Thursday, October 4, 2012
Nothing refreshes my%hina. This shrub appre-
Spirit after a hot summer ciates a break from sum-
like the brisk mornings of mer's hot sun for fall is
autumn. While I haven't its season! Insignificant
yet felt the excitement flowers that appeared in
and expectation of holi
days or found landscapes
of autumn foliage--red
and yellow, purple and
orange combining forces
for a grand finale before
winter; the air is brisk
and promises color.
Here are some excellent
shrubs to include in your
plantings for a colorful
autumn.
Two common plants
that bring out purplish
hues are Forsythia and
Callicarpa.
Forsythia's leaves turn
deep purple to black. It
does not sound pretty,
but in fact is. Spring
follows early with clear
yellow blooms lining the
naked stems. Forsythia
is very vigorous. Give it
plentY of room to grow
anddon't be afraid to
prune after the bloom
passes.
Callicarpa, aka Beau-
tyberry, is native to the
eastern US, but varieties
sold in nurseries are a
species that originated in
summer transform into
brilliant violet berries.
'Profusion' sports large
clusters of berries at
each leaf node. Foliage
also turns a light violet
green. Callicarpa is
truly a striking plant for
woodland areas or partial
shade borders.
Another eastern US
native, often overlooked,
is Chokecherry. Aronia
is a deciduous shrub
that works well as a
background planting.
Two species are readily
available, one with red
fruit and one with black.
Both have wonderful red
and orange fall color and
small fruit that birds
later enjoy. Aronia
melanocarpa, the black
fruited variety grows to
five feet tall. Its upright
growth habit allows for
foreground plantings of
annual color or low-grow-
ing perennials. Its fruit
makes a great jam and is
heaven for the birds!
Many species, sizes
and shapes of Viburnums
are available for sun or
shade. One of the most
colorful is the common
snowball bush. It takes
the sun, blooms large,
white, hydrangea-like
flowers and takes on deep
maroon foliage as autumn
advances.
Itea virginica brings
out the red in fall color.
Also native to the east-
ern states, it grows three
to four feet tall and up to
six foot wide. Use this
species as a background
shrub. Unlike many
deciduous plants, the
colorful leaves will often
remain on the branches
two or more months.
Frequently nurseries will
offer the variety 'Little
Henry'--a diminutive
selection (2'x2') with all
the great characteristics
of its parent.
Fothergilla is very
similar to Itea in leaf,
form and color, but adds
fragrance when the spring
blooms arrive. Cream
colored blooms resem-
bling a bottle brush,
top each stem emit-
ting a honey-like scent.
Plant this one where it
receives shade from the
hot summer sun.
Nandina domestica, aka
Heavenly Bamboo, comes
from the China and Japan,
but has become a staple
Callicarpa is truly a striking plant for woodland areas or partial shade borders.
in American landscapes.
The species will grow
to ten feet tall and bear
large clusters of red ber-
ries through the winter.
Numerous varieties are
on the market ranging
in mature height from
two to four feet. In
Humboldt, Nandina is
mostly evergreen, allow-
ing for reddish foliage
throughout the winter.
A tendency toward pow-
dery mildew is its only
weakness. 'Gulf Stream'
and' Sunray' (both reach-
ing 3'x3') show good
mildew resistance. The
new growth on these also
exhibit color-- 'Sunray' a
little more bronze, 'Gulf
Stream' redder, Position
them in a sunny spot and
thin rather than sheer if
size is an issue.
One of my favorite yel-
lows is Kerria japonica.
This plant grows upright,
spreading from below the
ground, similar to some
Spiraeas. The stems
of Kerria are medium
green, retaining this
color through the sea-
sons and into maturity.
Placing a plant against
a dark board fence or
wall creates a beautiful
focal point long after the
bright yellow leaves have
abundance early to mid
spring.
Landscape designers
and savvy gardeners pay
attention to foliage color
when placing plants.
They look for contrast-
ing greens or highlight
with a spot of maroon or
yellow foliage. Though
a plant may be chosen
because it transforms
brilliantly in fall, I don't
think I have ever seen
someone position plants
so the fall colors are
coordinated. Fall foli-
age takes on a life of its
falleni Most commonly own. Miraculously the
available with doublesubtle hues and striking
blooms, Kerria 'Pleni- reds blend into a master-
flora' produces smallpiece without planning.
golden "pom-poms" in Enjoy them!
A's October rushes
in Nith the north wind,
consider the following
suggestions for your
landscape.
The rains have brought
much needed relief to our
landscapes in the last few
Weeks. It is amazing
how many plants have
responded nicely with
additional growth and
flushes of color. Keep
in mind that drought
conditions are far from
over as our soil is still
very dry just below the
Surface. Continue to
water stressed trees and
woody ornamentals.
All things considered, good start.
October is the best plant-
ing month for trees in our
part Of the world, Fall
planting allows the tree
to establish a healthy
root system before endur-
ing its first Oklahoma
summer. Exceptions to
this would be bare root
trees and broadleaf ever-
greens such as hollies
and southern magnolia.
These plants should be
planted in early spring.
OSU Fact Sheet HLA-
6414 provides some
very good information
on proper planting and
getting 'tr6es off to a
their indoor winter stay.
This is also a goodtime The most important
to divide spring flowering
perennials such as daylil-
ies, daffodils, irises, and
peonies. Peoniesdon't
like to be disturbed so
they should only be
divided if the plants are
showing decline from
overcrowding.
Water gardeners should
consider covering their
pond with bird netting
to reduce the accumula-
tion of tree leaves. Fish
generally stop feeding
when the water tem-
perature approaches 50
degrees so any feeding
can be discontinued as
temperatures cool.
Now is also the time to
begin to prepare tropical
arid other cold sensitive
containerized plants for
part of this exercise is
to closely examine the
plants (especially the
underside of the leaves)
for problem insects. A
hand lens is very help-
ful for this as pests like
spider mites can be very
difficult to spot. Begin
by giving the plant a
good clean-up, pruning
off all damaged leaves
and stems. Also remove
any decomposing plant
material lying on top of
the soil. In addition to
making insects easier to
spot, this will eliminate
the pest population that
.may be feeding on this
material. Two insects
of particular concern are
spider mites and mealy
bugs. We will discuss
By Trisha Gedon
Plans are well under-
way for the 11th Annual
GardenFest, and this
year's event promises
even more fun and learn-
ing opportunities than
ever before.
Slated Oct. 6 at The
Botanic Garden at Okla-
homa State University,
GardenFest is combining
the art world with garden-
ing. This year's theme is
Art in the Garden.
Laura Payne, volun-
teer coordinator at The
Botanic Garden at OSU,
"We're very excited
to have all of the ven-
dors and demonstrations
available for those who
come to GardenFest this
year," Payne said. "It
really makes it more of a
festival atmosphere."
Vendors will be show-
casing products that range
from stone and landscape
materials, metal sculp-
tures, and hand painted
clothing, to pottery and
acrylic paintings, hand
woven baskets, repur,
posed garden d6cor and
home grown honey.
flower arranging, pot- through the grounds.
tery throwing and gourd This year's keynote
painting. Guests also speaker will be W. Gary
will have an opportunity
to learn more about the
art of bonsai as well as
xeriscape gardening.
These and other edu-
cational programs led by
OSU educators, Okla-
homa artisans and The
Botanic Garden Ambas-
sadors will take place
throughout the day.
Sculptural works by
Stillwater artist Morgan
Robinson will be on
display throughout the
Smith, well-known
for combining art and
horticulture to explore
ecological design and
artistic abstraction.
The Botanic Garden
at OSU is located at
3300 West 6th Ave. in
Stillwater. Events are
free; however donations
are encouraged to help
support this educational
program. For more
information visit The
Botanic Garden website
these pests, along with
control strategies, in
detail next week.
This is also a good time
for preparing the soil for
new garden beds.
Last week we talked
about site selection and
beginning the bermu-
dagrass removal process.
Before soil preparation,
a soil sample should be
taken and analyzed. If
the site has typically
produced healthy plants
and no problems are
indicated, a basic soil
test showing basic fer-
tility needs and soil pH
should be adequate. If
plants have not done well
on the site, or if the soil
is especially poor, a more
extensive analysis might
be a good investment.
The Payne County Exten-
sion office provides this
service. The cost of a
basic sample is $10 with
the fee increasing for a
more extensive analysis.
The results come back
to our office where we
make recommendations
concerning fertility and
pH needs. Surprisingly,
a large number of sam-
ples that are processed
through our office come
back showing a very low
pH. To correct this, lime
should be added to the
soil. Doing this as soil
tillage begins allows lime
or fertilizer to be incor-
porated easily into the
soil, as opposed to just
spreading it on the top.
in Payne County are low
in organic matter. In an
ideal world, this would
come from well cured
compost.• If this is not
available to you, animal
manure, leaves, •grass
Clippings, and peat moss
will also serve the pur-
pose. As these materi-
als begin to decompose
through the winter,
the soil will begin to
improve.
A common question
often asked is "how much
sand do I need to add to
my clay" to improve it.
The short answer is: it
is usually not practical
to add enough sand to
make an appreciable
difference. Most of
the time, these efforts
simply result in clay
with dirty sand in it.
The addition of organic
matter mentioned above
is a far more beneficial
approach.
After the soil is pre-
pared, it would be appro-
priate to plant a fall cover
crop or simply mulch it.
Either of these choices
would be preferable to
leaving the soil exposed
over the winter.
For more informa-
tion of this or any other
horticultural topic, you
can contact Keith Reed,
the Horticulturist in the
Payne County Exten-
sion office. Keith can
be reached via email at
keith.reed@okstate.edu,
phone at 405-747-8320,
said there will be manyVisitors to GardenFest gardens. In addition, at www.botanicgarden.The incorporation of or in person at the Payne
more demonstrations and will be able to observe a sculptural installations okstate.edu, or contact organic matter shouldCounty Extensi0noffice,
vendors at GardenFest variety 0f demonstrations createdby OSU students Stephanie Larimer at also occur at this time. located at 315 W. 6th in
than in the past. such as paper making,also will be displayed 405-744-5404. Almost withoutfail, soils Stillwater.
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