Anemone hupehensis var. japonica

Text and photo by Virginia Williams

With broad petals so different from the typical fall mum, Japanese anemone really stands out it a fall garden.

From August through September, few plants grow more reliably and bloom in the shade better than Japanese anemone. This perennial produces clusters of white or pink flowers up to three inches in diameter.

Leaves are large, deeply lobed, and somewhat like maple leaves.  Growing two to five feet tall, Japanese anemon prefer rich moist soil with good drainage and shade but will grow in the sun.

They can be slow to establish, but given the right location they will slowly spread to a nice thick planting and even require cutting back.  Deer tend not to eat it.

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Liriope muscari and Liriope spicata

Text and photo by Virginia Williams

Tough and adaptable, liriope is a stellar groundcover.

Liriope muscari, as shown in the photo, is a clumping form that stays in a clump and does not spread aggressively.  Clumps continue to expand, but no runners are formed.  It can grow in sun or shade or on the steepest slope.

Once established, it is drought tolerant.  Its ribbon-like foliage can get as long as 18 inches and sports purple or white flowers in the summer.  This clumping form is popular as edging.

Liriope spicata, on the other hand, is a spreading form that sends out runners.  It is especially useful to control erosion, but should not be planted where it can get out of control.

Deer may nibble on it during the winter (saving you the trouble of cutting off old foliage), but liriope is not a big deer favorite.

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Brassica juncea

Text by Bob Orazi

Photo by Cornell University

Have any space left in your garden?  Mustard greens are quick to mature, easy to grow, and nutritional in your diet.

Mustards are in the Brassicae family of plants, which includes collards, kale, turnips, and pac choi. They come in many forms and colors averaging 45 to 65 days to maturity.  You can use mustard greens to spice up a salad or cook them with other greens.

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Text and photo by Virginia Williams

An easy but tough perennial with ferny, soft textured aromatic foliage, Achillea millefolium is long-lived and long-blooming—up to twelve weeks—providing color and interest from summer to early fall.

“Oertel's rose” is one of the shorter varieties, maturing at about two feet, whereas other yarrows can grow to three feet.  Two- to 3-inch wide flower clusters in pink to red are a major selling point.

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Garden Variety is back after a week spending time with her grandson, who is in town visiting all his relatives! Even the garden can't beat time with Mikey!

So, we will be doing some catching up here.....

Peas

Pisum sativum

Text and photo by Bob Orazi

People think spring and peas go together, but it’s difficult to get peas planted and germinated in the cool, wet soils of a Maryland spring. There’s another option, however.

During the period between mid-July and August, you can plant a successful fall crop of peas. Look for space where your potatoes, lettuce, or cole crops were harvested.

Peas are a legume and produce their own nitrogen but not enough, so incorporate a balanced fertilizer into the planting space.  Moisten the soil before planting, then place the seeds 1 to 1 1/2 inches deep and 1 to 3 inches apart. They will grow 50 to 70 days before harvest.

Harvest the pods every 3-4 days to keep new pods forming. Peas will survive temperatures in the 20’s, so your autumn vegetable can keep you in peas for a long time.

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Mandevilla Vine

Mandevilla

Text and photo by Marian Hengemihle

This tender woody vine adds tropical flair to your landscape from late spring to early fall.

Showy flowers range in color from pink to red to white. The glossy dark green leaves have a leathery feel. The vine climbs by twining stems to about 8 to 10 feet, so provide a trellis or support. Pinch young plants to encourage bushiness.

Mandevilla grows well in containers and hanging baskets in full sun but will tolerate light afternoon shade. It should not be placed outdoors until all danger of frost is past.

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(Garden Variety is catching up, after a week's vaction.)

Corkscrew Rush

Juncus effusus ‘Spiralis’

Text and photo by Marian Hengemihle

The corkscrew rush is a fun and whimsical addition to your backyard water garden. It reminds one of a “bad hair day.”

This irregular, clump-forming ornamental grass has curious spiraling, corkscrew-shaped thin green tubular stems that uncoil as they grow. It spreads upright and prostrate about 18 inches tall and wide.

Growing best in containers in full sun to light shade, it requires consistently moist soil with about 1 to 6 inches of water over the crown of the plant.

Continue reading "University of Maryland Extension: Plant of LAST week!" »

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Threadleaf Coreopsis

Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’

Text and photo by Marian Hengemihle

Acclaimed by the Perennial Plant Association as the 1992 Perennial Plant of the Year, Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’ is a reliable performer in the garden. This perennial offers season-long color, drought tolerance once established, and deer, rabbit and pest resistance.

Plants form low compact mounds covered in pale yellow daisy-like flowers held above fine textured foliage. Growing about 2-feet high and wide, they provide a delicate airy look to the garden. The soft color and fine texture contrasts effectively with the bold foliage of many other perennials.

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Impatiens x New Guinea Hybrids

Text and photo by Marian Hengemihle

Tired of common impatiens? Want to brighten up a location with too much sun for common impatiens?

New Guinea impatiens fit the bill. These carefree annuals bloom from late spring to the first fall frost. Showy flowers come in many vibrant colors like lavender, salmon, white, purple, pink, red, and orange. Lush leaves are long and pointed in colors from strikingly dark green to reddish bronze or variegated.

There are many varieties, and they can grow from 12 to 24 inches tall and 12 to 18 inches wide. These low maintenance plants have a bushy growth habit and seldom get leggy.  Plant after the last frost.

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Common Thyme

Thymus vulgaris

Text by Lewis Shell

Photo by Ken Keefover-Ring

Please take the thyme to read this thymely article.

There are over 300 species of these small, evergreen, aromatic and extremely versatile perennials, and they have many uses in the landscape, providing attractive groundcovers, fragrant foliage, and colorful flowers.

It’s unfortunate that the wonderful herb, common thyme, carries such a mundane name.  After all, there is nothing vulgar or common about the many attributes of thyme.

Thymus vulgaris is a small, upright shrub, growing about one foot tall and two feet wide.  Its narrow to oval, aromatic leaves are gray-green and the flowers range from white to lilac in late spring and early summer.

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Dill

Anethum graveolens

Text by Lewis Shell

Photo by Antoine McKinney

This is an herb that can do it all.  Where to start?

Wise gardeners know that having dill plants is like having a flotilla of aircraft carriers hovering around a war zone.  Dill umbels or ‘flat top’ flowers attract predator insects that rely on the dill flowers for energy-producing nectar and a vantage point from which to survey your garden for insects to predate.

Then, of course, dill leaves provide the gardener/chef with salad garnish and flavor, brightening numerous salads and dishes.  Can you imagine a nice fillet of salmon without a delicious tangy dill sauce? Furthermore, those flavorful seeds are used in pickling and longer-cooking recipes.

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Cosmos bipinnatus

Text by Lewis Shell

Photo by Christine McComas

If you don’t already have Cosmos in your garden, it’s not too late to sow some seeds of this airy-leaved flower along the back of your flower bed. Alternatively, look for potted cosmos at your favorite garden center or nursery.

Cosmos belong to the daisy family, Compositae, and bear daisy-like flowers with yellow centers surrounded by petals of various colors. 

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Caladium 
Caladium bicolor

Text and photo by Ginny Williams

Extravagantly colored and patterned, Caladium bicolor is a tuberous rooted plant with lance shaped leaves held up by long stalks.

Growing one to three feet tall, caladiums come in attractive bi- or tri-color combinations of white, green, rose, pink, and red.

Originally from South America, they require warm temperatures to grow.  In areas such as Maryland, where temperatures go below 20 degrees F, the tubers should be dug up when the foliage dies and stored at room temperature until they are replanted in the spring when temperatures are above 60 degrees F.

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Solenostemon scutellarioides

Text and photo Ginny Williams

Although a standard for color in the shade, coleus has been bred so that there are cultivars that grow well in the sun.  In addition, some cultivars can get to be five feet tall, much higher than your usual coleus.

Hence when purchasing plants, be careful to buy plants appropriate for your location.  Coleus provides all season color, having patterned leaves with many colors and shades of red, pink, orange, yellow and green.

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Edamame bean

Glycine max

Text by Bob Orazi
Photo by University of Kentucky

Edamame bean, a vegetable soybean, has been gaining in popularity as a snack food or ingredient in soup, salad and stir fry.

It contains no cholesterol or saturated fat, yet has 40 percent protein and is rich in calcium, vitamin A and B as well as fiber.

They are easy to grow and suitable for Maryland soils, preferring a slightly acid pH of 6.0 to 6.5 and full sun.

Treat seeds with a bacterium inoculant before you plant them the first time. After danger of frost has passed, place edamame seeds 6 inches apart, 1 inch deep, in rows 2 feet apart, applying a complete fertilizer.

Like most vegetables, they require 1 inch of water per week.  Side dress with a nitrogen fertilizer after 6 weeks.

Maturity dates vary from 75 days to 125 days, so you can plant a mid and a late season variety at the same time and repeat the process every two weeks for successive plantings.

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Text by Bob Orazi
Photo by R.A. Howard

Looking for some wow in a small specimen tree?  With appealing flowers, attractive fruit, uncommon shape, and showy bark, a Japanese snowbell, or styrax, will be the envy of your neighborhood.

The distinctly horizontal branches and broad, rounded crown can grow as wide as its 20- to 30-foot height and yet result in a very dainty tree. The prolific flowers in mid-May are bell-shaped, slightly fragrant, and pendulous.

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Rosa ‘Zephirine Drouhin’

Text and photo by Christine McComas

How about growing a virtually  thorn-less, beautifully fragrant  antique climbing rose?

Antique roses are old-fashioned, floriforous, fragrant, and often lower maintenance roses than their modern hybrid counterparts.

‘Zephirine Drouhin’, is a French Bourbon rose and has been delighting  gardeners since its introduction in 1868. Bearing hundreds of  3- to 4-inch deep pink  fragrant flowers on long reaching canes makes this plant a show-stopper.

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Saucer magnolia ‘Jane’
Magnolia soulangiana ‘Jane’        

Text by Christine McComas
Photo by Christine McComas

What a spring nightmare--your saucer magnolia at its blooming best gets zapped by frost, turning a blossoming beauty into a sad, brown tree overnight.

In the 1950s, the National Arboretum tackled this problem, and in 1968 ‘Jane’ was released. The result of carefully controlled crossings, this hybrid saucer magnolia blooms two to four weeks later than other magnolias. By blooming later, frost damage becomes unlikely.

‘Jane’ covers herself with a rich display of dark pink tulip-like flowers with white throats, opening from fuzzy brown buds.  Growing to 10 to 15 feet, ‘Jane’ is a large shrub or small tree.

'Jane' magnolias do well in full sun to light shade and a loamy soil with decent moisture, though they can tolerate poorly drained, heavy clay soils as well as dry soils.

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Text by Christine McComas
Photo by Ellen Nibali

In summer you can’t help but notice certain containers with their small petunia-like flowers cascading crazily over the sides.  It’s the oh-so-easy and rewarding calibrachoa, also known as ‘Million Bells.’

This low maintenance mounding annual comes in a color palette wide enough to please the artist in every gardener. They are beautiful solo, yet those with a contrasting throat color look especially nice in the company of container-mates of that color, for example a geranium or verbena.

Calibrachoa like sun to part sun, moderate water, and good drainage. They are neat and need no spent flower removal.  Known to attract hummingbirds, they will put on their exhuberant show until a hard frost.

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Tree Peony
 
Paeonia suffruiticosa

Text and photo by Christine McComas

If you love flowers and only have space for one new shrub, consider Chinese tree peony.

The national flower of China and once grown only by the emperor, it is now widely available to all.  With huge, stunningly beautiful flowers, tree peonies are actually graceful, deciduous shrubs, growing slowly to 3 to 5 feet and long lived.

Flowers come in many colors and have been depicted in centuries of art.  Unlike their herbaceous cousins which die to the ground each winter, these peonies grow in a loosely branching woody form, the flaky bark itself attractive when the serrated leaves fall.

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Purple Passion Plant, Gynura    
Gynura sarmentosa

Text and photo by Chris McComas

Looking for an unusual looking houseplant? How about one with hairy purple fuzz covering dark green leaves?

This striking combination describes purple passion plant’s soft-as-velvet, deep purple, haze-covered leaves. This easy-to-grow houseplant is not large, with leaves 3-4 inches long and wide.  Left on its own, it has a trailing habit but retains color and is more upright when growth tips are pinched out.

They benefit from at least some direct sun daily to keep the purple foliage bright. Gynuras grow well in normal room temperatures but like humidity, so place their pot on a tray of damp pebbles for best results.  Water moderately, then let the top inch of standard potting mixture dry out before watering again.

Like other hairy-leaved plants, avoid wetting the leaves. Apply standard liquid fertilizer no more than once a month throughout the year.

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Rye Grass Basket

Text and photo by Chris McComas

Easter is just around the corner, and you still have plenty of time to sprout a basket of live grass. Use it as a traditional base for the Easter bunny to leave his treats or as an unusual fresh centerpiece. 

Start by finding an interesting basket, such as rustic grapevine or one of the children’s old reed or plastic baskets.  Line the basket with plastic cling wrap or colored cellophane.  Alternatively, you could fit it with a shallow plastic container.

Add a few inches of soil-less potting mix, filling to near the basket rim, then water gently.

Sprinkle annual rye grass seeds thickly, gently pressing them so they make good contact with the soil.  Set on a warm, bright window sill, being sure to keep the seed bed moist with daily misting. Wait about a week and voila!  A natural fresh grass basket.

Should the grass get taller than you like, simply snip it shorter with scissors.

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Dieffenbachia maculata

Text and photo by Christine McComas

You can’t beat houseplants to enliven a room.  Dieffenbachia makes a big statement with its large, deep green leaves and attractive white markings.

The fleshy 10-inch leaves are borne on long stalks rising from a thick, cane-like stem.  They grow well in bright, indirect light, needing no direct sun except in the winter. Normal room temperatures above 60 degrees keep them happy, as does placing their pot on a tray of damp pebbles to increase humidity.

Actively growing dumb canes will appreciate a standard liquid fertilizer every two weeks. With time, they can grow to ceiling-scraping heights, but can easily be propagated down to a tip cutting  of six inches in spring or early summer.

Cutting just below a node, dip the cut end in rooting hormone and plant it in a soil based potting mixture, keeping it warm and well-watered.

Dieffenbachia is also known as Dumb Cane, because the poisonous sap can cause an temporary (and painful) loss of speech if it gets in the mouth.  Be sure to wash your hands after handling this plant.

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Euphorbia  ‘Diamond Frost’       
Euphorbia  graminea ‘Diamond Frost’

Text by Christine McComas
Photo courtesy of Proven Winners-www.provenwinners.com

Before long we will happily bid glittering frost good-bye, but when planting your containers this year be sure to consider Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’®.

In sun or part sun, this attractive annual covers itself in delicate, airy white flowers which hover above the greenery.   Deer, drought and heat resistant, it tends to mound and form a billowy cloud, quite beautiful in urns and containers.

It is a great low maintenance plant, neat, which needs no dead-head flower removal. If you find you need to trim it, it will grow right back. Water requirements are low to moderate.

No fertilizer is necessary.

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Fava bean

Vicia faba

Text by Bob Orazi
Photo by Jon Traunfeld

Want something to plant in early spring besides peas? Try fava or broad beans.

Fava bean is a cool season vegetable, germinating in 40-degree soil temperatures. Plant them as soon as you can work the soil. They grow best in the 60 to 65 degree range of early spring. If planted too late, they may fall to form pods.

In soil amended with organic matter, place seeds 1 inch deep at 4- to 6-inch intervals in rows 18 to 36 inches apart.

Being a legume with the capability of fixing atmospheric nitrogen, no fertilizer is necessary. Compost is the only nutrition they need.

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Leek
Allium ampeloprasum

Text by Bob Orazi

For a vegetable that deer won’t eat and few diseases or insects bother, plant leeks.

A member of the onion family, leeks are considered a gourmet vegetable for soups, casseroles and other dishes desiring a mild onion flavor. They are a long season crop, needing 120 days to reach maturity. For this reason, start them indoors in February or early March. They also can be direct seeded in early spring, but this extends their maturity date 30 days.

Leeks prefer soil with a pH of 6.0 to 6.8, rich in organic matter.  Transplant the young seedlings into a 6” deep furrow, spacing 4”to to 6” apart. Clip the fibrous root system with scissors to make handling easier.

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Eranthis 

Text by Debbie Ricigliano
Photo: NC State University Photographs copyright @1997 by A.B. Russell and A.A. De Hertogh

Winter aconite earns its name, blooming even earlier than the first crocus. It blankets the ground with small, sunny, buttercup-like yellow blooms.

Flowers form on stems that rise above a low-growing cluster of ruffled foliage.  Snowdrops (Galanthus), a taller bulb, bloom at the same time and make an excellent companion plant. The contrast between the white and yellow flowers beautifies your winter-drab landscape.

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Jasminum nudiflorum

Text: Debbie Ricigliano
Photo: OSU Department of Horticulture

Much good can be said for a shrub that bursts forth with tiny yellow flowers during the bleakest part of the year.

Jasmine nudiforum or Winter jasmine is known to be one of the earliest blooming plants in the landscape. Flowers open between January and March, usually peaking in February. This 3-4 ft. x 4-7 ft. shrub has trailing branches that form a mounded mass. The trailing branches root where they contact bare soil, so give this shrub room to sprawl and fill in areas if you like. The deep green leaves are attractive in the summer.

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Text: Debbie Ricigliano
Photo: Debbie Ricigliano

Big, bold, and vibrant--Rex begonia is a spectacular houseplant to brighten up any room in the winter. Not grown for flowers but foliage, its multiple colors and textures come marked with shades of green, red, purple, pink, silver and maroon. Many interesting color combinations and cultivars are available to choose from.

Rex begonias can grow as large as 12 to 5 inches tall and wide and have a mounding growth habit. With proper care they can be long-lived additions to a houseplant collection.

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Skyrocket Juniper
Juniperus scopulorum ‘Skyrocket’

Text and photo by Debbie Ricigliano

Sometimes you are looking for a plant that fits a very specific space in your landscape plan. Skyrocket juniper fits the bill when you are looking for a tall, narrow evergreen tree.

Maximum size is 15 to 20 feet tall and only 2 to 3 feet wide. Vertical stems with silvery-blue needles form a column of tight branches.

This upright juniper can be planted as a vertical specimen in a mixed conifer garden, used as a screening plant for tight quarters, or even incorporated into a foundation planting. Its relatively small size also makes it a candidate for large containers.

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Tomato ‘Juliet’
Lycopersicon esculentum ‘Juliet’

Text by Bob Orazi
Photo by HGIC, University of Maryland Extension

With stink bug problems ahead, why not plant a thick skinned tomato like the Juliet this year?

While tomato growers suffered high fruit damage last summer from brown marmorated stink bugs, some thick-skinned varieties showed less damage. It looks like 2011 may be worse, so planting a thick skinned tomato like the Juliet may be the solution.

Juliet is about 2 to 2¼ inches long and slender like a roma. A 1999 All-America Selections winner, Juliet does it all, from salad to sauce to salsa.

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Text by Bob Orazi
Photo by Ryan Fessenden, Florida Museum of Natural History

Looking for an outdoor container plant that can double as a houseplant?  Consider the Brazilian plume.

Its pink pine-cone like clusters can brighten up a partially shaded walkway or garden, blooming from early summer to fall. It also comes in red, white, orange, as well as different shades of pink.

When night temperatures fall into the 50s, bring this tropical indoors for the winter and enjoy its shiny bronze-green leaves, which are about 8 inches long with the texture of leatherleaf  viburnum.

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Sycamore, American planetree

Plantanus occidentalis

Photo and text by Ellen Nibali

Seeing the bark of this white giant glow against a blue winter sky is truly a thrill.

A sycamore is not for the faint of heart or small of yard however. It grows at a fast clip, up to almost 2 feet a year, reaching 75 to 100 feet (or much higher). Along with tulip poplar, it is the tallest of the East Coast native trees. 

But it is magnificent at a time of year when few plants are, the white exfoliating bark being its best feature. It is also valuable for native birds and wildlife. 

The big 3-5 lobed and serrated leaves appear fairly late in spring. Insignificant flowers give rise to single dangling seed balls that add winter interest. 

Occurring naturally in rich, deep bottomlands or along streams and rivers, sycamores should be situated not too close to houses or manicured landscapes.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Plant_of_Week, University of Maryland Extension
        

Santolina chamaecyparissus

Text by Ellen Nibali

Photo by Virginia Williams

Aromatic leaves make this evergreen herb a “deer-proof” addition to the garden. In addition, the finely incised foliage, available in silver or green, retains its good looks through winter.

Normally growing 1 to 2 feet, santolina makes a good border, low hedge, or knot garden plant which you can lightly shear and shape all summer.

The dwarf variety Nana stays a compact 10 inches. You can enjoy the bright yellow button flowers or remove them to keep a tighter form.

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Grape Ivy, Oak Leaf Ivy

Cissus rhombifolia

Photo and Text by Marian Hengemihle

This no-fuss houseplant actually is a member of the grape family though it has evergreen foliage. Its medium to dark green glossy leaves are divided into three leaflets with coarsely toothed margins. Stems are covered in soft brown hairs.

There are several cultivars of grape ivy, but the oak leaf species sports oak leaf like foliage with a fine texture.

The growth habit is climbing/trailing and looks elegant in containers and hanging baskets. It prefers bright indirect light so avoid direct sun.

Grow grape ivy in normal room temperatures. Allow the soil to dry slightly between waterings. Fertilize an actively growing plant from early spring to fall.

You can pinch back the growing tips to produce dense foliage. Large plants can be cut back by a third in the early spring and stems tied to supports when needed. Trim side shoots to about an inch long.

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Nellie Stevens holly

Ilex x ‘Nellie R. Stevens’

Text and photo by Virginia Williams

At 15 to 25 feet in height, Nellie Stevens is a holly hybrid that can be grown as an evergreen shrub or pyramidal small tree.

One of its strengths is that it can be pruned severely without ill effect.  Happily, then, its branches can be cut and enjoyed for holiday decorations.

Leaves are lustrous and dark green with two or three teeth on each side of the leaf.  The bright red berries often grow in sizeable clusters that make them stand out all the better.

Very vigorous and moderately fast growing, Nellie Stevens can be used as a specimen plant or in rows for a privacy hedge.  It prefers high organic, low pH soils and has best berry set in full sun.  That being said, it tolerates just about any growing conditions once established.

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Spathiphyllum wallisi

Text and photo by Virginia Williams

Peace lily, or flame plant, is one of the easiest houseplants to grow.  It wants to be pot bound, doesn’t want direct sunlight, and would rather be underwatered than overwatered.

Its long, dark lance-shaped leaves look good year round.  The “lily” is actually a spike of tiny yellow blooms set off by a white spathe, which wraps around like a flame or sail.

Soil should be kept evenly moist, allowing the top half inch to dry between waterings. Peace lily prefers high humidity but tolerates average household conditions.  Supply medium light.

Fertilize February through July with dilute fertilizer, being careful not to burn the sensitive roots. Organic fertilizer is a good idea, because salts from fertilizer or water softeners will cause leaf margins to brown, as will overwatering.

Dust leaves occasionally to maintain their luster.

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Q: Our newly planted tree is very top heavy. It’s so tall that we can’t stake it that high up. How can we keep it from snapping at the first heavy ice or snow?

A: Lash a long (lightweight) stake along the trunk and up the leader branch of the tree to help support the top growth.  Although new trees need all the foliage they can get, you could lightly and judiciously thin the top growth to reduce weight.  See our online pruning publication for tips:    http://www.hgic.umd.edu/content/documents/HG84Pruningornamentalplants_000.pdf

Continue reading "University of Marland Extension: Garden Q&A" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Pieris japonica ‘Variegata’

Photo and Text by Virginia Williams

Looking for a shrub to lighten up a shady corner?  Variegated andromeda can do it—and brighten drab winter days as well.

This evergreen shrub grows slowly to as much as twelve feet high and eight feet in spread with a neat habit and stiff spreading branches. Leaves are arranged in distinctive rosettes.

Its flowers are among the earliest in spring, appearing for two or three weeks March to April. The white to off-white blossoms spill over the green leaves in pendulous panicles. The flowers’ urn shape suggests lily-of the valley and, in fact, another name for andromeda is lily of the valley shrub. Unlike lily of the valley, though, these blooms are only slightly fragrant.

Andromeda prefers moist, acid, well-drained soil and grows well in sun or shade.  A location too hot and dry encourages lace bugs.

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Ilex x meserveae

Photo and text by Marian Hengemihle

If you are seeking berries and beautiful holly foliage, these hybrids are the plants for you.

Meserve hollies are an entire group of hybridized plants including Blue Hollies, the China Series, and others.

The growth habit of these broadleaved evergreens ranges from dense and shrubby to pyramidal. They can serve as hedges, specimens, understory plants, or informal barrier plantings.

Cultivars sport blue-green or green shiny leaves with spines on the leaf margins. Small white flowers are produced in April/May and attract pollinators. Female plants produce bright red berries in autumn. You will need a specific variety of male pollinator nearby for good fruit set.

Robins, catbirds, and mockingbirds relish the berries and can take refuge in the canopy. Most hollies in this family grow to about 8 feet in height and width, but it varies by cultivar.

Prefers moist well drained soil in full sun to partial shade. Plants are cold hardy but avoid windswept locations that dry out leaves. Little pruning is needed for these carefree evergreens

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Dwarf Alberta Spruce

Picea glauca ‘Conica’

Text and photo by Ellen Nibali

With a perfect “Christmas tree” shape, dense foliage, and extremely slow growth, dwarf Alberta spruce has been a favorite since discovered in 1904. Remember--it’s “Alberta” as in Alberta, Canada, a much cooler environment than Maryland.

Fairly adaptable nevertheless, this spruce likes well drained moist soil, full sun, and will tolerate some shade. Baking drought and reflected light (e.g. off house siding), however, can lead to spider mites. Encourage predator insects that eat spider mites by only spraying with horticultural oil or soap or simply hosing them off the tree.

The thin needles of Alberta spruce give a fuzzy appearance. Growing only 2-4” yearly, it can reach 10-12 feet in height, so give it space to spread. The pyramidal shape lends itself to balanced and formal designs as well as shrub and mixed borders.    

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Willow oak

Quercus phellos

Text and photo by Ellen Nibali

No leaves to rake up?  Under a big shade tree?  Sounds like a dream, but willow oaks come closest.

The long, thin leaves, so unusual for an oak, disperse by autumn winds and can seemingly disappear in the landscape. Mowing speeds up their decomposition.

Leaves unfurl yellow-bronze in spring, maturing to a deep green.  Fall color ranges from yellow to bronze to reddish-browns.

This east coast native reaches about 40-60 feet or higher in a highly favorable spot.  Pyramidal in youth, willow oaks become more spreading and oval with age. Saplings may need pruning to encourage a single leader.  Very flexible in its cultural requirements, willow oak prefers moist well-drained soil.  Transplant when dormant.     

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Mitchella repens

Text by Ellen Nibali

Photo by Virginia Williams

This delicate ground hugging plant is that prized rarity—a native evergreen ground cover.

Its highly fragrant flowers are borne in white or pinkish pairs over a long period spring to summer. These are followed by red berries (drupes, really) that appear from fall into winter, giving it four charming seasons of interest. Slowly, it forms a dark green mat about 2” high, provided you have a spot it likes—and it’s not unreasonable.

An Eastern woodland native, it needs full shade and acid soil, moist but well-drained, that is as much like a forest floor as possible. Amend soil generously with leaf compost, peat, or ground pine fine amendments where necessary.

Purchase as a container plant with a good amount of native soil attached.

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Categories: Plant_of_Week, University of Maryland Extension
        

Parthenocissus quinquefolia

Photo and text by Ellen Nibali

The magenta pink leaves of Virginia creeper bring surprising fall color wherever it grows - and it grows just about anywhere.

Birds relish its blue berries and spread them liberally. A great food source for wildlife, it can grow in full shade to full sun, city to sandy seashore, and just about anywhere in between.

Its five leaves are arranged in fan-like clusters (palmate). It’s often confused with poison ivy, but poison ivy has clusters of three leaves and the vines are hairy, whereas Virginia creeper vines are not.
  

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Cornus florida

Photo and text by Ellen Nibali

Indulge in a dogwood. Today’s Appalachian series of dogwoods is highly disease resistant. Heralds of autumn, dogwoods are the first to adopt plum, rose or salmon hues. 

Plant your dogwood so you can enjoy seasonal interest up close.  In fall red berries are lacquer-shiny and gobbled by birds. 

When leaves drop, gray “flower buds” have already formed, like tiny flattened turbans, at twig tips. 

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Chelone lyonii, Chelone glabra

Photo and text by Ellen Nibali

Terps fans should like this native plant that blooms during football season in the shape of a turtle’s head.

White turtlehead Chelone glabra is the primary host plant for the endangered Baltimore checkerspot butterfly, a black, gold and white beauty. The leaves provide food for the caterpillar stage.

A bit of a misnomer, white turtlehead may also be pink or purple. Chelone lyonii, common name pink turtlehead (pictured above) is true to its name however, with pink flowers protruding from stalks with handsome glossy leaves.

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Catttail

Typha

Photo and text by Ellen Nibali

Cattails are as American as apple pie and edible, too.

Fond childhood memories include lighting them to make smoky punks, but cattails have been used for everything from baskets to boats by Native Americans and peoples around the globe.

The narrow leaves arise from reedy clumps. In late summer, beige flower spikes usually go unnoticed, but by early fall they become the velvety brown seedheads we know so well. 

Birds nest in the stalks and eat the seed. Wildlife feed on the fleshy rhizomes. 

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Rose-of-Sharon ‘Helene’

Hibiscus syriacus ‘Helene’

Text and photo by Ellen Nibali

Though you don’t think of rose-of-Sharon as a fall bloomer, this champ of the summer garden blooms its head off well into autumn.

‘Helene’ is one of four triploids named for Greek goddesses developed by the U.S. National Arboretum. 

These varieties are virtually sterile, unlike the old rose-of-Sharons whose unwanted volunteers always made them such a nuisance. The flowers are huge and dramatic compared to the old varieties, too.

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Butternut squash Cucurbita moschata

Text and photo by Ellen Nibali

Almost time to harvest this popular winter squash after the long summer's wait. 

Stored indoors at 50-55 degrees, butternut squash can be enjoyed for months. Its lovely orange flesh is creamy, not stringy, with a sweet nutty flavor. 

In spring, plant 3 to 4 seeds together at 3-foot intervals after danger of frost.  Select the strongest seedling in each group and clip off others.

Don’t be surprised when only male flowers are produced for the first 1 to 2 weeks before females appear.  This is normal. Encourage pollinators by avoiding pesticides.

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Eupatorium perfoliatum

Text and photo by Ellen Nibali

Used as medicine by Native Americans, boneset is a plant that, once recognized, you see everywhere. Happiest in damp environments, it flourishes by roadsides with bone-white blooms from July until October.

Its fondness for moisture makes it a good candidate for rain gardens or any damp spot, but it is flexible and grows in full sun to some shade and any soil except very dry. 

Its curious leaves clasp completely around the 1- to 5-foot stems, so the stem appears to “perforate” the leaves, hence its botanical name.

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Switchgrass

Panicum virgatum

This native grass is found in fresh or brackish marshes, wet meadows, prairies, dunes, even open wooded areas—in short, almost anywhere. 

The handsome green blades reach 3 to 6 feet.  In late summer, they are topped by wispy clouds of seedheads, changing appearance with each angle of the sun.

Give them full sun or a little shade, at most.  Non-demanding about soil or water, the clumps slowly enlarge and are good for erosion control.

Some self seedling may occur. Foliage turns tawny brown in fall and can be cut back in spring or not. New blades will grow through it.

The variety ‘Shenandoah’ has red foliage.

Photo and text by Ellen Nibali

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‘White Nancy’ sparkles in all-green gardens or shady corners.  Ground cover lamiums grow 6 to 8 inches tall and evergreen. The ‘White Nancy’ variety has frosty white leaves. Ordinary lamium has only a white or yellow midvein stripe.

In spring or early summer, ‘White Nancy’ sports white flower clusters, while other lamiums are purple-pink.

 Lamium spreads slowly into a 1-2 foot mat. Average garden soil suits it fine. Generally, lamiums tolerate sun to shade, but ‘White Nancy’ does best is partial shade.

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Photo credit: Ellen Nibali

Butterfly weed

Asclepias tuberose

Butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees flock to this midsummer perennial flower. Besides brilliant orange, its clusters of tiny flowers come in yellow or red-orange, and leaves are a favorite food of the monarch butterfly caterpillar.

After blooming, flowers turn into long seed capsules like small milkweed pods which are attractive in dried arrangements. Left on the plant, they split open and release feathery white fluffs blown away on the wind, each carrying one seed.

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Fiscus carica

Yes, with care you can grow figs in Maryland.

This subtropical grows 15 to 30 feet tall in average soil and full sun. Hardy to 15-20 degrees, it will spring back if killed to the ground.

However, to produce ripe fruit reliably, figs need a long hot growing season and protection from freezing temperatures. A protected southern exposure is recommended. Avoid low spots where cold air settles.

Brown Turkey and Celeste are two reliable cultivars here.

Figs pruned to a shrub are easier to protect than a tree shape.

In fall, pin pliable branches to the ground and cover, or encircle the fig with chicken wire or bubble wrap and fill with leaves or straw.

Alternatively, plant in a container and overwinter in a garage. In spring remove winter protection after danger of frost.

-Photo and text by Ellen Nibali

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Categories: Plant_of_Week, University of Maryland Extension
        

Today, Garden Variety welcomes her new partners in gardening, the University of Maryland Extension staff!

Every Tuesday here on Garden Variety, beginning today, we will feature Ellen Nibali's "Plant of the Week," complete with photos and growing information.

And each Thursday, the Extension staff will answer your gardening questions. Visit the Home and Garden Information Center website and submit your questions in the "Send a Question" feature and we will get an answer for you. There's is plenty of gardening information there, too.

And there's more!

Continue reading "Garden Variety's new partner" »

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Categories: Plant_of_Week, Q_and_A, University of Maryland Extension