Plants of the Week---Sweetspire, Oakleaf Hydrangea, Serviceberry, and Winterberry

While autumn's tree foliage brings incredible beauty to our landscapes, several shrubs offer brilliant color as well. Following are a few fall favorites.

' Henry's Garnet 'Sweetspire is a native deciduous plant found in the southeastern United States. Itea virginica grows from about 6-8 feet tall, forming graceful, arching branches. In the early summer, Sweetspire blooms small, lightly fragrant white flowers on arching racemes.

Sweetspire photo by Sam Bahr, UMD

'Henry's Garnet' puts on a colorful show in autumn with red to purple foliage that lasts into winter. The shrub prefers moist soil in partial sun and shade. It is a great plant to use along banks or in wet areas to control soil erosion. Prune after flowering as it blooms on last year's wood. Sweetspire is a great plant

to add to the landscape for blooming color in summer and wonderful fall leaves. 

The Oakleaf hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia, dominates the front of my home where I have let it grow a little too big on the corner. This plant has four season interest. The white flowers in late spring turn a mauve color in mid-summer. The fall leaf color sports shades of maroon, purple and red beneath the fading flowers. Added to that, the bark has a peeling nature in a lovely cinnamon color.

Oakleaf hydrangea fall colors

Oakleaf hydrangea photo courtesy of University of Maryland

Oakleaf hydrangea is a native to the southeastern United States. It thrives in light shade, shooting sprouts from underground which allows it to colonize easily if space is available. The deer have left it alone, unlike the other hydrangeas in my landscape. Oakleaf hydrangea will handle moist, though not wet, soil. The cone-shaped flower clusters are about 6-12 inches tall and about 5 inches wide at their base. 

Serviceberry, Amelanchier canadensis, may fall more into the small tree category, as it grows 15 feet or more, but its natural form is a multi-stemmed shrub. Native to Maryland, it easily adapts to a broad range of soils, including clay and sand. The white flowers in spring and the fall berries are prized by native wildlife. Early flowers provide pollen and nectar to a wide variety of beneficial insects, including native bees. The berries provide for many birds, including Robins, Baltimore Orioles, Cedar Waxwings and Catbirds. The fall leaf colors are yellow, orange and red. 

Serviceberry photo courtesy of Plant Finder as seen on our website

Serviceberry grows in full sun to part shade in slightly acidic soil. It is an excellent alternative to the invasive Bradford pear. 

Winterberry, Ilex verticillata, is a fall favorite for the berried stems that find all sorts of uses in fall and winter decorating. The deciduous holly loses its leaves in the next month or two, leaving branches of colorful red berries. Native to the eastern United States, Winterberry does very well in wetland habitats, and is adaptable enough to adapt to dry sites. The shrub reaches 10-15 feet and is available in a dwarf version. Winterberry requires a female and male plant to produce berries. 

 

The leaves will drop, leaving a bounty of berries

Winterberry is attractive to birds and butterflies. Look for coral-colored varieties too. 

Don't plant this---Euonymous alatus, known as Burning Bush for its bright red fall color, is an invasive plant. It is on Maryland's Tier Two Invasives list. While it can still be sold in Maryland, a sign must accompany the plants on the nursery lots to warn gardeners of its invasive nature.  Plant some of the native plants listed above to take the Euonymous' place in landscape. 

The Burning Bush has since been removed from this landscape. 

Autumn's colors are amazing and may be part of the reason that so many call fall their favorite season. Plant some native trees and shrubs this October while the soil is warm and the air cool.

Enjoy this wonderful time of year!

Plants of the Week---Ornamental Grasses

 

Ornamental grasses rarely take center stage, instead they provide backdrop, form and movement in the summer, fall and winter gardens. Ornamental grasses can be diminutive, like Blue Fescue, or dominating like Arondo donax. Most fall somewhere in between. 

Grasses grow in various shapes. Most like full sun, but a few do well in shadier spaces. Hakonechloa is one of those. It's soft, arching habit is bamboo-like. Use it to soften the edge of a water or rock garden. In the shade, the bright yellow foliage brightens up darker areas. Hakonechloa grows to 24".

Hakonechloa grows in drifts over a rock-edged stream 

Bright foliage blends with the new foliage of emerging trees at Ladew Gardens

On the other end of the spectrum Arundo donax can grow to 6 feet or more depending on the variety. This plant works well in the background of taller plants like upright sedum, Russian sage, taller rudbeckias among others. 

Arundo donax pictured with Russian sage and sedum at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Combinations of summer and fall blooming annuals and tropical plants are the perfect way to use ornamental grasses. Pennisetum, aka fountain grasses, add movement to the garden too, as they sway with the breeze. 

The garden border isn't the only place to use grasses. Consider containers. While grasses may not overwinter in pots, they add a unique seasonal element to fall displays. 

Love the drama the grass adds to the potted evergreen

Garden designers at Longwood and Ladew Gardens rely on ornamental grasses to provide vertical lines in the garden as well as the arching habit some provide. 

Longwood Gardens added grasses to an already gorgeous display of tropical Bismarkia palms. 

The early fall Garden Walk is spectacular with the addition of grasses. 

Added to an urban landscape, grasses pair well with summer blooming Rudbeckia and Echinacea. Sedums, Rudbeckias, Salvias, Asters, Coreopsis and fall blooming mums are all natural companions in late summer and fall gardens. 

A welcome oasis in the city

Ornamental grasses are used in informal gardens and borders, but can just as easily be used in a more formal garden as a background element to sheared shrubs and hedges.

Begonias, cleome and grasses add color to the formal hedge

Stop in to see our selection of Ornamental Grasses. We have them available from May-September in our Perennial Department. For more information on all of the grasses, go to Plant Finder on our Valley View Farms' website. Check the box for Ornamental Grasses and view the wide assortment that we may carry over the course of the year. 

The Fall garden transitions to Winter

Enjoy the fall garden with the addition of Ornamental Grasses. 

Plant of the Week---Mums

Bench after bench of fall mums 

I took a field trip today, visiting other garden centers and the big box stores. It is officially fall in the herbaceous plant world. The celosias from last week's blog were side-by-side mums of many sizes. From small mums in 4" pots to jumbo mums in 12" pots, the fall flowering favorites were in good supply. Naturally, I have a bias and think our growers do an incredible job growing our own mums!

Mums soon after planting

We've grown mums at the family farm in Hydes, MD for as long as I can remember. Our growing has evolved from producing over 10,000 mums in 8 inch pots to expanding to 10 and 12 inch pots with multiple plants in each pot. We even grow tricolor pots of mums. While plenty of other plants fill our greenhouse and shade-house, mums are undoubtedly still number one in the fall garden. 

Tricolor mixed pots are beautiful

We don't necessarily call these mums perennial, though if they were planted in the ground early in the season, their chance of coming back are good. Many of our gardeners use mums like pumpkins as autumn decorations. Purchased when the buds start to crack open, mum flowers will usually last for 6-8 weeks, depending on weather and proper watering. John and Vernon, at our farm, grow over 50 varieties. They get planted on 4 different dates beginning in early June to take advantage of their propensity to bloom early, mid-season, late, or what we call season extenders. There is always a chance with the later mums that a frost may occur. A frost won't kill the plant, but will mar the flowers. Covering the blooms with Harvest Guard or a light sheet overnight will save the blooms. 

Bright yellow is always popular

Mums love full sun. In containers, get used to checking them everyday to see if they may need to be watered. A timed-released fertilizer like Osmocote will provide the necessary food to keep the plant healthy and happy through fall. Removing spent blooms keeps the plant pretty well into the fall months. 

I love the big mums!

Enjoy the colors of autumn. Refresh summer plantings with mums.