Southern Superstars in the Garden

We lucky southern gardeners are blessed with some of the best options for landscape plants. Our mild winters enable us to grow many plants that would not be reliably hardy in northern climes, though our tough summers can sometimes test a plant’s limits (not to mention a gardener’s). While it’s hard to limit to just a few, I’ve selected a few of my own favorite plants to highlight below. These are plants that will really go to work for you and show their stuff during the upcoming spring and early summer months. I've focused on woody landscape plants and perennials, since you will have these for years to come once they are planted.

Woody Landscape Plants add structure to your landscape and provide winter interest through their shapes and texture—often called the ‘bones’ of the garden because they provide the framework for other plants. We’re not just talking trees—shrubs, in particular, are often overlooked. I tend to lean towards flowering trees and shrubs, as I want to get as much seasonal interest as I can out of each plant. Beautiful flowers, often accompanied by lovely fragrance and interesting fruit later on, are exceptional bonuses in my book. Consider adding the following southern superstars to your garden:

The fluffy white floral clusters of the Snowball Viburnum (Viburnum opulus) stop passersby in their tracks here at the Garden, and will do the same at your home. It resembles a massive 25-30’ hydrangea—gorgeous! As it fades, the blooms of the Fringe Tree (Chionanthus virginicus) are gearing up. They are more delicate—feathery dangles that change from pale chartreuse to a soft white as they develop. Though it seems exotic, it’s actually a southern native. Another great native is the Oak Leaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia), which begins its floral show in June. Its snowy white panicles are visually cooling, and then turn a soft pinkish red color as they dry and remain through the summer. It’s a shrub with multi-season appeal as it provides fall color and winter interest with its peeling, cinnamon-colored bark.

Perennials live for multiple years-- often many, many years-- though they die back to the ground each winter and re-grow from the roots once spring weather is conducive to their growth. Collectively, they provide a changing palette of color and texture through the season as they come in and out of bloom, so add interest and keep the garden from looking the same throughout the season. Many are referred to as ‘passalong plants’ since you can divide them and share them with friends as the clumps increase in size from year to year. There are many choices (really!), but here is a sampling of some of my own favorites for the southern garden:

Creeping Phlox (Phlox subulata) is one of the first perennials to show color in spring, and heralds the onset of many old-fashioned favorites like spicy-scented Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) and simple but lovely Shasta Daisies (Leucanthemum superbum). Yarrow (Achillea spp.) offers lacy, fine textured foliage as well as flowers and will re-bloom for a long time if spent flower heads are removed—called deadheading—as will many other perennials including Coreopsis (Coreopsis spp.), Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Beebalm (Monarda didyma), and Speedwell (Veronica spp). All of these are very easy to grow, and will provide years of pleasure for very little work on your part.

As you can see, there are many wonderful plants for great southern gardens—those listed above provide just the briefest of starting points, and I didn’t even include bulbs, or vines, or … the list is endless. However, those are blogs for another day. Now, get outside and plant a superstar in your garden, or drop by and enjoy a few plantful moments here. Happy spring, everyone!

Uh-oh! Here They Come

After a long and cold winter, the bluebirds have become active here at DSBG. We can just imagine they have been waiting for us to start peeking into (intruding?) their space. When they hear the golf cart approaching, they know we’ll be knocking on the doors. Yes, it’s always polite to knock before entering but, in this case, it’s to make sure a bird isn’t in the box when we open the front panel. Knock- knock and if a bird is in there, it usually flies out so that we can take a look inside.

The Eastern bluebirds spent many nights cuddling up for warmth in the nestboxes along the bluebird trail and, now, they are thinking about the future generation. This is the fourth week of March and there are three complete nests ready for use and several more that are under construction. The birds are active and have staked out territory for hunting and gathering. They are sitting on the boxes and lamp posts. They are singing. These are the signs of the season. Life is glorious!

This year a suggestion was made to try nestbox inserts to encourage the birds to use the boxes. Last year sixty-three percent of the boxes were used by the “blues”. Since there was not enough time before nesting season to order the inserts, make-shift ones were made from the tops of egg cartons. These are the cardboard ones, not the styrofoam ones. The tops were cut in half (like a half dozen size) and a couple of snips with the scissors were made to fold the end up to make it fit in the nestbox. It’s a trial and it remains to be seen if it increases box use. However, three of the nests that are ready for use are constructed in the egg carton inserts, as can be seen in the picture. We’ve had a few laughs about the birds’ laying eggs directly into egg cartons. It’s a different twist, but we do have fun with our “assignment.”

There is one box in which a tufted titmouse is setting up housekeeping. At least we think it’s a titmouse. It could be a Carolina chickadee as the nests are very similar. This nest is quite different from the ones bluebirds make. As to the cardboard insert, the bird attacked it and tore it into small pieces but a nest is being built in it. The nest is made up of shredded dry leaves and lots of green moss as well as other unidentifiable material. At this point it isn’t ready for use as more depth is needed before the nesting cup is shaped. We’ll keep an eye out for which bird flies into it and give you an ID later.

Most nests of the Eastern bluebird here at the garden are made up of pine needles as there is an ample supply of them. However, in the past there have been a few that were made with dried grass. It depends on what’s available.

So we’ve hit the trail for the season and with good weather and some luck, there will be a new generation of little bluebirds fledging over the next few months.

Orchid Tips

There are a large variety of orchids that bloom during the fall and winter and with this in mind, feed with a fertilizer higher in phosphorous, this can aid an orchid in flower size and flower count.This is also a good time to spray for insects before bringing them inside for the winter. Insecticides can be confusing with directions for orchids not listed. Follow directions given for "ornamentals"and if scales or mealy bugs are present, you will need to treat the potting medium as well. If you still not sure what to do, look up your local orchid society, they can be a very useful guide in growing orchids.