Plant of the Week: Polygala

Hi Plant Peeps! I'm back with another favorite plant. This week I will talk about Polygala. 

I can't recall where I first discovered this diminutive beauty but I bought my yellow-flowered Polygala chamaebuxus in 2014. It was a tiny thing and I feared it would be swallowed by its billowing neighbors thanks to my cram-scaping tendencies. So I put it in a pot and set it on a shelf on my patio next to the house where it received a bit of protection from the elements.

It started blooming in November and continued clear through the winter! 

The common name for this plant is Shrubby Milkwort which is kind of baffling since it is not shrubby, nor does it look the slightest bit milky.

Well, I guess you could say the white part of these two-tone flowers is milky. I'm not normally a fan of yellow flowers but this little winter bloomer brings a bit of cheer to the this gardener.

A bit of leaf damage here but it recovered

I think it was spider mites which happens when the plant doesn't get enough water.

Polygala chamaebuxus is evergreen and winter-hardy in Zones 4-9. How's that for winning attributes?

After falling in love with the yellow-flowered species, the purple and yellow-flowered Polygala chamaebuxus 'Kaminski' became a lust plant. Sadly, it was going for exorbitant prices, like $35.00 for a one gallon, small plant. 

I figured I'd wait for a more reasonable price. In 2016, Pat at Secret Garden Growers had it for sale so I purchased it from her. Thank you Pat for feeding my never-sated desire for plants.

Here it is, in bud. It looks very Daphne-like, doesn't it?

It's been my experience, as you can see below, that the purple flowers bloom a bit later than the yellow ones.

The yellow-flowered Polygala is almost finished while P. c. 'Kaminiski' is just starting. 

Did I mention these plants are slow-growing? Last spring I decided to plant them together in a shallow, wide pot. They seem happy here.

 

However, last summer I set the pot on the ground, away from the house. A few weeks ago I realized that this cooler location had stalled the blooming. So I moved it back on my patio. Buds are forming but it is way behind schedule. The above and below photos were taken last year. 

Lesson learned: Keep it close to the house where it receives a bit of warmth and it will be a true winter-bloomer. 

   

 There is a truly shrubby Polygala that is not winter-hardy here in the Pacific Northwest.

Polygala myrtifolia 'Mariposa' or Butterfly Sweat Pea Bush

In 2015, I bought Polygala myrtifolia 'Mariposa' on impulse while plant shopping at N&M Nursery in Hubbard. I knew it wasn't hardy and stupidly left it outside anyway. As I recall, it was a blooming machine, as many tropicals are, blooming right up until a cold spell devolved it to mush. My photos don't do it justice.

Information on several Polygala genera can be found on Plant Lust.

I hope you're enjoying these weekly installments. Thank you for commenting. 

Plant of the Week: Correa

Wow! Do the weeks go by fast or what? Here it is again, time to discuss another favorite plant.

This week I wanted to focus on two plants of the genus Correa. Have you heard of it? If not, probably because it blooms in the (non-shopping season of) winter and is marginally winter-hardy here in the Pacific Northwest. Ooh, but look at those flowers!

Correa 'Dusky Bells'

Starting in September, a succession of pretty pink or white (depending on species) two-inch bells hang from stems cloaked with small, evergreen leaves.

The white bells of Correa alba 'Ivory Bells' and C. 'Dusky Bells'

Here it is the middle of January and my plants are happy as can be, situated in pots on my covered patio. Hummingbirds enjoy nectaring on the bells, making the plants useful for wildlife which I find enormously gratifying.

I discovered Correa in 2018, while reading about winter-blooming plants. My goal was for more color in the garden, not just for the resident Anna's hummingbirds but also because it's so freaking dreary here during the winter that I needed something colorful to help me keep my sanity.

Correa is an Australia native, hence the common name Australian Fuchsia. It is a tough plant for warmer locales, tolerating poor soil, and drought. The lesson here, try not to pamper your plants too much.

Contrast the foliage of 'Dusky Bells' above to the leaves of 'Ivory Bells' below and you'll notice a distinct difference. Which do you like better?

So far, my two plants have eschewed summer's heat (I grow them in shade) and don't appear to be water-guzzlers. No bugs--including the dreaded adult root weevil--have been an issue. Super easy to grow, long blooming, year round interest... what's not to love?

In spring I move the plants (in their pots) out from under the covered patio onto my open patio that has a large Japanese maple canopy--basically a dappled shade spot. There they sit and grow, taking a backseat to the more showy plants. When they start blooming in September and October, I move them back to my covered patio.

Here you can see the chunky little buds.

C. 'Dusky Bells' was bigger when I purchased the two plants but it is also faster growing.

Correa 'Ivory Bells' last year

Correa 'Ivory Bells' this year.

This year. It's about twelve inches wide by six inches tall

This year

Unfortunately, I was unable to locate a first or second year photograph of C. 'Dusky Bells'. Below is a photo I took a few days ago. It's about two feet wide and half as tall.

Correa 'Dusky Bells' this year

This year

In-ground and in warmer locations, the plants can get quite hefty; we're talking four to six feet wide. Can you imagine the hummingbird fights? Because winters here are not quite that friendly, I'm happy to do the next best thing. I'll cater to my potted plants and enjoy them as long as they will honor me by calling this home.

There is information on C. 'Ivory Bells' here on Plant Lust's website. Information on C. 'Dusky Bells' can be found here: Plant Lust's website

Wholesale nursery, San Marcos Growers in California sells several Correa. You can see descriptions here. 

Thank you for visiting. Comments always welcome!

Plant of the Week: Sarcoccoa ruscifolia

Can we say Sarcococca ruscifolia five times real fast? Or at all? It took me awhile. (Sar kuh koh' kuh roo sih foh' leah yuh). 

Or you could just say "Sweet Box" but where's the fun in that? I won't go into the plethora of reasons why botanical Latin is critical to proper plant identification but will suffice it to say, if you're a serious gardener, you should strive to embrace it, despite its esoteric nature, pun intended. 

Sarcococca is a winter blooming, perfuming machine! A few days ago, I was surprised when I walked past it and caught a whiff of its delicious perfume. I wasn't quite expecting it yet because for the past few years cold temperatures have postponed its bloom by as much as a month. But this year's temperatures have been normal so it's doing its typical January thing. 

Sarcococca ruscifolia in bud

I discovered Sarcococca in 2002 while in the throes of my fragrant plant phase. It sounded too good to be true: winter blooming, evergreen shrub, happy to grow in dry shade. In all the time I've had my plants, they've never been bothered by pests, including deer (knock on wood) and on warmer winter days intrepid bees will find their way to the flowers for what I can only imagine is a sweet cocktail.

Although the somewhat demure flowers wouldn't win any designer awards, the branches can be snipped and brought inside for a fragrant, albeit mostly green bouquet. As I write this, I'm enjoying its perfume in a vase on the table next to me. This particular bouquet has been here for almost a week and is still as intense as the day I brought it in. 

Eventually the pollinated flowers will form plump, black berries as you can see above. If the conditions are right, the berries will drop, germinate and make new plants. I've also had success in rooting the aforementioned cut branches by leaving them in water (refreshed every week) for a few months.

My first Sarcococca shrub, planted in 2002, about two and a half feet tall and four feet wide.

That same plant while in full bloom.

There are a few other species of Sarcococca out there. Most notably, S. humilis a dwarf, slow growing plant that in my experience, bloomed much later. With a small garden and limited space and because I wasn't as thrilled with its performance, it went buh-bye years ago. However, it is purportedly more tolerant of cold winters, (winter-hardy to Zone 6, -10 °F) so if you're gardening in a colder climate, here you go. 

Sarcococca is a fairly common plant, so, gardening peeps if you're growing it, is yours blooming yet? And if you're not growing it, why not?

A New Year and A New Format

Happy New Year! 

First, I need to apologize. For years I would be alerted via email to new comments on this and my other blog. At some point this helpful feature disappeared. I don't check as often as I should and this time I missed a bunch of you. I'm very sorry. Your feedback is the highlight of this endeavor so thank you. I'll do better this year. 

With the new year comes a change in my format. Each week I'm going to focus on one plant. I'll share photos and prose. If you too have the plant I'm writing about, please share your thoughts and experiences with it. Even if you don't, your comments are most welcome.

This first week, my favorite plant: Clematis cirrhosa var. purpurscens 'Freckles'. 

I bought 'Freckles' in 2017 at the height of my Clematis obsession and to satisfy my desire for more winter-blooming plants to feed the resident Anna's hummingbirds. Donahue's Nursery was the only place selling it at that time. If you've ever purchased Clematis from this nursery you know that they arrive in small, four inch containers--too small to safely plant in the ground. I re-potted mine and babied it for a year then planted it close to the patio so it could grow through the branches of my winter-blooming Viburnum bodnantense 'Dawn'. 

Last year it put out a few of its characteristic red-spotted (freckled) flowers but they were so high up, I could barely get a good look. Still, I was thrilled that my plant was doing exactly what it was supposed to do. 

The first bud on Clematis 'Freckles' as the vine scrambles up Viburnum bodnantense 'Dawn'

This past fall I made sure to train the vine so it wouldn't be too high when it bloomed. And it's blooming like crazy!

I brought one vine/stem into my patio and trained it against this little wire thingy.

Winter hardy to only USDA Zone 7a (0 °F), this winter beauty won't survive in the colder climes. I understand how fortunate I am to be able to have it thrive in my relatively mild Zone 8b garden.

You can read more about Clematis 'Freckles' on the International Clematis Society's website.

Joy Creek Nursery also sells this Clematis now. However, as of this writing it is sold out and they haven't yet replenished their stock. It's a fantastic plant and high on my favorites list.

Thank you for visiting.

Again, your comments are most welcome.