Great Shrubs for Southern Landscapes

Volume 4, Issue 41
November 15, 2013
Great Shrubs for Southern Landscapes
Ternstroemia gymnathera
Ternstroemia gymnanthera,
or Japanese Ternstroemia, is
a dependable and adaptable
broad-leaf evergreen shrub
that is well-suited for southern
landscapes. Formerly known as
Cleyera japonica or Japanese
Cleyera, Its ease of adaptability
to either sun or shade and attractive color variations make this
shrub a no-brainer for any landscape. Its similarity to the once
popular shrub Photinia x fraseri
stems from the plant’s colorful
new growth. The young foliage
ranges from bronze, red, reddish purple, to almost blackish
purple as it emerges. The leaves
are leathery to almost rubbery and
mature to a dark, glossy green at
maturity. In winter, the foliage may
develop a reddish bronze color in winter. There are numerous cultivars of this
species available, displaying a wide
range of variation in color.
Japanese Ternstroemia is a rounded,
densely branched, upright shrub that
typically reaches heights of around 8 to
10 ft. tall. It responds well to pruning,
however, and can be maintained at any
height. Although it does not grow exceedingly fast, it can reach greater height
with age. A ten year old plant on our
Director Jim Garner’s garden has
reached a height of nearly 15 feet. At
Brookgreen Gardens in Pawleys Island,
Table of Contents
Great Shrubs for
Southern
Landscapes
pg. 1
Garden Pathway
Flower Border
Extension
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
where Jim and our Director of Horticulture, Bradley Roberts,
formerly worked, a mature specimen there has exceeded 20 feet in
height. The foliage is by far more attractive than the flowers, which
are small, white, and relatively inconspicuous.
For best results in your garden, plant T. gymnanthera in a moist,
well-drained, acidic soil. This is a very adaptable plant, and it will
perform well in shady situations, although it is tolerant of full sun.
This glossy easy-to-manage shrub can be used as an accent plant or
mixed into the border. It can also do well as a screen or hedge, as
long as the shrubs are planted 4 to 6 ft. apart. Lockerly has several
Japanese Ternstroemia cultivars, which were donated by Flowerwood Nursery of Loxley, AL in 2008. These donated cultivars are
planted in a shady shrub border along the northeastern front of the
Arboretum property, and although they have grown slowly, that have
performed exceptionally well. The Flowerwood cultivars we have
include ‘Sotall,’ or Cleyera Bigfoot™. This cultivar grows faster
than the species and produces large, glossy, light green foliage. It
also grows much more vertically than the species, hence the cultivar
name. ‘Conthery,’ or Cleyera Bronze Beauty™, is a lovely, upright
selection with a billowing habit. The common name is derived from
the foliage color, which is an attractive green-orange color. There is
Foliage of ‘Bronze Beauty’
also ‘Contherann,’ or Cleyera LeAnn™, which features evergreen
leaves that turn a beautiful maroon color in the fall. This selection makes a particularly excellent medium-sized hedge.
Many other colorful cultivars are available, including ‘Burgundy’, ‘Burnished Gold’, ‘Copper Crown’, Jade Tiara, and
Sovereign.
Whichever Japanese Ternstroemia cultivar you choose for your landscape, rest assured that it will do well in our region. Few pests or diseases affect it, and deer are not attracted to it. Its drought tolerance, ease of maintainability and lovely
coloring are all aspects that make this broadleaf evergreen shrub one of the best choices for southern landscapes.
Garden Pathway Flower Border Extension
Lockerly’s grounds crew has completed another phase
of our ongoing Garden Pathway project. This current phase
involved extending one of the flower borders installed last
spring. The new section was begun by tilling a 90 foot
long section bordering the walkway that is five feet wide.
The next step was to add an eight in layer of topsoil to the
tilled area. A trench was excavated down the center of
the bed, and fully automated irrigation system was then
Aster cordifolius ‘Avondale’
Coreopsis verticillata
Baptisa ‘Purple Smoke’
Dianthus gratianopolitanus ‘Bath’s Pink’
Iberis sempervirens ‘Alexander’s White’
Achillea ‘Moonshine’
Phlox subulata
Verbascum ‘Temptress Purple’
Gaura lindheimeri ‘Whirling Butterflies’
Heuchera villosa
Verbena rigida ‘Touch of Style’
installed. Lastly, a layer of Natures Helper, an organic soil
conditioner consisting of composted pine bark, was applied,
and the entire bed was then amended with lime, gypsum,
and a pre-emergent herbicide. Today we began planting
this new flower border with herbaceous perennials and
antique roses. The initial planting in this new section
included the following:
Veronica peduncularis ‘Georgia Blue’
Dianthus ‘Neon Star’
Phlox paniculata ‘David’s Lavender’
Phlox paniculata ‘Common Purple’
Coreopsis ‘Sienna Sunset’
Aster ericoides ‘Heath Aster’
Aster grandiflorus
Aster oblongifolius ‘Jane Bath’
Gillenia trifoliata
Salvia ‘Indigo Spires’
Achillea millefolium ‘Oertel’s Rose’
The roses we are planting include:
Rosa ‘Le Vesuve’
Rosa ‘Madame Antoine Rebe’
Rosa ‘Natchitoches Noisette’
Rosa ‘Mutabilis’
Rosa ‘La France’
We were quite successful
in raising funds for this project on
through the Georgia Gives Day initiative this week. Altogether, we
received $2,840.00 dollars in donations from individuals through this
program conducted by the Georgia
Center for Nonprofits. Additionally,
our participation in this event qualified us for a $2,500.00 award from
the Community foundation of Central
Georgia. We thank everyone you has
supported installation of our Garden
Pathway project through their generous financial contributions that have
made this important project possible.
Rosa ‘Le Vesuve’