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Plant of the Week: Season 3
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Plant of the Week: Season 3
Episode 301: Raulston Allspice 
Common Name: Raulston Allspice
Scientific Name: Sinocalycalycanthus raulstonii ‘Hartlage Wine’
The Raulston Allspice is the result of a hybrid cross between two plants: calycanthus floridus Carolina Allspice (native to North Carolina) and sinocalycanthus sinensis Chinese Wax Plant from Asia. The Raulston Allspice was created at the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, NC.
Type: deciduous shrub
Size: 8-10ft.
Flowers: Burgundy with a hint of cream, Slight apple cider fragrance, Flowers mid-late April - June
Culture: Full sun
Episode 302: Seiryu Japanese Maple
Common Name: Seiryu Japanese Maple
Scientific Name: Acer palmatum ‘Seiryu’
Type: Dissectum
Habit: Upright
Foliage: Bright green during summer, Range through gold, bright yellow and crimson in fall
Size: Height- 10’-12’ width 6’-8’
Culture: Full sun to partial shade, Well-drained soil
Other: Leave scorch during summer, but typical for Japanese Maples
Episode 303: New Gold Lantana
Common Name: New Gold Lantana
Scientific Name: Lantana camara ‘New Gold’
Type: Perennial
Flowers: Golden yellow, Clusters, Attracts butterflies
Culture: Full sun, Drought tolerant
Other:
Lantana is salt tolerant, deer tolerant, is very adaptable and has outstanding heat tolerance.
This variety has a reduced fruit set due to near sterility to encourage a longer and more profuse bloom.
'New Gold' can grow up to 18" high and 3 feet wide.
Uses: hanging basket, container, groundcover or full sun flowerbeds
Episode 304: Bluebird Rose of Sharon
Common Name: Bluebird Rose of Sharon
Scientific Name: Hibiscus syriacus 'Bluebird'
Type: deciduous shrub
Size: 8-10ft.
Flowers:
late Spring, early summer
light blue to violet with dark purple center
Culture:
full sun
well-drained soil
Other: Japanese beetles love the bluebird rose of sharon so the plant may need to be treated for these pests.
Episode 305: Japanese Climbing Fern
Common Name: Japanese Climbing Fern
Scientific Name: Lygodium japonicum
Type:
deciduous climbing fern
perennial
Habit: vine
Foliage: attractive lacy fronds
Culture:
partial shade to full sun
well-drained soil
zone 7
Other: an attractive vine for arbors and overhangs
Episode 306: Hyacinth Bean
Common Name: Hyacinth Bean
Scientific Name: Dolichos lablab
Plant Description: annual, twining vine with purplish stems and alternate, pinnately divided leaves with 3 large leaflets
Growth Rate: rapid
Height: 10-20'
Flower/Fruit:
pink-purple, white, lilac
fragrant
produces purple beans
Foliage: purple-green leaves
Culture:
full sun
well-drained soil
does better with regular watering, but is fairly drought tolerant
Other: do not use high nitrogen fertilizer; sow seeds directly outdoors after the danger of frost has passed
Episode 307: Hardy Shrimp Plant
Common Name: Hardy Shrimp Plant
Scientific Name: Dicliptera suberecta
Type: true tender perennial
Growth: 18-24'
Flowers:
orange
flowers mid summer to killing frost
attracts hummingbirds, butterflies and moths
Foliage:
leaves are blue-green with a silvery tinge
soft, velvet-like texture
Culture:
full sun
well-drained soil
Use:
beds, mixed borders
good for summer and fall
Episode 308: White Bush Clover
Common Name: White Bush Clover
Scientific Name: Lespedeza thunbergii 'White Fountain'
Type: shrub (somewhat woody, somewhat herbaceous)
Habit: weeping
Growth: 6ft. tall, 12ft. spread
Flowers:
white, pea-shaped flowers
good fall flowering plant
flowers early to mid August through September
Foliage:
small, trifoliate
deep rich green
Culture: full sun
Use: good for shrub borders or on a wall
Other: in early spring prune to the ground and you will get great growth by the summer
Episode 309: White Japanese Beautyberry
Common Name: White Japanese Beautyberry
Scientific Name: Callicarpa japonica 'Leucocarpa'
Type: deciduous shrub
Habit: weeping branches
Growth: 3-5ft. tall
Fruit: white berries
Culture:
full sun
well-drained soil
Episode 310: Blue Mist Caryopteris 
Common Name: Blue Mist Caryopteris
Scientific Name: Caryopteris divaricata 'Snow Fairy'
Type: herbaceous perennial (partially wooded depending on the part of NC it is in)
Growth: 3-3 ½ ft. tall
Flowers:
late Aug.-Sept.
blue flowers
Leaves: variegated leaf margin
Use:
good for shrub borders, perennial borders
makes a good accent plant
Other: drought tolerant
Episode 311: Abelia
Common Name: Abelia
Scientific Name: Abelia grandiflora 'Little Richard'
Type: semi-evergreen shrub
Growth: 3-5ft tall
Flowers:
white or pink depending on cultivar
mid summer through fall
Foliage: green foliage, red stems
Culture: full sun to part shade
Other: easily transplanted
Other Cultivar:
Abelia
Abelia grandiflora 'Confetti' (gets its name from its great tri-colored foliage)
Episode 312: Korean Paper Bush
Common Name: Korean Paper Bush
Scientific Name: Edgeworthia chrysantha
Type: deciduous shrub
Growth: 10-12 ft. tall
Flowers: produces chrysanthemum-like flowers in winter
Foliage: thick, velvety green leaves
Culture: full sun to part shade
Other: can train as a tree
Use:
specimen plant
accent plant
Episode 313: Weeping Bald Cypress
Common Name: Weeping Bald Cypress
Scientific Name: Taxodium distichum 'Cascade Falls'
Type: deciduous conifer
Habit: weeping
Foliage: fine-textured needles (turn golden brown in fall)
Culture:
full sun
grows well in standing water and compacted soils
Other:
train on a stake, let branches weep
native to the southeast region
Use:
specimen plant
near water element
Episode 314: Mimosa Spegazzinii
Common Name: Sensitive Plant
Scientific Name: Mimosa Spegazzinii
Type: tender perennial (may not grow outside in NC but could be grown as a houseplant)
Foliage:
pinnately compound leaves that collapse when touched!
leaves recover in about 30-40 minutes
Flowers:
purple snowballs
mid summer
Other: Medium-growing shrub that is native to Argentina.
Episode 315: Sago Palm
Common Name: Sago Palm
Scientific Name: Cycas revoluta
The Sago Palm has become a very popular landscape item. But most people don't realize that it is not a palm at all, but rather a Cycad. Cycads are a group of plants that are very primitive in their origins. Fossils have been found on almost every continent on the planet. It is often stated that cycads have evolved little since the days of the dinosaurs. There are species that have gone extinct, while there are others that seemed to show little evolution over millions of years. Therefore as a group, cycads are often referred to as "living fossils."
Sago Palm is subtropical and native to the Far East and has been used as a choice container plant for centuries. It cannot be grown outdoors in NC, but makes a great houseplant.
The growth habit of Cycas revoluta displays an upright trunk with a diameter from 1" to 12" depending on age, topped with stiff feather-like leaves growing in a circular pattern. Rather than continuously adding foliage, Sagos produce a periodic "flush" of new leaves, called a "break". Eventually, offsets begin to grow at the base of the specimen, and occasionally in the crown. The addition of offsets provides a source of new plants and many possibilities for developing a unique specimen.
This subtropical adapts to a wide range of temperatures from 15 to 110 degrees F (-11 to 42 degrees C), accepts full sun or bright interior light, thrives with attention, and tolerates neglect.
Episode 316: Variegated English Holly
Common Name: Variegated English Holly
Scientific Name: Ilex aquifolium 'Argenteo Marginata'
Type: evergreen shrub
Habit: pyramidal
Growth:
15 to 20 ft. tall
8 to 12 ft. wide
Foliage: shiny, dark green leaves edged with creamy-white margins
Fruit: bright red berries
Culture: full sun to partial shade
Other:
male English holly pollenizer is needed for berry set
brightens winter gardens
often used for holiday decorating
Episode 317: Texas Star
Common Name: Texas Star/ Arkansas Blue Star
Scientific Name: Amsonia hubrechtii
Type: herbaceous perennial
Growth: 18 inches to 2 ½ feet
Foliage:
long stems, fine-textured green leaves
yellow/gold fall color
Flowers:
mid spring
star-shaped flowers in clusters at the tip of the branches
Culture:
full sun
well-drained soil
Other:
great for mixed borders
works well with heavy-textured leaves
Episode 318: Caroline Jasmine
Common Name: Carolina Jasmine
Scientific Name: Gelsemium sempervirens
Type:
evergreen vine
fast-growing
Foliage: small linear leaves
Flowers:
trumpet-shaped flowers
late spring
produces flowers sporadically
Culture:
partial shade is best but will tolerate full sun
well-drained soil
Other: good climbing plant for arbors and trellises
Episode 319: Dogwoods
Common Name: Bailey's Redosier Dogwood
Scientific Name: Cornus sericea 'Baileyi'
Type: deciduous shrub
Stems: dark red when young, gradually fading to grey-green, becoming red again in the fall and winter
Flowers: small and white, borne in a flat-topped cluster and, unlike many dogwoods, there are no large, showy bracts
Growth: 8-10 ft.
AND
Common Name: Yellow Twig Dogwood
Scientific Name: Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea'
Type: deciduous shrub
Stems: distinct, bright yellow in winter
Flowers: white blossoms in May
Foliage: green leaves in summer, purplish leaves in fall
Growth: 6-8 ft.
Episode 320: Weeping River Birch
Common Name: Weeping River Birch
Scientific Name: Betula nigra 'Summer Cascade'
This tree is known for its attractive, peeling bark and it the only one of the birches that will grow from the mountains to the coast in NC.
Habit: if untrained, the plant forms a mounded shrub or small tree with successive layers of arching branches
Foliage: arrowhead-shaped, green leaves that turn a bright yellow in the Fall
Growth: 20-25 ft.
Culture:
full sun
well-drained soil
Other:
grows well near water
makes a great specimen tree to accent the landscape
Episode 321: Pineapple Sage
Common Name: Pineapple Sage
Scientific Name: Salvia elegans
Type: tender perennial (more like an annual in NC)
Foliage: heart-shaped green leaves that smell like pineapple
Flowers: bright red, long and very showy
Growth: 3 ½ ft. tall
Culture:
full sun
well-drained soil
Other:
attracts butterflies and hummingbirds
grows well in a greenhouse or indoors
Episode 322: Rosemary 
Common Name: Rosemary
Scientific Name: Rosmarinus officinalis
Type: herb plant
Foliage: evergreen leaves
Flowers:
blue flowers in early spring
sometimes flowers in late winter
Growth: 2-4 ft. tall
Culture:
full sun but also somewhat shade tolerant
needs 6 or more hours of sun to ensure good growth
Other:
responds well to pruning
used for cooking
Episode 323: Winter Honeysuckle
Common Name: Rosemary
Scientific Name: Rosmarinus officinalis
Type: herb plant
Foliage: evergreen leaves
Flowers:
blue flowers in early spring
sometimes flowers in late winter
Growth: 2-4 ft. tall
Culture:
full sun but also somewhat shade tolerant
needs 6 or more hours of sun to ensure good growth
Other:
responds well to pruning
used for cooking
Episode 324: Watermelon Peperomia 
Common Name: Watermelon Peperomia
Scientific Name: Peperomia argyreia
Type: perennial
Foliage:
silvery striped fleshy foliage
leaf pattern and color resembles a watermelon
rounded leaves on long petioles
Growth: 6-8 inches
Culture: partial shade to partial sun
Use: houseplant
Other:
allow soil to dry between waterings
leaves root by petiole cuttings
Episode 325: Abelia x grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope' 
Scientific Name:
Abelia x grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope'
Type: evergreen shrub
Foliage:
In spring new foliage is a variegated light yellow and green, becoming golden yellow and green in summer.
In winter, leaves turn a mix of red, orange, yellow and green.
Flowers: White flowers appear in summer and last through fall.
Growth: 24-30 inches tall by 36 to 42 inches wide
Culture: full sun to part shade
Use: An excellent plant for containers, as a low accent plant in the garden and for mass planting.
Other: The foliage does not scorch or bleach in full sun as do some other variegated Abelia cultivars. This plant was created at Panoromac Farms in Marshville, NC. The name Kaleidoscope describes the seasonal color changes of the foliage. The foliage does not scorch or bleach in full sun as do some other variegated Abelia cultivars.