Erik's Gardening Tips

favorites in bloom now

Having enjoyed a spectacular spring after the cold winter, the show continues on. Now are some of my very faovorites. The snowballs and mock oranges, some others too! Viburnums are a very large group and there are among them, some truly spectacular ornamentals. (some even bear fruits....high bush cranberries)
V. plicatum tomentosum is one of the best ornamentals you can plant and almost zero maintenance! Of easy care, they like well drained soil, take sun to shade (more sun=more flowers, you'll have to water more as well). growth comes in tiers so the shrub is ornamental at all seasons, but especially in bloom when either lace cap or snowball clusters of flowers are borne along those horizontal branches in two ranks. Doublefile viburnum comes in several varieties, offers interest at all times of the year and is just so showy in bloom that I recommend it all the time. cv. 'Mariesii', Shasta (larger flowers), Shoshoni, Molly Shroeder)(pink),Pink Beauty(pink), Lanarth, Igloo(new and just superb!)Fuji, Fujisanensis(repeat flowering with smaller clusters), Summer Snowflake (also repeat flowering) and Watanabe (repeat flowering as well on smaller plant) are truly spectacular with their lace cap style flower clusters.
V. plicatum plicatum(Japanese snowball)m Newport (smaller grower), Mary Milton(pink), Triumph/Emerald Triumph), Popcorn, Saint Keverne (flattened snowball clusters like melting whipped cream), Rotundifolium, are some of the nicest selections here. Snowball clusters just cover the plant in all forms.
Additionally, you may get red berries for summer, and wonderful bronze-purple, pink, rose, yellows, oranges, reds for fall colors and architectural branching in winter.
They tend to grow wider than tall so allow plenty of space and you will never have to prune them!
Some newer cvs. of mockorange (philadelphus) are available if you look. Fallbrook is just spectacular. large single - semidouble large white flowers on arching sprays cover the plant. Slightly fragrant too and repeats some bloom summer and fall.
Desert Snow and Gallahad are smaller growers and hybrids of our southwest native Philadelphus microphyllus and although smaller flowers, they have unique grape soda or bubblegum fragranced flowers. Desert Snow arches and Gallahad is more upright to about 4-6 ft.
The more common native P. lewisii is very fine as well. Here you can find the varieties Buckley's Quill with frilly flowers due to the narrow petals, but the common species form is just wonderful as well. Fragrant, easy care, profuse blooming.
For smaller areas, SnowBelle is a low growing double, very nice. and P. coronairus E. A. Bowles/ variegatus is showy even after bloom with white variegated foliage.
The vining/clambering P. mexicanus is very fragrant although less showy in bloom than others. Use it as a vine as it arches over all kinds of things with long supple stems.
a new one for me is Snow Velvet. Larger flowered than Fallbrook, it is also single to semidouble.
All like well drained soil, sull sun for most flowers, but part shade is fine.
styrax (Japanese snowbell) are now in bloom. Here you find small flowering trees with horizontal branches, hanging white or pink bell shaped flowers, their faces looking like stars. These blossoms hang a little and on the plant, present horizontal tiers of blooms and leaves. A wonderful tree to look up into. part shade to full sun, water it well and it will reward you with a most spectacular bloom.
*** If you like wisteria but do not have the room, try this..,, Indigofera incarnata (I. decora). In effect a miniature wisteria bush, it comes in pink or rarely the white. Of easy care, water it regularly, sun or shade, it only grows to about 2-3 ft tall and wide and bears racemes of pink or white miniature wisteria like flowers spring to frost!
**Another favorite is the cutleaf / laceleaf elderberry. This comes in yellow variegated foliage(aurea plumosa, Sutherland's Gold) and black (Black Lace/Eva), and green 'Laciniata') an extreme form is tenuifolia, strange looking to some, it is very feathery, plumy almost like a puff of smoke. water loving, for that moist spot. As the foliage is the main feature, they are showy almost all year when the foliage is on the plant. Upright arching growth and in spring creamy white clusters of flowers later followed by elderberries. these forms are more delicate in appearance than the more pinnately leafed forms.