Backyard Wisdom

Poinsettias Brighten Homes

When my husband and I got married during the holiday season 19 years ago, white poinsettias were the wedding’s primary floral decorations. Back then, color was pretty much limited to red, pink and white. Just a few decades ago, there were only about five varieties. Now there are more than 100.

Choices Abound

You can find them in shades of red, pink and white as well as deep burgundy and even purple. There are marble varieties and selections that appear as if a second color was spattered on. In addition to choice in color, there are choices
in foliage and bracts. One variety, Winter Rose, has multiple layers of bracts giving it a more flower-like appearance. Another variety has more pointed leaves for a holly-like effect.
To learn more about selecting poinsettias and making them last longer in your home, check out this story from Dr. Raymond Kessler and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. You can also see Dr. Kessler select poinsettias on this YouTube video.

Turn Garden Bounty into Holiday Decorations

I expect many of you are like me, busy trying to finish up your holiday decorations. If you have a bare spot that you would like to fill, don’t forget the bounty in your garden. Almost every garden has something that can be used to add a little Christmas cheer.

In my garden and landscape, here are a couple of plants that I regularly use as part of my holiday decorations.

Magnolia — leaves and pods
Holly — leaves and berries
Rosemary — small cuttings
Wax myrtle — small branches
Nandina — leaves and berries
Sweetgum — bare branches especially those with winged fringe View image

The ideas are endless for using natural materials in decorations. Check out these links for ideas on how to use natural materials as well as ideas on plants to add to your landscape.

How to Craft a Christmas Wreath from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System

Holiday Decorating with Fresh Greenery from Clemson Extension

Gardens Can Provide Holiday Decorations and Care Needed for Holiday Greenery from eXtension

Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas from The Grumpy Gardener (Steve Bender, senior writer with Southern Living)

Home Grown Christmas Trees

Yes Virginia, Christmas trees do grow in Alabama. Between 50 and 60 growers produce Christmas trees in cut your own tree operations across Alabama. Dr. Ken Tilt, a horticulture specialist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, says Christmas tree production is about a 3 million dollar industry in the state.

One of the biggest advantages in buying an Alabama grown tree is freshness. It doesn’t get any fresher than cutting a tree down at a Christmas tree farm and putting it up in your home the same day. Plus cutting a tree can create family memories that last a lifetime.

If you want to learn more about Alabama Christmas trees, check out Dr. Tilt’s Frequently Asked Questions here.

Choosing Natives for Your Landscape

In my last blog post, I talked about how more and more people are including native plants in their gardens. Dr. Amy Wright, who is an associate professor of horticulture at Auburn University, and I have talked about this for a while now. She visited with me recently on the Backyard Wisdom radio show.

Amy is a real advocate of using native plants in the landscape whether it be flowers, shrubs or trees. As she told me, it’s just smart to choose a plant that is well adapted to where you live rather than one that is native to a different environment.

Last time, I shared with you some of Amy’s favorite native deciduous shrubs. This time it’s her list of favorite evergreen shrubs. On the show, we talked about these three.

Morella cerifera, Myrica cerifera, wax myrtle
Illicium floridanum, Florida anise
Illicium parviflorum, small anise-tree

But Amy adds that the following are great choices as well—just not enough time on Backyard Wisdom to talk about them all.

Ilex glabra, inkberry holly
Magnolia virginiana, sweetbay magnolia
Sabal minor, dwarf palmetto
Ilex vomitoria, yaupon holly

If you add any of these or the deciduous ones mentioned in the previous post to your landscape, Amy offers these general recommendations.

• For all these plants, don’t prune! They all have wonderful natural growth forms that should be preserved.

• If planting more than one, it’s always best to mass them together for greatest impact.

• When searching for shrubs, always use the scientific name so you’re sure you know what you’re getting.

• When purchasing plants, don’t forget to inspect the root systems! This will determine whether the plant lives or dies in your landscape! Look for plenty of healthy, white, firm roots. Avoid root balls with excessive circling roots, brown or mushy roots, or root balls that are very dry.

Choosing Natives for Your Landscape

More people are interested in enhancing their landscapes with native plants. Dr. Amy Wright, who is an associate professor of horticulture at Auburn University, visited with me recently on the Backyard Wisdom radio show. She is a big advocate of using natives in the landscape for a lot of reasons. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons — it’s just smart to choose a plant that is well adapted to your environment rather than one that is native to a potentially very different one.

Amy and I talked about natives on two Backyard Wisdom shows. During the first show, we talked about some of her favorite native deciduous shrubs, including these.

Itea virginica, Virginia sweetspire
Chionanthus virginicus, white fringetree
Viburnum nudum, possumhaw

She offers these as other native deciduous shrubs for our Alabama landscapes.

Callicarpa americana, beautyberry
Fothergilla gardenia, fothergilla
Ilex verticillata, winterberry holly
Clethra alnifolia, summersweet
Calycanthus floridus, sweetshrub
Cephalanthus occidentalis, buttonbush
Lindera benzoin, spicebush
Oxydendrum arboreum, sourwood
Rhododendron austrinum, Florida flame azalea