Plants of the week

11/10/11
Newsletter Topics

#1 - Tips of the Week

#3 - Insects of the Week

#6 - Fruits or Veges

#2 - Plants of the Week

#4 - Disease of the Week

#7 - Some Do's

#5 - Turf Tips

Plants of the Week

Taken from the B.Y.G.L. (Buckeye Yard and Garden Online) Newsletter
Contributing Authors: Pam Bennett, Joe Boggs, Cindy Meyer, Jim Chatfield, Erik Draper, Dave Dyke,
Gary Gao, David Goerig, Tim Malinich, Becky McCann, Bridget Meiring, Amy Stone and Curtis Young

ANNUAL - EUPHORBIA 'DIAMOND FROST'.
Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' is a beautiful, light textured, airy plant in the spurge family that blooms from spring till frost! This plant has done extremely well in the Annual Plant Trials at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden as a bedding plant and in container plantings. Its delicate, airy, white flowers stay attractive the entire season. The delicate look that the plant provides should not fool you on its toughness. It is an outstanding performer in the garden. Its many attributes include: no deadheading, deer resistance, and heat and drought tolerance. This plant also mixes well with other annuals in containers and bedding displays, especially plants with dark foliage. 'Diamond Frost' is low growing, reaching
heights of 12-18". Other cultivars of Euphorbia that are available at garden stores include 'Breathless Blush', 'Breathless White', and 'White Manaus'.

PERENNIAL - TURTLEHEAD (Chelone spp.).
This native perennial gets its name from the shape of its unusual flowers that are tight terminal clusters of tubular 2-lipped flowers resembling the heads of snapping turtles. It is a good choice for heavy, wet soils. Turtlehead spreads to form dense colonies of upright stems bearing pink, rose, or white flowers, coming into bloom about the middle of August and lasting for 6-7 weeks.

It grows best in some shade, but tolerates full sun with adequate moisture. Turtlehead is an excellent, sturdy, easy-to-grow perennial, that can tolerate wet soils. It can be drought tolerant once established. Attracting hummingbirds and butterflies, this beautiful, vertical perennial with stout, upright stems, makes a good plant for the border, or to plant along streams.

The most commonly found species of this genus include: white turtlehead (C. glabra), reaching 3-6' tall with light creamy white (or slightly pink) flowers; Pink Turtlehead, Rose Turtlehead, Purple Turtlehead, and Red Turtlehead (C. obliqua), that reach 2-3' tall and half as wide with flowers in pink to deep rosy pink; and Lyon's Turtlehead (C. lyonii), at 3-4' in height bears clusters of purplish-pink flowers from August through October.

WOODY - SWEETGUM (Liquidambar styraciflua).
Sweetgum is a deciduous tree that can be found from Connecticut to Florida, and in the mountains of Central America ranging from Mexico to Panama. The
serrated, glossy, five-lobed leaves of Sweetgum are sometimes termed star-shaped. This tree grows moderately fast and is highly resistant to insect attack. Sweetgum generally reaches heights of 60-80' with a canopy width of 40-60'. Many owners may not be excited about the sweetgum tree, due to the pesky fruits that make mowing and walking difficult. Even though this tree may have annoying fruit, it does make up for it with beautiful, yellow to red fall color.

WEED - PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE (Lythrum salicaria).
Purple loosestrife was introduced to the northeastern US and Canada in the 1800s for ornamental and medicinal uses. Purple loosestrife is an erect perennial in the loosestrife family Lythraceae, with a square, woody stem and opposite or whorled leaves. Loosestrife plants grow 4-10' high and produce a showy display of magenta-colored flower spikes throughout much of the summer. Flowers have 5-7 petals. Purple loosestrife is very invasive, with mature plants having approximately 30-50 stems growing from a single rootstock. This plant adapts readily to natural and disturbed wetlands. As it establishes and expands, it overcomes native plants and ultimately makes it harder for wildlife to find good food sources. Purple loosestrife can still be found in garden stores and sometimes hidden in wildflower seed mixes, so consumers beware!
Small infestations of purple loosestrife can be removed by hand. The entire root system must be removed from the ground and bagged and removed from the area. Larger populations are harder to control using mechanical means and chemicals may need to be utilized. The best way to target the plants is to apply herbicides by cutting and treating the stems. Read the herbicide label for spraying guidelines before applying.