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Tag Archives: Horticulture Report
Chojuro Asian Pear
Plant Type: Fruit Tree
Bloom Time: Early
Fruit Ripens: Late August, Early September
Plant Height: Upright 16-18 feet
Exposure: Full Sun
Soil: Medium Fertile
USDA: Zone: 5-8
Attributes: Very productive, Golden fruit with butterscotch-like flavor when tree-ripened. Medium to large fruit. Fruit Keeps.
Other Info: Thin fruit to increase fruit size. Best pollinators: Other variety of Asian pear or Bartlett pear.
Grandpa Ott’s Morning Glory
Ipomoea purpurea (Grandpa Ott’s Morning Glory)
Plant Type: Annual (twinning vine)
Sowing Method: Direct sow seeds in spring (first soak seed in warm water for 24 hrs, then nick the seed)
Bloom Time: Summer until frost – 12 weeks
Flower: Royal purple trumpet with deep pink “star”.
Plant Height: 13-15 feet
Exposure: Full Sun
Soil: Average well drained soil
Attributes: Attracts Humming Birds, Hardy, Easy to Grow, Re-seeds freely, Covers fence or trellis in a profusion of lovely flowers.
USDA Zones: 3-10
California Giant Zinnia
Zinnia elegans (California Giant Zinnia)
California Giant Zinnia
Plant Type: Annual
Bloom Time: Early Summer to Frost
Flowers: Large 4” – 5” Double Flowers
Plant Height: 30” – 48” tall
Vibrant Mixed Colors: Orange, Red, Yellow, White, Cherry, Pink, Scarlet, Purple
Exposure: Full sun
Soil: Loamy – Well Drained
Attributes: Excellent Cut Flower, Easy to Grow, Long Lasting, Attracts Humming Birds & Butterflies, Drought Tolerant, Very Showy especially in mass plantings, Terrific for Drying.
USDA Zone: All
Submitted by: Carlotta Lucas
Horticultural Report: Ornamental Grasses
Ornamental grass species offer distinctive foliage and varying textures to blend and contrast with the more standard flowering perennials.
There are two types of grasses: warm-season & cool-season. The warm-season grasses are mainly deciduous, growing from spring through summer, blooming in fall, & going dormant in winter. Cool -season grasses are usually evergreen & start their growth in fall, flowering in spring and summer. Both types have their flower clusters atop slender stems which bend & flow in the wind making them an interesting feature in the garden.
Ornamental grasses also have two growth habits: running & clumping. Running grasses multiply by spreading stolons or rhizomes, and can be invasive. The clumping type is not invasive.
There are ornamental grasses for all light conditions & soil types, and many work as container plants.
Early spring is the best time to plant & divide, & cut back & tidy up clumps of dead leaves & flowering stems from the previous year. When planting the grasses, work organic matter, compost, and a complete fertilizer into the soil, & plant the crown above the soil line to encourage drainage & prevent rot.
Carex buchananii – Leatherleaf Sedge – ‘Red Rooster’
Light -full sun to part shade
Height – 18″ – 24″
Bloom – insignificant
Care – thrives in moist, rich soil
Featured uses – cool-season grass; narrow copper-bronze foliage; maintains color all year; upright-clumping form; ideal for containers
Other notes – Carex or Sedges are not true grasses, but their appearance is grass like.
Helictotrichon sempervirens – Blue Oat Grass
Light – full sun
Height – 2′ – 3′
Bloom – May – July; tan to cream flower spiked bloom on arching stems
Care – needs very well drained soil; feed in early spring with all purpose
fertilizer; comb out old growth Featured uses – cool-season grass; accent, borders, mass planting; semi evergreen perennial; stiff, clumping blue/gray to blue/green foliage
Imperata cylindrical – Japanese Blood Grass – ‘Rubra’
Light – sun or shade, but color is more intense if full sun or where
sunlight can shine through foliage
Height – 12″ – 24″
Bloom – none
Care – good soil & moderate watering
Featured uses – warm-season grass; moderate growing; clumping; 
deciduous; broadleaf foliage that is the most colorful of the grasses with the blood red color at the upper half of the blade
Pennisetum alopecuriodes – Dwarf Fountain Grass ‘Hameln’
Light – full sun
Height – 3′
Bloom – tan foxtail like flower plumes on slender stems rise above foliage from late summer into autumn
Care – average to good soil & regular watering Featured uses – warm-season grass; clumps of broadly arching foliage
Pennisetum setaceum – Fountain Grass – ‘Rubrum’
Light – full sun
Height – 2′ – 5′
Bloom – long plumes of dark rose colored flowers fading to beige from July to October
Care – drought tolerant
Featured uses – warm season grass; dense clump of bronzy, purplish red
foliage.
by: Viki Ashford
Horticulture Report: May 2013
Rhododendrons & Azaleas
What’s the difference between Rhododendrons and azaleas?
Azaleas are Rhododendrons. They belong to the subgenus pentanthera (deciduous) and the subgenus Tsustusti (mostly evergreen).
Azaleas are elepidotes, they never have scales.
Azaleas have five lobes to the flower.
Most azaleas have only one stamen for each lobe of the flower, while most other rhododendrons have two stamens for each lobe.
Azaleas tend to have appressed hairs (hairs that grow parallel to the surface of the leaf). This is particularly true along the midrib of the under-surface of the leaf and is easily seen in the so called “evergreen” azaleas.
Azaleas have tubular funnel or funnel shaped flowers. You need a microscope to see this, but the hair on a “standard” rhododendron will often branch, while the hair on azaleas never does.
Basic Needs:
Rhododendrons must have a constant supply of moisture.
They are sensitive to poorly drained conditions.
Hot wet conditions are more dangerous than cool, wet conditions.
They need an acid soil of pH 5-6.
Fertilizer: A 10-6-4 formula is optimal. For the best growth and flowers apply fertilizer after the plant goes dormant between late Nov and Jan, a second application in Feb or March, a third time in April or May, and a final time in June or July.
Pruning:
Always prune right after flowering. Even large plants can be cut back. Rhododendrons & azaleas flower on the prior year’s wood, therefore the buds for next spring’s flowers form during the previous summer or fall. If you prune them later in the summer, fall or winter you will be trimming off your flowers for the spring.
Prune larger leaved rhododendrons just above the growth joints.
Prune azaleas and small leafed rhododendrons anywhere along the stem. These plants have dormant growth buds nearly everywhere, though you may not be able to see them.
Deadheading and Pinching:
Light pruning and shaping should be done yearly when you deadhead. Snap off the old flower trusses. You may pinch out the single terminal growth buds just as they start to grow. It will make a shorter and bushier plant.
For more information:
American Rhododendron Society
http://www.rhododendron.org/
American Azalea Society
http://azaleas.org/
Definitions:
Elepidotes are large leaved rhododendrons. They are the type of shrub that most individuals would associate as being a rhododendron. They do not have scales located on the underside of the leaves. Plants tend to be very large in their maturity.
Lepidote rhododendron have smaller leaves and are usually low growing or dwarfs. They usually bloom earlier in the spring than the larger leaved elepidotes. Tiny scales cover the undersides of the leaves of some rhododendron species.