Shrubs – Page 2 – Heirloom Gardener

Dried Annabelle Hydrangeas

February 17, 2008April 16, 2017 julia erickson5 Comments

I have several Annabelle hydrangeas on Goldberry Hill. During the summer, their large white mopheads look great both in the garden and brought indoors as cut flowers. As they age, they turn green and then brown. This summer, my friend P cut some of them when they were green, dried them at her home, and gave them to me as a present in the early winter. As you can see, they have retained their attractive green color.

For a prior post about their contribution to the garden in winter, click here: http://heirloomgardener.blogspot.com/2007/12/annabelle-hydrangea-in-winter.html.

How to Prune Pee Gee Hydrangeas and Wisteria: Before Spring Growth Resumes

February 17, 2008April 16, 2017 julia erickson5 Comments

February is the time in my garden to prune the pee gee hydrangeas and the wisteria. I have two pee gee hydrangea standards: one along my front walk (pictured before and after pruning) in the Front Border and another along the fence in the back garden. I do this primarily because space is limited where it’s growing and, secondly, by pruning it I get more blooms (for a picture of the blooms, click here: http://heirloomgardener.blogspot.com/2008/01/front-border-in-summer-plan-for-new.html).

The best time to do this is when the plant is dormant, before the buds begin to swell. If you wait until spring growth resumes, you risk removing this year’s flowers. Pruning can be done in the early winter, but you will miss the lovely dried blooms during the winter. Every year I prune away the previous year’s growth for the one along the walkway. I also take out any twiggy branches that have died back during the winter. For the other which has more space allotted to it, I trim it back to shape it and remove spindly growth.

The wisteria I have is grown as a tree, but the pruning for it is the same as it would be for one grown against a wall. Each branch is cut back to the third or forth bud and any wispy growth is removed. The wisteria is good now until mid summer at which point it will need pruning again.

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Here is a picture of the same pee gee hydrangea in bloom:

Related post: How and Why to Prune Hydrangeas

Winter Garden Highlight: Lace Cap Hydrangea on Goldberry Hill

February 2, 2008April 16, 2017 julia erickson4 Comments

As I’ve written about in some of my prior posts, I have been trying to improve the appearance of my garden in winter. Part of this improvement includes appreciating the beauty that is already there, such as the large, mature hydrangea at the top of Goldberry Hill. The form and color of the bare stems have a beauty all their own.

For a picture of this same hydrangea in summer, click here: http://heirloomgardener.blogspot.com/2008/01/gardening-on-hill-goldberry-hill-in.html

Japanese Beautyberry (Unexpected) Propagation

February 2, 2008April 16, 2017 julia erickson7 Comments

As a follow-up to my prior post about Japanese Beautyberry, I have an unexpected surprise to share with all of you. The Japanese Beautyberry that I cut back in November and put in a vase of water started rooting and sending up new shoots, as you can see in the pictures below. I should replant them now in some soil let them develop better roots inside before planting them outside in the spring.

For the original post, click here: http://heirloomgardener.blogspot.com/2007/12/japanese-beautyberry.html

Cut Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina)

December 22, 2007April 16, 2017 julia erickson2 Comments

As a follow-up to my previous post on Heavenly Bamboo, here is a picture of what it looks like as a cut flower.

I often use glasses, jars and other objects as vases. The vase in this picture is actually a small glass.

For the previous post, click here:

http://heirloomgardener.blogspot.com/2007/12/heavenly-bamboo-nandina-in-december.html

Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina) in December

December 20, 2007April 16, 2017 julia erickson4 Comments

Next year I plan to plant more heavenly bamboo. When most every other non-conifer has lost its leaves, nandina looks as fresh as it did two months ago. The red berries are beautiful and cuttings of nandina last for weeks in water.

The plants are pretty undemanding. They will grow in sun or part shade, do not require feeding, and have modest water requirements. They grow 3-5 feet tall and will spread with time. Nandina does have a tendency to become leggy, so good pruning in spring helps stimulate growth lower down on the plant.

Winter Garden Highlight: Annabelle Hydrangea

December 7, 2007April 16, 2017 julia ericksonLeave a comment

The distinctive white blooms of the Annabelle hydrangea turn green in the summer and brown in the fall. Even after the frost, as you see in this picture with the snow on the ground, they continue to hold some dried blooms that provide interest in winter. On my property, this hydrangea happily grows on a shady hill beneath white pines.

Japanese Beautyberry

December 4, 2007April 16, 2017 julia ericksonLeave a comment

The first picture shows what the Japanese Beautyberry is known for: its distinctive purple berries that appear in autumn and persist into the winter.

The second picture shows what the plant looks like in the summer, on the lower left, beneath the Pee Gee hydrangea.

I like these two stages of the plant, but am less fond of its other stages: the early spring when it looks dead and is late to leaf out; and the autumn when the leaves droop and look lifeless for about a month before they fall off.

They are healthy and vigorous plants. I purchased very small plants and they grew quickly in the first year. Next year, I am cutting them back to six inches off the ground in early spring to avoid the first problem. Further, I keep moving them around my property in hopes of finding the perfect place to enjoy them, and they are not bothered by this.

For fall and winter arrangements, you can cut the branches with the Beautyberries. If you do so when they still have leaves, I recommend that you remove the leaves because they droop immediately after being cut.

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Click here for a follow-up post on propogation: http://heirloomgardener.blogspot.com/2008/02/japanese-beatyberry-unexpected.html

Hydrangea Wrapped For Winter

December 1, 2007April 16, 2017 julia ericksonLeave a comment

When I moved into my home, there was a hydrangea by the lamp post that produced no flowers. I knew that the deer were eating it regularly. So I began a successful regiment of deer spraying, only to find that each winter it also got killed to the ground. I find that in my Zone 6b garden hydrangea are frequently only root hardy which means that the stems are prone to being killed by the cold. Since this hydrangea only flowers on old wood it produced no flowers–it was just a foliage plant.

That fall I asked my husband to wrap it in burlap and cover it with oak leaves. I asked him to do it too late and we ran out of leaves, so we only protected the lower half of the plant. This year we got a few flowers. For the first time I saw they were mopheads with pink sepals edged in white. I asked my husband to start earlier and we covered the entire plant. He wrapped burlap around three bamboo stakes and stuffed it full of oak leaves, covering it entirely to about four feet high. Hopefully next year, the whole plant will produce flowers.