While my daughter and I were running around, my wonderful husband decided to check out our irrigation system. We were told the house had one when we bought it, but we haven't given it much thought and even with all of the digging we've been doing, we've only run across one sprinkler head. With the hot weather we've been having lately, we decided to see if it worked. I was expecting the worst, but it seems like everything is working, even though it doesn't look like it's been used for over five years or so. We're going to schedule it to run tonight and see what happens.
Ok - now onto the plant:
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| Courtesy Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder |
Scientific name: Itea Virginica 'Henry's Garnet'
Common name(s): Virginia Sweetspire
Height x Width: 3-4' x 4-6'
Growth rate: unknown
Hardiness: Zones 5-9
Soil: Prefers well-drained soil, medium to wet, but can tolerate a range of soil conditions
Light: Full sun to partial shade
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| Courtesy Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder |
After the past few weeks, where I've been talking about sun perennials and exotic plants, I'm back to my old standard: shade tolerant native plants. Virginia sweetspire is a native shrub with a lot going on. It blooms in the early summer and then the foliage turns a deep burgundy red in the fall. The variety 'Henry's Garnet' is known for superior flowers and autumn foliage.
Reasons I like it:
- Attractive, rounded habit
- Multi-season interest
- Deer resistant
Where would I put it?
- Side bed?
- Backyard understory
- Possibly even front island, if I wanted to add shrubs out there
The big draw for this shrub is the fall foliage, obviously, but I also like the fact it is an early summer bloomer. My ultimate dream is to have a perfectly timed landscape, with items of interest popping up across the garden as the season goes on. With the bazillion varieties of azaleas we have, Spring is covered, but Summer and Fall could use a little attention. I think 'Henry's Garnet' fits the bill perfectly.
Do you take "timing" into account when you buy a plant? If so - how do you keep track of when everything blooms/gets interesting?
I'm a little OCD when it comes to planning, so to keep myself organized as I'm planning my garden(s) for next year I made myself an excel spreadsheet. As I find plants I like, I fill in the spreadsheet with plant time, bloom time, where I found it, and for how much. That way when I go to buy plants hopefully I don't just go "Oh PRETTY" and end up with a yard that looks great for a month, and that's it! Part of the 'end goal' is to be able to have cut flowers inside as often as possible, so hopefully that will help keep me focused when it comes time to buy plants!
ReplyDeleteEmily - that's a great idea. I use excel every day at work, but never really thought about using it to track plants. In fact, until I started this blog, all of my garden-related records were on paper, which is a little strange. Do you keep track of fall foliage or winter interest as well?
ReplyDelete