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flowers

Gardening with Variegated Plants: Pros and Cons

April 30, 2020

Do you love trying new plants to add a little extra “zing” to your garden? If so, you’ve probably bought or lusted after a plant or two with variegated leaves or flowers. Variegation means that leaves have white, yellow, or other colors in addition to green, or flowers that have multiple colors rather than solid color petals. The variations may be regular bands, edges, patterns, or wild splotches. Although you can find annuals, houseplants, perennials, shrubs, trees, and even herb and vegetable plants with variegation, they are the exception, not the rule. Growing these unusual plants comes with both risks and benefits!

What causes variegation?
Variegation occurs for many reasons.
• It comes naturally. Where variegation has evolved over generations of plants, the plants’ seeds produce new plants with the same characteristics. This pattern variegation may occur in flowers or leaves.

Dragon’s Eye Pine (Pinus densiflora ‘Oculus-Draconis’) with variegated needles (leaves)

• It spontaneously occurs as a “sport” or chimera. Plant can spontaneously produce sections that have cells with two distinct genetic characteristics through mutations. You may spot a branch on a plant you are growing that looks different from the rest of a plant: while most leaves are solid green, one section has white patterns. In this case, if growers want to propagate new plants with this variegation, they must do so vegetatively—from a portion of the parent plant—rather than from seed. The houseplant golden pothos (Epipremnum pinnatum) is easily propagated from cuttings. ‘Night Sky’ petunias are propagated through tissue culture to produce plants that have purple flowers with white splotches—but these patterns vary with temperature (see “For more info below”).

Golden Pothos

 

‘Night Sky’ Petunia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• It is a symptom of a viral disease. Many variegated plants produce their color variations because of viruses. The most famous example is early generations of tulips that displayed color breaks when infected with tulip breaking virus—as you might expect these tulips eventually declined and contemporary tulips with these distinctive markings are genetic variations, rather than diseased bulbs. Similarly, many variegated Hosta varieties were found to be the result of Hosta virus X and their introduction led to an HVX epidemic and subsequent virus testing of new varieties to try to contain its spread. However, some Camellia varieties with multicolored flowers are plants bred with Camellia yellow mottle virus, and some brightly colored Canna varieties are selections of plants with Canna yellow mottle virus.

Camellia

 

 

 

 

 

‘Bengal Tiger’ Canna

Pros of variegation
The primary advantage of variegation to gardeners is the plant’s distinctive appearance. These plants can serve as important focal points in your landscape design.

Lavender

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Variegated Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum odoratum var. pluriflorum ‘Variegatum’)

From the plants’ perspective, variegation may protect plants from herbivores in a variety of ways (Lev-Yadun, 2015). Other researchers are investigating if white patches on variegated plants might facilitate photosynthesis (the process plants use to process sunlight into glucose) when temperatures are low, helping them survive lower temperatures than solid green plants.

Cons of variegation
Some people just don’t like variegated plants and gardeners certainly risk having garish landscapes if they overuse them! Linda Chalker-Scott, Extension Urban Horticulturist, describes variegated plants as “tarted-up” and notes they often looking “environmentally stressed and/or diseased.”
• Weaker growth/Failure to thrive. In fact, some variegated plants don’t do as well as their unvariegated counterparts. Because variegated leaf sections don’t have the chlorophyll of green sections, photosynthesis is typically less efficient, and many variegated plants show weaker growth. Similarly, variegated plants that carry viruses may decline because of the viral infection or even pass the disease on to related plants in your landscape.
• Reversion. Another problem is variegated plants that are “sports” or chimeras may revert to solid green—if you see such new growth, remove it immediately!
• Propagation issues. Unless you know the source of variegation in your plants, you may have difficulty producing more plants—especially from seed. Also, many variegated plants are patented and cannot be propagated for resale without permission.

Article by Buncombe County Extension Master Gardener Volunteers

For more information:

Variegation:https://irrecenvhort.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-prop-glossary/03-genetic-selection/22-genetic-variegation.html

Lev-Yadun, Simcha (2015). The Proposed Anti-Herbivory Roles of White Leaf Variegation. In U. Lu ̈ttge, W. Beyschlag (eds.), Progress in Botany, Springer International.https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Simcha_Lev-Yadun/publication/300009810_The_Proposed_Anti-herbivory_Roles_of_White_Leaf_Variegation/links/592b28ad0f7e9b9979a95996/The-Proposed-Anti-herbivory-Roles-of-White-Leaf-Variegation.pdf

Viruses and ornamental plants:https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/pdf/10.1094/PDIS-11-11-0928-FE

Night sky petunias:https://www.zmescience.com/science/night-sky-petunias-03042019/

Linda Chalker-Scott:http://gardenprofessors.com/tricky-tricolor-leaf/

Why plants lose their variegation:http://gardenprofessors.com/why-doesnt-my-plant-look-like-it-did-last-year/

 

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Categories General Gardening, Landscaping Tags cultivar, flowers, landscape planning, propagation, Variegated plants

Gardening Outdoors: Vegetables, Flowers, Whatever You Like!

April 6, 2020

Do you suddenly have more time to garden? That’s the good news! This is a busy—and often a favorite—time of year to garden as everything springs to life with fresh new growth! It is also a time when gardening chores begin in earnest: plants need planting, weeds need weeding, lawns need mowing, mulch needs to be spread. In this time of pandemic, let’s focus on how gardening can be a fun activity that provides time outdoors to de-stress and get some exercise! Even if you don’t have any land to garden, if you have any space to plant containers outdoors—even on a balcony, or by your door, go for it:  https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/18-plants-grown-in-containers

Vegetables
If you’ve never grown your own food, this is a good year to start! If you are a seasoned gardener, this is a chance to have a more ambitious garden or try some new crops or methods.

There is a wealth of information on how to choose a site, what to grow when to plant, how to troubleshoot pests and diseases, when to harvest in the North Carolina Extension Gardener Handbook:  https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/16-vegetable-gardening
The time for planting cool season crops is waning, so focus on warm season crops to plant in May. You may need to do some calling around to find out who is selling seeds and plants; another chance to explore new things—different sources, new varieties!

Flowers
If vegetable gardening doesn’t appeal, you can brighten your landscape by planting flowers.
Annuals. Again, there may be limited outlets and varieties available, but for a small investment, many warm season annuals will quickly give you a long season of bloom: even the commonly available begonias, marigolds, and petunias come in many colors and sizes. Or try something a little different like upright Angelonia, trailing Calibrachoa, filmy Cosmos, or Pentas. This is instant gratification—although these plants will not come back, it could be the beginning of a new tradition of flower gardening.

Think about ordering flower bulbs to plant in the fall

Perennials. Planting these may not produce flowers as quickly, but the plants will come back yearly with a little care, and some may even spread. You can start a specialty garden of a favorite type of flower, such as daylilies, which can bloom over much of the summer if you choose early, mid- and late season varieties. Or you might like to start a wildflower garden of native plants. These might include groundcovers such as green and gold (Chrysogonum virginianum) or Allegheny spurge (Pachysandra procumbens) that bloom in spring, as well as some showy summer bloomers beloved by pollinators, such as butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia triloba), and garden phlox, and for fall, asters.

Whatever!
Plant a tree. If you see a spring-blooming tree you love, consider planting a young one in your own landscape. Do your homework to be sure your choice is the right size for your yard and that you have the right growing conditions. The Forest Service provides a lot of useful information about choosing, planting, and caring for trees in this “Owner’s Manual”:  https://www.fs.usda.gov/naspf/sites/default/files/tree_owners_manual_print_res.pdf


Add a new garden feature. Have you always wished for a small pond, a raised bed, a trellis, or a comfortable bench in your garden? Consider taking on a do-it-yourself project this spring!

Article by Buncombe County Extension Master Gardener Volunteers

For more information:
Pollinator plants:https://homegrown.extension.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Pollinator-Garden-Plant-List.pdf

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Categories General Gardening Tags flowers, garden planning, starting seeds indoors, vegetable gardens

Time to Maintain: Deadhead Your Annuals and Perennials

July 10, 2017

Keep your summer garden attractive and blooming into fall by regularly deadheading! What is deadheading? When and why is it necessary? The NCSU Extension Gardener Handbook explains deadheading as follows:

Fading_byCassey_CC BY-NC-ND 2.0_Flickr
Deadhead fading blossoms to encourage rebloom and keep garden tidy.

Deadheading is the removal of dead or faded flowers and seed pods. When annuals and perennials expend energy to produce seeds after the flower fades, flower production often decreases. To maintain vigorous growth and assure neatness, remove spent flowers and seed pods.

Although this step is not necessary for all flowers, it is a good practice with ageratum (Ageratum houstonianum), calendula (Calendula officinalis), celosia (Celosia argentea var. cristata), coleus (Coleus ×hybridus), cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus), geraniums (Pelargonium ×hortorum), marigolds (Tagetes erecta, T. patula), scabiosa (Scabiosa atropurpurea), salvia (Salvia argentea), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida), and zinnias (Zinnia elegans). Check plants weekly. Many modern cultivars are self-cleaning; their spent flowers drop off quickly. Some cultivars are sterile and do not produce seeds.

Different plants; different techniques
Deadheading is not a complicated gardening task, but it helps to know when to apply different techniques. In general, use your fingers to snap off the flower head, or pruners to clip off the spent blossom just above the first healthy leaves on the stem—the classic technique for marigolds and zinnias. For bushy plants that flower on tall stalks—such as rudbeckia and daisies—remove the topmost flower down to where a lateral flower comes out of the stem. As each lateral flower blooms, keep cutting the main stem back to the next leaf bud.

Pinch faded blossoms of tall, spiky flowers—such as delphiniums, cardinal flower, and gladiolas—from the bottom up. Cut the entire stalk to the ground when it is nearly barren of flowers.

Daylilies produce several flowers at the end of their stalks. Pinch off each blossom as it fades and then cut the stalk to its base within the foliage clump. Mounding plants—such as petunias, catmint, and cranesbill—may benefit from mid- to late-summer shearing to encourage new growth and a bushier appearance.

Some plants don’t need deadheading at all—think impatiens, begonias, and vinca. Their blossoms fade and drop off naturally. For plants that will not rebloom—such as peonies, astilbe, most iris, and hostas—deadheading keeps the garden looking tidy.

A wildlife-friendly, winter garden
As fall approaches, consider allowing your summer flowers to go to seed. Seeds, seed pods, and hips provide birds a needed food source in winter. Perennial stalks, left standing, provide protective groundcover for wildlife and offer winter garden interest. If your garden space allows, take advantage of prolific reseeding from plants like rudbeckia, Echinacea, columbine, verbena, cosmos, and California poppies. Come summer, you will enjoy a host of blossoms from these new plant volunteers. 

References
NCSU Extension Gardener Handbook, Chapter VII, “Maintenance of Annuals and Perennials.” https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/10-herbaceous-ornamentals#staking

Fine Gardening magazine, Issue 92, “Off with Their Heads,” offers an extensive list of perennials that may rebloom after deadheading, as well as those that do not but benefit in appearance from deadheading.  http://www.finegardening.com/their-heads-deadheading-perennials

Article written by Beth Leonard, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer.

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Categories Seasonal Chores Tags annuals, deadheading, flowers, perennials, summer garden chores

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