout that Nandina and its winter interest.
It’s red berries for Christmas.
New camellia honors Susy Dirr
http://www.amerinursery.com/blog-3034.aspx
New camellia honors Susy Dirr
7/11/2012
New from Plants Nouveau: Camellia hiemalis ‘Susy Dirr’ — a fall-blooming camellia that displays elegant and formal double carmine-pink flowers.
Susy Dirr, daughter of Dr. Michael and Bonnie Dirr, was born with cystic fibrosis, which makes the act of breathing a life and death struggle. Undaunted by her disease, she was valedictorian of her high school class and an honor student at the University of Georgia, graduating with a degree in advertising a year ahead of her class. Cystic fibrosis did not define Susy as a person. She embraced life with a joyful spirit that was uplifting to everyone around her. She made the world a better place with her compassion for others, her biting wit and brilliant mind. When a soul shines so bright, we see it in all things beautiful. So, as summer fades and hints of autumn are in the air, reflections of these lovely flowers, graceful in form and with the sweet fragrance of newly opened tea, begin to fill our senses. We reflect on Susy’s life and know that a part of her spirit remains with us in the garden.
Growing 8 to 12 feet tall by 5 to 7 feet wide in zones 7 to 9, this new, hardy camellia is a robust grower in containers both in the nursery and the garden. It requires full sun to part shade and average, moist to well-drained soil. Propagation is by softwood cuttings.
Bobby Green, the breeder of Camellia ‘Susy Dirr’, has agreed to gift $.45 from each plant to the Sweet Melissa Fund, which assists families affected by cystic fibrosis.
New Boxwood Blight. Got Blight?
Newly discovered fungal disease. Check it out…
http://www.ppws.vt.edu/%7Eclinic/alerts/11-04-11_boxwood_blight_alert.pdf
Felco Number 7
I love these things. At first I was a little skeptical. Swivel handle? Ergonomic handle?
Come on.
After all I have been used to using an 10 year old pair of felcos. Number 2 I believe? Very old. Very basic.
But after pruning my first woody ornamental with these babies, man, I’m in love.
The twisting, swivel handle takes a minute to get used to. Once you do, you find the repeated pressure of opening and closing the handle to be satisfying easy. Smooth. How did I ever prune without the swivel action? These pruners are great. Nice. Well built. Very Nice.
Thank you Felco !
Go get you some. Prune some bushes.
Aucuba japonica
Aucuba japonica
Excellent shade loving shrub. Aucuba does great on the North and East side of buildings, homes, and walls.
Generally will get 10′ – 15′ feet tall, somewhat smaller in width.
The leaves of Aucuba are opposite, simple, rubber waxy like leaves. I have read that the foliage and flowers are poisonous, but have not read that the berries are poisonous. I have not tried myself.
Aucuba plants are either male or female. Males produce small, purple, 1/2″ long berries that mature in the fall. The female Aucuba is the producer of the bigger red berries. Down side is that these berries are often hidden by the thick leaf coverage.
If you have some Acubas and never get any berries, you don’t have a male to go with the females. Aucubamatch.com
Aucubas typically prefer the well drained, moist, high organic matter soil. This shrub does pretty well in polluted, less than ideal soils as well. Aucubas are a tough plant.
But when you find an Aucuba planted in some hard, heavy, dry, compact, poorly drained or waterlogged clay soils like those in Virginia, you get problems.
Pest wise, you can expect some aphids or scale insects. Look for Sooty Mold.
Aucuba can be subject to a number of leaf spot and root rot related fungi.
Sclerotium raulsoni is a popular crown rot disease. Sclerotium girdles the stem, creating the stem dieback. Sclerotium is actually just a stage of a life cycle for another fungi. See Typhula.
Phytophthora is another common fungi genus among Aucubas. Other wise known as “the plant-destroyer”, Phytophthora is a water mold disease that can lay dormant, (even in dry soils) for a very long time. The base of the stems will begin to turn black and wrinkle. Then the leaves and the rest of stem will turn black and decay. Do what ever you can to clean up dead plant material, prune out, correct water drainage issues, because this fungi is not easy to control with fungicides. If you remove the shrub from its grave, remember that the fungi is still in the soil and can be for a long time.
Man. That’s a big, long post. I haven’t done this in a while.
Enjoy.
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Azaleas Bloom
Blooming Azaleas ! ! !
First Azaleas blooming today, short lived spring flowers.
But very nice in the shade.
VA.PHC 