Conifers are the Cure

Does our Zone 5 plant palette ever seem limiting to you? Do you yearn for just one specimen plant that no one else in northern Illinois has? Do you ever look at your garden and think, "If I could just get a plant with year 'round interest for that spot I'd be so much happier with my garden?" I know I'm always thinking what would be hot in this or that spot. Do we need a support group for those of us looking for plants off the beaten path?

If it existed I would suggest "Conifers are the Cure". For those that haven't been smitten or bitten yet, but want more landscape interest the world of evergreens awaits. The range of colors (gold, blue, lime, silver and more), forms (columnar, weeping, globe, pencil point and more), needle textures and often wonderful cones is far broader than you might think.

For example: Blue spruces come in different shapes. Love the powder blue color of 'Fat Albert', but lack the space for a 30' tree? Two dwarf forms are popular and readily available. 'Globe' blue spruce exhibits the same intense color typical of the best grafted blues, but with a flattish top, maturing at 5' tall and a bit wider than that.

Globe Blue Spruce

If you want something more sculptural imagine a weeping blue spruce for your garden. One great cultivar is 'The Blues'- kind of clever, eh? Weeping/sad/blue.... But it doesn't look sad. Like most weeping evergreens the mature height and spread tend to be variable based on how they're trained as young plants. A 5-6' height and wider spread might be a realistic expectation after 10 years.

Need another true blue option other than spruce? Pictured below is a Dwarf Blue Concolor Fir (Abies concolor 'Glauca Compacta') . The color is certainly equal to any blue spruce, but the needles are velvety soft to the touch. It withstands temperature extremes and drought, but only reaches 8' tall, with a space-saving 3' girth.

Dwarf Blue Concolor Fir

Norway spruces, with their dark, dark green needles come in all shapes and sizes including weeping, too. Again, like other weepers variability is to be expected. Norway's do tolerate shade, if they're forced into that situation. The dark color on such an architectural specimen arising from winter snow is pretty stunning.

Weeping Norway Spruce

Rich, true gold exists in the conifer palette, too. The use of a gold specimen makes a standout contrast and really puts an exclamation point wherever you place it. There are wonderful yews, like 'Dwarf Bright Gold' (medium height spreader) that is gold for weeks in the spring before "greening off" for the summer. I really like 'Gold Mops' Falsecypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Gold Mops') for a fun broad-based gold specimen 365 a year. It came through last winter's weather horror with no damage in my garden.

Mops Falsecypress

Space calling for a  tall drink of water, as my grandfather used to say? The columnar Norway spruce (Picea abies 'Cupressina') fills that bill perfectly. Growing rapidly to at least 30' with a 6' spread, this one has multiple uses. Could be a specimen (single plant by itself in a starring role), staggered in odd-numbered groupings to define a space or single file to create a screen where height and minimal spread are desired. Again, any Norway spruce can do sun or considerable shade.

Similarly height-blessed, but width-challenged,  is the wonderful Weeping white spruce (Picea glauca 'Pendula')  pictured below. This is a great plant to break the strong horizontal lines of a ranch house. Always a predictable pencil-pointed, silver-gray specimen, pruning is never needed. This shape is just genetic destiny. Like most conifers more sun means a fuller, denser plant.

Weeping White Spruce

                 
Do take the time to explore all your options beyond arborvitae, yew and blue spruce. Honestly, finding just the right evergreen specimen can cure the 'garden blahs'.

"High" on 'Drangeas

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Endless Summer'

If plant popularity is directly proportional to the number of new varieties debuting annually, Hydrangeas are HOT, HOT, HOT. Exciting new varieties are popping up like mushrooms after a summer rain.

Why all the Hydrangea excitement?

• Something-for-everyone range of flower forms including mophead (softball), panicle (cone-shaped) and lacecap (flat-topped donut with a lacy, open center). Flowers not only last a long time, but many develop interesting seed heads for winter interest.
• Sun or partial shade tolerance. If you're putting them in sun in hot summer climates, find a site with some afternoon shade. But do give them at least 4-5 hours of sun. Don't test their shade tolerance by placing them in an hour of dappled sun and expect great flowering. They'll have great foliage instead. If you have little sun plant Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia). 
• Fabulous color range of white and creams, pinks, blues, lilacs and in-between.
• Many paniculatas (cone-shaped flowers) are available as shrubs or single-trunk trees called "standards".
• They're very easy care, low maintenance plants.

Some amazing varieties worthy of consideration for your garden:

Annabelle (H. arborescens)  The grande dame of hardiness, versatility and performance. Softball-sized, long-lasting heads of creamy white in midsummer. Flowers on both new and old wood. Shade tolerant. 5' tall and wide.

Bobo (H. paniculata)  Just a flower-making dwarf powerhouse, even when young. The creamy white flowers, like all paniculatas, are cone-shaped. Strong stems support the masses of flowers well. Sun, partial shade. 3' tall, 4' wide. Rock hardy, blooms on new growth. Love it- have six myself!

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Endless Summer'

Endless Summer (H. macrophylla)  The standard for "mophead" Hydrangeas. Has the potential to bloom on both new and old wood. Nice medium pink flowers (if grown in alkaline soil), but blue in acid soils. 3-4' tall and wide.

Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'

Limelight (H. paniculata)  Chartreuse-green, cone-shaped flowers in midsummer on a vigorous plant that can be 7' tall and wide. Flowers are green, pink and burgundy in fall before they age to fish-scale brown. Very strong stems support the sizable flowers well. Sun/partial shade.

Little Lime (H. paniculata)  Small-space gardeners will appreciate this petite version of Limelight that grows only 4' tall and wide. It brings to the garden proportionately smaller flowers, but masses of them, with the same unique color as its namesake. Sun/partial shade.

Pinky Winky (H. paniculata)  Big cone-shaped flowers open white, quickly start turning pink at the base, all the while growing new white tips at the end. Really different, really pretty. Blooms on new growth. 7' tall and wide. Sun/partial shade.
      
Strawberry Sundae (H. paniculata)  Another choice dwarf for people with small spaces. Beautiful, dense white flowers that gradually change to strawberry pink (bottom up) as you might well have suspected. Blooms on new growth. 4' tall, 5' wide. Sun/partial shade.

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Twist-n-Shout'

Twist-n-Shout (H. paniculata)  Distinctive "lacecap" flowers have a row or more of large sterile flowers surrounding a loosely open center of fertile flowers. Subtle, as Hydrangeas go. Pink when soil is alkaline, blue when acid. 4' tall and wide. The red stems and burgundy-red fall color are unusual for Hydrangea.

Hydrangea paniculata 'Vanilla Strawberry'

Vanilla Strawberry (H. paniculata)  The progression from white to pink and strawberry red is a tasty feast for the eyes. 6' tall, 5' wide. Sun/partial shade.

It's o.k. to be plant addicted. If you feel like you're bordering on Hydrangea obsessive, tell people you're a collector. They'll just think you're charming and eccentric.

Garden Training for Excess Raining

I thought I had a handle on just how wet the summer has been. My rain gauge (that measures 100ths of an inch, I'm proud to say) recorded 9.30" for June. I just spoke with a fellow horticulturist who was telling me that she was pruning and found gangs of slugs hiding in yew branches four feet off the ground. We've revealed a new definition of saturation point: So wet that even slugs seek higher ground!

Short of dragging water-soaked containers under overhangs or setting up umbrellas over drought-tolerant perennials, there's only so much a person can do to stem the flood waters. Here are a few proactive things that may help save plants after the recent deluges.

Override the Sprinkler System 
Congrats to those folks that have automatic overrides. For those that have manual controls, please consider shutting off your system on an as-needed basis! We've all seen sprinklers gushing water in the middle of a downpour. In addition to the ecological benefits of conserving water, think about the dollar savings.

Drain Your Saucers
Plants in containers (with holes in the bottom) have much better drainage than plants in our clay-laden garden soils. Hanging baskets or decorative pots with saucers (attached or otherwise) must be checked daily and emptied. The potting mix will have absorbed all the moisture it can hold after 30 minutes. After that, roots are dying. So, be extra vigilant about water removal with all the rain we've been receiving.

Formerly full begonias

Remember to Fertilize
Nutrient deficiencies may start showing up in plants on a patio near you, namely yours. Most potting mixes are "soilless". They are either coarse peat or bark-based to promote drainage. They have minimal nutrient content regardless of whether the bag says "Fertilizer Added" or not. Constant rainfall, like our own frequent watering, leaches nitrogen out of the bottom of the pot. Nitrogen is responsible for leaf and stem growth, as well as leaf color. Add a complete fertilizer (nitrogen, phosphorous and potash-containing) to keep your plants in tip-top shape as needed.  

Control the Slugs
Populations of slugs and earwigs are exploding. Protect hostas, lettuce, spinach and other slug faves with the iron phosphate baits. They are applied directly to the ground under and around your ornamentals and vegetables. The varmints eat the bait and crawl away to die within a day or two.

Chewed on petunia

Check New Plantings Daily
Newly planted perennials, shrubs and trees that were container grown will need to be checked daily for water. Remember they've been potted in a coarse mix to promote drainage. That doesn't change because they're out of the pot and in the ground. It is possible that the day after a good rain the root ball of your new plant could be dry, even while the surrounding soil is wet. Never assume anything about rainfall and new plants.  

Check Before Watering
Wilting plants MAY or MAY NOT indicate a need for water. Ironically, plants wilt when they're standing in water just the same as if they're bone dry. So, before you water that wilting Hydrangea or coleus in the midday sun, check the mulch or soil surface to see if it's moist. If so, wait a few hours and revisit the plant in the cooler part of the day, and see if it hasn't returned to normal. If not, water may be needed.

Water stress-induced leaf roll on tomato

Preventative Treatments
Use fungicides preventatively on plants with a past history of fungal issues. Roses and black spot, tomatoes and blight(s), Garden phlox and powdery mildew, are among the common health issues to be expected with constant rainfall and high humidity. Again, prevention of further infection is the goal. Present symptoms will not be reversed.

Enjoy the lush growth in your garden because of, and in spite of, the incredible rainfall!!!