Viewing comments posted by LoriMT

This beautiful plant is native to Australia

This is the first year I have grown this ornamental annual, and Hyacinth Bean Ruby Moon has performed well in my zone 7b north Georgia garden. Hyacinth Bean Ruby Moon is growing strong through drought and searing sun, and is not impacted by disease or bugs, not even the Japanese beetles. I started the seeds indoors, then transplanted outside when the plants were about 6 inches tall. They support themselves as they climb the arbor. The purple foliage, flowers, and seed pods are stunning in the garden.

Zahara Sunburst was a disappointment. I bought a whole packet of seeds of this specific variety, looking forward to flowers with large red sunbursts in the middle. Instead, the flowers were mostly (or completely) yellow-orange, with a narrow red stripe. I pulled them out halfway through the season.

Catlin's Giant bugleweed is a star performer in my Zone 7b north Georgia mountains garden. I planted a quart-size transplant for the local nursery in spring 2021. Two years later, it had spread 2-3 feet in each direction. The purple-green leaves give rise to showy purple flower spikes in late spring, blooming along with the dogwoods. The purple leaves continue through the summer and autumn, and die-back significantly in late autumn, though not completely.

Kale Redbor is a "must-have" in my zone 7b winter garden, both as an ornamental plant and as an edible vegetable. I plant 1-gallon transplants from the local nursery in the autumn. The plant thrives throughout the winter, even surviving a 3-day Flash Freeze down to 4 degrees. I harvest the bottom leaves throughout the winter to munch raw as a snack or chop into a salad. The plant grows to about 3-feet tall by spring, then bolts into a beautiful crown of yellow flowers atop the deep purple leaves. As an annual, it dies off after blooming.

Anemone 'Saint Brigid Mix' bloomed with big colorful blossoms in spring. Although advertised as hardy in zones 3-7, they did not survive the hot summer of my zone 7b north Georgia garden. If I grow them again, it will be as an annual.

Early season Paeonia 'Belgravia' has 10-inch double flowers in shades of light red to dark pink.

Although Glossy Abelia can grow in zone 6, it can suffer winter damage. During a particularly cold snap down to 4 degrees in my zone 7b garden, the leaves turned crispy. In late winter before new growth shows, dead branches (or entire plant) can be cut back to the ground, and the shrub should regrow.

Camellia 'Shibori-egao' originated in Japan, and the name translates to "Variegated Smiling Face". The white blotches on bubblegum pink semi-double blooms are caused by a benign virus. This same virus can also cause yellow variegation on some leaves. Some plants will display flowers with little or no blotching.

Scilla peruviana is a stunning early-spring flower in my zone 7b North Georgia Garden. The whirls of strappy leaves emerge in mid-winter from autumn-planted bulbs. Buds start to show in late February, and the beautiful purple blooms begin to open in early March. The flower is unique in form, and the color is a nice complement to the yellow daffodils blooming at the same time. While the plant was blooming, we experienced a 17-degree hard freeze, which melted the existing blooms; 2 weeks later, all the plants had new blooms. Although this perennial is supposedly cold-hardy to zone 7a, only 1 of 5 plants returned the following year in my zone 7b garden. The flower is so unique I plant new bulbs each year.

xAmarine tubergrenii is a hybrid between Amaryllis belladonna and Nerine bowdenii. The flowers look like a Nerine but are larger with broader petals and held on taller stems. The plant is dormant in summer. The bare stem emerges in autumn, either along with or prior to the strap-like leaves.

'Marguerite' sweet potato vine (a.k.a. 'Margarita') offers maximum bang for buck. In April I purchased a 4" potted plant from the local high school agriculture class sale, and by September the plant sent out vines filling a full circle ranging from 12-feet long to 5-feet long. It beautifully covered a barren batch in front of my house, all from 1 plant! In my zone 7b North Georgia Mountains garden, this plant thrived in heat and drought, with just a weekly watering when rain was sparse. It immediately died with first frost in October, but I will be planting it again next spring

Thunbergia 'Arizona Rose Sensation' is a fast grower in my zone 7b North Georgia Mountains garden. It easily fills a 6-foot tall trellis within 2 months and starts creeping across the patio into other gardens. It must be the baby cousin of Kudzu! Unfortunately, in the heat of the summer, it stops blooming, then resumes blooming during cooler autumn days. It died with the first frost. It is perennial only as cold as zone 9, but because of its fast-growing habit, it works well as an annual.

The flowers of this dwarf daffodil open white and yellow, then mature to almost pure white. Small in size, this daffodil combines nicely with grape hyacinths.

The flowers of this native perennial are tiny compared to other asters, growing no more than 1/2" across. Each flower has 8-15 white rays which surround a central disc of 8-16 tiny tubular disk flowers. The flowers start white and mature to purplish-red, thus creating the appearance of its common name "Calico Aster".

This native perennial is an important nectar source for pollinators in the late fall. It is found throughout eastern North America from Canada to Florida, and as far west as Missouri and Texas. The plant grows in a 2 to 4 foot mound. It can be distinguished by noticeable hairs on the leaves and stems, thus one of its common names is Hairy White Old-Field Aster.

Perennial plant that thrives in shady, damp, rich organic soil. The orchid-like blooms appear in late summer or early fall. Foliage can be cut down after killing frost. Foliage is late to emerge in spring. Will benefit from extra watering during hot, dry weather.

This Salvia starts blooming in early May in my zone 7b North Georgia garden. The blooms during the cooler seasons of spring and fall are prolific and bi-colored red and white. During the hot summer, the flowers turn solid red and there are fewer blooms. The plant goes dormant in the winter.

This primocane-fruiting blackberry cultivar was developed in 2004 by the University of Arkansas
System's Division of Agriculture. This plant appears to have improved disease resistance to rust and anthracnose. This plant is thornless and bears large thumb-size fruit. As an everbearing primocane, it delivers fruit all summer long. Fruit on the first-year canes starts ripening in mid-late summer and continues into fall. After the harvest is finished, select 3-4 hefty canes and prune them back to 2 feet. Cut all other fruit-bearing canes to the ground. In the spring, the second-year canes (floricanes) will send out side shoots with fruit that begins to ripen in late spring. Second-year canes should be cut to the ground as soon as that harvest is done to allow the plant's energy to go into fruit production on first-year canes. For a larger primocane harvest, do not allow a floricane harvest (i.e. cut all canes to the ground in the fall after harvest)

This plant is good for erosion control, weed suppression, and pollinators. Liriope Spicata has performed well in my zone 7b North Georgia Mountains garden as erosion control on a steep bank and as a weed-suppressing ground cover under my Knock-out Rose hedge. When I acquired Liriope Spicata at a Master Gardener's plant sale, I was warned it would spread. In 7 years it has grown from 6 clumps to cover 5 square yards of a steep hillside in partial shade. As it has grown to the top of the hillside, it has filled in under my rose hedge. I've discovered that as well as erosion control, it suppresses the growth and germination of weeds, such that a once-a-summer weeding is sufficient to keep the weeds in check. Liriope Spicata sends up stalks of small purple flowers in late August, becoming a favorite of local pollinators when other flowers have faded. The evergreen foliage turns green-gray and rough in winter, so many people mow or cut back the foliage in spring to make room for prettier new foliage. I do not cut back the foliage, and as summer progresses, the new foliage overtakes the old foliage. The plant continually spreads by runners, so it should NOT be used as a border in gardens. Instead Liriope muscari forms clumps which are more easily controlled as a border.