Ground Breaking Banter - Rick
For many of us, fall is a time of winding down and closing the book on the growing season. However, by treating it as an opportunity to instead prepare for next spring, you set yourself up for a better spring – and save precious time. So in this episode, we’re sharing things that you can do now for a better spring. That things like stocking up on potting mix, containers, and fertilizers while they are at a discount, improving your lawn, controlling disease, and weed management.
Join us at the YouTube link above or on your favorite podcast platform to hear our whole conversation on using your time in fall to prepare for spring.
We’ve already said several times on the show how fall is a great time for planting since it allows plenty of time for vigorous root growth before it gets cold without the plant also having to balance energy to foliage and flowers. But not everything is well-suited fall planting: in cold climates, you generally want to avoid planting evergreens, especially broadleaf evergreens like holly or rhododendron. You also usually want to avoid planting anything in fall that is pushing its hardiness zone and/or things that often get winter damage in your climate (butterfly bush and perhaps big leaf hydrangeas would be good examples). And let’s face it, if you’re spending the time, effort, and money (even if you got something at a great price!) to plant in fall, you want something that’s going to survive, obviously, but also make you pat yourself on the back for planting it, ideally sooner than later. So may I suggest spirea, and specifically, today’s plant on trial, Double Play Red spirea?
There are more than a few gardeners out there that will turn their nose up at spirea. It’s definitely thought of as a “gas station plant” or perhaps one of those go-to shrubs that contractors throw into new construction. But the reasons that spirea is used in these ways is because it’s simply a tough plant, withstanding a range of conditions and looking reasonably good while it does so. We here at Proven Winners ColorChoice wanted to change that and take all that toughness and reliability but make it prettier and more garden-worthy, and that was the impetus behind our Double Play spirea series. Double Play spireas are characterized by two main features: colorful foliage, especially when they emerge in spring, and colorful flowers in late spring/early summer. Double Play Red spirea excels in both areas, and brings a color you won’t find in any other spirea flowers: a deep pinky-red.
As for the foliage, in spring, it emerges a beautiful deep red that you really have to see to believe. Properly sited, with neighboring plants or perhaps your home’s color to set it off, it’s basically as colorful as a plant in flower but it’s just the foliage emerging. This lasts a really long time, too, especially if spring is on the cool side. Even after this initial colorful flush of bloom, the new growth on Double Play Red spirea continues to emerge that nice red – though maybe not quite so luminous – for the rest of the season. But it’s not actually that fab red foliage that gives Double Play red spirea its name – that comes from the flowers. It is the first spirea with flowers that are even close to red and while they still have some pink in them, the effect of the plant is very much of red blooms. Look closely at each individual floret and you will see that their anthers and pollen start out purple for a little extra color.
A prolific bloomer, Double Play Red spirea will flower from around early June through early July for us here in Michigan. That will start earlier in warmer climates, a bit later in cooler climates. Though spirea are quite drought tolerant, for longest lasting blooms and best foliage color, don’t let it dry out severely during bloom time – and of course, if it was just planted the previous fall like we’re talking about today, you aren’t going to let that happen anyway.
Spirea’s ability to look good in sun or part shade is part of its appeal, and so for those with mixed conditions in their landscape, it offers a way to create unity and a cohesive design. It’s also quite deer resistant, despite being in the rose family, which is usually full of members that the deer love to eat. It can tolerate any well-drained soil, but do plan to put down mulch, especially if fall planting, for best results – also, so much the better to set off that nice red foliage when it starts to emerge the following spring! Double Play Red spirea is hardy down to USDA zone 3, so no issues planting it in fall even in cold climates, and heat tolerant through USDA zone 8.
If you’d like to add Double Play Red spirea – or any of the 320+ Proven Winners ColorChoice Shrubs – to your garden or landscape, you’ll find a list of local retailers here.
Gardening Mail Bag - Stacey
It’s hard to say exactly what’s causing this, but at this point, there’s no cause for concern. As long as the new growth at the ends is staying healthy and growing, the plant is in good shape. The purpling on the leaves could be due simply to the plant adapting to this location, or it could be natural leaf shedding. Evergreens don’t keep the same foliage their whole life – it does shed naturally, usually in late summer or autumn. But again, as long as the new growth is healthy and remains so, a few brown, yellow, or indeed, even purple leaves like here don’t necessarily indicate that something is wrong.
Concrete mites are small red mites that do indeed resemble chiggers. However, chiggers bite humans, and concrete mites are harmless – so if you see a tiny red insect-looking thing and it’s not biting you or someone else or a pet. The biggest harm that can potentially come from concrete mites is simply staining your clothes, outdoor furniture, or walls, which may be a reason to manage them. If that’s the case, here are a few things you can do to hopefully deter them:
– they breed in moist environments with high organic matter, so clear away leaves that may accumulate, and keep mulch a few inches away from your structure.
– they prefer to congregate in sunny areas, so consider shading your porch with bamboo roller blinds or something similar during periods when they are active.
Concrete mites have two generations a year, which is why it may seem like they come roaring back after you’ve treated. However, they are beneficial, preying on the larvae of insects that harm plants, so if they can be tolerated, it’s best to leave them.
Great question, but the answer is no – deadheading will not encourage hardy hibiscus to continue blooming. However, the Summerific series of perennial hibiscus do have an advantage in this regard over older types – they are indeterminate growers, which means that they keep growing and setting flower buds. Older determinate varieties simply grow, set their flower buds, and that’s it. So you will get more flowers over a longer period with Summerific hibiscus and best of all, you needn’t fuss with deadheading to get this benefit.
Do you have a question for us? We’re happy to help! E-mail us or use the contact tab above. Due to high volume, we may not get to your question, so if you need an answer quickly, please reach out via the Proven Winners website.
Branching News - Rick
In our final segment, we continue our discussion on tasks you can complete now to set you up for spring, and we also put out the call for your Halloween horror stories regarding plants and gardening. We’d love to share them with our audience on our Halloween episode which will be live on Saturday, November 2. If you have one to submit, reach out to us here.
