Impatiens on the critical list

 

An incurable disease is wiping out the common impatiens

A few years ago when I was in England for a press day at David Austin English Roses, I met a delightful woman who owned her own film company.

We became friends and before long she asked me to work with her and write a couple of videos for the Thompson & Morgan seed company.

The point of the videos was to introduce the firm’s new offerings for the upcoming season. One of the biggest stars of the T&M show was the Busy Lizzie, or as we call the plant, impatiens.

There were Busy Lizzies for borders, flower pouches, patio pots and hanging baskets.

Today Thompson & Morgan no longer sell the plants.

They don’t even sell the seeds.

That's because a deadly strain of downy mildew known as Plasmopara obducens is destroying plants around the world. 

A pathogen first discovered in the 1800's

The disastrous disease hit Europe about five years ago. Since then, impatiens have virtually disappeared from gardens there. Asia, Australia, Africa and Central America have suffered the same fate.

 In just two growing seasons here in America, the fungal mildew has spread to 34 states. Under the right conditions, airborne spores have been known to travel over 600 miles in 48 hours.

When infected leaves and stems fall on the ground, the spores take up residence in the soil. No one knows for sure how long the spores will live there – possibly as long as eight years.

SunPatiens Compact Blush Pink

I can attest to quick spread of disease. 

I had some “volunteers” come up in the front garden from impatiens I planted in 2011. I also put in two flats of white impatiens down by the new patio and waterfall.

By August the leaves started falling and within two weeks they all turned to mush.

As a result of the widespread nature of this incurable disease, many experts are advising gardeners not to purchase and plant impatiens this year. Fortunately, only the common variety (Impatiens walleriana) is affected by the pathogen.

SunPatiens and New Guinea Impatiens are in the clear. Apparently the disease does not sicken other garden plants either, so shade lovers like coleus, caladiums, hostas and begonias can help add color in areas where impatiens previously were the summer show-offs.

SunPatiens Vigorous Lavender

I am intrigued by photos I’ve seen of SunPatiens. They can be planted in full sun as well as shade and they grow much larger than the old favorite.

In fact Sakata Seed America, breeder of SunPatiens, reports four plants will provide the same coverage as twelve Impatiens walleriana.

 In addition, they are self cleaning, don’t mind rain, high heat or humidity. And they bloom right through from spring till hard frost.

If you simply can’t live without your beloved old fashioned Busy Lizzies and are willing to risk Plasmopara obducens, you need to be diligent about garden sanitation.

Keep your tools super clean, making sure you wash away any soil. To be extra careful, disinfect tools with a solution of 10% Clorox and water.

Also schedule work in the impatiens bed as your last gardening chore of the day.

SunPatiens Spreading White

If the disease comes to call anyway, place infected plants in sealed bags and dispose of them as soon as possible.

As for me, I’ll give impatiens a miss this year. Except I’m going to try a few of the new SunPatiens.

Last year’s experience was too heartbreaking to go through again.

Take a walk on the wild side

   

 

Each year my gardening friend Les Parks sponsors a Winter Walk-Off.

The object is to head out from home on my own two feet to find photo ops that might be of interest to folks across the country or around the globe.

I didn’t participate last year because I didn’t know Les then, and I had just started my blog.

So to commemorate the first anniversary of The Dirt Diaries, I am going to throw my trowel in the ring!

Of course the prizes are tempting -- $100,000  and a trip to Hawaii. (If only.) But the best part is having a chance show off my little corner of the world.

Right now everything is looking very green in the mountains of western North Carolina.

Nothing is blooming yet, so the evergreens and mosses have their moment in the sun before wildflowers, rhododendrons and mountain laurels steal the spotlight.

 

My first stop is a neighbor's yard where beautiful ferns appear to be growing out of a rock. 

These ferns are unlike the Christmas and hay-scented varieties I have on my property. I intend to ask if I can transplant a few if I ever see Raul.

I found this moss covered log around the bend. The colors seem to change depending on the time of day, but I always find it beautiful.

  About a half-mile away I discovered this small waterfall. I could hear the sound of water rushing from the road and decided to find the source. (No worries about bears or snakes off the beaten path in March.)

 There are dozens of these little falls within three miles of my house, but most of them are not photographer-friendly. Too many fallen branches and tangled vines to get a clear shot. Someone suggested I take some ropes with me and tie back the offending branches. I am still laughing.

 
I call this place The Gingerbread House. I've wandered by it most every day for the past two years. I have yet to see a living soul there. 

One day I must go up and give the house a hug. I know it is lonely.
 

  

The first time I walked past this black bear, he gave me quite a start. He lives in a driveway about 200 feet from the road. 

I saw a moving van there once but no other signs of life since. 

Still, Yogi stands ready to frighten unsuspecting passersby whenever he can.

 
 Another neighbor loves birdhouses just like me.







 
A family of turkeys has moved in across the main road.

 

Almost home again. Before rounding the bend I see one of my favorite landmarks – whale rock. I always think I see his eye and smile. 

So, welcome to my world. I hope you've enjoyed your visit.

I'll be back soon with postings on my new roses, sickly impatiens, terrariums and much more.

In the meantime, be sure to let us know if there is anything we can do to make your mountain holiday more enjoyable.

Moonshine, shower caps and bear repellent are available at the front desk.

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Off with their heads! (When and how to prune roses.)

Some Austin roses prefer light pruning

 

Although the calendar says February, it isn’t too early to start thinking about tidying up the garden for the growing season ahead. 

As I write this, it's sunny and 56 degrees F. (13 C) here in the mountains of North Carolina, so I ventured out to get an idea of the damage Old Man Winter has done.

I wasn’t surprised to find dead leaves everywhere. It doesn’t matter how often we suck them up and turn them into mulch, tons of additional leaves find their way to our front garden. 

I was surprised, though, to see that almost all of my rose cuttings have died. That has never happened before, and it’s perplexing since this winter has been fairly mild.

I can trim perennials now, but not my roses

Another unpleasant discovery was that people installing new gutters last month had trampled an area of the garden. At the moment, it doesn’t appear that the little patch of roses and other perennials will survive.

So after assessing the state of the garden, I rolled up my sleeves, got out my Bionic rose gloves, secateurs, mini rake, Cobra Head Weeder and iPad and got to work. (I find an iPad or iPod to be essential gardening equipment since all chores go more quickly when listening to my favorite tunes.)

I bagged the leaves, extracted weeds, and cut back most of my perennials including catmints, hydrangeas and lavenders, but I didn’t prune the roses.

Rule of thumb for when to prune

When we get the occasional nice day in winter, people ask if it’s OK to go ahead and prune the roses. I advise waiting, because if another cold spell comes along, canes can be damaged and you’ll just have to do it all over again. 

In most areas of the country, a good rule of thumb is to prune when the forsythia blooms. Start by pulling off any diseased leaves that have wintered over on your rose bushes. Dispose of them right away -- don’t throw them on the ground or you’ll be inviting even more disease problems. 

Unless you exhibit, don''t prune too severely

Then get out your newly sharpened pruning shears (cleaned with alcohol) and remove dead wood right down to the bud union. 

To help improve air circulation, remove any canes that crisscross, canes that grow into the center of the bush, and any weak, spindly growth. 

Diseased or winter-damaged wood should be pruned to the point where you find light green or white pith. Make your cuts at a 45-degree angle about 1/4 inch above a leaf bud that faces toward the outside of the plant. 

Many rose varieties have specific pruning requirements

How severely you prune depends on the type of rose. Unless you plan to exhibit, most experts recommend moderate pruning of hybrid teas, floribundas, and grandifloras leaving the bushes about 18 to 24 inches high.

Thin and shape old garden roses

Hybrid perpetual roses, shrub roses, and old garden roses just require thinning and shaping, so limit yourself to removing only old canes, dead wood, and spindly growth.

Cl. Fourth of July

David Austin English roses don’t appreciate drastic haircuts. 

Pruning climbing roses can be a bit trickier. Climbers that have only one flowering period should be pruned after they bloom. Take out old, weak, or entangled branches. 

Repeat-blooming climbers need to be pruned while dormant in the spring. Again, remove any old or unproductive canes, then cut back side shoots to pencil thickness.

Minis don't mind a chainsaw haircut

Miniatures and minifloras are your easiest task. A recent study showed meticulous pruning didn’t really affect the plant’s success at all. 

So whether you use secateurs or a chain saw, cut back to about half of last summer’s height.

After pruning, paint any cuts wider than a straw with a sealing compound (Elmer’s glue will do fine) to discourage insects and disease. 

Roses are greedy feeders so after you've finished, give them a dose of rose fertilizer -- I use plain old 10-10-10. I also sprinkle a handful of alfalfa pellets around each bush.

Your beauties should then be ready for the 2013 blooming season.

Replacing favorite plants after a move

A Lyda Rose spray can sport 35+ blooms

 

Moving is often cited as one of the top ten most stressful events in life. I don’t doubt it, but in my case, I was so busy coordinating our 2011 move I didn’t have time to realize I was stressed.

We put our Maryland house on the market in late January that year, it sold a couple of weeks later and we closed on March 31^st. And, oh by the way, a day after the settlement we left for son Sam's wedding in Australia.

I left Zephirine and the arbor behind

When we finally arrived at our house in North Carolina in May, we wasted no time starting a new garden. Because of the timing of the sale and trip Down Under, I wasn’t able to bring any of my beloved plants with me (even though the new owners had kindly offered to let me take a few special faves.)

My Maryland cottage garden has been hard to duplicate

 At first it seemed fun starting fresh with a completely different garden design. Now almost two years later I am beginning to miss some my old favorites from all the years I gardened on the Eastern Shore.

And I’m discovering how difficult it’s going to be to replace them.

Out-of-the-ordinary roses are hard to find.

We’ve been reading a lot lately about financial problems in the nursery industry and the bankruptcy of big names like Jackson & Perkins. 

If you’re looking for a Knock Out or a Blaze climbing rose, chances are the collapse of some of these businesses is not going to affect you.

But what if you’re like me and want to locate a unique variety called Lyda Rose?  The bloom of this shrub looks more like an apple blossom than a rose, but it puts out amazing sprays covered with dozens of simple, exquisite flowers.

Unfortunately, you’ll never find one at your local big box store.

Mesh fences save young plants from bunnies and big feet

A website called HelpMeFind indicated four companies in the country carry Lyda Rose. As it turns out only one had her in stock and I luckily snagged it from a nursery in Florida.

Unfortunately just as she was really getting going, my husband accidently stepped on the bush and broke it off at the soil level. 

I've found another  Lyda at one of my favorite  nurseries, Roses Unlimited in Laurens, SC, so I'll try again. (Rose Petals Nursery is another great source for old and antique roses.)

This time I'll protect her with small circular fence made of wire till she gets established.

Louisville Lady was another rose I tried to locate. I’d left six behind in Maryland and was having a hard time finding even one. Fortunately a Mississippi company, K&M Roses, came to the rescue.

Blooms of Louisville Lady hold their form for over a week

They not only had Louisville Lady, but another miniflora I was looking for named Whiraway. The plants they sent were beautifully packaged and extremely healthy.

Tracking down perennial partners

Pollinators love Centranthus

Some of the companions I planted with roses in my cottage garden were over 15 years old.

I’ve found some lavenders and catmints but was striking out when it came to a variety of Centranthus (also known as Jupiter’s Beard.)

Pierre de Ronsard (aka Eden)

I’d grown both the red and white varieties which produced beautiful clusters of flowers on long arching stems from May till frost if the spent blooms were pinched back.

The red variety is readily available, but I’d just about given up finding Centranthus alba when I discovered New Garden Plants. They had exactly what I wanted and I was very impressed with the quality of all their perennials.

So it seems smaller nurseries have helped me replace some old garden plants in a big way.

?? clematis and Cottage Rose

But I'm still missing many of my old faves including variegated camellias, plant names I neglected to write down, Cl. Pierre de Ronsard, the Hybrid Perpetual  Baron Girod de l'Ain, and the mini Marriotta.

Baron features white-tipped petals

So the search continues, but I've been forced to give up the hope of finding plants that are no longer in commerce.

Baby Blanket with red and white Centranthus at her feet

 Like the incredible weeping Baby Blanket tree rose.

Sigh.

A closer look at the new Eyeconic roses.

Dr. Jim Sproul's first big success, Eyeconic ™ Lemonade

 

There is no hard and fast rule as to when the hybridizing bug first bites its victims.

Eight-year-old schoolboy David Austin wished to create a new flower like the world had never seen. 

Twenty-something Bill Radler hoped to breed a rose that didn’t require constant pampering. His Knock Out filled the bill.

Ben Williams never gave the subject a thought until a chance encounter with a German hybridizer after World War II sparked a passion that burned until he passed away in 2006. He went on to help invent the miniflora rose -- a category of  “in between” bushes that were too big to be miniatures and too small for full-size roses.

Dr. Jim Sproul enjoyed breeding guppies in his early teens, then as an adult, his hybridizing interests turned to roses. Over the past fifteen years he has been working to create a line of roses bred with Hulthemias, plants considered more of a weed than an ornamental in the desert regions of Iran and Afghanistan.

The humble Hulthemia has inspired a new line of roses.

Although Hulthemias (rosa persica) are described as ugly bushes with thorny, rambling branches, the flowers have a distinctive red blotch in the center that has fascinated hybridizers for decades. 

They are not true roses, but breeders hoped they could cross the once-blooming desert plant with the modern Queen of Flowers to produce new varieties with the fascinating blotch.

The pioneering efforts of breeders around the world including Peter James, Chris Warner, Jack Harkness and Ralph Moore paved the way for Jim Sproul’s breakthrough work.

The Eyeconic™ line of roses are Sproul’s reward after fifteen years of trial and error, success and failure, and many hundreds of crosses. 

Eyeconic Pink Lemonade

His first big introduction was Eyeconic Lemonade, a shrub with sunny yellow, gently ruffled blooms and a magenta red blotch at the base. Lemonade is a heavy bloomer with slightly scented, non-fading flowers.

Pink Lemonade soon followed – a pretty light pink with a frilly bloom and of course, the blotch. Both varieties grow to about 3’ and boast dark green glossy foliage.

This year brings two new members of the family to catalogues and nurseries.

Landscape shrub Eyeconic Melon Lemonade is orange to apricot in color, with a red ring around the inside of the petals. 

Eyeconic Melon Lemonade (Courtesy Star Roses)

Eyeconic Pomegranate Lemonade is a miniature -- a deep pink and white blend with a dark magenta eye. It features exceptionally large non-fading flowers on a bush growing only to about 12”. Pomegranate also has the best blotch of the bunch thus far.

Eyeconic Pomegranate Lemonade is classed as a mini (Courtesy Star Roses)

Eyeconic Lychee Lemonade (Courtesy Star Roses)

A new addition to the color palette will make its debut in 2014. Semi-double Eyeconic® Lychee Lemonade is a pleasing ivory cream with a deep burgundy blotch. The plant is vigorous yet compact, making it a good choice for containers and small gardens.

All of these roses are fuss-free, self-cleaning and well suited for the Western U.S and Canada.

However in the East and South, the current Eyeconic series may require spraying because they are reportedly susceptible to black spot.

I don’t know if the black spot warning is for real or just cautionary.

In any event I’ll be keeping my eye on them all.

Tis the season when the catalogues cometh

  

While we were in New York last month, enough gardening catalogues arrived to give our Sapphire mail ladies a double hernia. Eight on seeds, four on roses, five on perennials, three on garden supplies, two on wild birds -- and they’re still coming.

        

It seems a new avalanche arrives every year about this time.  That’s because I’m undoubtedly on a list somewhere labeled “Garden Sucker.” (Also as a member of the Garden Writers Association of America, I’m fair game for every gardening concern.)

I'll be ordering more foxgloves, catmints and Centranthus ruber

 I do at least thumb through every arrival before tossing them in the recycling bin. Having written for the White Flower Farm catalogue and website for a number of years, I know how much work goes into each endeavor.

Daylilies are growing on me

Over the years I’ve learned from trial and error which companies live up to their promises and which simply offer pretty pictures and tall tales.

I’ve had good luck ordering from Bluestone Perennials, Spring Hill Nursery, American Meadows, Southern Living Plants and Oakes Daylilies.  If  I ever  receive a wilted plant or one that doesn’t grow as promised from any of these companies, a fresh replacement is sent immediately, no questions asked. 

Botanical Interests offers wonderful gardening tips

For seeds, it’s hard to beat Renee’s Garden. I used to love her very attractive catalogue and the tantalizing recipes sprinkled throughout the pages. Like many companies, Renee Shepherd has moved to an online publication. Sign up for her free E-Newsletter and you’ll receive great garden ideas and yes, recipes!

I also like the selection of seeds at Botanical Interests, especially their collections such as Grandmother's Cut Flower Garden. They also offer expert gardening tips, yummy recipes and eye-catching seed packets.

Fairy wand grows wild here but can be ordered from a specialty nursery

Now that we’ve moved to the mountains I’m very interested in finding wildflowers that are right for our area. Gardens of the Blue Ridge is a great source for seeds and plants  as well as advice (and they have an informative newsletter, too.)

When it comes to ordering roses by mail my advice is to definitely not believe everything you read. Several years ago I was hoodwinked more than once into ordering from a company that undoubtedly employs the world’s most persuasive copywriter.

I plan to grow Wollerton Old Hall as a climber

The ‘Climbing Cecile Brunner’ I sent for promised “delicate soft pink sweetheart buds and blooms on a vigorous climber... continual blooming...may be grown 20 feet plus into a tree for a gorgeous sight.” This description bore no resemblance to the 3 inch twig that arrived. It didn’t grow, much less bloom.

Since then I have several favorite rose sources I would recommend without reservation. David Austin English Roses never disappoint. And I’ve also received strong, healthy plants from Roses Unlimited, K and M Roses and Edmunds Roses.

Baron Girod de l'Ain, a Hybrid Perpetual from 1897

RosePetals Nursery is a wonderful source for antique, heirloom and  Earthkind roses. They also have a five-acre display garden where you will marvel at the collection of old garden roses.

This rose I spied at a gas station could be Midas Touch

So now that the catalogues have come and the websites have been scoured, I am making my list and checking it twice. 

As far as roses, I am expecting Wollerton Old Hall, England’s Rose, Lady Salisbury, Mystic Beauty, Midas Touch and Whimsy to arrive in early April.   

New perennials on the way include Centranthus ruber, Ilex Golden Verboom (male) and Nandina Lemon Hill.

Peter Cottontail will be hopping into my rose border

I’d love to hear about your favorite gardening catalogues, as well as your ordering success and horror stories.

 I’ll report the results in an upcoming posting. Although I can’t imagine there’s a great garden source I haven’t heard about, I’m happy to entertain the thought that one might exist.

 In fact, perhaps some new goodies are waiting for me right now. I just saw the mail truck go by.