Great Shrubs for Southern Landscapes

Volume 4, Issue 22
June 26, 2013
Great Shrubs for Southern Landscapes
Calycanthus floridus, more commonly known as Carolina Allspice or Sweetshrub, gets its name from the intensely
fragrant flowers that appear on this shrub in
the spring. This native species has been a
favorite for Southern gardens for
generations, and it develops into a large,
round shrub with interesting maroon-colored
flowers in April and May. Its leaves are a
shiny dark green, growing 2 to 5 in. long and
turning a lovely yellow in the fall.
Calycanthus floridus blooms
Although Sweetshrub is known for
its sweet fragrance, the fragrance of seedgrown plants can be quite variable. The
several cultivars available are grown from
cuttings and all have consistently delightful
fragrance when in bloom. For best results,
plant C. floridus in average, welldrained soil in full to partial shade.
This species is quite shade tolerant,
but will become taller and more
leggy when grown in full shade.
This is a great plant for the shrub
border or to highlight the entrance
to your home. It grows 6 to 10 ft.
tall with an equal spread.
There are several great
cultivars Carolina Allspice, and
we have each of these in our
native plant collection. These
include ‘Athens’, which is an
Calycanthus floridus ‘Athens’
intensely fragrant selection with
yellow flowers and golden yellow leaves in the fall. ‘Michael Lindsey’ has the same maroon
flowers as the species, but is more compact with a darker green color to its foliage. ‘Edith Wilder’ also has the maroon flowers and is noted for its exquisite floral fragrance.
Table of Contents
Great Shrubs for
Southern
Landscapes
pg. 1
Camp Oliver N.
Worley
pg. 2
Lockerly Trustees
David Evans,
President
Joe Mangum,
Vice President
Sherrill Jones,
Secretary/Treasurer
Kathy Chandler
Rodger Flotta
Jan Flynn, Ph.D.
Doug R. Oetter, Ph.D.
Taylor Quedensley,
Ph.D.
Dede Reoch
Joni Smith
Bruce Vaughn, CFP
Al Woods
Oliver N. Worley Camp
Summertime at Lockerly always brings with it
summer day camps for local children. Lockerly’s Oliver
N. Worley Outdoor Education Center has been kept busy
as usual this season, with two sessions of summer camp
having taken place already. During the first week of June,
Director of Education Greg Eilers led a week-long summer
camp for 3rd through 5th graders. Last week, the weeklong camp was held for the 6th through 9th graders. Each
group was engaged all week in nature-based activities and
educational programs. We’d like to thank Jess Burke and
everyone who was part of this year’s summer camps,
especially Mr. Eilers for his continued hard work.