What is growing around your home?
There is an old Crab Apple on the fence line in my back yard. Somehow it survived the bull dozer's 19 years ago when the house went up. My patio area is 15 feet down wind from it. 10 days in Spring, heavenly.
The Catalpa tree has very fragrant flowers, I just wish it was not so messy.
Here is a pic of the Mountain Laurel I brought from the old house. Pleasant but soft fragrance, you have to get real close to appreciate it.
Andy P
My favorite (tho it is a bit pesky) is the Black Locust which I called Honey Locust for the longest time. It blooms just after my Wisteria but smells so delicious, kinda like grape KoolAide and honey.
My fave ~ Mock Orange
Viola,
I have always heard them called honey locust too. It looks like you have it in a good spot.
Moby,
Yours is pretty! I am finally getting a mockorange this year. I ordered a small one to save $$ and I heard it takes a few years for them to get fragrant. Is this true?
Don't know ~ this one came with the house and I've lived here 11 years. I think it was only a couple of years old when I moved in.
Berrygirl, regarding your question asking if you have to wait a few years before a mock orange gets fragrant, in Wilson and Bell's The Fragrant Garden, Wilson says, "...it is well for the fragrant-minded to realize that many philadelphus have no perfume..." She also says that seedlings have various degrees of fragrance.
So, I guess we should make sure we buy a correctly named clone of a cultivar known for its fragrance.
Of 'Belle Etoile', she says, "The fragrance is astonishing, predominantly gardenia with a note of orange, so free it carries to the far corners of the garden." "...two...hard to locate true-to-name...[but of] superb scent...[are] 'Albatre' and 'Bouquet Blanc..." The offspring of Philadelphus coronarius, P xvirginalis, just knocked the socks of my nose every May when it bloomed, and she doesn't give that one her highest accolade.
The "most potently fragrant of hardy shrubs" she says is 'Mount Blanc'.
Some that she says have little or insignificant scent are: 'Pyramidale' (often confused with 'Bouquet Blanc'), 'Minnesota Snowflake' and 'Enchantment'. "...scentless ones likely to be encountered are 'Atlas', P. grandiflorus, and P. pubescens."
This is a shrub that has come and gone in my garden, and I really miss it.
Perhaps, around the end of May or early June, when softwood cuttings are appropriate to take, someone might trade some cuttings? At that time, the wood should snap when you bend it. The cutting can then be trimmed and stuck in the ground under a glass jar. There are other techniques to do this.
edited to make more relevant to posts leading up to this one
This message was edited Jan 9, 2006 6:34 PM
Moby, do you prune your Mock Orange back each year? Or do you just let it go?
As far as blooming, I have had one for 2 years and it hasn't bloomed yet so am hoping it will this year.
Carol
No, I haven't but it's in dire need of pruning. Want me to ship out some trimmings?
No, but thanks anyways.
I was just wondering if it needed to be pruned. Wonder if it would do better if it was pruned each year. My plant is only like 4' tall and not very wide yet.
I like your bush tho. It fills up that side of the house it looks like nicely.
Carol
Yep!
OK, I'm game but help me remember!
I'm not entirely sure about the pruning and would be happy to hear some advice. DH has visited with a few people that have these shrubs and some say they prune it nearly to the ground every year. I don't think I'd want to do that as the new shoots come from the old growth.
Yes, it does cover the neighbor's garage / mess quite nicely just the way it is. LOL That's partly why I don't want to prune it too severely.
This message was edited Jan 8, 2006 10:09 PM
I have Philadelphus "Innocence" and it bloomed last year with the most lovely fragrance. One of the DGer's wrote to say it smelled like dime store perfume. I guess beauty is in the nose of the beholder.
LOL That's very true.
Moby, you can hard-prune a third of the shrub while it's dormant in the late winter making sure you prune it so that it looks balanced afterwards, ie don't take the stems all from one side. But, don't prune it while the weather is frosty, wait until this has cleared in your area, as this can cause die-back of the cut stems.The best time to prune the rest would be immediately after flowering - but not hard pruning just pruning to shape the shrub. Then over the next two years, repeat the same procedure hard-pruning another third of the shrub in late winter and so on. Philadelphus flowers in the spring on wood it has made the previous year, so pruning in this way enables you to tame the shrub over 3 years, but still retain its ability to flower.
Edited to say: once you have restored it to a manageable shape then all you need to do in successive years is 'maintenance prune' it immediately after flowering to keep it in shape. If this involes taking out one or two oversized stems then that's fine.
Hope this helps, Matt
This message was edited Jan 11, 2006 1:01 PM
Yes, a great deal. Thank you!
Matt, That sounds like the same routine you would use on the Lilac, another Spring bloomer on old 'wood'.
I've done that with good results on an old white Lilac here.
Andy P
Hi Andy, yes, exactly the same. Doing it in stages like this also helps to prevent the shrub from being too shocked by the amount of 'surgery' being performed on it! Glad to hear it worked on your lilac tree.
Matt
The process is about to be done again. That Lilac is in the corner of my lot, it was here when I had the house built decades ago. Now the lot next door is getting a new house, when they are finished, that corner will be getting a 'make over'. Spring I hope.
Andy P
Apart from pruning the Lilac are you planning on developing the area? With fragrant plants, of course!! It'd be good to see some before and after pictures once it's done!
Matt
Yes Matt, That entire south east corner will get re-done.
When the new land survey was taken, the property line was adjusted and I gained about 6 feet of frontage. When they paved the street 2 years ago they moved it out about 8 feet.
I've gained a lot of square footage.
It has been a triangle shape in the corner somewhat shaded by trees in the next yard. Lots of tree roots to deal with also. Most of those trees are gone now (don't feel bad, they were 'junk' trees.)
A new sewer manhole has been added in what used to be my sidewalk but is now 8 feet from the street. The sewer trench was dug at the edge and should facilitate the digging there. All new soil will have to be added, and the grade adjusted.
There is a Rose of Sharon about 5 feet from the lilac and will stay. Everything else comes out.
It's hard to say what will go in there until the construction next door is done. I'm open to suggestions. Low maintenance, drought tolerant.
Andy P
Andy, send me a photo of the area with details of aspect; soil pH and max/min temperatures experienced in your locality and I'll give it some thought.
Matt
Does anyone have any of the "Little girl" series of Magnolia trees? I bought "Magnolia "Ricki" last year. I didn't mean to buy it, but I couldn't leave that spectacular scent behind at the nursery! I hate the name, but she is an absolutely beautiful plant. I got over a month of bloom from her last year. I hope I get some blooms this year, but I assume she will not bloom because of planting her out.
She has flowers that I can only describe as whirly, with purple streaks along the petals. Her fragrance is so good that I literally could not pass her even once without stopping to sniff. She continued to throw out the occasional blossoms all summer long. Right now she has beautiful pussy-willow like buds all over her gray stems. Just a great plant!
Here is a picture I found on the net since I was thoughtless and didn't snap any of her last year.
http://www.artsnursery.com/shopping/magnolia/mag0006.jpg
When the Choke Cherries (not the regular wild cherries) planted in my yard start blooming in the spring, I can't find enough excuses to be outside to enjoy their sweet honeysuckle-like fragrance.
There's one planted in the front & one in the back, & between the 2 of them, it's heavenly.
I would love a fragrant blooming specimen tree (to plant in the middle of my front lawn). What would you guys recommend? I'm in zone 8b.
Magnolia!
Or large gardenias.
I second Magnolia!
Check Dirr's - He has really good advice for this type of thing. You know - he will say "If you buy one plant for your garden let it be this one". He gives great info on each tree or shrub and the varieties that are best. Best of all, he will tell you WHY it is the best.
My second choice would be a Bauhinia. It is sublime! If I could have one here in New England I would. It doesn't like freezing temps- (down to 22 degrees I've read on some websites). As I recall, It is smack dab in the center of Main St., Disneyland.
Here is a website for Bauhinia-
I would be careful and check your local extension service, as there is an invasive species warning for Floridians at the bottom of this web page. But then again, maybe you would not have a problem in your area.
http://www.floridata.com/ref/B/bauh_var.cfm
OK, I'm new here, what is "Dirr's"?????
I do love the Magnolias, and I live in Magnolia, TX, so it's GOTTA be a Magnolia :o).
You envou our Magnolias, I envy you New Englanders and your peonies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OK! Here is a brief description of a giant in the plant world:
Michael Dirr is a professor of Horticulture who has written several books, including "Trees and Shrubs for Warm Climates" which is the book I referred to. He has written many others, but I think that one would have the best info for your climate. He also recently introduced the"Endless Summer" Hydrangea, that blooms on old and new wood. He is considered one of the most influential Horticulturalists around.
You can find his books at the library, because most of them are so huge they cost a bundle of money. (Well worth it for the amount of information they give).
Andy P, that mountain laurel is pretty. When does it bloom and how long do the flowers last on the bush?
Gwendalou
It blooms in early June here, the flowers last a week or two, depending on the weather.
Here is a close up. I like the intricate structure.
These were my first pics with my first digital camera.
Andy P
How come all the good stuff only blooms for such a short time?????
It really is pretty. I have a spot for it. Will have to put it on the evergrowing list of plants I have to save for!
Thanks,
Gwendalou
Mountain Laurel is a slow grower. The plant pictured at the top is about 30 years old. It has never been pruned.
Cultivars come in many shades of red, pink to white.
Andy P
It really takes some planning to have something in bloom all the time. I've been working on that for several years now and have stretched my "blooming" period out now from March through December and into January. And there are still things on my list to add in there at the right times, especially scented things. I want our yard to smell good as much as possible.
30 years??? Shoot! Guess I better plant mine soon. I'm even more impressed now. I love plants that are old like that.
Gwen
Gwen, It was a house warming gift for my first house. It was all of a foot tall then. 7 years later I transplanted it to this new home where it has been for 19 years.
Andy P
1gardengram ,You might try hellbores, esp the bearclaw type, they come into bloom in january here and the spikes last well into April, chartruse but no scent to speak of , the regular Christmass rose is also nice but not as spectacular esp as the majority hang their heads and you only see the outsides. I've used them for myself and several clients for that winter /early spring gap, till the daffs kick in. In a funk, I have an iris in bloom and it is sleeting outside, what a Spring ggggrrrrrr.
