Re: Gardens & Weather

On Sep 04, Gene Bush wrote:
> > The Dirca palustris that I got from them has finally gotten substantial,
> > though.  It's about 5' tall and gorgeous in March when it's covered with
> > those little yellow flowers.  I think I might have to move it since it's
> > too close to a walkway now -- I honestly never thought it would do well
> > in the first place.  :)Chris
> 
> I had t look that one up...Dirca. Dirr says acidic soil, put with
> rhodies..is your soil acidic, or did you do a bit of amending?

Hi Gene,

   I actually didn't do anything to the soil, but it seems very happy.
   The plant is on the north side of the garage (which is on a concrete
   slab).  It's planted right next to a Rhododendron mucronulatum, so 
   I get color early in the spot.  I really wanted to put it next to 
   the carolina silverbell (Halesia carolina), but there's not enough
   room.  

   If I had to guess I'd say that the pH there is around 6.5 - 7.0.  It
   does get a lot of irrigation water.

   I noticed that the Morton Arboretum has been experimenting with these
   a lot lately.  Some of their display gardens now have large Dirca
   in unamended soil with non-acid plants.  Some of the Dirca are even
   in full sun for a portion of the day (which totally shocked me!)

   I think these plants are tougher than people originally thought, 
   but they're still not used much because propagation is a pain.

Chris

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