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The Hydrangea Nikko Blue macrophylla, pictured here, will soon be stealing the show in gardens across the Lowcountry.
Hydrangeas - Entire books have been written about this staple of the Southern garden. Clemson offers a great overview. Briefly, five species are most commonly found in the Lowcountry.
Two species are native:
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Hydrangea arborescens - has ball-shaped blooms in soft green to white to pale pink range. These can be cut back severely as late as March to stimulate vigorous growth and blooms in May.
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Hydrangea quercifolia - commonly called Oak Leaf hydrangeas, has elongated cone-shaped blooms that are white and fade to a soft pink. Its foliage turns bright red in the fall. Cut back before the end of July to ensure blooms the following season.
Three non-native species that have acclimated well to our Lowcountry environment:
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Macrophylla - commonly called the Bigleaf Hydrangea, like Nikko Blue, Blushing Bride, and the newer repeat bloomers Endless Summer series
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Paniculata - have triangular-shaped blooms and include Limelight and Little Lime,
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H. petiolaris - is the climbing variety
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Many thanks to Beverly Rivers for curating our inaugural issue of The Vine Online. To provide a bit of inspiration, we asked Beverly to share the tasks she's prioritizing for the weeks ahead as she tackles pruning, dividing, planting, fertilizing, pest reduction, and even integrating veggies into her garden.
PRUNING - Spring blooming shrubs
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DIGGING and DIVIDING - Cannas
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Cannas are heat-loving perennials that require full sun and give color and structure to the summer border. A personal favorite of mine is named Cleopatra and has brushstrokes of green and maroon foliage along with red and yellow blooms.
- Cannas, once established, can become aggressive and crowd out other valuable plants. Now is a good time to dig up a clump, divide it into parts, replant some, and give the rest to gardening friends.
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PLANT NOW - Abutilon
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A desirable perennial shrub that should now be available at your favorite garden center is Abutilon striatum (cn: flowering maple or Chinese lantern plant). Its blooms, which hang like bells or lanterns from 5-6’ stems, appear heavily from May to July, and then there is a pause until it reblooms from October through our first frost. Its leaves are shaped like those of maple trees, thus one common name. Our semi-tropical Lowcountry climate is now favorable for this South American native.
- Trim lightly during the growing season and cut back more severely, within 6-12” from the ground, in late February. Blooms on new wood. Plant in full sun to part shade.
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INTEGRATING VEGGIES - Eggplant
- Eggplant is an attractive plant to add to your perennial or even shrub border, mixed pot planting, or traditional raised vegetable bed. Consider interesting varieties for ornamental qualities as well as inventive recipes. The smaller Japanese Ichiban variety is particularly suited to a large pot combination. They produce fruit from July to October. The heirloom variety ‘Black Beauty’ and an Asian heirloom ‘Pingtung Long’ are particularly heat tolerant.
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·A companion planting of marigolds helps control nematode damage. Explore recent research on preventing flea beetles.
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PEST REDUCTION - Opening Up Dense Shrubs
- Say NO to chemical pest controls and consider this alternative - improved circulation.
- Study your shrubs and large perennials to decide if their growth patterns block air and water circulation from easily passing through the plant. Such congestion provides a comfortable home for damaging pests like aphids and scale.
- Prune or remove small branches within the body of the plant to increase circulation. Visualize small birds comfortably passing through.
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Greening Your Gardening Habits | |
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Minimizing Water Use
In urban areas, 60 % of all water usage goes to maintaining landscapes. While water seems overly abundant here in the Lowcountry, now is the time to change our habits and prepare our gardens for unpredictability by being as water-efficient as possible.
- Begin by consolidating water-hungry plants (annuals, hydrangeas). near one another so watering can be limited to just that area.
- Reduce lawns that require frequent watering due to shallow roots. Visualize pocket-size or small "rugs" of turf surrounded by beds of deep-rooted trees, shrubs, and perennials.
- Water lawns less frequently and for longer periods to encourage roots to grow deeper, helping them to become more resilient.
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Use a watering wand to reach the roots of plants and avoid excess water on leaves that can cause problems.
- Turn off your irrigation for established landscapes (those 2-3 years old) which will only require supplemental watering during periods of high heat and serious drought.
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Stokesia laevis (cn: Stokes aster)
A beautiful low-growing (one foot tall) perennial in the Aster family with blue cornflower-like blooms and recent cultivars in pink and yellow. This aster spreads slowly, is drought, deer, and rabbit-resistant, and attracts pollinators with its nectar.
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Plant Choice Matters - In selecting plants for our gardens we should consider both beauty and function. Native plants have evolved over centuries with our native pollinators and wildlife, supporting one another by providing food, shelter, and distribution. | |
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Eleagnus pungens, angustifolius and umbellata (cn: thorny eleagnus, Russian olive, autumn olive)
Why we care:
- Eleagnus is rapidly displacing native plants by forming dense thickets and climbing into trees to shade out plants underneath.
- It spreads through suckering and seed dispersal by birds. It has invaded Charleston and most of the US.
- Fewer native plants means less food and habitat for our native wildlife and the dominance of a single plant damages the health of any ecosystem
How to remove this threat:
- Pull small seedlings and sprouts, including the root and dispose of all seeds carefully.
- For a larger plant, dig (if possible) the entire rootball and burn if allowed. For thickets, cut plants to the ground and apply an herbicide (glyphosate, triclopyr or picloram) per label instructions to the entire cambium layer.
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Meet this Month's Guest Curator | |
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After 35 years of gardening professionally in the Lowcountry, I know that no real garden is ever truly finished. Yet, May is when my gardening projects and improvement plans must be put on hold till the fall.
So, I rest and enjoy, knowing that four months of exhaustive heat are about to begin. I limit myself to watering, weeding, and deadheading. and look longingly toward October and November, when gardening in the Lowcountry is a true delight.
As this is our first issue of The Vine, we are eager to hear from our members. What's helpful? What's missing?
Please email me your ideas at BeverlyRivers@gmail.com
Beverly Rivers
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Beverly (far right) is pictured with Kim Ashley, Susan Epstein, and Leslie Harris (left to right) at a recent HORT workshop on Pruning Boxwoods, hosted by Susan and led by Leslie. | |
The Vine Online: With today's launch of The Vine Online, we seek to bring our members Lowcountry-specific horticultural advice, much as the HORT did in the early days ofThe Vine, last published in 2022. This gardening e-guide will be sent exclusively HORT members. Thanks for being a member.
Our Mission: To provide quality educational programming that:
- supports efforts, both big and small, to create beautiful, sustainable green spaces;
- fosters community partnerships; and
- preserves the Lowcountry's horticultural legacy.
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Connect with Charleston Horticultural Society | | | | |
