SPU: Spurias in Zone 7

>From Walter: In my climate at least, I have found that spurias don't like pine
>straw or pine bark as mulch.  They prefer none or hardwood mulch.  Also,
>in our acid soil, they respond to a side dressing of lime in the spring.
>I killed a few here or they sulked until I did the above.
>
I'm in a climate not terrifically unlike Walter's. I grow two spurias,
SOCIAL LADY and GUEST ARTIST, and I have watched eight others struggling
along in a public planting at the back of some TBs. Here is the advice I
have been given, which seems, so far, to be good advice:

Spurias vary in their cultural needs and dormant periods, but in general,
they require full sun and well-drained, rich, alkaline soil. They like
water (and lots of it) only when their foliage is up. They go to sleep in
summer, at which time they drop their leaves. They ask to be left warm and
dry. If they are watered too much while dormant, they will rot, so
gardeners in humid climates are advised to use raised beds.
"The gardener who incorporates well-rotted manure will be rewarded." (Read
that somewhere.)
It may take them three years to begin to bloom; they resent
transplantation, and they are best left in the same place for 8 to 10 years
to achieve their full potential.
Do not let rhizomes dry out during transplantation. Plant them so about one
inch of soil covers them, but do not mulch.

That's all I know. I put mine in a raised bed with a soil that combines
compost, sand, sandy loam, clay, rotted manure and a little hydrated lime.
They did not begin growing until our temps dipped in the late fall and the
rains began. The foliage is a deep, satisfying green, and they look very
happy.

The plants in the public bed with the TBs are not so happy looking, but
nothing in that bed looks well; the drainage isn't good and the soil is a
silty/clayey mess that hasn't been beefed up in years, excepting the
addition of Superphosphate in spring. We will lift all the TBs and try to
improve that soil this summer. The spurias will have to be lifted, too, but
we plan to bring out a quantity of dirt around each plant sufficient to
preserve the root structure. These plants are old enough that they flower a
little, so it would be a shame to set them back.

celia
storey@aristotle.net
Little Rock USDA Zone 7b ... haven't seen the sun in almost two weeks straight.
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