American Wisteria `Amethyst Falls`

American Wisteria ‘Amethyst Falls’
(Wisteria frutescens)
10-25’ x 4-8’ fast-growing twining vine, or can be trained into a
small tree or standard.
Not an aggressive spreader like Asiatic Wisteria, as it doesn’t send
out long root suckers.
Native to SE U.S., found in alluvial forests, moist-wet thickets, margins
of damp woods, riverbanks, swamps.
Abundant showy 4-6” dense drooping
clusters of ¾” fragrant pea-like bluelavender flowers with a yellow spot,
held above leaves on 3” stems.
Begins blooming April, after leaf-out,
continuing in waves over a few weeks,
then sporadically during the summer,
on current season’s growth.
7-12” shiny pinnately-compound leaves,
with 5-6 pairs of slightly drooping
gray-green 2” leaflets with soft green
undersides.
2-4” brown bean-like smooth pods
ripen in summer, and split open in fall.
Reddish brown twigs age to warm gray,
handsome in winter.
Because the plant develops a thick coiled
trunk, provide a sturdy support.
Sun to part sun. Prefers moist fertile well-drained soil.
Tolerates moderate drought and seasonal flooding.
Superphosphate fertilizer in early spring can help stimulate flowering
– probably does not require nitrogen, which encourages only foliage
growth. Aside from light shaping after blooming, and some thinning
in winter (or severe pruning if size reduction is sought), the plant
requires little care. Does not like being moved. Highly deer resistant.
Excellent vine for strong trellises, arbors, pergolas, fences, columns,
walls, or trained as small tree; in cottage, formal, or small gardens.
Attracts bees, butterflies, and skippers. Larval food for Silver Spotted
Skipper, nectar for Juvenal’s Duskywing.
Photos 1, 4
Will Cook, Duke University
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/trees/rhca4.html
Photo 2
Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder
mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder
Photos 3, 5
Conard-Pyle Nursery
www.conard-pyle.com
Azalea ‘Weston’s Lollipop’
(Rhododendron arborescens x cumberlandense)
5-8’ shrub with upright stems.
A Weston Nursery (Massachusetts) 1963 cross of
Rhod. arborescens (Sweet Azalea), native from New
York south, found on stream banks and moist
wooded slopes, and Rhod. cumberlandense
(Cumberland Azalea), from the Appalanchians. Both
are found in moist acidic soils.
Extremely fragrant pink flowers with a yellow flare,
blooming in mid June, becoming silvery pink by late
June.
Medium to dark leaves, red-orange in fall.
Prefers part shade, in moist to damp fertile humusrich acidic soil. Because the roots are clustered
toward the soil surface, give a mulch covering.
Mildew resistant.
“Proven Performer” of MA chapter, American
Rhododendron Society.
Use in woodland gardens, at edges of wooded areas,
in naturalized settings, in streamside areas, or where
you can appreciate the fragrance of the flowers.
Attracts butterflies, hummingbirds.
Larval food for Striped Hairstreak and Brown Elfin,
nectar for Skippers and Swallowtails.
Photos 1, 2
American Rhododendron Society Massachusetts Chapter Website
photos by Sally and John Perkins
Photo 3
Weston Nurseries
www.westonnurseries.com
Flame Azalea
(Rhododendron calendulaceum)
4-8’, narrow base, tall arching stems.
Native Pennsylvania south, found in
moist woods, slopes, by stream bank.
Flower buds resemble candle flames;
trusses of brilliant lemon, apricot,
and scarlet 2” flowers, May-June.
3-4” leaves; yellow to red in fall.
Sun to part shade, high dappled shade best;
moist to average acidic humus-rich soil.
Excellent in masses, open woods,
shrub borders, for striking blooms.
Habitat for songbirds, hummingbirds,
butterflies, small mammals.
Streamside buffers.
John Bartram, the pioneer 18th century
American horticulturist, described
Flame Azalea: "Clusters of blossoms cover
the shrubs in such incredible profusion
of the hillsides that suddenly opening
to view from dark shades, we are alarmed
with the apprehension of the hill being
set on fire."
Photos 1, 3
North Central Conservation District
Photos 2, 4
Will Cook, Duke University
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/trees/rhca4.html
Bayberry
(Myrica pensylvanica)
6-10’ billowing shrub.
Connecticut native.
Semi-evergreen dark gray-green 2” leaves
persist into winter.
Abundant spiraling clusters of waxy gray berries
September-April.
Fruit and all parts of plant are very aromatic when crushed.
Mahogany fall color
Interesting winter branching.
Use for massing, informal hedges, screening,
habitat restoration, bank stabilization,
rough areas. Can also be used to make bayberry candles.
Sun to part sun.
Moist to dry acid soil, tough and adaptable,
tolerates wind and seashores.
Once established can form mounding colonies.
Attracts birds, preferred food of
bluebirds, tree swallows, finches.
Attractive to over 100 butterfly
species. Larval host for
Columbia Silkmoth.
Photos 1, 2, 4
UConn Plant Database
www.hort.uconn.edu/plants
Photo 3
Connecticut Botanical Society
Janet Novak
www.ct-botanical-society.org
Photos 5, 6, 7
North Central Conservation District
Bush-Honeysuckle ‘Wilbraham’
(Diervilla lonicera)
2-4' x 2-5’+. Vigorous, grows 3-4’ a year.
Spreading mounded flat-topped shrub, suckering freely,
forming broad thickets with age.
CT native, found in rocky or sandy soil, forest gaps, dry woods,
on cliffs. Selected from specimen from Wilbraham, MA.
2-6” long rounded lance-shaped leaves, emerge coppery, then
turn dark green with reddish mid-ribs;
Yellow to red in fall.
Sulfur-yellow June-August flowers, turn red-purplish.
Bell-shaped with five petals curled out. On new growth.
Dark-red arching stems. Bark peels to orange inner bark.
Sun to shade. Tolerates even heavy shade, but then
the plant has fewer flowers, less color, and less vigor.
Tolerates dry to moist rich soil, prefers in between.
Great drought tolerance. Rugged,
adaptable. Low maintenance.
Use for naturalizing, massing, filler
or facer, and in dry shade, and
for long period of summer bloom.
Good for erosion control.
Attracts bees, butterflies, birds,
hummingbirds.
Photo 1
Julie Weisenhorn
University of Minnesota Extension
extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/YGLNews/YGLNewsAugust152007
Photo 2
Gary Fewless, Cofrin Center For Biodiversity
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/shrubs/dielon01.htm
Photo 3
Shihmei Barger
flickr.com/photos/beautifulcataya/with/3706315348/
Photos 4, 6
Jesse Saylor, saylorplants.com
Michigan State University
Photo 5
Wilbur Duncan
University of Georgia Plant Biology Department/Herbarium
Shrubs of the Southeastern US
Plantbio.uga.edu/herbarium/seshrubs/ThumbNails/Caprofoliaceae.html
Fragrant Sumac ‘Gro-Low’
(Rhus aromatica)
2’ x 6-8’, dense low mounds, spreads by
rambling rooting stems to form a groundcover.
CT native, found in rocky open woods, glades,
thickets, on bluffs, knobs.
Fragrant yellow flowers March-April, before foliage.
Tri-folate glossy blue-green leaves;
showy orange-red in fall.
Abundant ¼” red berries begin in August,
may persist into winter.
Sun to part shade; dry to moist
well-drained soil,
tolerates poor dry soils,
adaptable.
Excellent fast-growing
groundcover, slope cover,
informal edging, massing.
Good for erosion control.
Attracts bees.
Attracts butterflies and moths,
host plant for Red-banded
Hairstreak, Spring Azure.
Fruits feed birds, including
finches, thrushes, bluebirds,
bobwhites, scarlet tanagers.
Photo 1
Pat Breen, Oregon State University
www.oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants
Photos 2, 4
Missouri Botanical PlantFinder
mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder
Photos 3, 6
North Central Conservation District
Photo 5
Michael Pascoe, Canada Plants
www.canadaplants.ca
New Jersey Tea
(Ceanothus americanus)
2-4’ x 3-5’, broad rounded compact shrub.
Dense with many slender upright spreading branches,
can slowly spread by suckering.
CT native, found in sandy or rocky soils, dry open woods,
thickets, at woodland edges, pine barrens, roadsides.
Elongated 2” panicles of tiny honey-scented frothy white
June-July flowers, at ends of stems, when few shrubs in bloom.
2-4” glossy toothed dark leaves, yellow in fall.
Yellow twigs stand out in winter.
Sun to part sun. Dry to medium,
average to sandy and/or rocky,
well-drained acidic soils. Tolerates
poor or shallow soils, and drought.
Easily grown, very adaptable, due
to massive deep roots. Not easy to
transplant. Upper new growth
tends to be herbaceous, but plant
tolerates even hard pruning in the
dormant season.
Use in shrub or perennial borders,
as tall ground cover. Mass on banks,
cuts, eroded areas, and in difficult
dry sunny areas. Good cut flower.
Dried leaves used as tea substitute
during the American Revolutionary
War, hence its common name.
A premier plant for many pollinator
insects, like bees, beneficial wasps.
Larval host for Spring/Summer Azure
and Mottled Duskywing butterflies.
Nectar plant for over 40 butterflies,
including Hairstreaks (see lower right.)
Seeds attract song and game birds and
hummingbirds.
Photos 1, 2, 3
Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder
mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder
Photo 4
Jeffrey S. Pippen
duke.edu/~jspippen/nature.htm
Photos 5, 6
Will Cook, Duke University
duke.edu/~cwcook/trees/ceam.html
Photo 7 Darel Hess
cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/
ceam.htm
Oakleaf Hydrangea ‘Snow Queen’
(Hydrangea quercifolia)
4-7’ upright irregularly shaped shrub.
Southeast U.S. native, woods and bluffs.
5-8” deeply lobed oak-like deep green
leathery leaves.
8” dense cones of white flowers,
in June, held upright, turning a
good pink-purple as they mature
in July.
Superb red-burgundy fall color.
By late fall, leaves are an earthy
brown-burgundy.
Leaves hold their shapes and
textures well into winter.
Cinnamon colored peeling stems,
with winter interest.
Sun to half-shade. Moist, fertile,
well-drained soil.
Useful as specimen, in shrub borders,
massing, natural settings.
Attracts bees.
Provides nectar for butterflies.
Fruits are eaten by song and
game birds, and mammals.
Photos 1, 3, 7, 8
Missouri Botanic PlantFinder
www.mobot.org/
gardeninghelp/plantfinder
Photos 2, 5, 6, 9
North Central Conservation District
Photo 4
UConn Plant Database
www.hort.uconn.edu/plants
photo above taken in January
Redosier Dogwood ‘Cardinal’
(Cornus sericea)
7-9’, spreading to 10+.
Loose, spreading, rounded.
Spreads by underground stems.
CT native, found in swamps,
thickets, by streams.
Bright cherry-red stems glow in
winter. Highly ornamental in
winter, especially with snow.
New spring growth is vivid yellow, at
tips, making dramatic bi-color effect.
White flowers; fruit matures to white.
Good red-purple fall color
Sun to part sun, tolerant of wet areas.
Fast-growing and very adaptable.
Remove 25% of stems in spring for
best winter color.
Useful for massing, borders, wet areas,
bank-cover, winter interest.
Good for erosion control.
Stream buffers.
Attracts long & short-tongued bees.
Host to over 100 species of
butterflies and moths. Larval
host to Spring Azure.
Berries are important food source for
wood ducks, songbirds, and upland
game birds.
Photo 1 MN Nursery & Landscape Assoc.
mnla.biz; brentonarboretum.org/Tree
%20files/Cornus%20stolonifera.html
Photos 2, 4, 5
Missouri Botanic Garden PlantFinder
mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder
Photo 3 Nebraska Forest Service
nfs.unl.edu/graphics/special/plant/
CardinalDogwood.jpg
Photo 6 Univ. of CT Plant Database
www.hort.uconn.edu/plants
Photo 7 Merel R. Black
University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point
wisplants.uwsp.edu/scripts/
detail.asp?SpCode=CORSTO
Photo 8
Montana State Univ. Woody Identification
plantsciences.montana.edu/horticulture/
PS231/VCTT/area11/area11b/Cornus_sericea
Spicebush
(Lindera benzoin)
6-12’ native shrub, rounded and loose.
Soft bright yellow spicy-fragrant early-April flowers,
before leaves. A harbinger of spring.
Bright scarlet September fruits.
3-5” leaves, excellent golden-yellow fall color,
especially in sun.
Sun or half shade; prefers moist
soil, but tolerates dry and wet.
Avoid moving once established.
Useful in woodlands, shrub
borders, shade gardens,
hedgerows.
Streamside buffers.
Attracts birds and butterflies,
playing host to the Spicebush
Swallowtail and the Tiger
Swallowtail.
Photos 1, 4, 5, 6
Missouri Botanical PlantFinder
www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder
Photos 2, 3
Steve Baskauf
http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/
Photo 7
University of Connecticut Plant Database
www.hort.uconn.edu/plants
Spring Witchhazel ‘Purpurea’
(Hamamelis vernalis)
6-10’ x 8-12’ mounded rounded vase-shaped shrub;
older branches begin to arch out irregularly; can form colonies.
Native to Ozarks, found by streambanks, sand bars,
low woods, plateaus.
Fragrant light burgundy-red cup-shaped flowers with ribbon-thin petals,
for a month, January-March, appearing first during first thaw,
with full bloom in February. If the temperature is above
freezing during bloom, flowers will have an apricot fragrance.
2-5” broad-oval scalloped leaves with fishbone vein pattern.
Flowers emerge bronze-red, turn gray-green.
Fiery fall color is rich yellow, then apricot
in late fall, lasting 2-3 weeks.
Smooth gray bark, stiff fine twigs.
Branches are 1” diameter maximum.
Part sun to sun to shade, tighter growth/
better flowering in more sun.
Average to seasonally wet soil, tolerates
heavy clay. Prefers moist organically rich
soil.
Prune after flowering, if you wish to
control shape. Tough plant.
Deer tolerant.
Use as specimen, massing, naturalizing
in understory, shrub borders, screens,
tall unpruned hedges.
Stream Buffers.
Photos 1, 4, 5, 7
Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder
mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder
Photo 2
University of Illinois, Urban Programming
urbanext.illinois.edu/hortanswers/plantdetail.cfm?PlantID=398&
PlantTypeID=8
Photo 3
Eric in SF
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hamamelis_vernalis.jpg
Photo 6
Virginia Tech Dept. of Forestry
John Seiler and John Peterson
cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/factsheets.cfm
Sweetspire ‘Henry’s Garnet’
(Itea virginica)
3-4’ x 6’, upright rounded,
pliable arching branches.
Native New Jersey south, found
in shrub swamps, wet woods,
by streambanks.
6” fragrant cylinders of flowers,
covering the plant in June.
4” dark green leaves, pointed ovals.
Garnet red-purple fall color, persisting
until or into December.
One of the most brilliant shrubs
of the fall garden.
Sun or shade, though better flowering/
color in at least part sun.
Average to wet soil, muddy silty to sandy,
prefers moist, humus-rich soil.
Easily grown and adaptable.
Hardy to 20 degrees below zero.
Forms groundcover colonies from
root suckers (easily removed, if
you wish).
Use in masses for shrubby ground
cover, in shrub borders, open
woodland gardens, foundations,
for naturalizing.
Streamside buffers.
Can be used to reduce streambank
soil erosion.
Attracts bees and butterflies.
In colonies, can provide nesting
and protective habitat for birds
Photos 1, 2, 5, 7
North Central Conservation District
Photos 3, 6, 8
Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder
mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder
Photo 4
Will Cook, Duke University
duke.edu/~cwcook/trees/itvi.html
Winterberry ‘Kennebago’
(Ilex verticillata)
3-4’, compact rounded dense shrub.
Selected from Kennebago Lake, Maine.
Native to woodland edges, swamps.
New England native.
Profuse and spectacular vivid large
half-inch red berries without rival
in the fall/winter landscape,
fall through early spring. Good fruit set.
Lustrous leathery dark green oval leaves,
purple in fall.
Silvery smooth bark.
Sun to part sun, more fruit in more sun;
moist to wet acidic soil, but tolerates dry soils.
Can form thickets. Easy to grow.
Great in winter as specimen,
in naturalized landscapes, for massing,
screening, hedges, in foundations.
Habitat for birds, butterflies,
small mammals.
Streamside buffers.
Photos 1, 5
Missouri Botanic Garden PlantFinder
www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder
Photos 2, 6, and bird
North Central Conservation District
Photo 3
Jeffrey S. Pippen
http://www.duke.edu/~jspippen/nature.htm
Photo 4
Steve Sweedler, Plymouth State University Horticulturalist
www.plymouth.edu/fsb/landscap/plantsis.htm