Mary Claire Rowe

While reviewing pictures of the Smith County Master Gardeners' IDEA Garden, I was struck again by the beauty of the clever combinations of plants grown there. It takes an artist as well as a gardener to place plants in such a way as to maximize their beauty and to show how well they combine with other plants to make a beautiful garden scene.

One such combination is Petunia x violacea "Laura Bush'' and Itea virginiana "Summersweet.'' "L. Bush'' petunia is a hybrid between a VIP petunia and an old-fashioned one which was "born and bred" in Texas.

It has been designated as a "Texas Superstar" plant by Texas A&M University, which means it is a wonderful plant for our Texas gardens. "L. Bush" is a re-seeding plant with wonderful fragrance. It is vigorous and heat tolerant, doing well into USDA Zone 7, which includes Smith County.

Growing up to 24 inches tall and 36 inches wide, it will take the full sun, and will bloom from spring until frost. It will only need regular watering, and will bloom best if cut back by 20 percent each month. It beats the heck out of most other petunias that are offered for sale in many of our local nurseries. Those are developed for cooler climes, and just can't do well in our heat; so be a clever gardener and ask for the best.

Itea Virginia "Summersweet'' is also known as Sweetspire, Tassel-white, Virginia Sweetspire or willow. It is native to the United States and is found from the woods of Maine all the way to Florida, and then westward to Texas and back up into Tennessee.

In the south it can be found along streams and lakes in partial shade, or in the under-story of moist woods. It can tolerate some drought and can adapt to sun, if it is not the harsh western sun or reflected heat.

The lovely white tassels bloom in late spring and on into summer. The leaves turn red, orange, and maroon in the fall and last until early winter, so it is a three season plant. A very similar plant is called Coastal Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra Anatolia), which is very fragrant.

Summersweet will grow from 3 to 4 feet tall and spreads by underground stems, but it is easy to control. It will make a lovely addition for those who want an all white and green garden; and as the picture shows, it looks wonderful with other colors and shapes of plants, as well.

Web sites with a wealth of helpful information include: http://aggie-horticul-ture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/natives and http://aggie-horticult-ure.tamu.edu/picturepages/tamuhort.html. For local information go to the Smith County Master Gardener Home Page at http://easttexasgardening.tamu.edu/mg/mg.html.

Gardeners can never have too much information about what to plant, where to plant it, and how to care for it.

First stop should be the IDEA Garden in the southeast corner of the Rose Garden, and find out what looks good, what is doing well in our climate. Get "SWEET-ly in-SPIRE-d" and then go shop. Your pocketbook/wallet and you will be better off for the effort.

"What's Blooming In Our Garden'' is a regular feature of the Tyler Morning Telegraph Garden Page. It is written by Mary Claire Rowe, a Master Gardener with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and focuses on flowers and plant life around East Texas. To share your comments on gardening, write her in care of the Morning Telegraph.

Itea Virginiana ‘Summersweet.’ ‘L. Bush’ Petunia
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