April 2010 Garden Solutions

The Merry Weather Garden Club met on Thursday the 15^th of April, 2010 at the home of Sally Neal. Angie Williams and Sally hosted the meeting and members and guests carpooled to LaGrange to Humphries’ Garden Solutions on Hill Street. They were met by Helen Phillips, formerly a horticulturist with Callaway Gardens and owner of Rocky Branch Garden Center which the club had visited for a program years ago.

   The warm spring afternoon in the greenhouse was perfect for ice cream cones and bottled water as the group worked its way through the rows of flowers and shrubs where Phillips pointed out new varieties of annuals and perennials plus made suggestions of where to plant, how to use color, create texture, or add surprises in the garden or flower box.

   Phillips pointed out a new variety of mahonia named Soft Caress that has the same dependable bloom but no sharp stickers.  She urged the club to come back in May to see the hydrangeas coming in as this year LaGrange will be hosting their Hydrangea Festival.  A popular new variety is Limelight with its chartreuse bloom that opens to white. Also popular is the gold liriope with a distinctive chartreuse color.

   The club viewed witch hazel or loropetalum which we have planted on our island in Greenville as a ground cover.  Some varieties grow as tall as two stories. Grancy Greybeard is a first sign of true spring and the delicate fringe on the shrub was most fragrant. Phillips also had a Chinese fringe tree that has glossier foliage and blooms later than our native greybeard.

   The outdoor shrubs and vines were most interesting and Phillips encouraged planting five leaf akebia as a climber. She does not confine blueberry to the garden as the pink and blue colors are delightful to have in the landscape.  Thornless blackberry varieties were shown as well as the American native wisteria which is not as invasive as the common Chinese variety we have blooming through our countryside right now.

   Cotoneaster she recommended for slopes and problem areas.  Euonymous or “burning bush” was a great shrub with its bright red fall foliage. Old fashioned Abelia, variety “Rose Creek,” had pink brachts all summer and the new variety is much bushier than your grandmother’s. There are now yellow varieties and “Silver Anniversary” has all the colors and the little white blooms look like wedding bells. Cryptomeria is a popular replacement for Leyland Cypress and the small variety “Gold Mop” is very globelike.

   The lilacs fascinated the club and had everyone leaning in and sniffing the gorgeous fragrances. Japanese kerria is a great plant that blooms yellow more continuously than forsythia. Gaura attracts the butterflies and the new dwarf variety is great in pots or for edges.  The burgundy foliage and pink bloom lure in the whirling and dancing butterflies for which it is named.

   Finishing the tour the club viewed citronella plants, papyrus, drought tolerant gaillardias,  Joe Pie weed, plumbago, agastache, blue eyed grass, hibiscus and mandevilla, fatshedera-a cross between ivy and fatsia, bush ivy, impatiens, bachelor buttons, black eyed Susans, Sweet William, and a wonderful display of herbs and fresh vegetables.

   Club members opened their car trunks and rearranged the seating to hold their purchases as the ladies left inspired and ready to add color to their gardens.