Out, Out Damn (Cercospora Leaf) Spot!

A significantly defoliated Oakleaf Hydrangea (following removal of ~80% of foliage apparently infected with Cercospora hydrangeae fungus)

Ugh. Lady Macbeth thought that she had problems.

At least she didn't have to worry (as far as I know) about the fungal pathogen Cercospora hydrangeae disfiguring her oakleaf hydrangea.

I had assumed that hydrangeas were relatively trouble-free and that a native hydrangea like H. quercifolia would be particularly tough and resilient.

But when you assume, you make an ass out of you and me. ("Assume" = "Ass" + "u" + "me")

As it turns out, hydrangeas are susceptible to multiple diseases. Or as University of Georgia says:

[Cercospora] fungal leaf spot can affect most hydrangeas and is generally an aesthetic issue for homeowners. The pathogen will rarely kill the plant, but can reduce plant vigor by defoliation. It is generally more problematic in low maintenance landscape situations or when homeowners overhead irrigate their plants.

Well, if by "low maintenance" they mean gardeners who do not spray fungicides, then I guess I qualify as low maintenance. I expect my plants to take care of themselves. I'll put them in the ground, give them some water to get started, a smidgen of organic fertilizer now and then, accompanied by healthy doses of Encouraging Words, but that's pretty much it. I don't spray for fungus and I don't spray for pests. (Well, I might try to wash off aphids with the garden hose if I'm already giving the plants some water, but that's the extent of it.)

And if by "aesthetic issue" they mean having all the beautiful oakleaf foliage turn spotty and purplish-brown, then yeah, it's an issue.

I appreciate the advice not to irrigate the plants from overhead, but I've hardly been irrigating at all this spring thanks to all this natural irrigation we've been getting from the sky. It's called Rain. And it tends to hit plants from overhead.

So what to do? UGA says the fungus survives in fallen diseased leaves that remain on the ground and ultimately reinfect the plant. It recommends removing dying and diseased leaves to prevent subsequent infections or outbreaks.

So that's what I did early this morning. I went out and removed all the infected leaves I could find, even the ones with just a few visible spots.

Unfortunately that meant that I had to remove about 80% of the foliage.

On the bright side, the remaining foliage should have much better air circulation, which perhaps might prevent a recurrence of the fungus.

What do you think? Have you encountered any fungal problems or other diseases with your hydrangeas? Were you able to overcome those diseases without resorting to fungicidal sprays?

Or did I just site my hydrangea in a bad place - in a corner next to the stairs and crowded up against a camellia and an inkberry holly?

Oakleaf hydrangea "Snowflake" - the one I bought - is supposed to grow 4-6 feet tall and wide. It certainly has the room to grow tall, but it can't really expand to 6-feet wide (maybe not even 4-feet wide) without bumping up against other plants.

And I'm thinking the fungal issues show that Snowflake does not like to be put in a corner. (Just like Baby in Dirty Dancing.)

If today's leaf-pinching doesn't work, I'm thinking I may sadly have to shovel prune the plant this autumn. I'd like to transplant it elsewhere, but apparently it needs at least partial shade and I just don't have any other partially-shady spots where the plant could reach its full-size in an uncrowded setting.

I'm thinking oakleaf hydrangea really needs to be out in the open, perhaps in the shade from some tall trees. (Although apparently it needs moist soil, so these trees couldn't be ones that suck up all the water.) Or all by itself in a wide North-facing border.

Oh and if I do end up removing the oakleaf hydrangea, any suggestions on what I should use to replace it in the semi-shady corner?

I could add another Dixie Wood Fern (I just added one this spring to the corner on the other side of the steps, so adding one on this side of the steps would create a nice symmetry, which my wife especially appreciates in the garden. The fern seems happy on the other side of the steps, but there's more shade over there.)

Or maybe there's some other kind of fern - maybe Christmas Fern?

Other ideas include another Ilex glabra (maybe Shamrock) or another Fothergilla.

Or perhaps another smallish camellia - something like April Dawn.

Thoughts? Experiences? Commiseration? All are welcome!

Meet the New Front Foundation!

Remember how we ripped out the old front foundation plants and then tried to reinvent the border by stocking up on shrubs last autumn?

Well, it's time to check back in with the front foundation plantings and see how things are shaping up. (I wish I could take you in order from one side of the border to the other, but Blogger's bulk upload feature doesn't work quite that smoothly for me, so the photos are presented in no particular order)

Agastache foeniculum, Anise Hyssop, "Golden Jubilee", a few leaves deteriorated or got mulched, so I removed them, but otherwise, this plant seems to be doing fine. Hope to see flowers in the summer.

One of the new Aquilegia vulgaris from Gardens in the Wood. This one is my favorite - a creamy white flower over fresh blue-green folage. 

Aronia arbutifolia "Brilliantissima", the beautiful white flowering show is pretty much done now and the plant is sending out new foliage. Interested to see whether it will actually produce fruits this year. 

Aronia melanocarpa, either "Autumn Magic" or "Viking" (not sure which is which), this is the last of three aronias to still have flowers. It is sort of charting a middle course between the Aronia arbutifolia (which concentrated first on flowers and then on foliage) and the other Aronia melanocarpa (which had a few flowers but seems to have focused this year on pumping out some large and beautiful leaves)

Aronia melanocarpa, either "Autumn Magic" or "Viking" (not sure which is which), love the beautiful leaves on this plant which seem really large for such a young tree 

I'm not a huge fan of azaleas for numerous reasons. At least at our property, the foliage frequently looks diseased (I don't do any spraying) and the plants themselves are unexciting outside of their short bloom season. The flowers do not seem to attract any bees or butterflies or other beneficial insects. (At least none that I can see.) And they don't seem to produce any fruit for birds or mammals. Plus the dead flowers look awful hanging onto the plant after bloom season. The plants are not self-cleaning (like crape myrtles or redbuds) and the flowers do not come off easily (as with daylilies, for instance, or camellias), so it's a chore to get the plants looking good after they bloom. All that being said, I imagine we'll keep them for now. My wife likes the azaleas in bloom and I have to admit, they really are beautiful when covered with flowers. This it their peak time to shine. Plus we're lucky enough to have inherited plants that do rebloom a bit in the autumn. That said, I don't think I'd add azaleas to any future garden of mine nor would I recommend it in Tennessee, especially if your garden does not have acidic soil. 

Aucuba japonica, Gold Dust Plant, seems to be happily settling in and sending out new foliage, which emerges all light green and then presumably changes later on to the variegated and speckled look. It was planted last autumn.

This is actually a pink azalea from the Northeast side of the house. I cheated a little by including it since it's not in the front foundation. But it is probably my favorite of the azaleas. Even though its foliage is very sparse, it still manages to cover itself with blooms.

Callicarpa americana, Beautyberry, a bit slow to leaf out, but I'm liking the shape and texture of the new leaves, interested to see how it performs this year in its more sheltered Eastern exposure. Last year, it was absolutely thrashed to pieces in a windy Southwestern spot. It seems much happier here so far. 

At the top of the photo is Tiarella cordifolia, Foamflower, "Pink Skyrockets". Contrary to its bold name, this tiarella actually has smaller and less prominent flowers than the more modestly-named Pink Brushes. Otherwise, it seems fairly similar to its Pink Brushes sibling.

Lower down is Stachys officinalis, Betony, Hummelo. Just added last month, the plant is doing well so far and looking healthy. It is supposed to have flowers that last from July to September! 

 Unknown autumn-blooming camellia, here when we moved in, seems to be sending out a lot of new growth shoots this year 

Camellia sasanqua, either Kanjiro or Pink-a-Boo (not sure which is which), seems to be settling in just fine after having been planted last autumn 

Unknown camellia, here when we arrived, a lot of the foliage seems less-than-healthy. Not sure what the problem is and I don't plan on spraying. The camellias sometimes seem to go through cycles of having foliage problems here and then recovering on their own. At least that's the pattern so far. I will probably give it some acidic fertilizer at some point.

- Lonicera semervirens, Coral Honeysuckle, this is one of the two cultivars - Alabama Crimson and Blanche Sandman - that are both growing nicely and sending out long tendrils that I'm trying to guide onto the porch railings with moderate success. Once the tendrils are tied to the railings for a little while, they often start curling around the railings and then are able to hang on by themselves. Lots of flowers this year, but sadly have not seen a single hummingbird on them yet. :(  Still the flowers and foliage are beautiful and it's nice to see my dream of climbing flowers along the railings coming true with this plant. 

Geronimo Crape Myrtle - Not sure this was the best choice for a foundation plant. Like all crape myrtles, it takes a long time to leaf out and then a number of branches did not leaf out fully. This plant was pretty inexpensive for its size, but it came from an unknown nursery. I wonder if maybe the roots were not so healthy? Or maybe it's just settling in. I pruned it back a bit after I took this photo and will probably do some more pruning in a few weeks when I see which branches look like they definitely won't leaf out no matter how long I wait. 

Crape myrtle, Tonto, which I believe was a Monrovia plant, seems to be leafing out much more robustly and fully on its Northeast corner than the Geronimo crape myrtle on the Southeast corner. We'll see if Geronimo catches up or if Tonto continues to perform better this summer. 

Dryopteris x australis, Dixie Wood Fern, seems to be acclimating nicely and sending out new fronds, a number of the fronds have fallen over, which doesn't really bother me, but I wonder if that is normal or if something has gone wrong? 

Fothergilla gardenii, nice white bottlebrush flower show this spring for several weeks, I'm liking the new foliage that's emerging now

Gardenia jasminoides "Jubilation", planted last autumn, this is one of the few plants that is not looking happy right now. Lots of yellowing leaves. Could be that it was unhappy with the long cold winter, or could be that the soil is not acidic enough? I will try adding some acidic fertilizer. 

Geranium x cantabrigiense "Biokovo", in bloom when I added it in April, I like the delicate pink-white flowers, the foliage seems smaller than some of the other Cranesbill perennial geraniums. 

Origanum vulgare, Golden Marjoram, "Aureum", doing great so far this year, much better than last year, looking very healthy, hoping I might get to see the pink/mauve summertime flowers that did not appear last year when the plant was struggling.

Veronica peduncularis (a.k.a Veronica umbrosa) "Georgia Blue", the flowering that was so cheerful in late winter when nothing else was blooming has mostly stopped, although there are still often a couple of open tiny blue flowers each day. The foliage still looks marvelous and healthy. Wish this would spread more!

- Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, Hardy Blue Plumbago, late to emerge, it has since sent up vigorous leaves that are larger than anything I saw last year. But the plants do not appear to have spread much yet (unfortunately). 

New foliage on one of the three Ilex glabra, Inkberry Holly shrubs that I added last autumn. The bushes weren't sexed, but hopefully I have a mix of males and females so that I'll have black berries that will attract birds later on. Looking forward to seeing whether my Ilex glabras produce flowers that attract hummingbirds as they are supposed to do.

A broader perspective on Ilex glabra to show the overall impression the plant makes.

- Alchemilla mollis, Lady's Mantle, seems to be settling in nicely, growing and expanding a little, I have high hopes for this one! As mentioned before, looks absolutely lovely after a rain or when gilded with the morning dew (but looks nice at other times as well). 

Hydrangea quercifolia, Oakleaf Hydrangea, "Snowflake", has leafed out nicely, I was absolutely smitten with this plant, but I've come down to Earth just a little bit, I did notice that some of the leaves were hit hard with what seems to be a fungal disease. Apparently oakleaf hydrangeas are susceptible to such problems at times of high moisture (we've had lots of rain lately). I picked off the worst-affected leaves. We'll see if that helps. 

Pachysandra procumbens, Alleghany Spurge, seems to have settled in nicely, does not appear to have spread much yet, but the new foliage looks great and the old foliage seems to be deteriorating pleasantly back into the soil. 

Phlox paniculata "Blue Boy"

Phlox paniculata "Eva Cullum" 

Platycodon grandiflorus, Balloon Flower, planted early last autumn, Platycodon has reappeared vigorously this year, with another newly planted Platycodon right behind it 

- Scabiosa columbaria, Pincushion Flower, the flowers are cute, but the whole plant is tiny. I'm sure I read somewhere that Scabiosa is supposed to grow 12-18 inches tall. Really? Because the plant is only about 3 inches tall at this point! 

Sedum ternatum, has been flowering for about a month since purchased. It seems happy and healthy in their partial shade setting 

Stargazer Lily

 Galium odoratum, Sweet Woodruff. I've already sung the praises of this plant many times. This year I have finally gotten to see the white flowers which have just started opening over the past week or so. Looking forward to clipping some stems and trying to dry some of the flowers/foliage, which is supposed to bring out its fragrance. 

Tiarella cordifolia, Foamflower, "Pink Brushes", my favorite of the tiarellas I purchased last month, this one has nicely variegated foliage like the others and the most prominent flowers. 

Tiarella cordifolia, Foamflower, "Running Tapestry", I like the foliage a lot, but this foamflower has fared the worst of the three I purchased last month. It frequently wilts if it goes a few days without rain, and we have not even gotten into the heat of the summer. I did move all three Tiarellas from a morning shade/afternoon sun setting to a spot where they get more gentle morning sun/afternoon shade. The other two tiarellas seem fairly happy with their situation, but I'm worried about this one. (Frankly I'm worried about all of them once we get into the heart of the summer, but I'm prepared to baby them a little this year in the hopes they'll be tougher once they get established.)

The ajuga in the background has been putting on quite a blue show! 

This variegated ajuga, has been flaunting its blue flower spikes for weeks and weeks. Unfortunately, it does not seem to have attracted any bees, but then sadly I have not seen many pollinators at all in the garden yet this year. 

Veronica spicata, Spike Speedwell, "Giles Van Hees", just starting to bloom

Clematis integrifolia, Solitary Clematis, late to emerge, I thought it was dead after the plant really struggled in last year's heat and drought, probably it was not smart to expect a plant that is native to Russia to perform well in Tennessee. Nonetheless, Clematis integrifolia has made a strong comeback so far this year. Not sure how it will do once the real summertime heat kicks in, but we shall see. No flowers yet, but the foliage looks clean, healthy and robust. 

Here's the other Lonicera sempervirens. Hard to believe, but I've yet to see any hummingbirds working these red tubular flowers! Do I need to put up a sign that says, "Hummingbirds welcome?"

Geranium sanguineum "New Hampshire". I'm really liking this one for its thick spreading foliage and the pink flowers. I saw a Geranium sanguineum at the Nashville botanic gardens last year. It seemed really tough there so I'm hoping mine will be also.

So that's the highlights! I may have missed one or two specimens (somehow skipped over the Monarda didyma "Jacob Cline"), and I didn't talk about the annuals like the Sweet Alyssum seed I scattered throughout the front of the bed or the Cosmos bipinnatus seedlings that are popping up here and there (not to mention a few English marigold seedlings from the flowers that filled the beds last year), but I think this probably gives you and idea of the rich diversity that I've aimed for in the front border.

Hope you've enjoyed the tour and that it wasn't too exhausting. Going forward, I think I'll try to limit my future posts to a maximum of 5 or so photos at a time.

Meanwhile, questions, suggestions and exclamations are all welcome using the new Disqus comment platform!

Plans and Dreams #1 - The Front Foundation

Part of the front foundation planting today. The plant in the upper right corner is a camellia, planted too close to the house, but otherwise quite nice. The slightly bushy green mound in front of it is an aquilegia and there's a lonicera sempervivens next to the stairs. There's some ajuga too and a lot of self-sown calendula officinalis seedlings that will die this winter, but as you can see, a lot of bare ground and not much in the way of shrubbery.

Are all gardeners dreamers? I know that I am.

I can't help looking at a catalog or a nursery website and imagining how many of the beautiful plants therein would look in my landscape.

This autumn, I'm taking the next step in trying to implement some of those plans and dreams in my front foundation bed.

When we bought the house in spring 2011, this east-facing bed was dominated by a multitude of small bland boxwoods, three large Nellie Stevens hollies and a thick carpet of Liriope. (I'm not sure which kind, but I believe it was Liriope muscari.)

In my not-so-infinite wisdom, we ripped out almost all these plants. I didn't want the prickly hollies (one of which was way too big for its location and threatening to give the squirrels a stepping-stone to the roof), the blah boxwoods or the tattered, brown rampant liriope.

So we got rid of almost everything in the front border, keeping only five azaleas and three camellias. I like plants that have flowers.

That left us with lots of bare space. Bare space, as any gardener knows, is an invitation to weeds.

I didn't want that, so I tried to fill in the space with mail-order shrubs, perennials and annuals.

Fast forward six months to today: The tiny shrubs that arrived in the mail either died or didn't grow much. Some of the perennials thrived (Ajuga, Hardy Blue Plumbago, Sweet Woodruff, Lonicera sempervivens), others died (Smilacina racemosa) or barely hung on (Clematis integrifolia). The annuals have mostly run their course. Sweet alyssum is still blooming and the English marigolds are on their second generation now, but that will all be over soon.

And it will be back to lots of bare ground and an exposed foundation, which is a big faux-pas in this neighborhood.

Another portion of the foundation planting. That's another too-close-to-the-stairs camellia on the left and a newly-planted gardenia in the middle. There are some tiny aronia (chokeberries) in the picture too and a lot of bare ground.

So I'm trying to fill in the space and create the front foundation of my dreams. I've put in a few more perennials - more Ajuga, a balloon flower, some divided Blue Star Creeper, three transplanted hardy Rozanne geraniums - but I knew that I needed something larger with more presence and impact. We have a large two-story house. Rozanne geraniums weren't quite on a scale to get noticed from the street or even a casual visitor.

The first step I took was to buy a gardenia. We had taken a garden tour in the spring and both my wife and I were intoxicated by the scent of gardenias. So I took a chance. It was a good price and a good size. I've since read that gardenias are very temperamental and hard to keep alive, so we'll see how that goes. Some leaves have yellowed, but overall a couple months later it's looking alright. (I know we're also at the northern edge of the gardenia hardiness zone, but since this one is planted close to the house, I'm hoping it will be alright.)

I contemplated hiring a landscaper to overhaul the front border, but (foolishly?) have decided that I'll give it a shot myself for reasons of money, time and the sheer pleasure that comes from putting a plant in the ground oneself and seeing it grow. So I did a lot of research, made a trip to the nursery this past weekend and here's what I ended up buying:

- Hydrangea quercifolia, Oakleaf hydrangea, "Snowflake" - Native, beautiful fall color, nice foliage, supposed to have a beautiful long bloom season, supposed to need less water than most hydrangeas.

Oakleaf hydrangea, photo by Chiot's Run

- Fothergilla gardenii - native, supposed to have nice foliage, nice fragrant spring flowers and good fall color

Close-up on fothergilla gardenii fall foliage, by jacki-dee

- Aucuba japonica "Variegata", Gold-Dust Plant - evergreen grower for shady spots. Marvelous foliage. (I didn't realize, but according to RHS, 'Variegata' is actually a female cultivar that can produce berries if a male clone is nearby. I think the berries are poisonous to humans, but attractive to birds. Not sure where to find such a male plant (and not sure I have enough shade for two aucubas on my pretty sunny property) but I will investigate.

Aucuba japonica "Variegata". As you can see, the plant has the potential to grow quite large. Dave's Garden says as much as 8-10 feet tall by 4-6 feet wide. Photo by maggie_and_her_camera.

- Several crape myrtles - Geronimo (red flowers, 12-feet high x 8-feet wide), Tonto (red flowers, 8-feet high and wide) and Petite Snow (white flowers, dwarf, 5-feet high x 4-feet wide). Most people in our community place evergreens at the corners of their house. This is considered right and proper and sensible. But I've never had a hankering for evergreens like junipers or cedars. I like flowers. I like the bees that visit flowers. And I've been delighted so far with the other crape myrtles on our property - five Natchez crapes in the back border and two crapes on north side of the house (didn't plant them so I can't be sure, but I think one in Muskogee with lovely lavender blooms). I've been impressed with the crape myrtles' toughness and I needed something that would be able to survive the high winds that whip around our hilltop property. My plan is to put the two red crapes in the front east-facing border of the house, one on each corner. I doubt they'll do quite as well as the crapes in the back because they won't have as much sun - and crapes love sun. The smaller white crape myrtle, I plan to put next to the driveway on the back of the house near the recently-planted Chaste Tree. I didn't want a crape that would compete with the Chaste Tree and create an overcrowding situation, so hopefully a 5-foot tall crape will fit just perfectly there.

'Tonto' crape myrtle, photo via U.S. National Arboretum

- Ilex glabra, Inkberry Holly, "Nigra" - I mentioned above that I didn't like the Nellie Stevens holly, so why would I rip those out and plant some other hollies in their place. Well, all hollies are not alike. (This may be self-evidence to some gardeners, but it was a surprise to a relative novice like myself.) I may have scoffed at the orthodoxy in our area that says foundation plantings should be dominated by evergreens, but I recognize the virtues of having some green in the winter landscape. These evergreen hollies fit that bill, but they're not prickly like so many of the hollies. They're supposed to be very tough, a trait that I prize in any plant. And Ilex glabra should also stay a manageable size - the species may grow up to 8-feet tall, but the Nigra cultivar should max out around 4-6 feet. Like other hollies, Ilex glabra is dioecious, meaning that both male and female plants are needed to produce black berries (not the typical red berries found on most hollies). Birds supposedly like the berries but unfortunately, since most humans grow Ilex glabra for its foliage and not its berries, growers apparently generally do not bother to sex the plants. I bought three Ilex glabra and hope that I'll have a mix of males and females so that I get at least some berries for the birds. Slow Food USA notes that nectar from the plants - which are also known as Gallberry plants - is used by beekeepers in Florida and Georgia to produce a prized honey.

Ilex glabra, Inkberry Holly flowers with (I think) a bee, photo by Elsa Spezio

- Sasanqua camellias, Kanjiro and Pink-a-Boo - I've been really happy with the three camellias we have in the front foundation. Two of them are blooming right now and even when they are not blooming, the dark green foliage is attractive and (usually) healthy. They seem happier since I scattered some acidic fertilizer beneath them this past autumn - two of the bushes that didn't bloom at all last year bloomed heavily this time and the other one, which I guess blooms later in the year, is covered with buds. I love flowers, so I tend to try to find floriferous plants with long bloom seasons, but there are not too many plants (as far as I know) that will keep flowering in cold Middle Tennessee winters. Camellias offer a beautiful splash of color in the landscape, so I'm hoping these two new additions will thrive and join the tree existing camellias to create a really nice tapestry of winter blooms. Pink-a-Boo in particular seemed popular with bees at the nursery even on an early November day, so I'm hoping that adding these plants to my landscape will also provide more food for pollinators.

Camellia sasanqua (probably) 'Kanjiro' with bee, photo by Greenstone Girl

That's about it. I did buy one other perennial plant, but it's for the border at the back of the house so I'll cover it separately in another post.

Including delivery (scheduled for tomorrow) and with a seasonal 25% discount on the three crape myrtle trees, I spent a bit less than $500 on all these plants. I could have certainly spent less money had I bought smaller plants, but with a chance that we'll put our house on the market in a couple of years, I thought it made sense to buy larger plants so that the landscape looks more mature, even if they are also more work to plant up front. The Aucuba, Fothergilla and Ilex glabra all came in 3-gallon containers. The Hydrangea, both Camellias and two of the crape myrtles are 5-gallon size, and one of the crapes comes in a 7-gallon container.

Dear Readers: I would be honored to hear your thoughts as to the worthiness of my plant selections and the price I paid. Of course, if anyone has grown these plants themselves, I would be eager to hear about your experiences and/or receive your advice on planting and caring for them.

What will happen to the front foundation (and the rest of the garden)? Find out with free email updates.