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BLOOMING BEAUTIFUL

Photo by Marie Harrison

Naturally occuring in the Bay area, grancy graybeard or fringe tree produces very sweet-smelling blooms for about three weeks in the spring.

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By PENNY CARNATHAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 26, 2009

Updated: 03/27/2009 05:34 pm

Those of us digging up the frost-bitten or just plain worn-out in our gardens this month have some new inspiration for replacements.

Through no coincidence, I'm guessing, this month also marks the release of Florida garden writer Marie Harrison's book, "Flowering Shrubs and Small Trees for the South" (Pineapple Press, $16.95.) It's a colorful, helpful compendium of 119 plants with lots of good growing information for each.

"I like natives," she says. "They encourage wildlife and replace those lost to all the roads and buildings."

She also likes lots of blooms, especially in the spring after a shivery Panhandle winter.

Harrison has been gardening in Valparaiso for 35 years. She's a master gardener who teaches horticulture for the National Garden Club and has published three other books with Pineapple Press.

While not all of the trees and shrubs in her newest project will thrive in the Bay area, plenty will. Hillsborough County is technically Zone 9 on the USDA Hardiness Map, which is based on coldest temperatures, although various drafts of the map put it and Pinellas County in the warmer Zone 10. Harrison's book focuses on plants for Zones 7, 8 and 9.

Her advice to gardeners?

"Research the plant you want really, really well. Make sure it's not invasive," she says, noting Florida has a particular problem with invasive plants.

"And remember the law: right plant, right place."

Harrison's book is available at major bookstores and at www.amazon .com. Visit her garden, and find lots of tips, at www.mariesgarden.com.

Penny Carnathan
Red Buckeye
Aesculus pavia

"It was the first thing that bloomed this year," Harrison says. "It just finished leafing out in late January."
Red buckeye can be allowed to branch out as a shrub or pruned as a small tree - up to about 10 feet tall. A spring bloomer, it produces 3- to 6-inch clusters of bright red hummingbird-loving flowers at the tips of the branches. It likes moist, well-drained soil and partial sun. Plant in a spot protected from the hot afternoon sun and from salt breezes.
Red buckeye may not do so well in South Tampa and Pinellas County - the warmer, more southern parts of the Bay area, advises Scott Bailey, owner of Treemart on North Nebraska Avenue in Tampa. (He has it in his own yard.)

Grancy Graybeard

Chionanthus virginicus

Harrison loves the fleecy clusters of flowers and their fragrance, like honey.

Also known as fringe tree, it's another spring bloomer. It grows 15 to 30 feet tall in cooler climes, likely not so big here. Plant young container plants in late fall through winter in slightly acid, fairly rich soil in open sun. If you have sandy soil, amend with organic material and pile on a mulch of oak leaves and pine needles, both of which will add to acidity.

"The species grows naturally in our area. It should therefore do well in horticultural situations," says Bruce F. Hansen, curator of the herbarium at the University of South Florida.

Treemart is among local nurseries that sell it.

Florida Anise

Illicium floridanum

One of Harrison's favorite natives, Florida anise is a happy Bay area resident all the way through Zone 10. A broad-leaved evergreen shrub or small tree, it has glossy leaves 2 to 6 inches long and 2-inch, star-shaped maroon flowers. It likes partial shade and well-drained, moist, acid soil. It attracts few pests.

Harrison recommends pruning once a year before spring growth.

Cultivars include Album, Semmes and Alba, which produce white flowers; Halley's Comet, which has a longer bloom time and darker maroon flowers; and Shady Lady, with variegated leaves and pink flowers.

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