Favorite Plants

A Favorite Plant

September 3, 2017 by lheideman

by Pamela Frye, Somervell County Master Gardener

One of my favorite plants is one I just recently learned about called the leopard plant, or Farfugium japonicum. It is a native to most streams and meadows of Japan. The leopard plant is a perennial that produces waxy showy foliage and is a great candidate for shady areas. It is hardy in zones 7 through 10.

Leopard plant comes in several different species. The foliage ranges from small to very large, smooth or glossy, and even in a variegated one with bright yellow spots which might explain its common name of Leopard plant.

Leopard plants can tolerate temperatures to below 20 degrees F in winter. If temperature falls below that they will drop their leaves and re-emerge in spring. In addition to the beautiful foilage the plants produces tall spikes of yellow blooms similar to daisies in late summer and early fall.

Plant attracts butterflies with yellow flowers and is deer resistant.

It can reach a height and width of two feet. During bloom time it may reach up to three feet. Leopard plants can tolerate some morning sun or dappled shade throughout the day. They must have shade during the heat of the day. Moist soil is must but with good drainage.

So, if you would like to add a dramatic effect to your shade garden, check out the Leopard plant.

Beards or No Beards? (Either way, the iris is one handsome dude!)

April 30, 2016 by lheideman

By Sheryl Kleinschmidt, Somervell County Master Gardener

El Nino and springtime have brought an abundance of irises to Somervell County this year. In my eight years in the area, I haven’t seen better, but until recently, hadn’t given much thought to whether or not an iris had a beard!

Now, to the novice gardener, this has nothing to do with gender but refers to the fuzzy growth found coming from the flower center and down the petals.

My research led me to discover that there are hundreds of varieties of bearded irises and not so many of the “clean-shaven” types to be had. Given the bearded irises are more showy, I can see why. Iris farms abound from New Mexico to California, to Oregon—some having over 400 varieties for sale.

Some of the categories of bearded irises are: space age, re-bloomers, fragrant, and historic. Ironically, the historic ones aren’t all that old with most under 100 years of age.

Before purchasing your irises, be sure you have a location suitable for growing them. Irises need 6-8 hours of sunlight in order to bloom. They will grow in dark shade but won’t bloom well. They also need a well-drained soil free of heavy leaf droppings as the rhizomes need the sunlight to warm them.

It is best to plant or replant irises in late summer. Dig shallow holes for the rhizomes and don’t plant them too thickly—about 12-24 inches apart. They can be planted closer but will need thinning out sooner (every 3-5 years).

When your plants do become over-crowded they will not bloom as well, so it is good to thin them out at the end of bloom or end of summer. Dig them up by clumps and discard the center foliage fans as they will not have viable rhizomes. The “fans” with heavy tuber-like rhizomes are what you want to keep for replanting. Trim off most of the foliage before transplanting.

Irises will benefit from fertilizing about a month prior to blooming in the spring. They will also appreciate another feeding about a month after bloom. Do not use a fertilizer high in nitrogen (the first number on the package) as nitrogen tends to rot the rhizomes. It can also prevent flowering. So, choose a fertilizer with numbers of 10-10-10 or 5-10-10 for best results.

To keep your iris strain pure, cut down the flowering stalk after all the blooms are finished. Bees can cross-pollinate irises resulting in seed pods that will drop and grow into undesirable plants.

The bearded irises are definitely the most popular ones coveted by gardeners everywhere, but the beardless ones have their place in the landscape as well. They are known for their hardiness and are greatly appreciated by many.

*Information came from The American Iris Society

Raising Shasta Daisies

December 31, 2015 by lheideman

By Merilyn Cranford, Somervell County Master Gardener

Shasta Daisies have long been sunny garden favorites, both in beds and, with their long, stiff stems, as cut flowers. They’re a cinch to grow, they bloom for a long time and they attract butterflies, but not deer.

One of the more familiar types is known as ‘Becky’, a heavy bloomer with an upright habit. It starts to flower in July and keeps it up straight through to September. It’s true that ‘Becky’ is a great favorite of many people, but there are others as well.

Plenty of the new cultivars sport larger flowers, with more eye-catching petals than the older Shastas. One that might catch your eye is named ‘Fluffy’ because of its double flowers sprouting threadlike petals. Another is ‘Fiona Coghill’, with its audacious pompon flowers. The stout stems are strong enough to hold heavy blooms, even when they are wet after watering or rain. Additionally, ‘Crazy Daisy’ is a 30-inch tall Shasta that adds a playful attitude to the garden and the haphazard arrangement of petals is as endearing as its name.

There is a size to fit everyone’s taste. Some Shasta cultivars range in height from 10 to 40 inches and flower size from 2 to almost 5 inches across. For the most part white is the color of Shasta daisies, though there are a few that claim yellow petals. Two of these are named ‘Sunshine’ and ‘Cobham Gold’ which is closer to a soft butter-cream color.

Because of their inherently rugged nature and the range of plant sizes, there are many different uses for Shasta daisies. Some may look well at the center or back of the flowerbed. Or a large grouping makes a big impact, especially when you view it from a distance. If you’re not crazy about deadheading all those daisies, place the bed at the far end of the yard where a few faded blooms aren’t as noticeable. Or grow them in containers. Give them full sun and even moisture, but make sure the potting mix is well-drained, so the roots don’t rot.

So try a few Shastas – you’ll soon be hooked. Because however you use them, Shastas add a touch of magic to your garden, along with tons of fresh white blooms, from simple to simply splendid!

The Poinsettia

November 29, 2015 by lheideman

by Linda Heideman, Somervell County Master Gardener

No flower says Christmas in the United States like the beautiful Poinsettia. It is part of the large and diverse Spurge family, botanically known as Euphorbia pulcherrima.

Poinsettias received their name in the United States in honor of Joel Roberts Poinsett, who introduced the plant into the country in 1828. Poinsett was a botanist, a physician, and the first United States Ambassador to Mexico. He sent cuttings of the plant he had discovered in Southern Mexico to his home in Charleston, South Carolina. The word Poinsettia is traditionally capitalized because it is named after a person. December 12^th is Poinsettia Day, which marks the death of Poinsett in 1851.

Today the plant is known in Mexico and Guatemala as “La Flor de la Nochebuena” (Flower of the Holy Night, or Christmas Eve). In Chile and Peru, the Poinsettia is called the “Crown of the Andes”. In Spain it has a completely different holiday attribution: “Flor de Pascua” meaning “Easter Flower”.

Poinsettias have also been called the lobster flower and the flame-leaf flower, due to the red color, but today there are more than 100 varieties in many solid colors, or even marbled and speckled varieties. The Paul Ecke Ranch in California grows over 70% of all Poinsettias purchased in the United States and does about 50% of the world-wide sales.

The showy colored parts of Poinsettias that most people think of as the flowers are actually colored bracts (modified leaves). The yellow flowers, or cyathia, are in the center of the colorful bracts. The plant drops its bracts and leaves soon after those flowers shed their pollen. For the longest-lasting Poinsettias, choose plants with little or no yellow pollen showing. The colors of the bracts are created through “photoperiodism”, meaning that they require darkness (12 hours at a time for at least five days in a row) to change color. On the other hand, once they finish that process, the plants require abundant light during the day for the brightest color.

In nature, Poinsettias are perennial flowering shrubs that were once considered weeds. But they are not frost-tolerant. They will grow outdoors in temperate coastal climates, such as Southern California beach communities. In the ground, they can reach 10 feet tall!

Despite rumors to the contrary, Poinsettias are not poisonous. Some people with latex allergies have had a skin reaction, most likely to the sap in the leaves. A study at Ohio State University showed that a 50-pound child would have to eat more than a pound-and-a-quarter of Poinsettia leaves (500 to 600 leaves) to have any side effects. The most common side effects are upset stomach and vomiting, The leaves are reportedly not very tasty, so it’s highly unlikely that kids or even pets would be able to eat that many! But be aware that leaves can still be a choking hazard for children and pets.

If you’re up for the challenge, it is possible to keep your Christmas Poinsettia through the year and get it to bloom next year, but recreating the size and color of this year’s bracts is almost impossible. These plants are plentiful and cheap. Why not just look forward to new ones every year? They will keep a few weeks if you put them where it’s cool (65 to 70 degrees), where the light is bright in the daytime, and let them dry out between waterings. Remove the pretty outside wrapping and don’t let them stand in water.

Good luck!