Episode 2 – Fall: Must-Have Colors and Must-Pull Weeds

Ground Breaking Banter

Stacey and Rick talk about how fall is for planting and why mums are synonymous with fall planting. There are other great plants however for fall color and on today’s show Stacey will teach Rick how to say Symphoricarpos, a plant with great fall color.
 
Take me to your weeder: Stacey and Rick discuss two prevalent weeds right now, nutsedge and pokeweed! When it comes to weeds, they have pull! A reminder that fall is an excellent time of year for weed control including winter annual weeds that germinate in fall. We discuss pokeweed’s stunning appearance, which you can see for yourself below:

A bright pink pokeweed plant grows amid green shrubs and weeds.

Finally, a discussion on phytoplasma takes place as nutsedge has been discovered as a host. Yikes! No need to call Dr. Peter Venkman from Ghostbusters; We’ll address it in the branching news segment.

The plant on trial this week is Proud Berry coralberry. It’s a very beautiful and unique flowering shrub, but not widely grown, as it doesn’t look like much in the spring and early summer, when most people are shopping for landscaping. But savvy shoppers will be rewarded come late summer/fall, when it bears bell-like flowers that develop into big, bubble-like pink berries. 

Proud Berry coralberry was developed in the Netherlands by Catharina Maria Hoekstra Arisz. It was selected from the North American native Symphoricarpos, but offers a more refined, landscape-friendly habit than its wilder relatives.

Proud Berry coralberry is a very durable, easy to grow shrub, hardy from USDA zones 3 to 7. It can grow in sun or shade, though Stacey notes that in deep shade, it will grow, but flowering and fruiting will be minimized, so some sun each day is recommended for best results. It’s deer resistant, drought tolerant, makes a lovely cut stem for flower arranging, and is just an all-around great choice for a livelier landscape in fall. Get more care details and see additional photos on the Proven Winners ColorChoice Shrubs website

Look for Proud Berry coralberry in the distinctive white Proven Winners ColorChoice container at your favorite garden center.

Gardening Mail Bag

Both Rick and Stacey deal with heavy deer pressure, so are happy to share their first-hand recommendations, including, lilacs, juniper, hibiscus, ornamental grasses, and cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum). Stacey neglected to mention boxwood, which is always a great choice for those with deer, and you can see all of the deer resistant Proven Winners ColorChoice Shrub varieties here

Stacey’s mom’s friend, Carol, from the Detroit area, texted her after the show and wanted to know if it was okay to plant hostas this fall.

And the answer is yes! Fall is a fantastic time to plant almost any perennials, shrubs, and trees. This is a question we get a lot here at Proven Winners ColorChoice Shrubs, so Stacey created this frequently asked questions article to address the most common concerns. Do you have a fall planting question that’s not answered here? Let us know!

Red striped amaryllis flowers in a pot on a deck.

Thanks so much for your question and the photo, Jane – what a beautiful amaryllis! It’s quite likely your plant will bloom again just fine next March, as twice a year fits in just fine with amaryllis’s (known botanically as Hippeastrum sp.) natural cycle. Here’s how that works: normally, you buy an amaryllis here in North America, it’s ready to be potted up and start growing. It takes 6-8 weeks to bloom. Once those fade, it will take another 8 weeks or so to translocate – in other words, move around and store – all the energy from its foliage into its substantial bulb. Then it needs at least eight weeks of rest. So, all told, that’s about six months per bloom cycle, which can be easily accommodated within a year.

If you’ve got a question, we’d love to hear from you! Email us, or just fill out the form at the “Contact Us” tab above.

Branching News

A brown and white cow has its head stuck in the crook of a tree.

  • And finally, at a time of year when we all have a lot of tomatoes and need to give some away, a story about how you can now buy clothes with a Heinz ketchup stain. They saw an opportunity to view the stain we’ve been leaving on clothes as another iconic brand symbol and change the narrative from a stain to a statement. According to thredUp, the HEINZ Vintage Drip collection is a timely arrival, as demand for preloved clothing is reaching an all-time high among Gen Z and Millennial consumers who want to be eco-conscious. According to thredUp’s research, some 62 per cent of Gen Z and Millennials say they look for an item secondhand before purchasing new. 
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