Two years ago, the Escambia Master Gardener Volunteers were gifted with the flowering perennial Sweet Almond bush (Aloysia virgata). It has quickly become a favorite plant of volunteers and garden visitors due to its many attractive features.
Although, Sweet almond bush is not a Florida native, it is Florida-friendly plant for zones 8b -10b. Plants grow very large, from 6-10 feet with branching that can spread out in all directions. In North Florida, plants can be damaged by a freeze but either return from the base or from growing points higher on branches.
One of the best features are the fragrant white flowers spikes that will be present late spring through fall. Many types of pollinating insects will be attracted to the flowers, although sometimes flowers are too high on the plant for many of us to get a good look at pollinator details.
Sweet almond bush blooms. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
We have plants both in full sun and partial shade that are performing well in the Escambia Demonstration Gardens. Plants do receive water when rainfall is lacking for about 5-7 days (or all of August this year in the Northwest Panhandle). You can shape your plant with a little light pruning during the growing season to keep branches a little more in bounds. Don’t forget to start a few new plants from these cuttings and then share a low maintenance plant with your neighbors.
Salvias are a popular group of plants for attracting pollinators and adding lots of color to the landscape. A unique salvia that offers velvety flowers is the Mexican bush sage, Salvia leucantha.
In our heat, Mexican bush sage can tolerate partial shade and likes average water with well drained soils. Plants will not overtake a spot only growing 2-4 feet. The velvety portion of the flower is a purple calyx with the flower petals emerging white or purple. Flower stalks will extend above the foliage to be available to many bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
Mexican bush sage planted with ‘First Knight’ pennisetum. Photo by Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.
During cold winters, plants can die back to the ground but often return each spring. It is always good to take a few cuttings for new plant starts just in case your plant dies back from heavy rains or drought conditions.
Mexican bush sage can be an accent plant in your garden or used in a small mass of 2-3 plants. Consider adding it with contrasting textures and colors so later summer flowers are easily visible.
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve had multiple questions regarding trees and shrubs that aren’t looking too hot. These types of calls are common this time of year – it has gotten hot and dry, and plants have fully emerged from winter, causing issues that have been hiding under the surface during the dormant season to manifest as crown or branch dieback. While there are a wide variety of things that can cause dieback, in most cases a little detective work can help pinpoint the issue. Let’s look at a few of the most common causes of dieback and some corrective measures that may help restore the plants to health.
The first thing to do when you notice a plant in decline is nothing. Don’t try and oversaturate it with water. Don’t run out and dump a bunch of fertilizer around it. Many times, these panic measures exacerbate the stress the plant is already under. Instead, I encourage you to give us a call at your local UF/IFAS County Extension Office. We can likely help identify the cause of the problem through a site visit to your property or by you sending us diagnostic photos of the plant with a description of what’s been going on with it – the more information you can provide about the plant and the management practices it has experienced, the better (you can email diagnostic images/information to d.leonard@ufl.edu).
The most common cause of tree/shrub dieback that I see arises from improper planting practices. Most landscape plants should be planted at or just above the surrounding soil level, preferably where the topmost root arises from the trunk. To accomplish this, planting holes should be dug slightly shallower than the rootball’s height and about twice as wide. Planting any deeper than that is probably too deep and can cause problems like trunk and root decay, which lead to crown dieback. Unfortunately, once a plant is planted too deep, it cannot be corrected other than digging up and replanting at the proper depth, which may or may not be possible depending on the size of the tree. Another common issue that can arise after planting is girdling roots. This occurs when plants are grown in plastic containers and develop a root system that circles the inner wall of the pot. If not trimmed, the plant’s root system will continue to grow in this manner, eventually encircling the plant’s trunk, cutting off water and nutrient flow, and leading to crown dieback. Fortunately, this condition can be prevented by cutting, removing, or redirecting these roots at planting.
The next most common cause of plant dieback occurs due to soil disturbance by people. It’s easy to forget but the root zone of trees and shrubs can reach out several times farther than the plant is tall and is easily damaged. Disturbances to the root zone from digging or trenching near trees or compaction from prolonged vehicle travel over the area cause damage that might be slow to appear but can lead to plant decline. If you are doing construction or building near a shrub or tree, try to keep digging machinery as far out of the root zone as possible and avoid repeatedly parking or driving vehicles over the root zone area. Like below ground root damage, trunk damage that occurs from injury by string trimmers, mowers, or animal feeding activity can all disrupt the flow of water and nutrients in plants and prove deadly. There is no cure for this type of damage, so employing physical barriers to prevent damage is key.
The last major stress is environmental in nature and is caused by a water imbalance – either too much or not enough. Dry soil conditions during the planting and establishment phases (first several years after planting) should obviously be avoided if possible – keeping the developing rootzone moist and allowing plant roots to establish in their native soil is critical. Too much water can also cause problems for trees planted in poorly drained soil. Excessive moisture leads to root diseases, which ultimately presents as dieback in the canopy. If planting in an area that tends to stay wet, select a species of plant adapted for that sort of site – some species are more tolerant of “wet feet” than others. While many people expect disease and insect damage to be the cause of an unhealthy plant, they’re often not the biggest culprit and, if they occur at all, are generally secondary to one of the above issues.
Many shrubs can benefit from a little pruning. Choosing what to prune to maintain a plant’s natural look can sometimes be a challenge. Get a few tips on pruning shrubs with cane type growth from UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.
Although a beautiful flowering vine in the late summer and early fall, the non native Autumn clematis can take over an area and escape to natural areas. Learn how to distinguish this plant from the native clematis.
Small debris recently littered area lawns, but these materials are no “trash”. Credit: Adobe Stock
Hurricane Idalia recently tore through the Big Bend area, battering the coast and taking down trees, leaving thousands out of power. While much of the panhandle was safe from the strong winds and storm surge, we still got some gusty weather, and likely had some amount of cleanup to do following the storm. Fortunately for us, this time, it’s mostly a lot of small branches and leaves versus entire trees that our fellow gardeners are cleaning up to the east of us. In addition to being thankful that larger branches didn’t fall here, consider turning those small bits and pieces over to wildlife while collecting your wheelbarrow loads of debris. This is a great opportunity to practice sustainable landscape practices and a few Florida-Friendly Landscaping Principles.
The UF/IFAS Florida-Friendly Landscaping Program has nine principles that it encourages Florida homeowners to practice in their landscape to conserves Florida’s natural resources. Three of the nine principles can be practiced by choosing how you manage the debris that has fallen – #4 Mulch, #5 Attract Wildlife, and #7 Recycle Yard Waste.
A mockingbird enjoys perching at the brushpile. Credit: Adobe Stock.
The first reaction when looking out at your landscape after a storm is typically “Ugh, there’s a lot of stuff to clean up.” We often want to “clean it up” and get it back to a sea of perfect cut grass, or at least sort of nice grass. However, the small branches and leaves that fall can be a great resource for wildlife, can provide mulch around a tree, and letting them rest reduces the need for you to haul all that stuff up to the road and all that goes into picking up, transporting, and processing the material.
The larger branches (four to six inches in diameter and larger) can be used for firewood or a naturalistic bed edging. Otherwise, they can go into a large brushpile. Smaller sticks and branches are perfect for one large brushpile, or, if a large pile doesn’t meet your aesthetic desires, a series of small piles scattered or hidden behind some shrubs is a good compromise. The leaves and really small stuff (branches no larger than a pencil) can be raked up for mulch, added to the brushpile(s), or just left in place to naturally rot away and/or get shredded up by the mower.
Many small, pencil size twigs, along with leaves, can be left in place as a mulch. Credit: Mark Tancig, UF/IFAS.
No matter how you leave the debris, consider how important this material is for all sorts of wildlife. Dead wood supports microbes, fungi, and animals up and down the food chain and even adds to your soil organic matter. While it may not look “clean” to us, those bits of “trash” are gold to many critters, especially small insects that bring birds to the yard. So, during cleanup, consider leaving little treats here and there for wildlife and spend less time hauling it to the road! For more information about the Florida-Friendly Landscaping Principles, visit the UF/IFAS Florida Friendly Landscaping Program website.
