Shrubs and Trees

Even in December, it's fun to wander my neighborhood just before Garden Blogger Bloom Day and see what's looking good.  From the left you see winterberry holly, Nandina domestica, a lovely dry Miscanthus next to a Foster holly, and a close-up of Nellie Stevens hollies – all in my next-door neighbor's garden.

Their whole garden was designed to attract birds – avid birders that they are – so it's all about berries, feeders, and two ponds with a waterfall between them.  Their landscape architect made a mistake in gathering berries for birds, though – birds won't eat the fruit of that Nandina.  So I guess the good news is that this variety isn't being carried into natural areas by birds, (nandinas are notoriously invasive in some parts of the U.S.), but wildlife-wise they're no help at all.  So like many landscape plants, their only purpose in the garden is to look good to humans. 

Above is another mixture of plants for humans and plants for wildlife – more Nellie Stevens hollies on the left, with Otto Luyken laurels and variegated liriope along the foundation.  They're all wildlly popular plants with landscapers around here because they're such reliable do-ers.

Now go ahead and dis them – I know you want to.

I’m home from the Garden Writers shindig in Raleigh with lots of plant swag, including some of these lovely Abelias with no plant tag or even vendor name on the pot.  Knowing how big they’ll get might just come in handy.

THIS is just one of 8 HUGE Pieris japonicas that have looked pretty good in my garden for at least 15 years, but no longer.  The leaves all look diseased and anemic, and pampering them with extra water and some Hollytone has not helped.  I’m told the problem is lace bugs, made happier by global warming, and also that lots of folks in the business are no longer recommending these things.

So I’ve replaced a couple of big ones with some no-fail oakleaf hydrangeas, in this lousy spot alongside my garage with just a few minutes of sunlight each day.  The hydrangeas aren’t evergreen but with their exfoliating bark, they’re good-looking even in winter. These cost me $25 each and they’ll grow fast.

I also yanked NINE year-old Pieris shrubs.  (This is painful!)  Ya know, there are sadly very few evergreen shrubs that do well in the landscapes here in the Humidity Belt, and even fewer that do well in shade, so having to give up on this is a big deal.

Another shrub I’ve given up on is Leucothoe, which I also still see being sold in the garden centers and wonder if it’s growing well for anyone, anywhere.  And I’ve ditched my share of rhododendrons over the years and stopped buying them a decade ago.

GIVEN UP ON ANY SHRUBS LATELY?
I’m curious; what doesn’t work anymore where YOU live?

With apologies for (once again) stretching the meaning of "bloom" to include color, period. Over on GardenRant I follow the rules (pretty much).

Sure, everyone notices these large, gorgeous shrubs when they’re in bloom.  And just as importantly, they fill up the garden, and all the shorter plants look great in front of them.  This is the kind of big plant that really makes a garden, but is rarely planted by new gardeners.

And now in mid-July they’re something else – covered in red berries being scarfed down by a flock of birds for hours every morning.  Anybody have a guess as to what the birds may be? (I’ll keep trying to get a photo of them but can’t promise.)   I’m a terrible bird-describer but they seem cardinal size and a mixture of colors.

So for its large and important contribution to the full, lush beauty of the garden, its virtually no-maintenance nature, and its service to my beloved birds, this Asian import deserves a spot in my garden.