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Re: Size of Clethra alnifolia blooms?

At 03:59 PM 20/08/97 -0500, Chris wrote:
>Does anyone here have any experiences with Clethra alnifolia?  The one
>that I have seems to be of the 'Rosea' variety (tinged with pink, 
>especially when opening).
>

>I'm concerned about the bloom size on my plant.  This is the first year
>that I've ever seen it actually bloom (I've always been out of town before),
>but the panicles are only about 1" long.  The dried capsules from last
>year that are still there look to be about 4" long, so I'm wondering
>what's going on. 
>
>It's been getting regular watering, but _is_ in a shady spot (receiving 
>maybe 2 hours of early morning sun).  It's been in this same location for
>about 3.5 years now, so I'm not convinced that sun has anything to do
>with it (and besides, Clethra is supposed to like shade!)
>
>The foliage looks very clean and healthy, and a few suckers have
>come up around the base.  Any ideas what's wrong?

Hi Chris,

I'd love to have this plant -- it sounds wonderful.  I did a quick search on
the TimeLife encyclopedia.  Perhaps some of the information would be of use.

[quote on]

Clethra

            "Pink Summer Sweet" 
            Clethra alnifolia 'Rosea' 

      C. alnifolia 'Rosea' (pink summer sweet, sweet pepper bush); C.
barbinervis
       (Japanese clethra)

A deciduous shrub native to woodlands, the clethra grows well in the dappled
light
and open shade of tall deciduous trees. It tolerates wind and salty sea air,
and will
thrive in wet soil, making the plant especially useful for coastal
locations. The plant is notable because it produces sweetly scented flowers
in dense spikes 3 to 5 inches
long in late summer; the flowers last four to six weeks and are excellent
for cutting.
They are followed by dangling seed pods which many gardeners prefer to
remove for a
neater appearance.

Pink summer sweet grows 4 to 6 feet tall and bears pink-tinged flowers; its
shiny
leaves, 1 1/2 to 4 inches long, turn yellow in the fall and form foliage so
thick that the plant is sometimes sheared as a hedge. Japanese clethra, a
less hardy species,   ranges from 10 to 30 feet in height; its white flower
spikes are 4 to 6 inches long and
grow horizontally from the branches. Both species, which spread by underground
stems, are useful as background plants for a border or as single accent
plants for
color in the shade. In dry weather, clethra may be attacked by red spider
mites; of
the two species, Japanese clethra tends to be less susceptible to the insects.

HOW TO GROW. Pink summer sweet grows well in Zones 4-9; Japanese clethra is
hardy in Zones 7-10. Both thrive in moist acid soil enriched with generous
amounts of
peat moss or leaf mold. If necessary, keep the soil moist with a permanent
mulch of
wood chips, ground bark or chunky compost 3 to 4 inches deep. Normally clethra
does not need to be fertilized, but a weak plant may be strengthened by lightly
scattering cottonseed meal around its base in early spring.

Clip off faded flowers to stimulate new growth and to prevent seed pods from
forming.
Prune overly long branches in the early spring while the plant is still
dormant; the new
growth that results will produce flowers by summer. Propagate additional
plants from
cuttings of new wood taken in the late spring or early summer, or from hardened
stems in mid- or late fall. New plants may also be started by cutting off
and replanting
suckers from the underground stems.

[quote off]

--
	"Well-behaved women rarely make history."   Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

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