Watsonia at my old homestead.
BULBS: Bugle Lily, Watsonia pillansii which is in the Lily family. It is native to South Africa and is grown from a corm much like gladiolus. The flowers rise on spikes from thick sword-like leaves about 18 inches long. Flowers soar almost a foot above the foliage and may be orange, red, pink, coral, white, or yellow. Blooms are 3 inches long and last several weeks, making them an attractive cut flower. Corms are modified roots that act as storage organs, much like bulbs or rhizomes. They will show well in the back of the border. They are easy to grow as long as the soil is well drained. They are normally planted in the fall and flower in spring and summer. You can prepare a bed by adding compost and working it in to a depth of 6 inches and then bury corms 4-5 inches deep and spaced about 12 inches apart. The soil needs to be moderately moist through the growing season. They can be harvested as a cut flower as well as being enjoyed in the landscape. They will need to be divided every few years when the corms get crowded and you can share corms as one of our Master Gardeners recently did with me. Thanks, Linda.
Laroda plums (photo courtesy of Burchell Nursery)
FRUIT TREE: Laroda plum (Prunus salicina) Spring is a good time to get that fruit tree in if you didn't get a bare root planted earlier. The Laroda plum is a great choice in plums because it has a long harvest season beginning in early-July and extending to mid-August or later. This is much longer than the harvest season for the other Japanese type plums like the Santa Rosa which last perhaps 10 days. The Laroda plum has received high overall scores in Dave Wilson Nursery tastings for its sweet, excellent flavor. The skin color is a dark purple and the flesh is amber with streaks of red on the inside. The texture is firm with high sweetness. The color is similar to Santa Rosa, but it is larger and ripens about a month later. It is a mid-season bloomer and requires a pollinizer such as Santa Rosa or Catalina. I never got to enjoy the fruit from the one I planted at my former homestead, but I did take scion wood from that tree and grafted over two flowering plums at my new home. I have been enjoying heavy production of these beauties for 3 years now.
Loropetalum in bloom at my home on Feb. 10.
SHRUB: Chinese fringe flower (Loropetalum chinense) is a shrub that blooms profusely with spidery pink flowers in early spring and more modest repeat blooms later. It is native to woodland regions of the Himalayas, China, and Japan, Flowers are lightly fragrant. It is a relative of witch hazel with fine textured, evergreen foliage and leaves that change color through the season from green to burgundy or purple. Leaves are oval and 1-2.5 inches long. It has a layered branching habit, and the height can be as large as 15 feet and spread can be up to 10 ft. depending on the variety. It does best with 6 hours of sun but can do with light afternoon shade in hot climates like ours. Prefers slightly acid soil but where I live it seems fine with a soil of pH 7. It is easy to grow and requires little maintenance and is good addition to an easy-care landscape. Loropetalum blooms on old wood so best to wait until flowers are finished in spring before pruning which consists mostly of trimming out dead and diseased branches or lightly shape as needed. Moderate watering is advised until it is established. It is drought tolerant once well established. Mulching is good practice. All parts of Loropetalum are non-toxic to pets and children.
