Ground Breaking Banter - Rick
It’s no secret that we LOVE big plants. Don’t get us wrong – we love small plants, too. But there’s just something about watching a big perennial go from absolutely nothing in early spring to towering, flowering heights of 8′ or more in a matter of weeks. So we’re devoting this episode to big plants and all they do for our gardens.
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No matter which butterfly bush you grow, they all share the same ability to amaze through their rapid growth. Of course, this is much more noticeable on the older and larger varieties than the more compact ones that are popular now, but I always find it remarkable to watch a butterfly bush go from looking for all the world like it’s dead to covered in fresh new growth and flowers in a matter of weeks. This is something I have witnessed every time I’ve grown butterfly bush, including on one of my favorites, today’s plant on trial, Miss Violet butterfly bush.
One of my first experiences with butterfly bush’s ability to rebound from virtually nothing happened not that long ago. I had a Miss Molly butterfly bush that was planted in all the right conditions, but it was planted in fall, which is far from ideal in colder climates like Michigan. But you gotta do what you gotta do. When spring came, neighboring butterfly bushes were leafing out like nothing happened, but this Miss Molly showed not a single sign of life. I waited, I waited, still nothing. Finally, it was the second weekend in June and I decided I had had it and it was going to be ripped out. And just as I bent over to see if I could pull it out with my bare hands (a real advantage to gardening in sandy soil!), I saw a tiny shoot emerging at the base. Okay, I thought, you’re alive, I’ll give you a chance – though I was dubious that it already being so late in the season that it would do anything impressive. Much to my surprise, though, three weeks later, the plant was blooming like the whole thing had never happened. To see it go from just one tiny shoot at the base to a 4’ tall shrub covered in flowers was astonishing.
I still love Miss Molly butterfly bush, but Miss Violet gives it a run for the money in my opinion. While Miss Molly has deep pink-red flowers, Miss Violet has deep, true purple blooms that are unmatched in the butterfly bush world and perhaps even beyond. It’s a color you don’t see that often and it’s as attention-getting to humans as it is to butterflies and hummingbirds. It’s a very easy going color that goes with the reds and yellows that typify summer flowering perennials.
The whole “Miss” series of butterfly bushes, as we call it, are known for three things: pure, true colors, which we’ve already established, medium-size at 4-5’ tall and wide and a far more elegant habit than your typical butterfly bush, and finally, they’re seedless, so no worries about then spreading in your yard or anywhere else. It is approved for sale in Oregon where other buddleia have been banned due to spreading by seed.
Miss Violet butterfly bush is hardy to USDA zone 5 and heat tolerant through USDA zone 9. It needs full sun, and very well drained soil. If you live in a cold climate, it’s best to plant it earlier in the season so it has plenty of time to get established before cold, wet soil – its mortal enemy – becomes an issue in fall. In all climates, we do recommend pruning butterfly bush every late winter/early spring. This keeps the plant handsome and compact, preserving that elegant habit and ensuring that the flowers appear on the whole plant, not just way up at the tips where you can’t enjoy them.
If you’d like to add ‘Miss Violet’ butterfly bush 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
Hanging baskets - Our front porch is covered (heavy shade) and we struggle keeping hanging baskets looking good beyond a few weeks. This goes for flower/plants that supposed to be better in shade (e.g. tuberous begonias). What are we doing wrong???? - Scott
Though we recently did an entire episode on hanging baskets, we though this was a good time to remind people that water is the biggest reason hanging baskets fail. Too much (especially if there is any kind of plastic liner or the basket itself is plastic) is a problem, but too little water is usually the bigger culprit. Here’s why: the potting mix in most hanging baskets is peat-based, and if peat gets dry it becomes extremely hydrophobic and repels water; this makes it difficult to wet again. So when you water a basket where the soil has gone hydrophobic, you water until it drips down but the water is only sticking on the plants and running down the sides – it’s not actually wetting the soil or roots. This generally happens gradually over the course of the season, so the best course of action is to simply take the basket down from its hanger, set it in a tub of water for 30-60 minutes to thorough soak from the bottom up (the bottom usually won’t be hydrophobic like the top), and then hang back up. It’s also a good idea to get used to how your baskets feel and weigh when they are dry vs. when they are wet so you can tell just by giving them a little lift if they need water or not.
It’s worth mentioning too that tuberous begonias, as fabulous as they are, are a bit tricky when it comes to watering. They really live up to that “tuberous” part of their name, with big, fleshy tubers buried beneath those lush leaves and flashy flowers. Those tubers are very sensitive to wet soil and poor drainage, and can rot easily – especially if they are in shade and watered regularly. So it may be as simply as cutting back your watering, and if that fails, perhaps sticking to the tried and true: Boston ferns.
Hello!!! Love the show! I’m a fellow Michigander and have been listening for the past couple years. It’s my therapy in the car!!! So I’m in 6b on the southeast side. These roses were already planted in the house I moved into 4 years ago. Since learning about them, I started caring for them. Last year I attempted pruning and fertilizing, although I didn’t know what I was doing compared to this year. With that said, I believe I did everything right in terms of pruning correctly and fertilizing correctly. They seemed to be doing great last week with no spots on the foliage. I turn my back for one second and this week I’m noticing aphids on some, spots on the leaves and these larvae looking things. Help! What am I doing wrong or what do I need to do??? - Susanne
The aphids aren’t a huge cause for concern – they’re pretty common on roses at this time of year, and you can just wipe them off with a damp, slightly soapy cloth or rinse them off with your hands. The other damage you are seeing, however, is from rose slugs. These tiny, wasp-like insects lay eggs on roses from which a tiny caterpillar-like larva emerges. They are essentially clear and as they feed, they quickly turn the same color of the leaf they are eating, making them very difficult to locate on the leaves. When the larvae are very young and small, their little jaws can’t get through the entire leaf, so they only feed along the surface. This creates clear window-like spots. As they mature, however, they are able to eat through the leaf, making meandering channels that rarely cross the leaf veins. This makes people think there are two different pests on their plants, but it’s really all the same one.
While of course rose slugs can be managed with sprays, they can also be managed easily by trimming off the top of the plant. There may be an element of heartbreak to this as you cut off flower buds, but if you have a continuous blooming landscape rose, it will come roaring back in a few weeks, by which point the rose slugs will be long gone. You can also train your eye to look for the little slugs and smash them.
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
We continue our conversation on big plants – and speaking of big things, we also talk about the gentleman in Norway who recently had a very big rude awakening when a massive cargo ship ran aground in his front yard, barely missing his house.
