Plant Ideas for Spring!
Eddie’s White Wonder Dogwood
Dogwoods are one of my favorite trees.
This variety has beautiful white flowers that grow to more than four
inches in diameter in the spring. Composed of four to six large, rounded
and overlapping bracts, these blooms create a striking display in the
spring. Dark green summer foliage is handsome throughout the summer
months, and turns to rich red in the fall. Small red fruits decorate its
branches in winter. A hybrid of the Pacific Northwest native dogwood,
Cornus Nuttallii, and Cornus Florida, it grows taller and has larger
flowers than those of the Cornus floida. It is also easier to grow,
more resistant to anthracnose, and generally more adaptable than its
other parent, Pacific Dogwood. Eddie’s White Wonder Dogwood grows to a
height of about 25 feet with a spread of about 20 feet.
Ceanothus: A great low growing ground cover.
If you’re looking for a native, drought tolerant
ground cover, that grows to about 6 inches tall, Ceanothus thyrsiflorus
var. repens ‘Louis Edmunds’ is just the ticket. This beauty has a long
name but it’s short in height for a Ceanothus. It has a beautiful light
blue flower, dark green foliage and a habit for spreading.
Managing foraging deer can be a real
challenge. Fortunately, this Ceanothus variety is not a favorite of
deer. Because it’s low to the ground with tougher leaves, they typically
avoid it and look for more tasty flowers or shrubs.
Lomandra: Up and Coming Plant
If you have one of those hard to fill
spots, consider Lomandra, sometimes called Mat rush. They are a native
of Australia, can take the sun or shade and are very tough. There are
many varieties of Lomandra, but only about handful are usually
available.
Lomandra varieties vary in size, leaf
color, leaf blade width. They are mounding plants with strap like leaves
of green or blue-green. Varieties range in size from 1 foot tall to 3
feet tall. Some of the many nice attributes is the ability to do well
near the seacoast and to grow well in sun or shade. Drought tolerant?
You bet.
Lomandra ‘Breeze’, ‘Nyalla’, ‘Seascape’, ”Tropic Bell’, ‘Little Con’ are all varieties usually available locally.
