Tour of Nurseries Caroliniana
October 23rd., 2007
The Garden Group had a very informative and entertaining tour of Nurseries Caroliniana in North Augusta, SC. Our tour was led by Gerald Stephens, one of the owners and the "engineer" of the family. His penchant is for the practical, how to plant, where to plant etc., and for diagnosis, disease, pests, growing conditions etc.
One of the first plants Gerald showed us was a new Ilex vomitoria 'Carolina Ruby'. The nursery has patented this plant and will have it available for sale next year. It is a Dwarf Yaupon Holly with masses of red berries in winter.
We moved on to Loropetalums. Gerald showed us the difference between the basic species, an old (well 15 years!) variety Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum 'Zhuzhou Fuschia' and a new plant which the nursery has introduced, Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum 'Carolina Midnight'. Carolina Midnight is a descendant of Zhuzhou but has much deeper purpler foliage. Both will grow to some height, possibly over 10', and can, in fact, be tree-formed. (There is a great example of a tree-formed Zhuzhou at the Park Seed facility near Greenwood,SC.) The newest Loropetalum that Nurseries Caroliniana has is a green leaf, white flower form which will maintain a "compact" size. It is Loropetalum chinense 'Carolina Moonlight'. Note that no one will call a Loropetalum "low-growing" anymore - the best we can do is "compact", which really means 3 to 5' tall and wide, and maybe bigger! If you are looking for a compact, red leaf variety, try Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum 'Daruma'.
We briefly looked at Viburnums. The one that Gerald pointed out was Viburnum tinus 'Spirit' which is an evergreen form with pink buds followed by white flowers in Winter. It grows to about 8' tall. Another plant Viburnum macrocephalum or Chinese Snowball, resembled the mophead of a Hydrangea. It blooms in Spring and Fall.
We paused briefly to look at some Japanese Cedar, in this case an unusual Cryptomeria japonica 'Globosa Nana'. Whereas we normally think of Cryptomeria japonica as being an equivalent (maybe replacement) for Leyland Cyprus (X Cupressocyparis leylandii, this particular cultivar has a rounded (globular) and small (nana) form. As you enter the nursery, these plants are displayed in large urns on either side of the path. They have the kind of foliage that makes you want to touch the plant.
Next came the Daphne. This following a brief discussion of planting too low (a common mistake) and the need to plant Rhododendrons high. Our area is at the very limit of the growing zone for Rhododendrons and it is absolutely essential that if you do plant them, you plant them on top of the surface and mound loose, well-aerated soil around them. The same is true for Daphne (Daphne odora ). It is a fantastic plant with great Winter flowers and fragrance. But it suffers badly from root rot - it is one of the only plants the nursery will not guarantee. But it is so special that it is worth a try, probably best in some shade - and if it dies, replace it! Dirr* says, "fastidious as to cultural requirements."
At this point I noticed a plant which Gerald did not mention, but I thought might be worth a try, Ligustrum sinense 'Swift Creek'. This had a slightly smaller, but still well variegated, leaf than the familiar cultivar 'Variegatum' and the mature height was only 4 to 6', which would be an improvement over the sprawling 10 to 15' that we get from Variegatum. Here's another quote from Dirr that illustrates how subjective plant choice can be: "Ligustrum sinense is considered by the great British plantsman, W.J. Bean, the best and most ornamental of deciduous privets. I challenge that contention and would rank it as a noxiuos weed..." Note that in our area it is mostly evergreen. Variegatum has a tendency to revert to the common, non-variegated form. I'll have to ask if Swift Creek has the same problem.
Gerald pointed out a variegated Fatshedera, X Fatshedera lizei being an intergeneric hybrid between Fatsia japonica and Hedera helix, commonly known as Japanese Fatsia and English Ivy respectively. This sparked a discussion of the mature (flowering) forms of Hedera helix (good example in Wilmington, NC at Greenwood Lake) and Ficus pumila (Climbing Fig). Fatshedera is a cold-tender plant, as is Gardenia. Gerald told us to position them in the garden on the North or West side. This is to prevent them from getting morning sun, which in the winter time can burn a plant before it has had a chance to thaw.
Whilst looking at the Hydrangeas (where Gerald couldn't find one of the 2 plants he has patented!) we talked about Lime. The major points were:
- all our gardens could probably benefit from lime, including the lawn,
- can be done any time but is particularly good in Jan. - Feb.,
- Azaleas might also benefit,
- don't use on Blueberries,
- it provides calcium and magnesium whereas Epsom salts provides just magnesium,
- it is not a fertilizer, more of a supplement, so still apply appropriate fertilizers,
- apply yearly or biannually,
- apply to the surface and don't dig in, spread all over the ground,
- used pelletized lime, look for "dolomitic" on the bag,
- over a 3 x 3' area use 1 cup,
- if the nursery has a "floppy" plant lime can help.
Also, "Don't prune after August 15th."
The Pee Gee Hydrangea, Limelight, (Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight') has a light green-white flower and will grow in full sun. If you cut it back in the fall, you can make it more shrubby and compact. It flowers on new growth.
Tea Olive - how do you tell the difference between Tea Olive and Holly? It is all in the leaf arrangement. For Tea Olive, the leaves are OPPOSITE, which means that pairs of leaves come out of the stem at the same level, i.e. opposite one another. The alternative arrangement is ALTERNATE, where leaves come out singly along a stem, one at each node, first on one side of the stem, then further up on the other side etc. Actually there is a third leaf arrangement called WHORLED where 3 or more leaves come out of the stem at the same place, like in Pittosporum.
So anyway, Tea Olives are OPPOSITE and Hollies are ALTERNATE. Similarly, although harder to differentiate because the leaves are closer together, Boxwood are OPPOSITE and Dwarf Yaupons are ALTERNATE (they are Hollies after all). Another pair that are often confused are Euonymus and Privet. Unfortunately in this case, both are OPPOSITE, but you can still tell them apart by looking at the leaves. Euonymus has serrated margins, which means the edges of the leaves are serrated, whereas Privet leaves are smooth edged (called 'entire').
We saw an improved (by virtue of the fact that it has many more flowers and is much more showy + blooms for 9 months) Tea Olive, Osmanthus fragrans 'Fudingzhu' and an orange flowered version, Osmanthus fragrans 'Aurantiacus'. We also looked at Edgeworthia chrysantha In 1998 Dirr said, "Nomenclature is not tidy and names like E. papyrifera and E. gardenii are cast about." Nur. Car. claims they are completely different. Time will tell.
After all this, we, of course, did some shopping, and then enjoyed a well-earned lunch at Mount Vintage Plantation.
* Dirr - for those who don't know of him, Michael Dirr is THE authority on Woody plants and his book, "Manual of Woody Landscape Plants" is the bible of woodies.