Fry Nursery Blog

Welcome to Fry Nursery & Landscaping Services Blog page!  Here we will chat about plants, environmental concerns, and even offer some ‘how to’ video clips to help you keep your garden beautiful.  Follow us and visit often!

An awesome, ‘nearly native’, hybridized by Tom Raney, NC Horticultural Research Station in Fletcher, offering huge maroon blossoms that stand atop the foliage in late May through early June. This native ‘want-a-be’, matures to six feet high and wide and will fill almost any gap in the naturalized shrub border. Slightly strawberry-scented, the Carolina Allspice has been called ’sweet bubby’, as our mountain ladies would place a flower in their bosom for added ’scent-appeal’. Clean-foliage, that appears to shrug-off the fungal leaf spot that has plagued so many native plants this season. Brighten up your shady shrub border.

Related to Amaryllis, these South American herbs are a standard for use in the cut flower trade. Now, the plant gurus have hybridized a true beauty for use in your perennial border! Hardy in zones (5) 6 to 9 , the blooms are gorgeous mauve to rose pink accented by dark speckling and creamy yellow throat which creates a striking visual along the perennial border. Clump forming, it flowers May through frost. Sturdy and upright with a height to 30 inches; an excellent cut flower, long lasting and vigorous

Echinacea , coneflower, is a long-blooming plant offering purple, rose or white daisies which have coppery, maroon centers. Tolerant of dry, poor soils, Coneflowers are adaptable and extremely easy to grow. They make excellent cut flowers and attract butterflies to a wide range of landscape settings. Deer resistant and tolerant of moist soils, they prefer a full sun situation. Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’ was chosen as the 1998 Perennial Plant of the Year and has rose-purple flowers with non-drooping petals. Blooming mid-summer through early fall they will mature 24-36 inches in height. Hybrid variety, White Swan, has three to four inch daisy flowers with a coppery center, is free flowering and matures to the same height.

Attracting butterflies and commonly known as tickseed , coreopsis offer single or double daisies in shades of yellow, gold and pink.  Especially long-blooming, and a reliable source of color in the perennial border, they are often coupled with  Echinacea  – Cone Flower, Hemerocallis – Daylily and perennial Geranium.

The grandiflora species matures taller than the thread-leafed cultivars, (C. verticillata) with  ‘ Early Sunrise’ a favorite which is an award-winner offering semi-double, two inch, sunny yellow flowers. The thread-leafed variety, ‘Moonlight’ was the 1992 Perennial Plant of the Year and performs reliably, blooming early Summer and matures to eighteen inches. ‘Zagreb’ has striking deep yellow, star–shaped flowers with a compact upright habit maturing to fifteen inches. All are best planted in full sun and are adaptable to both dry and wet soil conditions. They are known to be deer resistant and make good cut flowers.

With huge, lemon-scented creamy flowers in early summer, the evergreen Magnolia is familiar to all Southerners and a symbol of our heritage. The evergreen boughs are used at Christmas to adorn mantle pieces and embellish evergreen wreaths. The flowers add subtle fragrance to flower arrangements. Unfortunately, the species matures to over fifty feet and such a large specimen dwarfs most landscape gardens. We are in love with the new variety ‘Teddy Bear’ and recommend it for your consideration. A new hybrid that matures twenty feet tall and spreads only ten feet wide this is a great choice for the small yard. It has all the other attributes of the evergreen magnolia – glossy, dark green foliage that is retained throughout the winter and the spectacular flowers that begin to ‘show-off’ around this time of the season.

It IS time to prune back all of your spring blooming shrubs. While you are at it, make sure they you have fed all of your plants with a slow-release, granular food.

Did you know that the old Hydrangea macrophylla (the old fashioned Blue ones) forms its buds on last years growth? Often our freak Spring freezes destroys all of this wood and acts like a pruning procedure encouraging more growth this year with no blooms. Remedy? Plant one of the new varieties that sets it’s buds on current season’s growth and be rewarded with blooms from now until frost

• Cottony Camellia Scales:  Have been spotted on Hollies. Pulvinaria floccifera occur on camellia and a few other hosts, but are seen most often on hollies. Trees with heavy infestations may be blackened with sooty mold from the scale’s honey dew. Hand pick and destroy in a very light infestation, and in late spring and summer spray with organic horticultural oil and/or Sevin.
• “Phengodes Glowworms:  Fireflies are beetles that produce light and eat snails. “Running a very close second are Phengodid beetles. This
  less common group of insects is also known as “glowworms” and these
  beetles also live in moist organic areas. The females don’t fly, but
  the males do. The larva-like females can produce light. Males
  typically have reduced forewings and dramatic or ornate antennae that
  they use to locate females. Here is the best part: these beetles are
  predaceous on certain types of millipedes. Logically, they are most
  active during the dark hours” – Steve Bambara, Extension Entomologist

As homeowners and property managers become more aware of the issues of stormwater management many of them are choosing to manage the runoff from their homes and businesses with rain gardens. Rain gardens are shallow depression landscape features that can effectively collect and treat stormwater and reduce localized flooding. Rain gardens can be integrated into the existing landscape as a retrofit or be included in the initial landscaping plan. To effectively manage stormwater, rain gardens must be accurately sized and properly constructed. This workshop will present a simple method for sizing and designing rain gardens and detail proper construction techniques. As a result of this training you will:

• Understand why stormwater needs to be managed,
• Understand the principles of rain garden location, design, construction and maintenance,
• Be able to select appropriate vegetation,
• Tour several local rain gardens, and
• Be eligible to take a test at the conclusion of the training to be certified in rain garden design and construction

This certification is awarded by NC State University Cooperative Extension and is housed in the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department. To receive the certification, attendees must attend the workshop and then receive a score of at least 80% on an examination.

For more information and to REGISTER ONLINE, please go to our website at:
http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/stormwater/training/raingarden.html

(from Ruth Cliff, NC Extension)

One season of interest, good. Two seasons of interest, better. Three seasons of interest, great. Four seasons of interest – WOW! The Stewartia pseudocamellia is a small, medium-sized pyramidal to oval tree is possibly “the best tree for the garden” according to our plant guru Dr. Michael A. Dirr.

With its planed, geometric habit maturing in the 25 to 35 foot range, the excellent, exfoliating bark lends true winter interest to a dull landscape. In spring, the newly emerging leaves are bright and apple green in coloration.

In early summer it offers gorgeous cream colored flowers that resemble a camellia bloom, with filaments that are whitish to purple. In fall, the autumn display is almost multi-colored with a range of hues in red, purple and yellow. Provide protection from burning late afternoon sun and adequate drainage and Stewartia, a true specimen for all seasons, will add delight to your garden for years to come.

Cottony Camellia Scales have been spotted on Hollies! Pulvinaria floccifera occur on camellia and a few other hosts, but are seen most often on hollies. Trees with heavy infestations may be blackened with sooty mold from the scale’s honey dew. Hand pick and destroy in a very light infestation, and in late spring and summer spray with organic horticultural oil and/or Sevin.

Some scale insects produce a cottony sac that contains hundreds or thousands of eggs (left), these are the cottony scales. Eggs generally hatch in early summer and release the crawler stage, the only highly mobile stage in the insect’s life cycle. The active crawlier stage is also the one that must be targeted for effective control.