March Bloom 2012

Mar24

Rhododendron mucronulatum ‘Mahogany Red’ usually blooms in April, but this year it jumped the gun and was in full dazzling flower in March. The bees were delighted. Not wanting to be left behind, Mahogany’s longtime garden companion, the fragrant Magnolia stellata ‘Royal Star’, also made an early appearance with its lovely rosy-pink buds that open white. These two loving intertwiners have shared star billing in my garden for over fifteen years and have bloomed reliably and heavily every year. Both flourish in compost-rich, well-drained acid soil.

Camellia ‘Governor Mouton’, a hardy April bloomer, also flowered in March because of the unseasonably warm weather. A old favorite introduced in the eighteenth century, the Governor is quite the showstopper with vibrant red flowers splashed with white. (For hardy camellia culture information, see William Ackerman’s book, “Beyond the Camellia Belt”, and click on my post, “Exciting Plants for Shade”).

Edgeworthia chrysantha always blooms in March and this year is no exception. Despite the unexpected competition from the fabulous plants described above, Edgeworthia had no problem attracting attention with its showy yellow and white flowers that perfume the air with intoxicating fragrance; and when the flowers fade, the shrub sports beautiful, tropical like foliage for the rest of the growing season. All this on a woodland plant that appreciates shade.

Edgeworthia chrysantha copyright 2012

March 2012 has been both a surprise and a joy.

More 2011 Successes and 2012 Obsessions

Feb5

2011 Successes

Everyone needs an occasional bit of sunlight to chase away the winter blues. I’m no exception. So when Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate, I bask in the warm glow of Pinus densiflora ‘Burke’s Variegated’. Endowed with green needles banded in gold, this dwarf conifer resembles one of my long-time favorites, Pinus wallichiana ‘Zebrina’, but when its foliage matures and turns a luminous pale yellow, there’s none can match it in the winter landscape. My own burst of sunshine.

Whenever I see a plant with dazzling trumpet-like flowers I’m breathless with longing. It’s a case of lust at first sight. (See “Hot Tips: Great New Plant”). British Dame Penelope Lively understands. “For me,” she said, “gardening is a sequence of obsessions — the tingle of discovery, the love affair with the latest acquisition.” And so it was with me and Begonia ‘Bonfire.’ I filled three containers with this glorious annual and was rewarded all summer with a sea of vibrant orange flowers. They made me happy. Bonfire is a keeper.

Ditto for Rhododendron ‘Mrs Furnivall’, an oldie introduced in 1920 but new to my garden. No demure Mrs this one. More like a Las Vegas showgirl flaunting her stuff: a luscious display of saucy pink flowers splashed with red. She doesn’t need trumpets to be irresistible. (The bees agree).

2012 Obsessions

This year I’m after Fuchsia ‘Pour Menneke’, an annual with captivating, long, slender, soft orange trumpet flowers. (Yup, those trumpets again). An ideal plant for a container, Pour Menneke will be available this year in England, but as far as I can tell, not available here. More’s the pity, but it takes time (Drat!) before their best newbies reach us. (Yeah, yeah, I know. HAVE PATIENCE).

NEWSFLASH: Just read an alert about the Fuchsia gall mite from Andrew Halstead, Principal Entomologist with the Royal Horticultural Society in England. He warns that this predatory insect is a “devastating microscopic pest of fuchsias that will probably eventually spread throughout Britain. Because the damage cannot be controlled, it may lead to a decline in the popularity of this valuable garden plant.” (He’s right about that. ‘Pour (Poor?) Menneke’ is no longer on my wish list.)

No problem whatever with the fabulous shade plant, Heuchera ‘Stainless Steel’, from the breeding program of Charles and Martha Oliver of The Primrose Path, Pennsylvania. With silver foliage (flipside reddish-purple) and lush sprays of white bell flowers on chocolate stems in May, this unique beauty is nothing short of sensational. Grab it while you can.

credit: The Primrose Path

And thank goodness for Dan Hinkley, plantsman-explorer extraordinaire, who teamed up with Monrovia to offer a select group of his plant hunting finds, The Dan Hinkley Plant Collection, which will be available in nurseries and garden centers this Spring. Topping my wish-list is the lovely and rare Golden Crane Hydrangea, H. angustipetala ‘MonLongShou’. Not only does it flaunt showy white and chartreuse lacecap flowers with scalloped-edged petals, this hydrangea is intensely fragrant.

credit: Dan Hinkley

Finally, I can’t wait for my Genie to arrive. While this one doesn’t live in a bottle, she is magical. Magnolia ‘Genie’ has reddish black buds and masses of plum-red (dare I say magenta?) flowers in the spring with repeat bloom in the summer. She flowers at a young age, only grows to about ten feet, and is already an award winner. As the song goes: ” Who could ask for anything more?”

credit: Rare Find Nursery

Garden DVD:Shade Garden Superstars

Dec8

There are a slew of garden DVD’s being produced these days, some good, others not so much. One I consult often —- and you will too if you have an interest in shade gardening in general, or Rhododendrons in particular —- is “Elepidote Hybrids In Central New Jersey”. It’s a winner.

Despite the title, the time-tested information is useful for the entire Northeast and beyond; the detailed coverage of beautiful large-leafed, flowering, evergreen Rhododendrons is extensive; and the photography is superb. The only problem is that you will probably want most, if not all of the plants . (And wouldn’t the DVD be a perfect gift for the gardener on your list?).

The DVD ( fifteen dollars plus postage) is available from the American Rhododendron Society. To purchase, contact: Walter Przypek, wprzpek@aol.com.

The Real Dirt: “Try It, You’ll Like It”

Nov26

In ancient Greece, kings and such would quickstep over to the Temple of Delphi to ask the Gods questions about important matters of state – when to wage war, what to serve at an orgy, that sort of thing – and the temple priestess or Pythia would fall into a frenzied, writhing trance, and, foaming at the mouth, would spit out their divine recommendations. Without the frenzy and foaming (except for the weeks before the plant catalog is due at the printer), Anne Haines of RareFind Nursery is a modern-day plant Pythia. Ask for a recommendation and she will suggest a treasure like Rhododendron ‘Marshy Point’s Humdinger.’ For me, this aptly named autumn and spring flowering evergreen azalea was a blooming machine, flaunting glowing, double pink flowers from September to mid-December, stopped only by continuous days of hard frost, and then again in spring. Truly, a plant fit for a king!

floragloria

A Garden Blog by Lois Sheinfeld

Archives

March Bloom 2012

More 2011 Successes and 2012 Obsessions

Garden DVD:Shade Garden Superstars

The Real Dirt: “Try It, You’ll Like It”