September Show Stopper(s) | |
|
Pink Muhly Grass planted with Swamp Sunflower
Living in the Lowcountry we are all familiar with the glorious cotton candy-like displays of Sweetgrass, Muhlenbergia capillaris that adorn our roadways and gardens this time of year.
Consider planting the native Swamp Sunflower, Helianthus angustifolia, with your Muhly Grass. I just love the stunning show of color with the daisy-like yellow flowers popping through the pink inflorescence of the Sweetgrass.
- The Swamp Sunflower should be cut back in early July so that when it blooms, the flowers are at the height of the Muhly Grass as pictured above.
- Learn about other companion plants here.
- With 150+ species of this sweetest of grasses, explore other species that are commercially available.
| |
This month's curator is Hort Board member Annabelle Hallam.
Hopefully, we will soon see a welcome reprieve from the heat and humidity of summer. As the summer winds down and the kids go back to school, the fall offers a chance for fresh starts, including in the garden!
It's time to clean up our summer gardens which may have become a bit overgrown and unruly, and prepare for October which can be the most glorious month in the Lowcountry.
| |
|
Pruning
Clemson Extension recommends pruning your Hybrid Teas, Floribundas & Grandifloras roses now by about one-third of their height to prevent the breaking of canes if they will be exposed to winter winds.
Be sure not to cut back fall-blooming perennials or spring-blooming shrubs that bloom on old wood such as macrophylla hydrangeas. By the way, Martha Stewart offers great resources for on identifying and pruning your hydrangeas.
Plant Now
Fall Veggies - It's time to plant broccoli, brussels sprouts, beets, carrots, lettuce, and kale. Clemson's comprehensive vegetable garden guide. Most of these cooler temp veggies will be ready to harvest in time for the holidays and for delicious veggie bowls in the winter.
Bulbs - It's too early to plant bulbs in the Lowcountry, but it's not too early to decide what to plant and to order your bulbs before they sell out.
Consider the Lowcountry staple Narcissus or Daffodils. Even though the terms Daffodil and Narcissus are often used interchangeably, both are members of the genus Narcissus and belong to the Amaryllidaceae family.
- Here are a few that work well here: February Gold, Winston Churchill, Thalia, Tete a Tete, and Ice Follies.
- Choose varieties with early, mid-season, and late bloom times, creating maximum show.
Another lovely spring flowering bulb that does well in the Lowcountry is the Snowflake (Leucojum aestivum).
- The Snowflakes appear in early Spring with small white bell-shaped flowers on a 20-inch stem.
- Use to "skirt" a structural plant, bird bath, or garden ornament.
- Mass plantings under oak trees make a spectacular Spring display.
Need a few more suggestions? Try Anemone coronaia or Scilla peruviana.
My favorite online resources for buying bulbs include:
| |
Greening Our Gardening Habits | |
|
Green Mulch
With a clean slate to work with, now’s the time to amend the soil with compost to add organic matter and microbes to the soil. Instead of using traditional mulch to fill empty spaces, consider planting to cover exposed areas.
- Plus, adding plants, like native ground covers, in between shrubs and perennials adds visual interest and also enhances the symbiotic relationship between plants, increasing nutrient density and protecting against pests and disease.
- Pictured below is a mass planting of Packera Aurea, or Golden Ragwort - an excellent choice for a native ground cover to use to fill empty spaces and as a “green” mulch. It is also tolerant of flooding and brackish water.
| | |
|
American Beautyberry, Callicarpa americana
The American beautyberry is a woody, deciduous, perennial shrub that produces clusters of bright purplish to bluish berries now through October.
A member of the Lamiaceae (mint) family, it's native to the Lowcountry as well as Bermuda, where I'm from.
- Give it full sun to partial shade as it won't tolerate deep shade.
- It grows in all types of soil provided there is good drainage.
- Allow 3 to 6 feet of space for planting unless regular pruning is done. Pruning is best done in late winter. Prune low and avoid fertilizer to reduce height and encourage fruit to set.
- Remove old canes to rejuvenate the shrub because the flowers and fruits appear on new shoots.
- The fruit is an excellent food source for birds, deer, and other wildlife. The berries are also edible for humans, though eaten raw they taste somewhat astringent. I can't vouch for this, but here's a recipe for Beautyberry jelly.
- The leaves have a natural mosquito repellent. While some find that rubbing the leaves on their skin helps, any real benefit requires distilling them in a lab to produce a repellent similar to Deet.
- It can be propagated by seeds or stem cuttings
Those who attended our July Gardeners Happy Hour in Karen Hollings' garden may recall seeing one that she had limbed up like a small tree.
|  | |
|
A great resource and one of my go-to books is Claudia West and Thomas Rainer's Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes.
I studied under Rainer at GWU. He was (and is) amazing and so inspiring. I love his design aesthetic. In Rainer's own words:
“MORE THAN EVER, we need planting solutions that are resilient, ecologically functional, and beautiful.
Our goal is not merely to create more functional landscapes, but to make people see again, to make them remember...."
Here's an interview Rainer did with Margaret Roach in 2017 that remains relevant: Understanding What Makes Plants Happy.
SPOILER ALERT: I'm thrilled to share that Thomas Rainer will give our February 2025 HORT Lecture. You wont want to miss him.
| | |
|
Hello Fellow HORT Members.
I hope you are having a cool and relaxing Labor Day weekend and that this month's Vine Online helps get your creative juices going.
Like many of you, I'm relatively new to gardening in the Lowcountry. While I've had my own landscape design business, Annabelle Hallam Garden Design, for years, changing zones can seem like starting over.
As a new board member, I look forward to being a part of and contributing to the HORT's efforts to educate garden enthusiasts on innovative gardening practices,
As a designer, I like to weave natives into a landscape not only to enhance the beauty of the space but also because it's good for the Earth. But I don’t take a hard line on natives.
I believe you should find joy in your garden. Sometimes there’s a tree or a shrub or a plant that you love and have to have and it may not be native. And that’s ok.
Here's to a beautiful fall and growing greener together!
Annabelle Hallam
| |
Annabelle Hallam joined the HORT Board in July, bringing her garden design expertise from working in Bermuda and up North. | |
HORT Lecture Series Kicks Off Sept. 9th | |
|
Plan to join us next Monday, Sept 9th at 5 pm to kick off this year's Lecture Series and to hear from your Board of Directors during our brief Annual Membership Meeting.
You will love hearing from Kelly Holdbrooks of Southern Highlands Reserve who will discuss efforts in sustaining Blue Ridge Mountains ecosystems through the preservation, cultivation, and promotion of native plants.
| |
|
The Vine Online offers members Lowcountry-specific, horticultural advice, following in the tradition of the HORT's printed publication The Vine. This monthly gardening e-guide is sent exclusively to HORT members. Thanks for being a member.
This is our fifth issue of The Vine Online. We want to know what's helpful, and what's missing. Please e-mail Madeleine McGee with your ideas.
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.
| |
Connect with Charleston Horticultural Society | | | | |
