Next in the parade of Shrubs I Love is a weigelia or w
eigela – spellings differ so whichever you use, people who know better will correct you. I’m hoping someone will tell me which is correct just for the record but honestly, it’s so damn lovely right now I don’t really care. And why settle for one photo when I’ve downloaded about a dozen?
Since you guys have been patiently teaching me what you want to know about the plants I feature, I’ll start with my notes but feel free to ask questions – I know you will.
Hardy to Zone 5, this and other weigelias need a half-day or more of sun, bloom in late spring and this ‘White Knight’ at maturity is now 4′ tall and 8′ wide. Definitely drought-tolerant, and requiring minimal pruning. After six years now, the only pruning it’s received is a little limbing up to keep it off the groundcover. It just naturally has this lovely arching form. My pruning book tells me I may eventually have to remove old canes to the ground to rejuvenate it, like I’ve done with the old 10-foot-tall common weigelias that conveyed with my property, a process that worked really well because they grow back so quickly. And though this one hasn’t needed it, =-generally right after flowering is a good time to thin stems or to cut back "untidy shoots" by half, "keeping the habit of the plant." Damn right I want to keep the habit.
Bottom line, if this isn’t a high-impact, low-maintenance plant, I don’t know what is.
Okay, you’ve asked to see more, so here’s my back garden at its most colorful. Old-timers might suggest that spring isn’t the most interesting time in the garden, and I see the point. But after winter don’t we deserve a big jolt of color? Sure we do, even if it’s azaleas at their gawdiest.
Now a little garden history. None of this was here in 1985, just jungle in front of the tall trees. And where the border on the left now exists was a large gully that needed filling in.
So I cleared the jungle, contacted a local nursery for their free-design-with-plants, and did exactly what the designer told me to do – and never regretted it. Hell, I’m still thanking the now nameless and faceless young woman who created the garden’s first shape, with its inviting path into the woods. Though the borders have gradually gotten larger and the lawn smaller over the years, the spirit of the original design lasts. I added the drystream four years ago and now it’s so integral to the feel of the space, I can’t remember it not being there.
I’ll be sharing lots of ground views and plant close-ups throughout the season. Pretty soon I won’t remember the bad old days of having no one to share my garden photos with.
Dear Dave:
I’m writing to recommend the dog-human duo destined to become your Best Stupid Pet 
Trick of All Time. The justly famous Edgar Allen Poo and owner Joell Silverman recently auditioned for Stupid Pet Trick honors and although auditions are continuing across the country, believe me when I tell you you need look no further.
Joell was probably too modest to tell your producers, so I’ll do it for her: Edgar’s already been featured in the pages of the Wall Street Journal and starred in a political commercial (in Kentucky’s 2004 race for governor). His file of press clippings is too long to enumerate fully but believe me, he’s got a great Q rating. His performances at schools and nursing homes in the the D.C. area are legendary. Need I go on?
And now for the trick. Edgar’s wise-cracking 78-year-old human begins by noting that although the tricks are officially stupid, Edgar is anything but. In fact, he keeps up with politics and they chat about it frequently. "Here, I’ll show you. Edgar, would you rather vote for George Bush or DIE?" At which Edgar rolls over and plays dead with dramatic flourish. Of course it doesn’t matter what question is asked because Edgar’s just waiting for the "DIE" at the end. (For young kids Joell might ask, "Would you rather do your homework or DIE?") But Dave, we all know you agree with Edgar’s reaction to Bush, so now you can use this adorable poodle to make your point and stay safely under the radar of the media-watchers.
Furthermore, if you select Joell and Edgar for your show I can promise I’ll help publicize their appearance here on my very own gardening blog. (You’re not a reader? Well, you’re a big-city guy, so no hard feelings.) 
In closing, I think I can go so far as to promise a ratings boost if you choose Joell and Edgar. And those annoying corporate suits you’re always whining complaining about? They’ll be begging for more.
Sincerely,
Susan Harris
P.S. And if you book this wonderful act, I promise I’ll start watching your show.
The Mid-Atlantic region may be in full Azaleamania right now but let’s not forget what I’ll modestly call the Queen of Shrubs, the glorious doublefile viburnum. I was practically forced to buy these plants back in ‘86 when I used the free services of a nursery’s landscape department to create a border between the lawn and the woods; it was F
ebruary and these guys looked totally unpromising. But the designer swore by them and I took the leap into unknown plant territory, along with several more of my now-favorites.
I know the questions are coming, so I’ll hurry to tell you everything I know about them. They’re almost as tall as dogwoods – about 15-18 feet, and bloom at the same time, always white and always in this lovely horizontally reaching form. Besides watering in newcomers during their first season, the only maintenance required – and it really is required – is annual pruning. After the blooms fade is the perfect time to remove any stems that cross and crowd others, and most importantly, remove completely one to three of the oldest stems to the ground. As counterintuitive as this may seem, and I’ve discovered that lots of good pruning practices are just that, it’s the only way to keep the whole plant from becoming top-heavy and increasingly less lovely.
The bottom photo shows, on the right, another doublefile viburnum, or V. opulus V. plicatum tomentosum ‘Shasta’ for the Latin-inclined. On the left is a V. macrocephalem or snowball-type that’s not my favorite. Snowballs, mopheads (in hydrangeas) and pom-poms of all types are, I dare suggest, kinda outdated, but go ahead and disabuse me of that notion, pom-pom lovers, because I know you’re out there. My biggest complaint about it is the tendency for the large flowers to seriously weigh the branches down – not pretty – and my notes on this plant tell me that Henry Dirr – a god in the world of plant experts – recommends hacking it down to 2 or 3 feet every year, which probably solves the problem. As always, Henry knows his woodies.
A final thought about these photos, especially the top one. It illustrates a point I’ve been known to harp on – that borders look best when the plants are layered, from large trees to understory trees to shrubs, to perennials, to groundcover. Not only does it create enclosure and privacy, and therefore create a garden, but it mimics nature’s own design for forests transitioning into meadows, the prototype for our borders-around-lawn. Interestingly, we humans seem to respond most to nature’s own design, even when it’s a helluva lot of work to create it. It’s one of many reasons that naturalistic design is so popular and, I venture to predict, will stay that way.
Here’s more, after reading my very first comment: Damn, I still didn’t say enough. Excellent question, about when to start removing older stems. First, I’ve seen lots of these shrubs in nurseries with really crowded stems and in need of a good thinning out, so start there if you have a young one. That’ll give it a better structure to grow on, and the removal of old stems probably won’t be necessary for the first few years. Then the first time you get one of those awkward, too-tall stems, remove it completely.
And just one more thing about pruning. If you happen to have any old, overgrown and top-heavy viburnum of any type, I’d recommend a severe hacking back of all the stems, to the base or close to it. I did this to the pom-pom viburnum and it came roaring back with renewed vigor and a much better shape, and reached 2/3 of its original height in one season. Pruning by Peter McCoy – my Bible on the subject - gave me the courage to try it and it worked.
Good homes were found for passels of passalong plants today at a small, beautifully landscaped rec center. Our Spring Plant Exchange drew 50 participants, the best turn-out in recent memory. Naturally we patted ourselves on the communal back for recently turning 90 years old, which we think makes us the OLDEST GARDEN CLUB IN THE U.S. (and if you know of one older, do let me know). We were even taped for our local cable TV station – interviews and all.
Here’s how it works. Members are invited to bring as many or as few plants as they choose to bring and if they have no plants, tools or gardening books are fine, or just a nice snack for the event. After all, some folks have full gardens and are looking for good homes for their surplus plants and some folks have lots of empty space to fill.
We spent the first 45 minutes seated with the lush array of FREE PLANTS arrayed across the room, pouring over the 5 large tables provided for them, as each person showed us the plants they’ve brought and told us something about them. Occasionally the group asked questions. So lots of information was being tossed about, with live green examples on lucious display. Then when I blew an imaginery whistle – hey, I think I’ll buy one! – it was like Wal-Mart opening its doors the day after Thanksgiving, such was the determination of the plant-takers. They got to choose only one thing at the first imaginery whistle blow, then stand back and pause to plan their next move, which was to jump up again and grab as many plants as they could.
I was able to observe the mayhem from a nice corner spot because I’d already grabbed my prize. A member donated a book she just knew I’d want, and she was right. It’s Jerry Baker’s Backyard Problem Solver. Readers here won’t be surprised to learn that I wanted it coz it’s such terrific rant material, akin possibly to a liberal watching Bill O’Reilly. Not to mention that now when someone asks me for quotes illustrating Jerry’s amazing quackery, I’ll have them at the ready.
What I gave away was quite a haul – 4 full-grown hydrangeas and a weeping spruce. These big items were very popular and went on the first round and I look forward to seeing them thriving in someone else’s garden. The claimers of the spruce were Dave and Joe – this is Dave perusing the plants – and I was especially happy to see it go home with them. More and more I find my favorite gardens are chockful of conifers, and theirs is a gorgeous example.
So here’s my pitch. Why aren’t these wonderful events going on in every community, one or more each season? They help people create gardens, educate gardeners of all levels, and create community while they’re doing it. And though their money-saving virtues are obvious, most of these plants are something money can’t buy – fully grown.
Now everyone did pay their yearly dues – many of our events are free to the public, but not this one – all of 12 bucks a year for 2 plant exchanges a
nd everything else the club does. We’re able to keep dues this low and inclusive thanks to our free event space and most of all, transitioning to communicating via email and the club website.
And isn’t it possible that even without a garden club of some sort, any neighborhood association or town could put on an event like this? Of course for all I know, they’re going on in communities everywhere and I’m just not aware of them. I hope so.
Wikipedia tells us that witch-hunting is the persecution of a perceived enemy with extreme prejudice and disregard of actual guilt or innocence; it’s a type of "moral panic." Okay, I think I have the right term, but you be the judge.
I saw this item on a garden writers Yahoo group. The Columbus Dispatch published a story about "Invasives and their Alternatives." Unfortunately, it included "day lilies" (sic) in the list of bad guys and even showed a photo of a lovely red one above the caption: "New aliens climbing out of the bed, into the wild." Trouble is, only the species daylily – the orange "ditch lily" – is a problem, not the untold thousands of hybrids that are available – you know, the ones we might actually buy and put in our gardens, like the lovely and falsely charged red one in the story.
Well, of all the places to malign daylilies unfairly, Columbus has gotta be the worst. Not only is it the home of prominent daylily hybridizers and nurseries, but the site of this year’s American Hemerocallis Society Convention, for god’s sake, so you could say that notice was taken of this article and its misdirected accusations. The Society jumped on the case immediately, seeking a retraction from the Dispatch, but you know how effective that will be. Damage has been done.
My second example is from a talk I heard recently by a plant expert from the University of Maryland. When asked if ornamental grasses are invasive she declared that Miscanthus sinensis is, yesiree. At which point I jumped into the fray to ask, "Isn’t it just the species, not varieties like ‘Morning Light’"? And to my surprise she responded that yes, in our area it’s just the species that’s a problem. So why the hell didn’t she say that in the first place?
So like the listserv member who raised this interesting item and suggested that perhaps the Columbus Dispatch writer could learn to "pay more attention to her research," I wish everyone who uses the dreaded "i" word would at least try to get their facts right. Like exactly what plant, where, and under what growing conditions. After all, when that label is directed to gardeners and the plants we grow, isn’t the purpose to induce us to rip them out and toss ‘em? And I may be going out on a limb here but in my experience, we’d rather not.
[Photos: I promise this is the last of the tulip shots, both from the Tulip Library on the Mall.]
eigela – spellings differ so whichever you use, people who know better will correct you. I’m hoping someone will tell me which is correct just for the record but honestly, it’s so damn lovely right now I don’t really care. And why settle for one photo when I’ve downloaded about a dozen?
Since you guys have been patiently teaching me what you want to know about the plants I feature, I’ll start with my notes but feel free to ask questions – I know you will.
