EXTENSION'S Successful 10th Anniversary lSSTSTfi NC STATE UNIVERSITY NORTH CAROLINA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

Carolinians JC Raulston Arboretum Plant Focus increase Their Knowledge of Swamp Cyrilla: A Striking Native Shrub Gardening, Manage Their yrilla racemiflora, also known as swamp cyrilla, leathcrwood or titi, is a £ lesser known but potentially useful native shrub or tree that grows in moist Landscape « but well-drained soils that are high in organic matter and acidic. Growing in Investment & hardiness zones 6 through I l, its habit ranges from deciduous to semi-evergreen Protect the to evergreen in the southern part of its U.S. territory. Reports indicate that it is deciduous or semi-evergreen in North Carolina and grows as a native primarily Environme in the eastern part of the state. The form of C. racemiflora somewhat resembles that of the wax myrtle, with twisted branches. And like the wax myrtle, it often forms multiple trunks. Taller inside specimens arc found, but a typical height and width is 10 to 15 feet. While a single tree can be grown alone in a planted landscape, this shrub often spreads in moist- soiled natural areas, creating colonies. It has been reported to come back from the Salvia roots for some time after being cut. Its strong structure and glossy green leaves in the make it stand out in a landscape. C. racemiflora flowers during the summer, putting out fragrant white-flowered racemes that are 3 to 6 inches long and give the appearance of downward pointed fingers. One-half inch long seed capsules form after flowering and remain on the plant into winter. Older leaves acquire fall coloration of yellow, orange and maroon. Swamp cyrilla is suited to full sun or partial shade. This plant is not commonly found in nurseries, but it is easily propagated. Enviro- Gardeners who haveaccess to seedscan plant them directly into the ground. Cuttings taken in August and treated with the hormone DBA have rooted with great success. The JC Raulston Arboretum has one swamp cyrilla specimen in the courtyard of the Ruby McSwain Education Center and two, including a weeping cultivar called 'Graniteville', in the beds along the fence in the northeast section. Garde 'Graniteville', from Woodlanders Nursery in South Carolina, takes a more Spot spreading form than wild plants and reaches only about 3 feet in height. Mary H. Ferguson

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'# *"" Salvias in the Landscape

Looking for a plant that seems to bloom from they are planted in soil that stayscool and wet, or in spring through fall? The genus Salvia will a greenhouse. In wet or heavysoil, salvias are sus end your quest. Salvias bloom from May until ceptible to stem and root rots, powdery mildew and November, and they perform well in hot, dry land Botrytis blight. Greenhouse pests include aphids, spi scapes. Also known as sages, they provide a variety der mites and whiteflics. These pests are usuallynot of fragrances, bloom colors, and growth habits. a problem when salvias are planted in the landscape. Salvias can be grown as annuals, shrubs, herba Using Salvias as Herbs ceous perennials and herbs. There are over 700 Salvia sp Iendens Salvias belong to the mint family, Lamiaceae, mak different species of Salvia. They can be used as and Petunia x hybrida ing their foliage very useful in the kitchen. Like massing plants, in borders and containers, and as many other members of the mint family, salvias accents and cut flowers. Salvia flowers arc pro have medicinaland culinary uses. Cultures in the duced in spikes, racemes, or panicles, and generally Mediterranean and Asia Minor made the herbal display showy colors ranging from blue to red, and use of salvia very popular. All of these salvias prefer sometimes white and yellow. Their colors attract full sun and well-drained soil: hummingbirds and butterflies. Salvia elegans is a perennial that growsto 48 Cultural Requirements inches high and 24 inches wide. Pineapplesage Salvias prefer full sun and well-drained soils, but can be propagated by stem cuttings and has many will survive and bloom in part shade. You brilliant red flower spikes. It is used in teas, can find salvias that will perform well in the moun cream cheese, jams and jellies,and in potpourri tains, the piedmont, and the coastal plain. They are because of its aromatic properties. quire drought-tolerant, so using salvias in a water- Salvia officinalis is a perennial that grows to Salvia leucantha wise garden would be ideal! If you are planting IS inches high and 12 inches wide. Culinary sage annuals and semi-hardy annuals, such as Salvia is propagated from stem cuttings, division, and lay splendens (bedding sage), makesure the danger ering because it takes a long time to reach maturity of frost has passed before planting. To encourage from seed. It is most recognized by its gray-green continuous blooming, remove the bloom spikes foliage, which is used for seasoning meat, vegetable after they have faded. This will make the plant and eggdishes, and in stuffings. more attractive and healthier. Salvia sclarea is a biennial that grows to 5 feet Perennial salvias are easy to divide in the high and 24 inches wide. The best propagation early spring, before new growth begins. Other method is seed. The flowers grow in spikesand methods of propagation include seeds, stem range from purple to white. Clary sage leavesare cuttings, and layering. used in omelets, fritters, and stews, and to flavor Salvias tend to be relatively problem-free unless beer, wines and oils. Shauna Haslem Salvia greggii

Edible Perennials

Running short on ideas for tasty meals? If you Anise hyssop, Agastache foeniculum, isa have a taste for adventure, consider perennial self-seeding perennial with edible flowers. The flowers and leaves. Flowers? Leaves? From leaves can be used to flavor teas, and the seeds my perennial garden? Yes! Be bold, but be are used in cookies, cakes, and muffins. Bee careful. Sample these treats a little at a rime to balm, Monarda didyma, has a mint)', sweet-hot evaluate how they might affect your digestion. flavor. It's nice in teas, jellies,soups, stews, and To avoid contact with pesticide residues, newly fruit. Roman chamomile, Chamaemelnm nobile, purchased perennials and herbs should not be has a sweet apple flavor. The dried flowersare consumed for 60 days after purchase. And used for teas and potpourris. This one is in the edible flowers should be approached with care because of potential allergy problems. With that in mind, consider these to add zip to recipes. see Edible Perennials on page 3 Salvia splendens North Carolina Cooperative Extension

How Do I Deal with Storm-Damaged Trees? Edible

Giving trees Thar won't happen if you take these steps: Perennials "first aid" after • Make a partial cut from beneath several continued from page 2 a Storm can make the inches away from the trunk. difference between helping • Make a second cut from above, several aster (daisy) family, so them survive and losing them. Here are a inches out from the first cut, to allow the ragweed sufferers beware. few simple rules: limb to fall safely. For a sweet clove flavor, Don't do it all yourself. If large limbs • Complete the job with a final cut just try dianthus, but be sure to are broken or hanging, or if high climbing outside the branch collar, the raised area remove the petals' bitter base. or overhead chainsaw work is needed, that surrounds the branch where it joins Pineapple sage, Salvia elegans, it's a job for a professional arborist. the trunk. is great in cream cheese, Take safety precautions. Be alert for Repair torn bark. Use a sharp knife to jams and jellies. power lines and hanging branches that smooth the ragged edges of wounds. This is only the tip of the look like they're ready to fall. Resist the urge to over-prune. Missing iceberg. For more ideas, visit Remove any broken branches attached branches may cause trees to look unbal http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ to the tree. Small branches should be pruned anced or naked. Freeswill fast grow new hort/hil/hil-8513.html.

where they join large ones. Large broken foliage and return to their natural beauty. Charlie M. Wilder branches should be cut back to the trunk or Don't top trees! lopping (cutting main a main limb. Make clean cuts just outside the branches back to stubs) is one of the worst branch collar to quicken recovery. Flush cuts things you can do to trees. are not recommended. Large branches can Carl Matyac tear loose during pruning, stripping the bark.

Buffers for Waterfronts

ENVIRO- Runoff into our waterways can carry of groundcover will halt most of the pollutants that wreak havoc in sensi pollutants from entering the water tive estuaries and marshes. Dislodged system, according to scientists. particles of soil and water-soluble Removal of shoreline vegetation materials - whether nutrients or other can cause shallow water temperatures chemicals - can move across even to rise. This can adversely affect fish. gentle slopes and flow into ditches The loss of trees and shrubs, wetlands, or canals, ultimately ending up in beaches, banks, and underwater grass ardentalk our waterways. Buffer strips help to impacts habitat and water quality. filter out most pollutants and can Be sure to plan ahead during any "Plant trap sediment and other particles construction activity along waterways. hunting, from entering our streams. Use temporary silt fences until then, Living plants along the shoreline groundcovers can take over. Plant may be a wonderful protect property from erosion and mixed vegetation that includes trees, life, but it provide cover and habitat for fish, shrubs, groundcovers and vines. certainly birds and other wildlife. Undisturbed Mixed plantings are better for gjf is not the life natural shorelines also protect water wildlife than grass alone, and they most men picture quality by trapping excess nutrients can be arranged to create an it to be. It is a and sediment. Home construction aesthetically pleasing landscape. life's work, and often involves stripping away vegeta Be sure to plant adaptive species like all work worthy of the name, it tion and cutting the land to a final for your climate. Check with local involves responsibility grade. Watercrossing bare ground Extension centers for the best and toil." waterfront plants to use in your area. carries sediment and other materials F. KingdonWard to our streams. But a 50-foot border David Barkley Plant Hunting on the Edge of the World (1930) www.successfulgardener.org ensioits NC COOPERATIVE EXTENSION w Gardening in August ngPeople•Ptmrfing Solul

Lawns Extension's SuccessfulGardener' program provides timely, research-based horticultural • Evaluate cool-season lawns for over-seeding or reestablish- information. Thenewsletter is pan ofthestatewide ment in late summer (mountains) to early fall (piedmont). horticulture program which includes Extension's • Fertilize warm- and cool-season lawns around Labor Day. Successful Gardener* Regional Seminar Series • Treat for grubs when there is adequate soil moisture as and county workshops. We publish 10issues per year. Comments concerning Successful Gardener4 they are younger, closer to the surface and easier to kill. may be sentto: • Work planned for fall should include soil sample results Successful Gardener" Editor to guide lime and fertilizer applications. Department ofCommunication Services • If Bermudagrassand other perennials have been major Box 7605, NC State University problems, treat them with a nonselective herbicide while Raleigh, NC 27695-7603 they are actively growing. Editor andTeam Leader Lucy Bradley, Ph.D. Extension Specialist. Urban Horticulture Ornamentals Account Coordinator: Rhonda Thrower • Remove bagworms from cedars and wax myrtles. Department ofCommunication Services • Woody weeds are more susceptible to systemic herbicides Assistant Editor: David Goforth in late summer through early fall. Consumer Horticulture Agent. Cabarrus County Divide and replant daylilies, irises and peonies as Compilations Editor: WillStrader Reynolda Gardens foliage loses its green color. Agricultural Extension Agent. Franklin County of Wake Forest Univ • Continue regular fungicide applications for Contributors Countv Name Phone i-winmng k disease management on sensitive plants, Brunswick David Barkiey (910)253-2610 including roses. restoration of the early 20th century Burke DonnaTeasley (828)439-i460 • \X4tter deeply but infrequently on garden, exotic plants, All-America Rose Cabarrus David Goforth (704)920-5310 young or shallow-rooted plants. Catawba Fred Miller (828)465-8240 winners and a garden boutique make up Maintain a good layer of mulch. Cumberland Shauna Ilaslem (910)321-6870 Reynolda Gardens. Rediscover the wondrous • Check for scale on evergreens and Davidson Amy-Lynn Albertson (336)242-2091 Durham Michelle Wallace (919)560-0525 gardens created through the vision of the lace bugs on azaleas, rhododendrons Forsyth J. Stephen Greer (336)703-2850 Reynolds familyover 100 years ago. Carved from and pyracantha. Gaston Mark Blevins (704)922-2112 • Begin to build up organic matter Henderson Diane Turner (828)697-4891 the original 1,067-acre farmland, the nearly 4 acres in compacted soil for fall planting. Iredell Donald Breedlove (704)873-0507 Mecklenburg Scott Ewers (704)336-4008 of gardens were designed by landscape architect Till in lime as needed. Nash Mike Wilder (252)459-9810 Thomas W. Sears. Edibles Orange MarkDanieley (919)245-2050 The 1913 greenhouse-conservatory was designed to • Fertilize strawberries to Randolph Mary Helen Ferguson (336) 318-6005 l>.irrellBlackwelder(704)2l6-8970 serve the needs of the family and Reynolda Farms. replenish and help to store food Rowan Union JeffRieves (704)285-5741 Today it houses a display of tropical and succulent reserves for next year's crop. Wake Carl Matyac (919)250-1100 plants, featuring an extensive orchid collection. • Remove diseased branches All Agents ofN.C. Coo/kwiHiv Extension and fruit in the orchard. One wing is now the educational center for a • Prune dead and declining canes TuesdayGardening series, plant sales, summer Ask for Extension's Successfu from brambles after fruiting. Gardener® newsletter at one programs and more. • Apply borer spray to the trunk and your local garden centers eac Come visit the garden during the daylight lower part of the scaffold branches of month or order a subscription at www.successfulgardener.org! hours year-round at 100 Reynolda Village stone fruits (peach, plum, cherry, and nectarine) late in August. in Winston-Salem. For information, •, Begin planting fall vegetables. Fora listofgarden centerswhereyoucan find Successful Gardener*, please call (919)51.3-3112 call 336-758-5593, or go to • Prune excess low branches of muscadines or visit Cooperative Extension on theWeb at for better air circulation. hltpyAvwv.successfulgardcner.org

• Remove excess basal sprouts from fruit trees. Disclaimer: The use of brand names does not Don Breedlove implyendorsement byN.C. Cooperative Extension nor discrimination against similar products or services notmentioned. TOP AWARDS RECEIVED FROM: Distributed infurtherance oftheactsof Congress • North Carolina State Grange/ • N.C. & National Associations of of May 8 andJune30, 1914. North Carolina Stale University and North Carolina A&T State University Extension Foundation County AgriculturalAgents commit themselves to positive action to secure • Garden Writers Association • Southern Extension Forest equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, • International Association of Bi ' national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, ority Aw or disability. In addition, thetwoUniversities welcome allpersons without regard to sexual orientation. North Carolina State University, Successful Gardener™ newsletter is provided to you compliments of: North Carolina A&T State University, U.S. Department ofAgriculture, andlocal governments cooperating. Vol. 10, No. 6 Successful Gardener* may notbe reproduced without written permission. Any news media usingsections ofthenewsletter shouldcredit "Cooperative Extension's Successful Gardener"."

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