Archive for Camellia ‘Winter’s Joy’

Just Relax and Enjoy the Flowers

Posted in bulbs for shade, Camellias, hellebores, my garden, snowdrops, winter, winter interest with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 29, 2015 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

Helleborus niger 'Praecox'Even though praecox means developing early, ‘Praecox’ Christmas rose hellebore is one of the main season varieties that bloom later in January or February.  Here it is in mid-December.

Like much of the country, southeastern Pennsylvania, US, zone 6 to 7, has had unseasonably warm weather for weeks.  There has been no snow, the ground has not frozen, we have only had 2 or 3 real frosts, not enough to set back the acanthus, and it was 70 degrees F on Christmas Day.  It has also been raining for most of two weeks.  Quite a change from the last two falls when it got cold in October and stayed that way.  In 2013 to 2014, we experienced record snowfalls.  In 2014 to 2015, there was not much snow but record low temperatures.

Nursery News: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade.  The only plants that we ship are snowdrops and miniature hostas.  For catalogues and announcements of events, please send your full name, location, and phone number (for back up use only) to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com.  Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.

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Camellia x 'Winter's Joy'‘Winter’s Joy’ fall-blooming camellia is not blooming early but instead continuing to bloom beyond when its flowers and buds would usually be frozen and done.  It started in October and is about to enter its fourth month.

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Should we be worried?  As Mark Rylance, playing a Soviet espionage agent accused of treason, says in “Bridge of Spies”, would it help?  Lots of attention needs to be paid to the very serious issue of climate change and what the US in particular can or should do in the face of the incontrovertible evidence of evolutionary temperature changes occurring at faster than evolutionary speeds.  But worrying about the plants in our gardens and neighborhoods won’t accomplish much.  We can’t control the weather so just relax and enjoy the early flowers.  My friend John Lonsdale who is originally from England tells me that if we lived there, this would all be completely normal—the weather and the bloom times.  Here is what is early in my garden:

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Jasminum nudiflorumWinter jasmine usually sends out a few flowers through out the winter whenever it gets warm.  The whole shrub is in bloom now with not many buds left for later.

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Galanthus 'Xmas' elwesiiThe giant snowdrop ‘Xmas’ does open flowers by Christmas, but right now the whole patch is in bloom and starting to go by.  Last year I had flowers through March.

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Galanthus 'Standing Tall' elwesiiThe giant snowdrop ‘Standing Tall’ also opens its buds around Christmas.  It was so early this year that its flowers are now completely done.

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Pulmonaria rubra 'Redstart'February-blooming ‘Redstart’ pulmonaria or lungwort is in full flower all through my gardens.

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Mahonia japonicaThe lovely, evergreen Japanese mahonia is a late winter bloomer but all my shrubs are in flower.

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‘Winter’s Song’, whose name has been inexplicably changed to ‘Joker’, is a Christmas rose cross that normally waits until late January or February.

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DSCN7294Double hybrid hellebores are generally a little later in my garden but this one looks gorgeous today.

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Narcissus 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation'How about this for a surprise?  On Christmas Day, ‘Rijnveld’s Early Sensation’ opened two flowers.  It is the earliest daffodil that I know of but that’s usually February.

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DSCN7296Highly fragrant winter-flowering honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) is blooming.  It usually flowers slightly before forsythia.

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DSCN7292‘Blue Lady’ hybrid hellebore decided to put on an early show.

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DSCN7268My favorite hellebore form with the little ruffles inside (petaloid) didn’t disappoint me.

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Geum 'Cooky'Geum ‘Cooky’ has been flowering all fall.

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Galanthus 'Fly Fishing'One of my favorite snowdrops ‘Fly Fishing’ has been whipping around in all the rain and wind on its extra long, fishing line pedicel (flower stem).

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Edgeworthia chrysanthaNo open flowers yet, but the edgeworthia flower buds are swelling to form elegant silver tassels.

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Many people have asked me what will happen in the spring?  Most of the plants that are flowering now are using buds that they formed after they were done flowering last spring.  If every bud opens, they will not form new buds and will not bloom again.  My advice is to enjoy them now!

Carolyn

Nursery Happenings: You can sign up to receive catalogues and emails about nursery events by sending your full name and phone number to carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net.  Subscribing to my blog does not sign you up to receive this information.

Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a local retail nursery in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S., zone 6b/7a. The only plants that we mail order are snowdrops and miniature hostas and only within the US.

Facebook: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens has a Facebook Page where I post single photos, garden tips, and other information that doesn’t fit into a blog post. You can look at my Facebook page here or click the Like button on my right sidebar here.

Notes: Every word that appears in orange on my blog is a link that you can click for more information. If you want to return to my blog’s homepage to access the sidebar information (catalogues, previous articles, etc.) or to subscribe to my blog, just click here.

26 Comments »

Late Fall Interest at Carolyn’s Shade Gardens

Posted in Camellias, Fall, Fall Color, How to, landscape design, my garden, snowdrops, winter, winter interest with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 9, 2015 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

Magnolia virginianaThe sunrise lights up the heavy frost outlining the semi-evergreen leaves of native sweetbay magnolia.

At Carolyn’s Shade Gardens in southeastern Pennsylvania, US, colorful fall foliage is mostly gone and deciduous trees and shrubs are no longer the focus of garden interest.  We must rely on other plants to take over where fall color left off and help us satisfy our goal of providing ornamental interest 365 days a year.  At this point, every plant still thriving assumes greater value in the garden, and we look to the understory to draw us outside for a stroll.  Here are some of my favorites for December:

Nursery News: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade.  The only plants that we ship are snowdrops and miniature hostas.  For catalogues and announcements of events, please send your full name, location, and phone number (for back up use only) to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com.  Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.

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Ilex verticillata 'Red Sprite'The berries of native winterberry hollies stand out in the landscape after their leaves have dropped.  In my garden, robins strip the berries fairly early in the season, but I have noticed that in most locations they persist well into the winter.

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Cyclamen hederifoliumFall-blooming hardy cyclamen is done blooming, but the leaves are gorgeous all winter.  If you look closely, they all have a different pattern like a snowflake.  Although I plant them where I want them, they move and thrive in sites of their own choosing.  Here they were planted at the front of the bed and moved to the back directly at the base of a stone wall, one of their favorite sites.

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Here ants moved the cyclamen seeds about 30 to 40 feet up hill all around the base of a gigantic London plane tree where they have filled in and thrived.  This is not an area of the garden that I visit often so you can imagine my surprise when I found this display.  An Italian arum made the trek too.

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Sasa veitchiiKuma bamboo grass, Sasa veitchii, has plain green leaves during the season but acquires this elegant white edge for the winter.  I planted my sasa over 10 years ago, and this is the first time that it has spread to a decent patch.  Generally it is considered quite aggressive.

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Arachniodes simplicior 'Variegata'Variegated East Indian holly fern, Arachnoides simplicior ‘Variegata’, is a beautiful evergreen fern.  Before you go looking for it though, I think it is borderline hardy here and it doesn’t thrive.

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Galanthus 'Potter's Prelude' elwesiiFall-blooming snowdrops like ‘Potter’s Prelude’ pictured here are a highlight of the fall season starting around October 15 and continuing until early main season snowdrops take over in January.

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Epimedium stellulatum "Long Leaf Form"This photo could show any number of my evergreen epimediums, but this is E. stellulatum “Long Leaf Form”.  They all have very interesting and attractive leaves which persist until spring when I cut them back.

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Pennisetum 'Moudry'Black fountain grass, Pennisetum ‘Moudry’, remains my favorite grass.  After a few hard frosts, it turns a lovely tan.  It does move around quite a bit but has never gone anywhere that I didn’t want it in 20 years.  It is downright invasive for others though, so beware.

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Arum italicum 'Gold Rush'Italian arum stays fresh and beautiful all winter—it goes dormant in the summer instead.  This cultivar is ‘Gold Rush’.

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Arum itlaicum selected seedlingAnother Italian arum with much more white on the leaves—for comparison a typical arum leaf is on the left of the photo.  It is possible to get a variety of leaf forms from specialized nurseries.

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Chionanthus retusus 'China Snow'Chinese fringe trees, Chionanthus retusus, produce lovely dark blue berries in the fall which persist after the leaves drop.  This plant is the superior form ‘China Snow’.

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Edgeworthia chrysanthaEdgeworthia is beautiful all year round but especially during late fall and winter when the large silver buds start to swell.  The leaves turn bright yellow and drop, leaving the bare branches covered with delicate silver ornaments.

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Camelia x 'Winter's Snowman'‘Winter’s Snowman’ camellia blooms in November and December with large, semi-double white flowers.

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Camellia x 'Winter's Joy'-001‘Winter’s Joy’ camellia

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Camellia x 'Winter's Joy'-003‘Winter’s Joy’ produces hundreds of buds.  When a hard frost turns the open flowers brown, new buds open and flowers cover the plant again as soon as it gets warmer.  Although this is usually the case, it didn’t happen during the last two winters when the buds froze early.

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Camellia oleifera 'Lu Shan Snow'The tea camellia ‘Lu Shan Snow’, C. oleifera, is particularly cold tolerant and has thrived in my garden for almost 20 years.  Camellias planted from 2013 on have been very hard to establish in the garden due to our unseasonably cold temperatures during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 winters.  The camellias that I planted prior to 2013 have all thrived.

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Carolyn

Nursery Happenings: You can sign up to receive catalogues and emails about nursery events by sending your full name and phone number to carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net.  Subscribing to my blog does not sign you up to receive this information.

Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a local retail nursery in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S., zone 6b/7a. The only plants that we mail order are snowdrops and miniature hostas and only within the US.

Facebook: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens has a Facebook Page where I post single photos, garden tips, and other information that doesn’t fit into a blog post. You can look at my Facebook page here or click the Like button on my right sidebar here.

Notes: Every word that appears in orange on my blog is a link that you can click for more information. If you want to return to my blog’s homepage to access the sidebar information (catalogues, previous articles, etc.) or to subscribe to my blog, just click here.

21 Comments »

What’s Ornamental in Late Fall?

Posted in Camellias, Fall, Fall Color, How to, landscape design, my garden, Shade Perennials, snowdrops with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 18, 2014 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

Cornus kousa 'Wolf's Eye'Gorgeous fall color of Kousa dogwood ‘Wolf Eyes’

In my last post, ‘What’s Blooming in Mid-Fall?” (click here to read), I explained that fall has three seasons for me: the early season is September, mid is October, and late is November.  I promised a post on the late season, which I fully intended to do at the end of November.  Unfortunately, the weather in the mid-Atlantic US just proceeded from temperatures typical of mid November, highs in the low 50s and lows in the low 40s, directly to temperatures more appropriate to January. When I got up this morning it was 24 degrees, and tonight’s low is 19 (-7.2 C), followed by three more nights in the low 20s.  Almost everything is frozen so I might as well do November now.

Nursery News:  Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade.  The only plants that we ship are snowdrops and miniature hostas.  For catalogues and announcements of events, please send your full name, location, and phone number (for back up use only) to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com.  Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.

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Cornus kousa 'Wolf's Eye'‘Wolf Eyes’ has green and white variegated leaves during its main season and turns pink in the fall.  Generally I recommend our native dogwood for its superior shape, flowers, berries, and fall color and because it supports 117 species of moths and butterflies alone while Kousa dogwood supports no native insects of any kind (source Bringing Nature Home by Doug Tallamy).  However, if you want to plant a Kousa, ‘Wolf Eyes’ is beautiful.

I hope readers won’t be disappointed because, with the exception of snowdrops, camellias, and a few others, the best ornamental plants in my November garden are prized for their leaves.  October is probably the best month for fall color in the mid-Atlantic, and the landscape blazes with red, orange, and yellow from the huge deciduous trees we are famous for.  However, woody plants that wait until November to turn color really stand out because native maples, hornbeam, sweetgum, etc. are done by then.  Here are a few that I treasure:

Carolyn's Shade Gardens in fallScarlet native dogwood on the left, orange witch hazel in the center, and brilliant red Japanese maple on the right.  This is the hill above the Carolyn’s Shade Gardens nursery sales area.

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'Hartlage Wine' sweetshrubNative hybrid ‘Hartlage Wine’ sweetshrub turns a lovely butter yellow in late fall.

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Enkianthus & Hosta 'Krossa Regal'All the blue hostas turn an attractive orange-yellow.  Here ‘Krossa Regal’ with the fiery orange leaves of enkianthus and a yellow Asian sweetshrub in the woodland.

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Disanthus cercidifoliusDisanthus cercidifolius is probably my favorite plant for November color.  This photo shows the whole shrub, which is probably 10′ wide and 6′ tall, although it could easily be pruned to a smaller size.  Some websites call it redbud hazel, but I have never heard that common name used.

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Disanthus cercidifoliusA close up of the leaves shows that disanthus displays many beautiful colors at once.  You can also see why it’s called cercidifolius, which means leaves like a redbud.

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Disanthus cercidifoliusDisanthus also blooms in November with tiny scarlet flowers.

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Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Sasaba'Another shrub that blooms in November is evergreen ‘Sasaba’ osmanthus.  Again the flowers are not highly ornamental but they are amazingly fragrant, sweetly scenting my whole back hillside.

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Camellia x 'Long Island Pink'Fall-blooming camellias are the highlight for flowering shrubs in November, here ‘Long Island Pink’ which started October 15.

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Camellia x 'Snow Flurry'‘Snow Flurry’ also continues to bloom.

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Camellia x 'Winter's Joy'‘Winter’s Joy’ starts in November and often continues into January.  I just hope its buds don’t freeze this week.

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Camellia x 'Winter's Snowman'‘Winter’s Snowman’ also starts in November.  I was going to show the whole plant, but all the open flowers froze last night.

Perennials also contribute to November interest:

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Hypericum 'Brigadoon'‘Brigadoon’ St. John’s wort and ‘John Creech’ sedum were not fazed by last night’s low.

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Aconitum species at ChanticleerThis late-blooming monkshood is always a highlight of my November garden, although it froze last night.  Shown here at Chanticleer.

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Heuchera 'Berry Smoothie'All the coralbells derived from our native Heuchera villosa keep their beautiful color in fall and through the winter, here ‘Berry Smoothie’.

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Malva 'Zebrina' ‘Zebrina’ hollyhock mallow gets a second wind in the fall and is covered with blooms in November.

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Arum 'Gold Rush'Italian arum comes up in the fall and stays ornamental all winter, it’s amazing.

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Pennisetum 'Moudry'Fall light slanting through my favorite ornamental grass ‘Moudry’ fountain grass.

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Pennisetum 'Moudry'Beware, ‘Moudry’s black plumes are quite striking, however, it can be quite aggressive.  I didn’t actually plant any of these plants, but I love where they planted themselves.

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Hart's tongue fern with epimediumHart’s tongue fern and evergreen epimediums are also beautiful right now and for most of the winter.

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Helleborus x 'Penny's Pink'Hellebores stay green through the winter, and some of them have spectacular leaves, here ‘Penny’s Pink’.

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Galanthus reginae-olgaeI couldn’t finish without showing some snowdrops!  Galanthus reginae-olgae finishes blooming in the middle of November.

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Galanthus elwesii "two scapes'I have a lot of fall-blooming giant snowdrops, Galanthus elwesii.  Here is one that I have selected for its nice markings and because it produces two flower scapes per plant.  It still looks pristine after last night’s freeze.

Keep warm,

Carolyn

 

Nursery Happenings:   You can sign up to receive notifications of catalogues, sales, and events at the nursery by sending your full name and phone number to carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net.

Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a local retail nursery in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S., zone 7a. The only plants that we mail order are snowdrops and miniature hostas and only within the US.

If you are within visiting distance and would like to receive catalogues and information about customer events, please send your full name and phone number to carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net. Subscribing to my blog does not sign you up to receive this information.

Facebook: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens has a Facebook Page where I post single photos, garden tips, and other information that doesn’t fit into a blog post. You can look at my Facebook page here or click the Like button on my right sidebar here.

Notes: Every word that appears in orange on my blog is a link that you can click for more information. If you want to return to my blog’s homepage to access the sidebar information (catalogues, previous articles, etc.) or to subscribe to my blog, just click here.

29 Comments »

Fall 2013 Snowdrops and Camellias

Posted in Camellias, evergreen, Fall, Shade Shrubs, snowdrops, winter, winter interest with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 11, 2013 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

Nursery Happenings: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade.  The only plants that we ship are snowdrops and miniature hostas.  For catalogues and announcements of events, please send your full name, location, and phone number (for back up use only) to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com.  Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.

Camellia x 'Long Island Pink'‘Long Island Pink’ fall-blooming hardy camellia

As my garden begins to quiet down in the second half of fall, two of my favorite plants come into their full glory.  One is fall-blooming hardy camellias, and the other is fall-blooming snowdrops.  Both are quite rare, at least in the U.S., but both are quite easy to grow and look wonderful together.  And the key to my appreciation of them is that late fall, November and December, is their main season.  When other plants are succumbing to frost, camellias and snowdrops begin their show with a fresh and pristine look.

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Galanthus elwesii Hiemalis GroupThis fall-blooming form of the giant snowdrop selected at Carolyn’s Shade Gardens began flowering on November 1 this year and will be offered in the 2014 Snowdrop Catalogue.  Technically it is called Galanthus elwesii var. monstictus Hiemalis Group CSG-01, what a mouthful.

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Galanthus elwesii Novemnber bloomingAnother shot of my fall-blooming snowdrops showing how they are nestled in among evergreen hellebores and Japanese holly ferns to highlight the pure white flowers.

I readily admit that I am a snowdrop addict—a galanthophile.  And I can even understand how some gardeners fail to get excited about these little white flowers in the spring.  However, in November and December when even the hardy cylcamen are done, snowdrops are so bright and cheerful that the winter doldrums disappear the minute I see them.  You can even have flowers beginning in mid-October by planting the earliest blooming species Galanthus reginae-olgae.  For more on fall-blooming snowdrops, click here.

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Galanthus elwesii green-tippedAnother fall-blooming giant snowdrop selected here at Carolyn’s Shade Gardens for it’s early November bloom time and green-tipped outer segments.  It received high praise recently when I posted photos on the Scottish Rock Garden Club Galanthus Forum, even the UK galanthophiles with access to hundreds of cultivars were impressed.  Hopefully it will multiply quickly and someday I can offer it for sale.

I am working on the 2014 Snowdrop Catalogue right now and will have it posted on the website before January 1.  There are a lot of exciting cultivars available for 2014, but unfortunately they are in very short supply so if you are interested, order early.  I have written quite a few blog posts and articles about snowdrops.  You can find them all compiled in the post New Feature Article on Snowdrops by clicking here.

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Camellia Winter's Snowman‘Winter’s Snowman’ fall-blooming camellia has gorgeous, shiny, dark evergreen leaves.

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Camellia Winter's Snowman‘Winter’s Snowman’ produces two types of flowers on the same plant: the anemone-form flowers on the right and the more open semi-double flowers on the left.

Like the snowdrops above, fall-blooming camellias are outstanding in November and December when their large and colorful flowers are shown off to perfection by their shiny evergreen leaves.  However, they bring even more to the garden because unlike the ephemeral snowdrops, camellias are shrubs that provide the beauty of their evergreen leaves and lovely habit year round.

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Camellia sasanqua Nokoriko‘Nokoriko’ is new to my garden this year, and I love its unusual flower color.  Although it is said to be hardy in zone 6, it is a selection from the species Camellia sasanqua, which is not always hardy in our area.  Only time will tell.

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I have written a lot about fall-blooming camellias and featured photos of dozens of plants that are hardy in zones 6 and 7.  All my articles are compiled in the blog post New York Times Photos where I provided a link to my camellia photos that appeared in that newspaper.   To see those photos and read more about camellias, click here. If you are looking for information about or photos of a particular hardy camellia cultivar, type the name into the Search My Website area on the sidebar of my home page (if the sidebar is not on the right, click here).

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Camellia Arctic SnowThis photo of  ‘Arctic Snow’ gives an idea of how many buds each camellia can produce.

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Camellia Arctic Snow‘Arctic Snow’ flower

The one drawback to fall-blooming camellias is that if we have unseasonably cold weather, below 25 degrees F (-3.8 C) or so, any open flowers can be frozen and ruined.  This happened this year during the last week of November when the temperature dropped to an official 21 degrees F (-6 C) but was actually 18 degrees in my garden and as low as 12 degrees elsewhere.  However, the unopened buds on my plants didn’t freeze, and the flowers continued to open.  We are now experiencing another bout of colder than normal weather, and I am not sure the buds will make it through unscathed this time.

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Camellia Long Island Pink ‘Long Island Pink’

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Camellia x 'Long Island Pink'A close up of ‘Long Island Pink’ and its beautiful leaves.

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Usually I visit other gardens to show you camellias.  However, this year I am highlighting the cultivars that I grow myself.  Enjoy the photos and keep warm during the extra chilly weather we are experiencing.

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Camellia olifera Lu Shan SnowThe oldest camellia in my garden is ‘Lu Shan Snow’, a Camellia oleifera cultivar and the hardy camellia used by Dr. Ackerman at the US National Arboretum to develop many modern hardy camellia cultivars.

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Camellia olifera Lu Shan Snow‘Lu Shan Snow’

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Camellia Winter's Joy‘Winter’s Joy’ is one of my favorites because it produces so many buds and flowers.

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Camellia Winter's Joy‘Winter’s Joy’

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Camellia Winter's Star White‘Winter’s Star White’

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Camellia x 'Winter's Darling'‘Winter’s Darling’

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Camellia x 'Elaine Lee'‘Elaine Lee’

Carolyn

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Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a local retail nursery in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S., zone 6b. The only plants that we mail order are snowdrops and miniature hostas and only within the US.

If you are within visiting distance and would like to receive catalogues and information about customer events, please send your full name and phone number to carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net. Subscribing to my blog does not sign you up to receive this information.

Facebook: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens has a Facebook Page where I post single photos, garden tips, and other information that doesn’t fit into a blog post. You can look at my Facebook page here or click the Like button on my right sidebar here.

Notes: Every word that appears in orange on my blog is a link that you can click for more information. If you want to return to my blog’s homepage to access the sidebar information (catalogues, previous articles, etc.) or to subscribe to my blog, just click here.

31 Comments »

Woody Plants for Shade Part 6

Posted in Camellias, evergreen, Shade Gardening, Shade Shrubs, winter interest with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 28, 2012 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade.  The only plants that we ship are snowdrops and miniature hostas.  For catalogues and announcements of events, please send your full name, location, and phone number (for back up use only) to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com.  Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.

‘Early Amethyst’ beautyberry, Callicarpa dichotoma, is available in the current offer but was profiled in a previous woody plant post so I am not describing it here.  However, it is a favorite for fall interest and I wanted to include a photo.  For a full write up of this plant,  go to Woody Plants for Shade Part 3.

My nursery, Carolyn’s Shade Gardens, specializes in perennials for shade with an emphasis on hellebores, unusual bulbs especially snowdrops, hostas particularly miniature hostas, native plants, and ferns.  However, a satisfying shade garden does not consist of just perennials but includes trees, shrubs, and vines.

‘Winter’s Joy’ fall-blooming hardy camellia is another repeat, see this post for details.  I planted one myself last fall, and I would like to add to my previous write up that this camellia has more buds and flowers than any other camellia in my garden.  In 2011, it produced the beautiful flowers pictured above through out the entire winter.  Right now my plant is poised to do it again with hundreds of buds waiting to open.

Despite the need, woody plants for shade are difficult to find in local nurseries.  To fill this gap for my customers, three times a year, I offer woody plants for pre-order.  The plants chosen for the offer are the result of hours of painstaking selection in the shade houses of wholesale nurseries to find the healthiest, most desirable woodies available.


‘Winter’s Snowman’ fall-blooming hardy camellia is another favorite offered previously, see this post for details.  I have written three articles about fall-blooming hardy camellias in general.  If you are interested in finding out more about them, start here Fall-blooming Hardy Camellias Part 3, and you will find links to the first two installments.

 It is now time for my fall 2012 woody offer.  If you are a customer, you should already have gotten an email with all the details.  Blog readers can look at the catalogue on line by clicking here.  My nursery is on site retail sales only.  The only plants I ship are snowdrops in February and miniature hostas later in the season.  However, I hope out-of-town readers will get some good ideas for woody shade plants to look for at their local independent nursery.

The previous three photos are of another repeat: paper bush, Edgeworthia chrysantha, for details click here.  My plants have thrived through the last two hot and dry summers with pristine tropical looking leaves, gorgeous fall-forming buds, and highly fragrant late winter-blooming flowers.  This is truly a shrub with 365 days of interest.

So much for the preliminaries and repeat offerings, let’s get to the new plants.  There are six: three from my favorite group of shrubs, hydrangeas, and three evergreens for winter interest (the camellias are evergreen too).  Here are the details.

Native oakleaf hydrangea, H. quercifolia. 

The fall color of oakleaf hydrangea.

Our native oakleaf hydrangea, H. quercifolia, is the best all round shrub for shade—everyone should have at least one!  Huge, long-lasting, upright pyramids of white flowers bloom from May through July. It has bold-textured leaves with heart-stopping burgundy-red fall color, and cinnamon-colored exfoliating bark—a true four season plant. 

The white flowers of ‘Amethyst’ oakleaf hydrangea age to a striking red that does not fade when dried.  Great for flower arranging.

I am offering ‘Amethyst’ native oakleaf hydrangea, a new cultivar selected because  its initially white flowers turn to a striking red color and stay that way.  It grows to 5 to 6’ tall and 5 to 6’ wide in sun to full shade.  It is hardy in USDA hardiness zones 5 to 9, walnut and drought tolerant, and native to the southeastern US.

 

‘Blue Bird’ sawtooth hydrangea, H. serrata


‘Blue Bird’ sawtooth hydrangea produces lovely blue lacecap flowers starting in June for an extended period.  Acid soil results in the best blue tint.  I also grow it for its beautiful clean bright green leaves through out the season, which are enhanced by red highlights in the fall.  It is very tolerant of cold temperatures avoiding bud and twig dieback in harder winters.  ‘Blue Bird’ reaches 4′ tall and 4′ wide in part to dappled shade and grows in zones 5 to 9.  Sawtooth hydrangea is native to Korea and Japan.

This photo shows ‘Endless Summer’ bigleaf hydrangea, H. macrophylla, right now.  Yes, it is loaded with fresh flowers and buds and has been blooming since late spring.

‘Endless Summer’ bigleaf hydrangea sports very large pink or blue mophead flowers from late spring through summer and well into fall—it’s in full bloom right now as you can see from the photo above.  It represents a recent breakthrough in hydrangeas because it blooms on old and new wood giving it an extended bloom season.  This also means that if the buds formed on old wood the previous season are frozen over the winter, buds will form on new wood as the season progresses.  ‘Endless Summer’s’ large, medium green leaves provide a pleasing backdrop for the flowers.  It grows in zones 4 to 9 and reaches 4′ tall and 4′ wide in part shade.  It is recommended for full sun only with supplemental watering.  Bigleaf hydrangea is native to Japan.

‘Gold Dust’ Japanese aucuba, A. japonica, is an elegant specimen for deep shade.

A close up of the unusual leaves of ‘Gold Dust’ Japanese aucuba—glorious in winter.

‘Gold Dust’ Japanese aucuba’s very shiny, broadleaf evergreen leaves sprinkled with yellow spots make it one of the most vibrant and colorful plants to thrive in dense shade.  I have grown it successfully for many years in several areas of my garden that receive no direct sunlight.  It is very vigorous, disease free, and easy to grow as long as you don’t plant it in the sun.  ‘Gold Dust’ grows to 6 to 8′ tall and 4 to 6′ wide in part to dense full shade and is hardy in zones 7 to 9.  Aucuba is native to Japan, and the variegated form was introduced to the west in 1783.

The fall flowers of ‘Rose Creek’ glossy abelia, A. x grandiflora.

‘Rose Creek’ is a compact form of glossy abelia, great for smaller spaces and smaller gardens.

‘Rose Creek’ is a dense and compact glossy abelia that covers itself in a multitude of wonderfully fragrant, showy white flowers continuously from May through September.   When the flower petals drop off, the rosy pink sepals (bud enclosures) remain and are very eye-catching.  The beautiful, glossy evergreen foliage has pink highlights and turns purple in the fall, providing excellent winter interest.  The stems are  crimson red.  ‘Rose Creek’ grows to 2 to 3′ tall and 3 to 4′ wide in part shade or full sun and is hardy in zones 5 to 9.  It is deer resistant and attracts butterflies and hummingbirds.  Glossy abelia is a cross between two Chinese abelia species.

The incredibly shiny leaves of Prague viburnum, V. x pragense, sparkle in the winter.

This photo of the flower of Prague viburnum was kindly lent to me by Monrovia, for their full plant profile, click here.

Prague viburnum’s pink buds open into large, bouquet-like, creamy white flowers in May followed by glossy, persistent black fruit.  Just as ornamental are its very showy, lustrous, dark evergreen leaves.  Prague viburnum reaches 8′ tall and 6′ wide in full sun to part shade and is hardy in zones 5 to 8.  You can grow it in full shade and the leaves will be gorgeous, but it won’t flower very well.  It is fast growing and deer resistant.  It is a cross between leatherleaf and service viburnums, which are both from China.

I hope you have a space in your garden for at least one of these wonderful shrubs for shade.  For more ideas, check out Woody Plants for Shade Parts 1 to 5 using the links provided below:

Part 1,   Part 2,   Part 3,   Part 4,   Part 5

Carolyn

Nursery Happenings:  Shrub orders are due by noon on Wednesday, October 3.  For the catalogue, click here.  We are offering two sessions of a seminar on low maintenance gardening for fall on Wednesday, October 3, and Friday, October 5, from 10 to 11:30 am.  For the details, click here.  Look for a special offer of double hellebores next week.

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