Plant of Interest - Lady Banks Rose

 

Lady Banks Rose - Rehabbed

Winter is an opportune time, as a homeowner, to consider new or different plants to install on your property in the coming season.

The following, in a series of articles, is to introduce you to a few plants of interest, perhaps ones for which you are unfamiliar.

The Lady Banks Rose (Rosa banksiae 'Lutea') is a vigorous, thornless, climbing rose plant with deep green foliage on slender branches.

Its miniature yellow double blooms have a slight fragrance offered through spring, summer and perhaps early fall here in the Midlands of South Carolina, where it also tends to be an evergreen.

I have installed, pruned and even rehabbed many Lady Banks Roses. Examples are provided below.

Parameters:

Sunlight: 6+ Hours

Size: 15 to 20  feet tall; width will vary based on support and training (see below) and pruning

Growth Rate: Fast

The Lady Banks will require support such as a trellis, an arbor or other structure.

Applications: Screen, specimen plant, espalier, exterior wall cover.

If you are considering creating a new plant bed, restoring an existing one or simply placing a few new plants on your property, please contact me, Doug, at 803-553-5757. 

We can begin planning and/or establishing new plant beds now to get a jump on the Spring rush.

Lady Banks Rose - Rehabbed

The following images, as well as the one above, are of Lady Banks Roses, at my church, whereas the philosophy (not mine) was to flat-top most every shrub, regardless of species, to a certain height. One will not recognize a Lady Banks Rose, of any maturity, at three feet tall.

I demanded no further trimming of the Lady Banks Roses and installed trellises to train them to.

You may notice the dense lower growth as this is what they were subjected to for many years. In a few seasons, along with my pruning, they will be more gorgeous (more natural) than they are right now.

A properly trained and pruned Lady Banks Rose should possess a vase shape with cascading branches of many wonderfully yellow petite flowers.

Lady Banks Rose - Rehabbed

Lady Banks Rose - Rehabbed

Winter Landscape Maintenance...So Much You Can Do, Now

Well, it is still Fall in the Midlands. Although we have had this very odd cold spell, we will soon return to our normal South Carolina climes.

Beyond planting and planning (see 

Planting and Planning...Now is the Time!, the coming Winter months are a great time to do some landscape house-keeping which will save you time and make the growing season more enjoyable.

Expand and/or re-shape plant beds: This year's growth may have outgrown the borders of your plant beds. Rather than handcuff your plants to some un-natural and unattractive size, expand the border and perhaps give it a new, interesting, but manageable shape. 

Pressure wash: Depending on temperature, you may not wish to wash anything thing too high (The backsplash can get quite discomforting.); however, this is a great time to pressure wash driveways, walkways, retaining walls, decks and foundations. Most of these surfaces have collected all types of debris and foreign matter during the last several months.

Repair stone, paver and brick walkways and patios: Some of the materials used on your walkways or patios may be a little or very cattywampus. There could be many reasons, but typically this is due to underlying roots. 

Whatever the case, repair or eliminate the cause and reset the stones, pavers or bricks.

Continue lawn care: Most, if not all turf grasses in this area are warm season grasses. Although their leaves' (blade) growth may slow or stop, their roots are not dormant and still need a few elements - water and air. The ground temperature in the Midlands rarely goes below 42 degrees for the first four inches, which is where your grass roots and those of most other plants live.

Leaves, pine straw, etc. on your lawn can block sunlight, limit air exchange and trap moisture. Rake, blow or mow (bag attachment preferred) this debris from your lawn. You may wish to use some of this as mulch in your beds even if you plan to place fresh mulch later. This will help keep your plants warm and retain moisture.

Occasionally water your lawn if we go without rain for a while. Do so during early daylight hours on a nice sunny day above freezing.

Edge your lawn borders, particularly if you have St. Augustine or centipede grasses, as their stolons (surface stems, so to speak) may still be reaching outward.

Install ground lighting: Obviously, we have less daylight hours during winter, so this is a great time to install ground lighting. This can be done for aesthetics, safety or security, or all the above.

Prune: All types of pruning can be done this time of year on a variety of plants. And, I am not speaking of taking hedge trimmers to your plants, but proper pruning.

This can be done to reduce a plant, remove dead and awkward stems and branches, raise canopies (limb up) and to thin plants which have been trimmed repetitively, to improve their health.

Proper pruning on many flowering shrubs will help produce individually larger blooms while leaving a balanced backdrop of foliage.

Plant and Plan: Save yourself from being overwhelmed by Spring and Summer landscaping goals by getting started sooner. Please go to Planting and Planning...Now is the Time!

In other words, Winter is a wonderful time to balance out your budget and time spent on your landscape, and your plants may have a happier Spring.

We provide all these services, so please contact me to see how we may assist you...803-553-5757 or use the Contact Us button above.

Thank you.

Happy Holidays!

Planting and Planning...Now is the Time!

Fortunately, here in the Midlands of South Carolina, the ground temperature never approaches anything near freezing. Therefore, you can plant most any plant from now until Spring.

Most of the plants you and I will find are growing in a pot at some nursery and will be much happier in the ground, whereas the ground temperatures are in the forties.

So, quit fretting about planting in the fall and winter. And, just get busy doing it. There are several advantages to doing so.

• You get ahead of Spring fever when costs are elevated and availability lessens.
• Your plants have spent more time developing their roots and later have more resources for blooms.
• Fall and winter planting requires less watering and maintenance.
• Weed control is more manageable. 
• Overall, most plants will be more productive and dramatic in the Spring if they get an early start...which is now.

 

  If you don't want to deal with a new plant bed or aspect of your landscape right now, then start planning for late winter or spring. Call me or someone else so that we can begin restoring a plant bed, creating a new one or perhaps getting creative with another aspect of your property.

The sooner, the better, so that we may plan well ahead of plant availability and cost.

We can soon begin clearing out old unwanted plant beds and plants, designing new beds and vignettes. 

Therefore; you may more so enjoy the Spring, Summer and seasons to come.

Keeping My Bay Laurel at Bay

 

Bay Laurel - After Three Years of Rehab

I've had this beautiful Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis) for many years and for the most part, I would be concerned about her height. 

She didn't need pruning often and this was a task I definitely enjoyed. The scent she emits is quite nice and I also had a Rosemary plant in this cool kettle pot just beneath her...olfactory bonus.

However; a few years ago, I realized it's spread (width) was more of a nuisance as it was not making taking the trash out so easy. I keep the trash and recycle bins to the right, hidden from the street by the fence and a Sasanqua. It was beginning to get difficult opening the bin lids.

I surveyed the Bay Laurel and realized it had three co-dominant stems. So, I removed the one closest to the issue, basically removing one third of the plant.

Bay Laurel - Halfway through Rehab

She was none too happy about this. She looked awkward, but I had a plan. I let her do what she wanted to do for a while and then pruned the new growth to promote future growth in a lateral fashion toward the area I had just eliminated. 

I couldn't have replaced the one co-dominant stem I removed, but I could definitely balance the plant over time.

I truly wasn't rehabbing the plant because of an issue she had (I've done so many times with other plants.). I basically caused the need for rehab by asking her to do something she did not want to - lose a third of her branch structure. 

I wanted to make her fit in the space to meet my desires so I must care for her in a different fashion until all looks well.

Bay Laurel - After 1/3 Reduction

I've pruned hundreds of plants with various objectives, but this is one of the most severe.

Some of the branches I have coaxed have now matured and are putting out new growth to complete her natural shape.

After another pruning in spring, she should be back to her natural shape and most future pruning should be for aesthetic and health reasons.

Patience is definitely a virtue.

Free Fresh Bay Leaves

I just pruned our Bay Laurel tree (more about that in another article) and I have thousands of leaves to give away should you want some for seasoning some of your favorite recipes.

They have been placed, still on-branch, in a pile on Willingham Drive at Bethel United Methodist Church near the rear parking lot, not far from the Blessing Box.

If you are interested, please get them as soon as possible, as drying in direct sunlight is not best for them. 

I dry bay leaves occasionally and keep them jarred in the kitchen, but if I haven't, I just go out and cut the leaves I need. I do this if and only if the sauce, soup, etc. has a cooking time over an hour.

Bay leaves go through favorable flavor changes when dried or with time in heated fluids.

There are several methods for drying bay leaves or you can use fresh if you have a slow-cooking dish you wish to make soon. The following link provides very good instructions on doing so: https://seasonsinthekitchen.com/a-guide-to-bay-leaves-how-to-dry-bay-leaves/

The plant is very healthy and the leaves look fantastic. If you find a bad one, simply discard it.

I had to make a variety of cuts, so you should be able to choose a branch or a few which suits your needs and then remove the leaves at home. Or, if you plan to naturally air-dry them, you may wish to leave the leaves (sorry) attached and allow this to happen on the branch.

Have a Wonderful Labor Day!

 

Easter and Daffodils...Some Care Tips for Many Years of Healthy Daffodils and Blooms

 

Easter seems such an apropos time to mention Daffodils as they and most any other perennial, experience a resurrection, so-to-speak, this time of year, this season.

During The Daffodil Project, thanks to a customer and friend, we made these available late last fall - some I planted and others did so on their own.

I have seen many doing so well recently, and beautiful. A few lost blooms during a freeze we had one night, but they are recovering with new buds.

I don't know if there is some odd pre-occupation with bulb plants and I understand the care and planning prior to planting, but once in the ground, they can be treated like most any other plant in regard to transplanting or dividing.

Here are three care tips for bulbs (in the ground)

• After the blooms have died, do not cut the foliage back to the ground until the foliage/leaves have browned. Until such time, these features are helping restore the bulb(s).
• Daffodils will add more plants on their own, not far from the original plant/bulb, providing you the opportunity to not only allow the area of interest to be more populated...
• But, you can easily, dig up a few plants, carefully, separate a few bulbs from one another and plant elsewhere.

The following two links will provide additional information:

What to Do After Tulips and Daffodils Are Finished Flowering in the Spring

Dividing Daffodils: Can You Transplant Daffodil Bulbs

Happy Easter!

Those Delightful Daffodils - Limited Time Giveaway

 

Yes, Daffodils are delightful.

And, thanks to a customer, we have a substantial number to give away.

These Daffodils - Dutch Masters, were meant to be a contribution to The Daffodil Project to build a worldwide Living Holocaust Memorial.

The manager of the project had already acquired the Daffodils needed, so this individual is donating them to the community, via me. I'm honored.

Daffodils will enhance most any landscape in an area with ample sun exposure. These will work well in an existing plant bed, a tree understory, potted or most any application.

Mature Daffodils can easily be split to expand a plant bed or to be transplanted elsewhere. It's truly a gift that keeps giving.

We are offering to design a plant bed in the shape of a Daffodil (other shape if you desire) and install the bulbs (groups of 7, 9 or 11) only for the cost of labor, compost and mulch. Or, we will plant them where ever you prefer. If you wish to make a donation to The Daffodil Project, please do so.

If you wish to receive bulbs only (after those remaining from those who wish for us to install), we will provide them to residents in the east Columbia area and Forest Acres during our travels or charge a minimal fee to deliver. If you wish to make a donation to The Daffodil Project, please do so.

The optimum time for planting Dutch Master Daffodil bulbs in this region is over the next several weeks, so please respond soon in the following fashions by using the Contact Us button above or by calling me, Doug Ingbretsen, at 803-553-5757:

Yes, I want my Daffodil bulbs installed.

No, I simply want Daffodil bulbs.

IMPORTANT: In either case, please provide:

• Your Full Name
• Your Phone Number
• Your Street Address

Thank you for your interest and perhaps, if you choose so, supporting a needed and wonderful cause.

Again, thank you.

Doug Ingbretsen