EDDIE SEAGLE: Choose the right plant for the right spot

“Sweet May hath come to love us. Flowers, trees, their blossoms don; And through the blue heavens above us the very clouds move on.”

— Heinrich Heine

The weather is getting warmer with each passing day, with bits of coolness in the nights that is a solemn reminder of the wonderful spring we experienced this year. As we continue to enjoy the fruits of our labor in our landscapes, be aware of plant choices to improve and enhance the color. Summer blooming shrubs can have a major influence on color and curb appeal. Choosing the right plant and placing it in the right place are most critical in the survival and success process. Make your selections based upon the cultural and microenvironment requirements of the plants, as well as personal choices. The following summer flowering shrubs offer curb appeal and desirable color.

Bluebeard Shrub (Caryopteris spp.) exhibits clusters of attractive blue blooms in late summer and is heat and drought tolerant. Often called blue mist spirea, bluebeard is not a true spirea. This low maintenance shrub attracts birds, butterflies and bees. Reaching a height of 4 feet, it prefers full sun and well-drained soils. “Longwood Blue” is a cultivar whose leaves smell of mint.

Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii) is a summer to fall flowering shrub offering fragrant blooms of purple, lavender, blue, pink, and white colors. Reaching a height of 10-feet, it prefers full sun and well-drained soils. Common cultivars greater than 6 feet tall are “Attraction,” “Bicolor,” “Black Knight,” “Dartmoor,” “Guinevere,” “Honeycomb” and “Lochinch.” Cultivars shorter than 6 feet include “Ellen’s Blue,” “Nanho Blue,” “Summer Beauty” and “White Ball.”

Carolina Allspice (Calycanthus floridus) brings attractive deep red flowers with a spicy fragrance to the landscape garden in the summer. Reaching a height of 8-feet, this low maintenance plant prefers full sun to partial shade and well-drained soils.

Oleander (Nerium oleander) is a low maintenance, subtropical shrub in colors of pink, red, purple, lilac, yellow, and white which stand out against its green foliage for summer enjoyment. A test of its tolerance levels can be seen as you observe it growing along roadsides with little to no maintenance. Reaching a height of 10 feet, oleander prefers full sun and well-drained soils. However, do keep in mind that oleander is extremely poisonous, so exercise care in where you place it.

Reblooming Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) is a hydrangea that produces flowers on current season’s growth throughout the summer. “Endless Summer” is an awesome cultivar. Reaching a height of 5 feet, it prefers part shade and moist, well-drained soils.

Rock Rose (Cistus spp.) produces attractive rose-like flowers (pink, purple, lavender, and white) throughout the summer months. The rock rose is drought tolerant and easy to grow. Reaching a height of 5-feet, it prefers full sun and well-drained soils.

Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) was one of my mom’s most favorite plants. It provides color throughout the summer and into the fall with its tropical-looking blooms in pink, lavender-blue, and white. “Minerva” is a sterile variety and does not produce the excessive seedlings (which can become weedy and invasive) so characteristic of the regular varieties. Reaching a height of 10 feet, it prefers full sun and well-drained soils.

Shrub Rose (Rosa spp.) exhibits attractive blooms (yellow, pink, red and white) all summer and into the fall on vegetative stock that is disease tolerant. Shrub roses take the best qualities of the hardiest rose species, and combine those traits with modern repeat blooming and diverse flower forms, colors and fragrances. Some shrub roses may grow tall while others stay compact. Recent rose breeding has focused on developing hardier shrub roses for landscaping that need little to no maintenance. These plants have thorns so plant them away from traffic flow situations for people safety reasons. Reaching a height of 6 feet, the shrub rose prefers full sun and well-drained soils, and attracts birds. Cultivars such as “Ballerina,” “Blanc Double de Coubert,” “Bonica,” “Carefree Beauty,” “Carefree Wonder,” “DayDream,” “Hansa,” “Home Run,” “John Cabot,” “Knock Out,” “Little Mischief,” “Pinktopia,” “Snowdrift,” “Sunrise,” “Super Hero” and “William Rafin” are great choices.

Spirea (Spiraea japonica) is a low maintenance shrub that is grown in so many different settings with minimal effort. From home landscapes and commercial properties to public plantings and streetsides, the spirea grows quite well and offers clusters of raspberry-rose flowers for our personal enjoyment. ‘Goldmound’ is a cultivar exhibiting golden or lime-green foliage. Reaching a height of 4 feet, it prefers full sun and well-drained soils.

Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia) offers fragrant flowers (pink and white) throughout the summer and golden leaf color in the fall. “Ruby Spice” is a cultivar offering a longer blooming season. Reaching a height of 5 feet, it prefers part to full shade and moist, well-drained soils. There are several cultivars of summersweet clethra that are available at garden centers and through mail order catalogs. These cultivars are different from the wild form (white and tall) by either being more compact and floriferous (making more flowers) or by having pink buds and flowers. Cultivars include “Ruby Spice” and “Pink Spires” as regular sized, and “Hummingbird” and “Sixteen Candles” in dwarf form.

As you continue to research plants that you like, keep such factors as seasonal color, texture, size at maturity (height and width), speed of growth, exposure to sun or shade, potential pests problems, deciduous or evergreen, cultural practices, and potential invasiveness in mind. May the results of your immediate efforts be long-lasting so that you can enjoy the fruits of your labor for seasons to come. Remember to feed and water the songbirds, and give your pets the care they need (do not leave them unattended in a hot car or tied to a tree all day long).

Many thanks to all who read this column which is an effort to provide each reader with timely and useful information. It is a small contribution on my part in “paying it forward” to my readers, as a means of sharing the blessings bestowed upon me. In keeping with this thought, many of you are aware that we are planning a mission trip to the Peru this summer. We are currently raising funds to help finance this discipleship journey. If you feel led to do so and would like to donate to this cause, please make a check payable to Heritage Church and mail to Eddie Seagle, Peru Mission Team, 108 Tallokas Circle, Moultrie, GA 31788. We would appreciate your prayers for a safe journey as well, and many thanks to each of you.

“Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies.” Psalm 141:4.

Eddie Seagle is a sustainability associate, Golf Environment Organization (Scotland); agronomist and horticulturalist, CSI: Seagle (Consulting Services International); professor emeritus and honorary alumnus, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, and associate editor of The Golf Course, International Journal of Golf Science. Direct inquiries to [email protected].