kalmias
- Subject: kalmias
- From: S* C*
- Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 09:55:39 -0500
Last fall I posted some questions about growing kalmias in the
Midwest and got some encouragement and some hesitations both. Well, I've
done it and we'll see what happens.
This spring I ordered three small young inexpensive starts from
Bluestone in Ohio (Olympic Fire, Galaxy, and Jayne's), figuring that small
ones might adapt bettter to the extremes we have here in zone 5b.
They are in new beds in my north yard in areas of high light all day
but not much direct sun and a fair amount of wind protection. The beds are
slightly raised (logs around the edges) and are based on a mix of leaf and
mushroom compost.
Especially for the kalmias, I made a small raised bed-within-a-bed
by making a square of big logs, planting the kalmia flat on top of the bed,
and then adding material to build up a small mound around the root base.
For this material, I used some really rich loose leaf mold from our own oak
leaves (rather than the bulkier mix we get from the landscape recycling
center in town) combined with quite a bit of a heavy nonalkaline grit called
red granite grit. It was available for the first time from recycling, and I
was happy to get it since it is heavier than turkey grit but not alkaline
like pea gravel--the two usual options.
My reasoning is this: the kalmias are supposed to need to be
planted high and well-drained with good root aeration and acid soil, but
they need to be kept moist and cool also. We water the raised beds
regularly. I also placed a large flat rock on the side of the plant base in
the direction that heat and wind come from, hoping to keep a cooler root
run. Wish me luck :)
Susan and David in Urbana, Illinois, zone 5b
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