2008 Trial Shrubs Update

Having all arrived in excellent condition, I had high hopes for each of the trial shrubs. None let me down last summer. However, winter seems to be very hard on plants in Prince Edward County. Also, we had three consecutive days of frost in the third week of May, the last being a rather hard frost. The soil temperature as of this morning is still very cool, which likely accounts for the slow growth of the survivors.

Buddleia BLUE CHIP did not disappoint, blooming away all summer. Winter was not as unkind as I would have expected. There was some die back but not to ground level. It has been very slow to recover and/or to start into growth. It did begin to leaf out in mid-April, but until two days ago, it did not show any sign of new growth. It has now really started to grow. I look forward to a repeat of last summer with showers of bloom. Very nice. The fact that it survived the winter at all gives it high marks from me. This is the first buddleia to overwinter for me. The next test for this plant in my view is to see if it really does stay as small as advertised.

Syringa BLOOMERANG gets my vote as the best of the lot. Fantastic bloom all summer and wonderful fragrance. This shrub came through the winter without batting an eye. It has bloomed once this spring and has new flowers developing. It has not put on a lot of growth by way of height. Lilacs are right at home here in the County with our limestone. I do not anticipate any trouble with this lilac.

The hibiscus and hydrangea did not survive our late frosts. Both came through the winter (the hibiscus better than the hydrangea) but were killed off by the last frost. Perhaps they just got hit too many times by frost after having started to leaf out.

Hydrangeas have been a problem for me here. Typically they start to leaf out, we have a heavy frost, the foliage gets killed off, and that is usually that. Once in a while new growth will start again late in June. I am waiting to see if that is the case with this one, but it is doubtful.

The hibiscus flowered well last summer. I did, however, find it a difficult colour in my garden. It just somehow didn't quite look right with other plants.