March | 2013 | floragloria

I was longing for Spring but Mother Nature’s Evil Twin wasn’t finished with us. As soon as the snow melted enough to see bare ground, we were zapped with yet another storm on March 8th—my birthday, no less—causing more havoc and ruin. It’s enough to make your head spin.

Thank goodness for the intrepid and beautiful Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Pallida’. ( Zones 5-8 ). This award-winning, sweetly fragrant Witch Hazel bloomed on, despite the strong winds and heavy snow. Pallida has lovely yellow flowers with vibrant reddish-purple calyxes and foliage that turns a rich banana-yellow in the Fall. According to Witch Hazel guru, Chris Lane, “It sets the standard on which to judge all others.” ( See Lane’s authoritative reference, Witch Hazels, Timber press, 2005.)

Witch Hazels do best in compost enriched, well-drained, acid soil. It’s important to supply sufficient moisture, especially in times of summer drought. Mulching helps. My Pallida flourishes with filtered sun in winter and early spring before the oaks leaf out and in high shade thereafter. It’s sited in front of a white pine that serves as an ideal backdrop for the hazel’s flowers.

Hamamelis 'Pallida' (3/8/13): copyright 2013 - Lois Sheinfeld

H. 'Pallida' post storm: copyright 2013 - Lois Sheinfeld

Another winter-wonder worth mentioning is the magical Salix chaenomeloides ‘Mt Aso’ (Zones 6-8), a Pussy Willow adorned head-to-toe with fabulous pink catkins. Irresistible!

Like Witch Hazels, Willows appreciate moist, well-drained soil, but require more sun. Mt. Aso, relatively new to my garden, is faring well with filtered morning sun. As you can see from the before-and-after snow storm photos below, the pink “pussy willows” have been doing their star-turn for months, despite MN’s ET’s never-ending winter assaults. Amazing!

catkins emerging before storms: copyright 2013 - Lois Sheinfeld

closeup of catkins emerging: copyright 2013 - Lois Sheinfeld

catkins between storms: copyright 2013 - Lois Sheinfeld

catkins post storms: copyright 2013 - Lois Sheinfeld

It has now warmed up a bit. Dare we hope for an early Spring?

March 29 Post Update: Mt. Aso is a bottomless well of interesting. Check out the Springtime Fashionista in pale yellow, dove grey, and a sprinkle of pink.

Hurrah, it’s March! Spring is but a shiver away.

Since I first wrote about ‘Marshy Point’s Humdinger’ in November 2011, this can-do, glowing, double pink, evergreen azalea has flowered reliably and prodigiously every spring and fall. It’s a fabulous, hardy, blooming machine. (Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the Encore Series repeat-blooming azaleas I’ve tried. Yet I’m hoping for better luck with my current Encore, ‘Autumn Embers’. I’ll let you know.)

Humdinger is not a fussy or demanding garden diva, but like other evergreen azaleas it does insist on a few culture essentials:

Plant in acid soil, in an area with high, open shade protected from exposure to strong winds. The soil should be well-drained and abundant in organic matter such as leaf mold, compost or shredded pine bark. Organic matter improves aeration, increases the soil’s water-holding capacity, reduces leaching of soil nutrients and promotes beneficial mycorrhizae. Moreover, in my garden, beneficial soil-enriching earthworms are especially abundant in areas with pine bark mulch.

Before planting, any tightly bound root mass must be loosened by cutting from top to bottom around the circumference of the root ball. Failure to do so often results in a dead plant. So don’t be timid, you won’t hurt the azalea. Humdinger will thank you.

Comprehensive information about azaleas can be found in the ne plus ultra reference, Fred C. Galle’s Azaleas (Timber Press, 1987). For a more recent reference, see Kenneth Cox’s Rhododendrons & Azaleas: A Colour Guide (The Crowood Press Ltd, 2005).

I bought my Azalea ‘Marshy Point’s Humdinger’ (Zones 6-9) from RareFind Nursery. To easily access their 2013 online catalog click onto my blog link. (For my previous post on Humdinger, see: Archives, November 2011, “The Real Dirt: Try It You’ll Like It”.)

floragloria

A Garden Blog by Lois Sheinfeld

Archive | March 2013

Winter Superstars: Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Pallida’ & Salix chaenomeloides ‘Mt. Aso’

Azalea ‘Marshy Point’s Humdinger’