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.

KTRS 550 Inside Out Show Week of October 31 2009 Crabapple Don Wymann

Crabapple 'Don Wymann'

It seems aging has few advantages unless you are an elderly crab apple tree with outstanding employee performance record. If that is the case, and your name is Malus ‘Don Wymans’, be proud of your lifetime achievement as a reliable and disease resistant performer!

The passing of multiple seasons can be the enemy for any weak crabapple selections. It can also be the tie breaker for the few tree cultivars who don’t fail every year, but instill uneasy feelings of “caretaker’s regret” at least every few years. For a special few crabapples, Time is a good friend, as it points to those who deserve our highest regard with the passing of years.

I myself have forged a fair weather friendship with this Steady Eddie of crabapple world, ‘Donald Wyman. He has made every day seem better and fairer than it would have been without him. Don has been employed near my residence for many years as shade reliever, bird feeder, and erosion controller. He has also taken on the added responsibility of providing a very handsome privacy screen.

His hardy and easy going nature impresses me annually. He offers a great flower display, consistent fruit production, and all without complaint. He retains his only slightly marred foliage all summer long as proof that he has met his disease and fungus foes, battled it out and won the right to remain steadfast in the landscape. (Many crabs are burdened with the embarrassment of diseased foliage. Frequently they completely defoliate. They drop their leaves to the ground in mid to late summer in an attempt to disclaim their disease ridden history ) Not Don, he holds on to them as an admission pass to Fall’s color parade. He is proud to wave his banner of amber gold.

He has earned my respect. He has demonstrated an awesome ability to ignore the ruined, sadly compacted, post construction clay soil that surrounds his roots. He bears the scars of poor pruning practices left by the well intentioned maintenance man. (I have since made amends to Don with a few apologetic re-pruning corrections and I am always looking for opportunities to share my conservationist views with anyone that appears determind to alter Don's ability to perform his assigned tasks. This is my attempt to protect him the best I can and also to thank him for being part of my everyday landscape)

I am glad he was somehow able to forgive the landscape installer who disregarded any Best Management Practices Guidelines for tree planting, including spacing. I have come into Don’s life too late to reverse the damage this has done, but at least he shows no”malus” or ill will toward the “oh no that’s too close” roof line and the crowding ash tree who also has also suffered from various forms of early childhood horticulture abuse. I find myself thankful to the long gone installer who made such a good choice-even if it was by chance.

You too may know Malus ‘Donald Wymann’. He is not a stranger to the St. Louis area. He is frequently an esteemed member of the landscape community in many of the more fortunate landscapes installed around 15-20 years ago. Recognized early because of his good health and work ethics, he can be traced back to when he was just a chance seedling discovered at the famous Arnold Arboretum. He was named after Donald Wyman who served as Arnold Arboretum horticulturist.

Be sure to look closely in less likely places as well. I doubt my Don is the only misplaced workhorse who deserves recognition for managing a tough job without at least minimum benefits! (by the way, he doesn’t seem to mind my affectionate shortening of his proper name).

Care Factor Rating: 2 This member of the apple family needs adequate drainage and surely will not thrive in soggy soils. He needs to be watered regularly till established and during excessively long drought periods.

He does not require pruning when given adequate space! His very small but very attractive cardinal red fruits persist, staying in place on the tree well into winter. They provide an extra season of interest that rivals and maybe surpasses the oohs and ahhs from onlookers gazing at the pretty peppermint candy color combination of rose colored buds and white blossoms.

The fruit is reliably heavy each year, offering an extended period of striking color from fall till winter. These tiny apples are a mainstay for many song birds. This tree truly provides “cheep” entertainment, as long as the fruit lasts!

Watersprouts (Suckering at the base) is not a major problem with this cultivar of crabapple. Should sprouts appear, remove using a small hand pruner or pruning saw. Be careful not to injure the trunk / bark. No chemical control for sprouting is needed. Sprouts should be removed if and when they appear. Check for rubbing-crossing branches and remove these as blooming ends mid-late spring but before June. Dead or damaged branches can be removed any time of the year. There are reports that minimized pruning contributes to the heath of the tree and may also decrease stress and disease factors.

Additional information: Malus 'Donald Wyman'

KTRS 550 Plant of the Week October 24 2009 Hydrangea quercifolia

Hydrangea quercifolia

Hydrangea quercifolia, an American native, is best known by her common name Oakleaf hydrangea.

She has a strong upright well rounded figure that makes onlookers smile. She is blessed with an abundance of bold, well textured leaves that are notable on their own, but they become more of a backdrop midseason as an abundance of rather oversize mounds of flowers develop mid-season.

Her girlish bouquets of blossoms are the softest shades of white when first exposed to the elements but as the many appreciating glances follow, she flushes to an embarrassed pink. Passing from that first awkward moment through weeks and weeks of admiring stares, she eventually grow accustom to the attention and her flowers fade to a charmingly casual shade of dusky rose.

Once fall arrives, she could easily begin a modeling career. Her distinctive oakish shaped forest green foliage takes on a closet full of stylish autumn colors. Price tag worthy, these are designer shades of metallic bronze, crimson lip reds and velveteen purples.

Age must be of no consequence when good genes are present. (Apparently the clock can be kind!) Nature insists that Oakleaf Hydrangea releases her leaves back to the soil. As her reward, the Wind begins a therapeutic massage and the exfoliating rituals begin. At some point the thin layer of outer bark begins to shed, revealing a soft mink brown inner skin that looks warm on the coldest of days and beautiful all winter long.

When given a choice, she likes to keep her toes dipping into rich moist but not saturated soil. She enjoys just relaxing in full sun to part shade. The reward for this minimal is baskets full of blooms every single year-regardless!

Care Factor Rating: 2 This hydrangea must be watered regularly till established and occasionally during excessively long drought periods. She is a reliable bloomer as she blooms on new wood. The flowers are most attractive through summer and into fall. The flowers then fade to a silvery beige color for the winter landscape. Leave the flowers intact till leaf buds break usually mid-March / early spring, for a more manicured but still casual look.

She does not require pruning when given adequate space. The naturally habit is broad and mounding. There are many cultivars available that have been bred for different habits, flower type and size allowance. Removal of the occasional damaged or dead branch can be done any time of the year.

A blanket of mulch or a burlap wrap after leaf drop is usually sufficient while she is getting established and whenever winters are extremely harsh. When she is very stressed such as container living or suffering from root disturbance such as ball and burlap growing, she may develop temporary leaf spotting / blight. This resolves with the next set of leaves ,once she has wiggle room and the growing situation has stabilized.

Perfectly well behaved in a family gathering or in a plant community setting such as rain gardens, stream beds, informal hedge, woodland settings and transition zones, she can be grouped with other plant families or with or more of the same!

KTRS 550 Inside Out Show for Saturday October 17th 2009 Plant of the Week Shumard Oak

Easy Love but hard to find Shumard Oak (Quercus shumardii) is an easy fast growing and long lived shade tree. She is a member of the wonderful red oak family but almost “forever young” in habit and lack of nut production.

She holds on to her youthfully slim shape and waits till she is of legal age (21 or older) before she even thinks of starting a family! Even the acorns are less of a problem than some other nut producing trees since her acorns need two years to mature before they drop!

Her glorious spreading “crown” or upper growth/leaf canopy comes along only with the advancement of age. By the time she is giving thought to her retirement years, her investment in crown growth has begun to pay off in respectability. Frequently a mature Shumard oak specimen is so notable that her only real competition comes from the magnificent Burr Oak.

As for bark and foliage, Shumard oak dresses with flawless good taste. She retains her youthful luminous gray pin-striped silk textured bark for years till the inevitable furrows develop. This is the first tell-tale sign of her age.

Her glossy well lobed forest green leaves are attractive all season but as Autumn begins her color parade, this oak’s foliage gets her a pass to front of the line. Her leafy tresses of henna red and burnished copper with bruised purple undertones will slow rush hour traffic if given the chance!

She is native to central and southern Missouri. Her fondness for periodically wet/dry cycles makes her a perfect choice for low spots in the landscape. She has no problems dealing with occasionally waterlogged soils or stopping erosion.

She naturally likes clay soil. She is a good choice for shading man-made or natural occurring stream beds or creating a backdrop for beautiful rain gardens.

She is energy conscious and adaptable too! She is well employed as the shade queen of outdoor living spaces as well as the nuturing mother of some pretty edgy offspring. Shumard oaks are sometimes found thriving on dry and rocky hillsides-particularly ones with a view!

(photo credit to Kansas City's Botanical Garden Powell Gardens /Alan Branhagan)

Care Factor Rating: 1 This oak must be watered regularly till established and occassionally during excessively long drought periods. She does not require pruning when given adequate space!. The acorns are not produced before maturity, usually after 20 years or more. Also they take two years to mature and drop. Remove only the occasional damaged or dead branch any time of the year.

For other reliable fall color choices check out: Hackberry, Black Gum, Ginko, Serviceberry, Hickory, Witchhazel, Rusty Blackhaw Virburnum, Spicebush. Some crab apples and even dogwood color up very well!)