Norwood strange horticulture full#
Norwood strange horticulture series#

There has been a flurry of Caryopteris breeding over the past 15 years and we have never had such wonderful plants for the garden. Its aromatic foliage is turn off to deer so it rarely bothered by Bambi and her four legged friends. It’s a great source of pollen for bees and butterflies. Fall pruning is not recommended, as it stimulates the plant to grow when it should be going dormant - the result can be a dead plant the following spring.Ĭaryoteris is a wonderful garden plant because it offers a mass of colorful blue flowers in late summer when few other plants are blooming. If you wish you can give the plant a slight shearing in early summer to bulk of the body of the plant. Simply cut the plant back to wood with active sprouts. My final bit of cultural advice deals with pruning – as the plant typically dies back in the winter, you should only have to prune the plant once and that is in the spring after the plant starts to grow.

Once established Caryopteris is very drought tolerant and requires even less water. People often blame the plant for not being winter hardy because their plant did not make it through the winter, but the real culprit is wet soil. It will not tolerate heavy, wet clay soils, or at least not for long. The next thing to know is that Caryopteris needs well drained soil. In partial shade the leaves will appear a dull, washed out green.

Norwood strange horticulture full#

In addition, the yellow leafed cultivars have much better color in full sun. It will grow in partial shade but it will not look happy or flower nearly half as well as a plant in full sun. As the plant grows back quickly in the spring and its flower buds (and flowers) are formed on new wood so the plant does not miss a beat.Ĭulturally there are three things necessary to grow a nice plant. While the plant makes woody stems, they are tender and die back during the winter. While it is hardy to USDA zone 5, it is typically a die-back shrub in the North, behaving much like a Buddleia. Unless otherwise noted, the following information here after refers to this hybrid.Ĭaryopteris is a fall flowering shrub with rich blue to purple-blue flowers. The majority of the ornamental selections sold here are hybrids Caryopteris x cladonensis (pronounced Cary-op-ter-is clan-don-en-sis) which is a hybrid between Caryopteris incana and Caryopteris mongholica. Only are few of these species are grown in North America as ornamentals. The genus Caryopteris is comprised of roughly 15 species, most being native to Asia. How this came about I do not know as they are not even in the same family Spiraea is in the Roseaceae family while Caryopteris is in the Verbenaceae family. It is unfortunate that Caryopteris has the common name of Blue Spirea for it is not a Spiraea and it’s just plain confusing. You’d actually be able to see the person across the table from you.Ībracadabra Star has massive lace-cap blooms with hot pink flowers. As a pot plant they would make great centerpiece on a table. I honestly think that these plants have a cool factor that will make them as popular as lucky bamboo. Of course it doesn’t hurt that the plants also have funky blooms that are both massive and richly colored. What makes these plants so unique is that they have internodes (the spacing between the leaves) that are large enough to give you a real good view of the dark, glossy black stems. That’s because, for the first time ever, I actually felt that the average shopper could get excited about bark.

Norwood strange horticulture series#

When I first saw the Abracadabra Series of Hydrangea in Germany, I got so excited I could hardly contain myself.

It has very attractive back stems, but the feature is obscured by the leaves, so few people ever notice. I like it but it’s never been a big seller. macrophylla 'Mandshurica') is a good example. I get excited about bark, but I have to remind myself that most people won’t even notice. As if the typical homeowner is going to actually crouch down under a shrub and exclaim “Wow, now that’s awesome bark.” From my experience, the public does not get overly excited about bark (that is unless it has in-your-face bark like a Paper Bark Birch).

That’s why I get a kick out of reading comments by Mike Dirr where he gushes about the attractiveness of the bark on some particular shrub. Regular people look at plants quite differently than your typical horticulturist.