Deck the dirt with shrubs of holly, fa la la la la

On a trip to Home Depot the other day for unrelated business, I made a quick run through the garden center, to see if anything was on sale for the fall yet. Among all the plants and shrubs begging me to take them home were some dwarf Burford hollies on sale for $10. Exactly what I had been looking for to screen the foundation that had been exposed when we took out a diseased boxwood several years ago. The hollies were in great shape, and the sale was just too good to pass up. Brought three of them home and planted them to the left of our front porch, under the living room windows. It was tough work...had to contend with very hard clay soil. But I had also bought some tree & shrub planting mix, and threw in some Holly Tone, to improve the soil.





The dwarf Burford holly, despite the 'dwarf' in it's name, can reach 10 feet high and 6 feet wide. But they take pruning well and most people are able to keep them at a more managable 5 or 6 feet. Once established, dwarf Burford hollies are tough shrubs that can tolerate poor soil, heat, drought, and the cold. In winter, these hollies put out massive clumps of red berries.

Crape Myrtles for small spaces

If you've always wanted a crape myrtle, but don't have the space for one in tree form, you're in luck. There are two options for having a small to medium sized crape myrtle bush. You can either buy a regular crape myrtle, one that is still only 4-5 feet high, and keep the two or three largest stems/trunks pruned down to the ground, then let more little stems grow up from the base. This will prevent it from growing the large trunks that allow it to become a full sized tree. Your second option, particularly if you are really tight on space, is to buy one of the new "Razzle Dazzle" series that was recently introduced. Razzle Dazzle crape myrtles are "mini-shrubs" that only get about 3-4 feet high, and 4 feet wide, with a nice rounded shape. The leaves and foliage still look like what you would find on regular crape myrtles, but smaller. And, just like their tree-form siblings, this new cultivar comes in several shades of pink, red, and white.

Growing these crape myrtles is easy. Like most other shrubs and flowering plants, it needs well-drained rich soil in full sun. Once it is established (usually after the first year) it is fairly drought tolerant. Deadhead to keep it blooming into early fall.

Rose blooms

Some pics from two new blooms on my Knockout roses. Since I planted them back in early June, they've grown at least half a foot...and with very little pampering. I highly recommend this type of rose for anyone who doesn't have a green thumb or have the time to keep up with spraying for black spot or aphids, neither of which seem to affect the Knockout rose.

Ideas for next spring

After taking a look at a few things that haven't worked out so well in the garden this summer, I can't help but think ahead to next spring and ponder the possibilities. I know for sure I'll be getting rid of the foxglove. It is a biennial and dies after it finishes blooming and throws down its seeds. Even though new ones start growing almost immediately, the old plant looks too ugly once it starts it's decline; it wrinkles and turns brown. I'd like to replace it with some kind of hardy hibiscus, perhaps the "Lord Baltimore" variety, to complement the Rose of Sharon and Chinese hibiscus I already have in that corner. I really believe that God designed hibiscus to be the "grand finale" of the garden. It blooms late in summer, as most other annuals and perennials are finishing up, and then continues until first frost. On certain types of hibiscus, the flowers are as large as dinner plates, reaching a full foot in diameter.



Next, I would fill in the empty space to the left of our front porch (under the living room windows) with three "Chuck Hayes" hardy gardenias. This size is perfect (4-5 feet), and the white flowers that smell heavenly contrast beautifully with the dark green, glossy evergreen foliage. The last house I was doing some landscaping work at had two big gardenias in the back, and I could smell the flowers from the front yard. What a great way to hide the foundation!

Finished product

Pics of the butterfly bush I just put in to replace the boxwoods. With the boxwood gone and these nice bushes in place, I feel good about calling it quits for the year, in terms of planting.

Goodbye boxwoods!

Yesterday I took out two huge boxwoods along the side fence of our yard, that have been there since we moved here in '95. I never really liked them that much. They acted as a good screen for privacy, but otherwise didn't contribute much towards the look of the garden. Plus, it collected a messy pile of leaves under it, that would blow all over the yard. So I cut them town and pulled up the roots, and now there is a lot of space to replace the boxwoods with something a little more exciting. Current thought is maybe two more Butterfly bushes:

Butterfly bush is one of my favorites. It's very easy to grow (requires practically no watering after it's first year), can be pruned to shape it to your liking, and the columns of pink and purple blooms attract bees and butterflys like crazy. Additionally, like gardenia, the flowers have a very pleasant scent. Buddleia tolerates even prolonged heat and drought without wilting. It's one tough shrub and flowers continuously (with deadheading) from mid-summer through fall. They generally grow from anywhere between 5 and 7 feet tall, about 5-6 feet wide. But like I said, they take heavy pruning well.

The other option is perhaps two or three more Rose-of-Sharon hibiscus. I already have one further back in the garden, that is about 3 feet tall right now and just starting to put out new buds.
Rose of Sharon grow into a tower of beautiful maple-shaped leaves and profuse pink, purple, white, or blue hibiscus-like flowers that bloom from mid-late summer all the way to first frost. Once they are established, they thrive with little care or attention. They'll get about 10-11 feet tall and about 6 feet wide. What I love about butterfly bush and Rose of Sharon is that they start their show while the rest of the garden is finishing up, so you have more blooms to enjoy into the fall.

Changing the color of hydrangeas

Here is an interesting article on how to change the color of the blooms on a hydrangea, from pink to blue, and vice versa.

http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/colorchange.html

If your hydrangea is planted in acidic soil (lower pH), the blooms will be blue. If it's in alkaline soil (higher pH), the blooms will be pink. In some cases, from the hydrangeas I've seen around the neighborhood, a plant will have blooms that have a mix of pink, purple, and blue on the same flower head, like a tye-dye effect. Enjoy!