Garden Thoughts – Alchemy Gardens and Design

January to do…aka The Winter of Our Actual Winter

I’ll admit, I’m that guy who struggles with small talk at parties and often resort to discussions of weather. Though I’d much prefer to discuss art theory, dismantling systems of oppression, mycorrhizae, or the most recent discovery of a new species of fern in Appalachia, I find most people aren’t lit with a flame of eccentric passion on such subjects and are far more comfortable with weather.

And when discussing weather and climate, I will also admit that I lean heavily into the regional platitude that “Oh, I don’t think I could live much further north than I am. I just can’t tolerate cold weather.” Nature has a great way of making sure our convictions are true. As such, I can say with utmost certainty that I can not, as stated in several shmoozie situations, live much further north than I already am.

But as sad as I was with the brutal snap in temperature, my garden is much more so. My back garden, hugged cozily by a fence and several brick structures, often enjoys a mild version of winter that leaves many of my plants blooming well into December and ready to burst as early as February. The shock of last month’s winter blast left even my heartiest of plants shivering and confused. My large osmanthus standard, who often sports a lush cloak of green all year, is literally naked of all it’s leaves currently. It reminds me of a Pomeranian getting a shower; where I’m so used to a lovely round verdant silhouette, I see a mass of twigs with a few embarrassing tufts of stubborn foliage.

So with everything looking shabby, what could one possibly have to do besides cleaning up winter damage?

Well, my fine fellow gardeners, quite a bit! Let’s jump in, shall we?

General Notes

January fluctuates wildly, but is historically our coldest month.

Watch for weather and shake snow from branches before it freezes, but do not attempt to remove ice.

During dry freezes (when weather dips below freezing without rain) check for soil heaving around newer shrubs and trees. If soil has heaved (meaning ice formations under the soil have pushed the soil up. It will look like the cracks in a baked cake), apply more mulch. Cold loving plants, such as peonies, do not need to be mulched.

Any dormant plant can be transplanted now if soil isn’t frozen.

Top dress anywhere you like with compost.

Sow cool loving annuals like poppies and centaurea now.

Perennials

You may transplant and divide perennials now without stressing the plants. Remember to mark where you move things so you don’t forget in the remaining dormant phase (I once divided a bunch or veronia, forgot, then placed a huge pot on top of them).

Get the last of your bulbs in now for spring color.

Mulch anything that is bare or thin (barring cold loving plants).

Resist pruning woody mint family plants (sages, lantana, rosemary, etc) until spring. In my experience, the hollow stems sometimes will collect water and if we get freezes, the water expands and destroys the viable growth nodes just below the surface of the soil.

Roses

Hang tight on roses. You’ll be pruning next month for size and shape. You can prune out rosette disease now. Remember to sterilize your pruners after every cut so you don’t spread the virus. Rethink Knock-Out roses if you see rosette on them.

Shrubs

January is still a fine time to transplant or plant shrubs (and any woody ornamental for that matter).

If you have a hard to match or find azalea, now is a great time to air-layer it. Simply take a low branch, touch it to the ground, and place a brick, rock, or garden staple on it to keep it in contact. You can mound some soil on top of the stem as well. By spring, roots will have grown and you can remove the branch from the mother plant and plant elsewhere.

Lawns

Remember to keep fallen leaves off of your lawn (even if you have a lawn alternative).

Plan to use a preemergent in the next month. There are a number of good organic preemergents on the market!

Trees

Remove any broke branches from winter storms. You may start pruning branches for size and shape at the end of the month.

During dry periods, you can paint your stone fruit trunks with white interior latex paint. The white paint reflects sun, keeping the trunk cool. For some trees that are temperature dependent for fruit/flower production, this can be helpful. For all trees, this can prevent wide temperature fluctuations from damaging the trees, providing wounds for pests and disease. If you are in an area with deer, it can also deter them from munching on the bark.

Veggies

Plant onion sets and peas at the end of the month.

If you start seeds indoors, brassicas can be started now to be set out in March.

Purchase frost cloth if you haven’t already. Be aware, frost cloth cant help anything with temps that go below 28.

Make a plan for spring, and do not forget to rotate your crops.

The Take Away

It is hard to imagine being outside in super cold temps, but in Georgia, Winter is a bit manic. Take advantage of mild days to do a little poking about the garden. It will help you connect to the earth, especially in the colder darker days. When you connect to your garden, you are connecting to nature and to a piece of yourself.

Plant of the Month: Cornus angustata syn elliptica

When I was a kid, I was as close as it gets to being obsessed with Disney’s Sleeping Beauty for two reasons; Maleficent and Eyvind Earle.

Maleficent was my favorite villain in the smaller pantheon of Disney movie characters back then. I think mostly because she was who she was without apology and without the slapstick of the likes of Hook or the ugly step-sisters. I also think I was drawn to her lack of backstory (before the release of Maleficent…which I also enjoyed despite the removal of the mystique). She didn’t want to be the prettiest. She didn’t want to secure her place in society. She was just bad cuz she was bad. My little self also grew to really love the dryness of her sense of humor. For a character with no clear motivations, she was pretty fascinating.

And Eyvind Earle? Who was he in the movie? He actually isn’t a character. He’s the illustrator who gave the artistic vision and style to the movie. And what a style!

Earle’s images are so full of lush, whimsical, moody atmosphere. Growing up in the thick, moss soaked trees of Florida, I could understand the love song Earle composed to forests. Not to sound crunchy, but everyone should dance/play/read/snuggle under a live oak at least once in their life. The way those trees create defined spaces within a forest is nothing short of magic.

I wanted to live in that forest. I still do. It was eternally spring there. His use of simple shapes to contrast different trees and flowers was right up there with the likes of Charley Harper!

I think Cornus angustata syn elliptica would fit into Eyvind’s imagined world quite easy, even if it is mouthful to say.

In fairness, you don’t have to say the entire name. I’m just being thorough. Cornus angustata is also called Cornus elliptica. Most people in the trade only call it one name: ‘Empress of China’ Dogwood.

Though there could be confusion about the name (I’m only mentioning the 2 most common classifications. This tree has been shuffled around from species to species, to subspecies and back so many times), there’s no confusion about the beauty of this tree.

Dogwoods are funny things. Here in the south, they are about as ubiquitous as our Southern Magnolia and as equally celebrate. Our native dogwood, Cornus florida blooms in the early spring before the foliage emerges (most years). Its “petals” are large, undulating, and papery on the tips of fine delicate branches. In fall, the trees wide papery foliage changes to hues of crimson, red, and orange. In early winter the fertilized flowers bare bright red berries that attract birds. The entire tree can get up to 30’ tall, but we most often see them age out at about 20’ish with a wide, umbrella like shape. They are happiest in filtered light but can adapt fine to full sun if given enough water.

Another popular dogwood is the Korean dogwood, Cornus kusa. This smaller tree has stiffer leaves and a more compact habit. Reaching about 20’ tall and 15’ wide, the kusa dogwood forgoes the early spring show for a later presentation. Kusas bloom late spring with a profusion of small white “flowers” that sit atop the foliage. These flowers fade after 3 weeks and bare small strawberry looking fruit in the fall. After the foliage turns red and drops, the little fruit hang like wee ornaments until the birds abscond with them.

There are of course many other cornus species that I could discuss, from the cornelian cherry to the flame twig varieties. But those discussions will have to happen at another time. For we are here to sing the praises of the Empress of China Dogwood.

We recently had a small group of friends over for Memorial day. The garden looked pretty darn good. The crew and I had been in it early spring and as such, most of my plants look happy and well cared for. That hard work did not go unnoticed as our friends asked me about various beauties they had not seen before. But one plant got more questions and comments than any other.

The same dogwood as the first in this post 4 weeks later.

My Empress of China dogwood traveled to this home with me in a large clay pot. I had ordered it years ago from some specialty nursery and kept upsizing the pot as she grew from a wee 4” plant to about 3 feet. When we moved to our home in Ormewood Park Atlanta, I gave her what I thought would be her permanent home. A few years later, my hubs pointed at her and said ”I want that tree moved over here. I want to see more of it.” He rarely makes demands of the garden, so when he does, I oblige.

Moving her wasn’t an easy task. In native soil she had grown fast and her root system was extensive. But we managed and with a little bit of pampering she made it through.

The Virtues!

So much exposition. Get to the meat, Joshua!

Like all dogwoods, Empress of China has showy bracts. The flowers are insignificant but do attract hoards of native bees and pollinators. The real attraction for us non winged humans are the bracts (now you know why I kept putting the words petals and flowers in quotations). The first flopwer shapes start about early April. The bracts continue to grow over the course of, not days or even weeks, but months. This tree has had flowers on it for months.

Eventually, by late June, the bracts will fall like snow from a branch, creating a sweet white blanket on the ground for several days before the summer heat dries them to mulch. The fertilized flowers will begin to grow and ripen to create a fruit much like the kusa dogwood, only slightly translucent.

Fruit are edible, but not particularly tasty. Slightly tart and mealy. I’d leave them for wildlife, but if you have an interesting recipe I’m interested to hear.

In the fall the leaves turn crimson and purple along the margin and then…

Well, and then they just stay there. Depending on what kind of summer and winter we have, these trees are either evergreen or semievergreen. If the summer is significantly wet and the winter mild the leaves persist into spring when new growth pushes the old growth off. If we have a dry summer and cold winter, the tree loses about 70% of the leaves, but keeps enough to provide some screening.

Empress of China gets about 20’ tall and 15’ wide. Mine is about 10’ at 10 years (but remember it was in a pot for several years and then got moved 4 years ago).

Though they prefer filtered sun, they can handle full sun with a little more water. I did give mine a camel bag this year when we went 6 weeks with no rain. But in fairness, nothing really loves going that long without water that isn’t a succulent.

I believe Empress of China does a wonderful job of extending spring into the summer. The profusion of flowers and evergreen foliage reminds me that some cycles are longer than the seasons we are so used to. They remind me that some things persist even when we expect them to be fleeting.

The Garden Alchemist

Where Alchemy is the transformation of matter from one state to another, Alchemy Gardens and Design transforms outdoor spaces into gardens that reflect those who call it home.

My name is Joshua Tabor and I’m happy to introduce the blog for Alchemy Gardens and Design. Based in Atlanta Ga, I have been involved in horticulture and garden design for over 20 years. If it involves plants, I’ve probably had some experience; from medical herbalism and hydroponics, to nursery production and personal gardening. I’ve worked with residential homeowners, public municipalities, non profits, and horticulture service companies to create unique green spaces that reflect my passion for nature and design. My design and horticulture work has been featured in various publications and found throughout the metro Atlanta area and beyond. Be it a native meditation garden in the Serenbe community, food forests in public Dekalb county spaces, or a xeriscaped oasis in Palm Springs, every challenge fuels my desire to connect people to their gardens, to nature, and maybe to a part of themselves.

Various projects, including a residential garden in Palm Springs Ca, a display garden for an upscale nursery, and residential garden in Atlanta, Ga.

Check out my homepage for more information about the services my company offers and a portfolio of the work that I have done for clients in the past.

meadow orchard with a path in the grass — Reclaimed meadow in an established orchard

If you have questions about how Alchemy Gardens and Design can help you transform your outdoor spaces into an inviting part of your home, please visit the Contact Us page.