550 KTRS Inside Out Show Plant of the Week November 28 2009 Southern Magnolia

Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)

The Southern Magnolia is a true American classic. He is also known as the Bull-bay Magnolia, but no matter the name, he is the epitome of refinement and considered the most widely grown evergreen in the world!

He has an almost tropical look so it may not be a surprise that he is mild mannered and intolerant of weather extremes. He is a lowland forest resident, frequently found naturally situated comfortably alongside his much tougher cousin sweet bay magnolia on moist woodsy banks in a community of maturing trees anywhere from North Carolina to Florida and west to Texas. He is a grower's challenge for Missouri.

His big shinny leaves are present in winter so he classified as an evergreen, but he is a little tender skinned and can suffer from wind burn. When he does shed his leaves, it is usually a sign that spring is in full swing! Some leaf drop in the fall is natural too. Quite a few more leaves will fall during and after especially harsh winters. The leaves are so large it is easy enough to make a game of picking them up.

He has the potential to grow to an old age, fairly fast growing in his youth and very tall when perfectly sited in his prefered zone/ growing range. Some speciems are well over 40' tall. Many cultivars are now being selected for particular attributes including winter hardiness, narrow profile, urban pollution tolerance and short more compact habit than the species. S. m. 'Bracken's Brown Beauty' is reported to be the most winter hardy for Missouri.

His huge white water lily looking flowers with” lemon pudding cooking on the stove” fragrance makes any special site planning and soil preparation worthwhile! He is perfectly suited for rain garden borders and wildlife habitats. The attractive red seed cones that mature in late summer are a favorite of many songbirds.

Care Factor Rating: 1 Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) must be watered regularly till established. It is considered best to plant magnolia in the spring as growth begins. Some leaf drop may occur during transplant transition. To maintain his natural multi-stem branching habit, minimize any pruning to the removal of only the occasional damaged or dead branch. This can be done any time of the year.

Foliage harvested for holiday decorating will impact flower and seed production the following season. Buds form primarily at branch tips in the fall. He is normally pest free and without any significant disease issues.

photo credit: Missouri Botanical Garden Plantfinder Glenn Kopp

KTRS 550 Inside Out Show Plant of the Week November 14 2009 Smoke bush

Smokebush (or Smoke tree) is a clay friendly shrub and a distant relative of our native American Smoketree. Her botanical name is Cotinus coggygria. She has many different looks depending on the cultivar name she is wearing. Regardless of her name, she can be a worthy addition to any green space.

In general, cultivar names indicate that a particular form of a species has some special quality. ‘Velvet Cloak’ (also known as ‘Royal Purple’) has many special qualities and is the purple leaf form. There is also a yellow leaf form called ‘Golden Spirit’, a green leaf form named ‘Grace’ and an "always petite" version that goes by the name ‘Young Lady’. Regardless of the name the performance is unique and impressive!

I prefer her when she is dressed in shades of deep rich purple foliage. Then she goes by the name ‘Velvet Cloak.’ In this form she is a delightful and perhaps at her extreme best.

With a sense of style and casual elegance, she sports a champagne mink bark imbedded with soft charcoal flecks-trimmed with dark burgundy foliage-a total designer look!

It is her bark, its coloring and the way it fits her that made our first meeting so memorable. A major part of her charm is her light complexion of bark. It contrasts so well with whatever color foliage she wears.

Her naturally well tapered stems are remarkable too! Some say it is her best feature. Another trait is her “good bones”- her vertical branching. I love the way her skyward reaching limbs are grouped. It is like several candelabras stacked, welded together and carefully balanced on a stout but strong base trunk. Although she develops this characteristic in her youth, it improves with age till she becomes living art.

Her candle-like stems are like the intense young mothers that practice mall walking and child rearing. It is a challenge of mastering of motion and motherhood. Each flexible branch has a repeating series of leaf clusters that encircle the mother-like stems. However each leaf appears to be resentful of close quarters and the wind that tries to move them. They strain not to touch and stand firm where they are, as if committed to forever standing apart.

This little scene repeats along sections of stems, leaving each foliage family a preplanned amount of living space. This creates a high rise effect, with the most fortunate leaf clusters having the benefits of penthouse living! Eventually ‘Velvet Cloak’ stretches to the heights of 12’ or more. The over all effect is not too crowded, pleasantly organized and uniquely smoke bush.

She does have very tiny clusters of yellow green fairy size flowers. These are suspended by puffs of filament hair that remains and ages to mauve pink. This creates the billowy clouds of “smoke” that inspired her common name of Smoke bush.

She “steps out” again by autumn, after changing her attire to shades of gold, copper orange, red and purple. She could compete on the “Best Dressed List ” with her distance relative Sumac (Rhus). She sometimes comes that close to stealing the show.

She is polite, not invasive and has a minimalist's expectations. Less than average soil is ok with her, as long as it is well drained and not soggy. She likes sunshine. She is also a great soil stabilizer because of her fibrous root system.

Care Factor Rating: 1 Smoke bush ‘Velvet Robe’ (Cotinus coggygria) must be watered regularly till established. To maintain her natural branching habit, minimize any pruning to the removal of only the occasional damaged or dead branch. This can be done any time of the year. She is normally pest free and without any significant disease issues.

If blooming is not a concern, and her height must be regulated, stems may be cut back hard in early spring each year before leaf break. This will induce a surge of vigorous new growth with slightly larger than normal leaves. This will also change her form. This annual hard pruning will control size to some degree. It will also create a “smoke free” environment with no flowering. This care technique increases her care factor rating to 3 as it creates a high maintenance situation that is not needed for the health or ornamental appearance of the shrub. Over time this pruning method could cause some stress, affect her over all vigor and her winter appeal.

KTRS 550 Inside Out Show hosts John Shea and Jim McMillian Help Backstoppers!

The 24th Annual Old Webster Christmas Open House was a Big HIT!

November 8th was a great success however it seemed that Fred Bird stole the show when he got the best of both John Shea and Jim McMillian. Here is Jim McMillian missing Fred's pitch during Rolling Ridge’s special fundraiser booth “Batting for Backstoppers.

100% of the donations plus an extra $1.00 for every hit was donated by Jim McMillian and his gang!

We all had a great time while helping out! Debbie, John's assistant and myself ganging up on poor John! (what's new!)

KTRS 550 Inside Out Show Week of November 7th 2009 Plant of the Week Redtwig Dogwood Cardinal

Redtwig dogwood ‘Cardinal’ is an easy fast growing shrub that is related to the native redtwig dogwood found in Missouri’s natural plant community. He is quite adaptable. He is so handsome that he is defiantly doorstep worthy.
A master of versatility. He is ready to mix it up with boggy buddies ‘Henry Garnet’ Sweetspire, ‘Little King’ River birch and ‘Morton’ Arrowood viburnum. If there is a touch of shade, let sweet little Christmas fern and her friend Geranium maculatum play too! They can romp around the base of these bigger guy to make a beautiful layered combination!

Redtwig dogwood ‘Cardinal’ is good at making friends, so plant him anywhere that has at least average soil and moisture. Although very tough and drought tolerant, to look his best, give him little extra water if it gets really hot and dry!
His bright red color in his stems goes away in the growing season so he can be focused on being more service oriented. It is then when he works to take up excess run off water, especially in early spring.

He does a fine job as a soil anchor. He reduces erosion while he feeds nectar to the local butterflies! He does have rather nice lacey looking white flowers. He also makes very small blue berries, a favorite of song birds.
By mid-autumn, his foliage turns hues of black-eyed purple- just to hint that there is much more to come. By the time the leaves dropped, the twigs have renewed their deep red pigment. This lasts till spring. Like most Redtwig dogwoods, he will stretch up to 6’ and can be kept to that height with ease.

Care Factor Rating: 3 Redtwig dogwood ‘Cardinal’ ( Cornus sericea) must be watered regularly till established. To maintain the best stem color, prune all stems close to the ground in early spring every 2-3 years. This is likely to disrupt flowering and fruit production just for that season. This will also encourage the mature height to stay just below 6’. This pruning method is easier than trying to remove 20-25% of the oldest stems each spring. Otherwise remove only the occasional damaged or dead branch any time of the year.

Although he does like to spread outward from his base but he is controllable and well mannered when given boundaries. Once established, remove any excess shoots with a pruning saw. Cut around the base with a sharp shovel and remove any excess root and woody material and replace-refill any hole area created with fresh soil to protect roots. This activity will slow the gradual expansion of the primary clump. Maintaining base area spread for each individual shrub to a minimum of 2-3 feet wide. This will permit the shrub to appear balanced by keeping the height and width somewhat equal.

This is a cane shrub that spreads by increasing from the crown / base by producing new shoots from the base annually. This makes him a perfect choice for hedge use or screening. If his individual personality is to remain defined, consider limiting the basal area / spread of this shrub in early spring before the leaves develop.