Checkerboard Fuchsias

Keep them nice and shady, or they will begin to wilt. I will need to move mine. The sun shifts just enough during the summer to make what used to be a shady spot sunny. Grr.

Blackspot resistant roses.

Here is a list from a Purdue University website. It includes hybrid tea, florubunda, grandiflora, climbing, Rugosa hybrid, shrub, and miniature rose cultivars (including Knock-out). Some of the shrub roses listed I recognize from Antique rose lists I have seen.

Search: Pruning Jasmine

Someone was looking for info on pruning jasmine, so I'll offer my two cents, for what they're worth.

The star jasmine I have growing in my garden has a tendency to twine itself around my trees, if left alone long enough (about 2-3 weeks) during its summer and fall growing season. The pruning process usually involves 3 basic steps:

1. Get hedge clippers
2. Chop off what I don't want.
3. Dispose of clippings.

Given our generally warm climate, whatever I cut off grows back fairly quickly. This vine is evergreen thorughout the winter, so in my region it requires no winter pruning. In fact, the above process I have described and an occasional treatment for powdery mildew is pretty much the only work I put into this plant at all. I mostly ignore it the rest of the time, except in spring when I admire the beauty of its flowers.

Keeping Plumbagos Pretty

I have a little Plumbago auriculata (a.k.a Cape Leadwort) in a pot that I bought earlier in the fall, but it became a little neglected last month while I was ill, and went on a kind of blooming strike due to lack of water. I have been watering it faithfully for weeks, but it is only now showing signs of revival, despite the relatively warm weather.


So I did a little looking for things to do for a plumbago that is not blooming. One suggestion was to

Fertilize with milk--1 Tablespoon per gallon every two weeks. (Tried this today; we'll see if it helps.). The other idea I saw was avoiding over fertilizing by using half of the fertilizer recommended by package instructions. One also needs to avoid overwatering as well as underwatering.

Beyond that, I have no further ideas at this time. I miss those little blue flowers. :(

Photo Source: Texas Cooperative Extension: Perennials for Texas Landscapes

More Plumbago Links:

Texas A&M University: Blue-Blooming Vitex and Plumbago: Butterflies Love 'Em, Deer Don't
Dave's Garden plant profile
USDA Plant profile
Floridata Profile

Star Jasmine

Star Jasmine (Jasminum multiflorum), also known as Confederate Jasmine, is another plant that seems to like it here on the Gulf-coast. This perennial vine has lovely green foliage all year round, and is covered in snowy white flowers in the spring. Here's a picture of how mine looked during its last blooming season.


It is relatively low-maintenance, assuming you don't plant it someplace where you'll have to trim it back all the time. During the summer and fall growing season, it grows very rapidly. I have one that was planted underneath some trees, before I moved into my house, and I have to frequently trim it back to keep it from climbing into them. Star Jasmine can also work as a rambling groundcover, if you have a large enough space for it.

Here, it blooms in the spring. In the milder climate of my native Southern California, the star jasmine blooms into summer.

The only other difficulty I have had with mine is the occasional bit of powdery mildew, when the humidity starts to go back up toward the end of Spring.

I find, however that this is relatively easy to cope with, using an organic fungicide spray.

Dioscorea bulbifera

Update (3-1-08): Despite the fact that the Houston Garden book lists them as an option for the garden, I checked the Texas Invasive Plants database, and discovered that this plant is on the list. Apparently Florida and Alabama aren't the only places where this plant can take over. It is also known to spread underground as well as by the builbils. This information was not in the USDA plants database at the time of this original post. Oops. :) And I still have those builbils someone gave me last August!

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Common names: Air Potato, Air Yam.
Duration: Deciduous perennial. May freeze to the ground in winter.
Nativity: South America, Africa, Australia
Light: full Sun
Ideal planting time: April
Growth rate: Fast.
Growth Habit: Vine--requires wire or string trellis for maximum growth.
Soil preference: Acidic-neutral, rich, well drained.
USDA zones: 9-11


According to the Houston Garden Book, these deciduous, fast-growing vines are easy to cultivate. Judging by the fact that I see them frequently in this region, I would venture to guess that the book is correct. They are also supposed to be pest resistant.

This plant seems to be quite at home in the tropical and Sub-tropical regions of the United States with thriving naturalized populations in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida, as well as in Hawaii and Puerto Rico, according to the USDA Plants Database. In some places, it thrives too well, and is therefore considered a noxious and invasive weed in Florida and Alabama. It should not be planted in those states.

I recently acquired two bulbils from a very friendly person with an abundance of these (or something in the same genus) in her own Houston area garden. She likes them, and finds that they take little effort to grow. She just tosses the bulbils wherever she wants her plants to grow, and with watering, they will sprout. No digging, no burying.

I will probably start mine in containers, and find a place for them in my garden later.

See the profile and pictures at Dave's Garden.

Note: Dioscorea bulbifera is not edible!

Lantana?

According to commenters more experienced than I, this is another possible identification for the irritating (literally) plant that I posted about before.

Here is a photo and description of Lantana at Floridata.com.

Judging by the picture and description, it seems very likely that what I have is probably a dwarf variety.

A quick Google search reveals that Lantana is known to cause contact dermatitis in sensitive individuals.

Apparently, Lantana can also put you in a coma if you ingest them. That's what the Houston Garden Book says, anyway. Fortunately, the leaves are so rough, and the odor of cut and damaged plants is such that I can't imagine anyone thinking they are edible. They don't exactly strike me as being the ideal salad green.