Ground Breaking Banter
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!
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
- Stacey and Rick discuss the headline, “First-Ever US Case Of Harmful Plant Pathogen (phytoplasma) Found In Common Weed (nutsedge) In Florida.“
- A discussion of drought and heat affecting this year’s olive oil crop including in Spain, the world’s biggest producer of olive oil, accounting for more than two-fifths of global supply last year.
- Medical News Today reports a new study that says walks in nature can help mental health and reduce stress.
- Rick reports on a cow in England that became a social media sensation by getting his head caught in a tree – photo below. It was not “amooosing” but don’t worry: the cow is fine. He was not put out to “posture.” As our producer Adriana said, the cow made it through the ordeal because he was not a “cow-herd.”
- 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.
