Autumn Planning

Hydrangea paniculata

The ideal planting time for shrubs, trees, and perennials is just around the corner.  Fall planting allows for strong root growth before a winter siesta and the growing season of spring.  It’s a chance to give plants a head start before the stress of summer strangleholds their very existence. 

Now is the time to begin planning.  A walk through Lewis Nursery or the Garden Shoppe is one way to be inspired, but another is to look around at what is surviving well in commercial landscapes.  These are the very spots that do not get the pampered watering and fertilizing that the home landscaper can do.  Plants have to be tough to survive 100˚ heat and three weeks without rain!  I’ve noticed a few that really stand out.

The first is hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’.  You can see this growing near the new Aztex/ McDonald’s at the corner of 64 and 69.  What is most striking is how beautiful the plant looks no matter how hot it gets.  Its white flowers (with a slight green tint) sit perkily while the rest of us wilt and sweat.  I like the whole crowd of paniculatas:  ‘Tardiva’ is very reliable and ‘PinkyWinky’ has almost red flowers, to name just a couple.  They don’t droop as most mophead hydrangeas do in the heat of summer and they bloom now into fall—a good time for the garden.  They like sun and can become large, but you wield the pruning shears.

Another plant near McDonald’s is Ninebark (physocarpus opulifolious).  I am not sure the variety.  It could be ‘Diablo’, but it is behaving like the beautiful ‘Summer Wine’ I have in my garden.  This plant flowers delightfully in the spring, but its crowning glory is the deeply cut, dark crimson-red leaves that glow in the sunlight throughout the summer.  It’s a beautiful plant to jazz up a boring green border. 

The third planting near this intersection is the group of trees in front of the Nantahala Bank that were placed by the Department of Transportation.  I realize they are not much to look at now, just pretty little shade trees, but come this winter they will sport a crown of red berries almost all season (the birds do eventually have their way with them!)  I was so struck by their attractiveness that I called the DOT for information which is when I discovered there is a whole DOT landscape department!  The horticulturist identified them as Crataegus viridis ‘Winter King’. This cultivar is one of the best hawthornes for landscape purposes.  It is a smallish (25–30 ft.) deciduous tree that blooms in May, has dark red autumn foliage, and red fruit all winter.  In older trees the bark also exfoliates which adds to its winter interest.

Well, here’s to your autumn dreaming.  At least there’s one good thing we can say about this heat--you can’t plant shrubs and trees!

Eleanor Moyer