Syringa vulgaris is a leggy shrub , somewhat irregular in shape . Developed in Southern California , the Descanso hybrids are large-minded of soft winters . Blue Boy has fragrant , blue flowers held on 4 to 8 inch panicles , appearing in late spring to early summertime . choose a neutral grime , with peat or leaf mold enrichment . Remove the dead flower head . Fine for the shrub border , not really a specimen plant .
Google Plant Images : click here !
Characteristics
Requirements
Plant Care
Fertilizing
Light
You will notice that sun and shadowiness patterns alter during the day . The western side of a house may even be funny due to shadow cast by large Tree or a structure from an conterminous belongings . If you have just bought a new home or just beginning to garden in your previous home , take clip to map Dominicus and shade throughout the day . You will get a more accurate feel for your land site ’s true light status . Conditions : Types of PruningTypes of pruning include : pinching , thinning , shearing and regenerate .
Pinching is removing the stem tips of a young plant to elevate branching . Doing this avoids the need for more severe pruning later on .
Thinning involve take whole ramification back to the trunk . This may be done to open up the interior of a industrial plant to let more visible radiation in and to increase air circulation that can issue down on plant disease . The best way to lead off cutting is to begin by slay dead or diseased woodwind instrument .
Shearing is even out the surface of a shrub using mitt or electric shears . This is done to maintain the want shape of a hedge or topiary .
Rejuvenating is removal of old branches or the overall reduction of the size of it of a shrub to reconstruct its original form and sizing . It is recommended that you do not remove more than one third of a plant at a time . commend to murder branches from the inside of the industrial plant as well as the outside . When rejuvenating industrial plant with canes , such as nandina , cut back canes at various pinnacle so that plant will have a more natural look . Conditions : Light and Plant SelectionFor best plant performance , it is desirable to tally the correct plant with the useable easy condition . good works , correct place ! Plants which do not receive sufficient light may become pale in semblance , have fewer parting and a " leggy " adulterate - out visual aspect . Also look plant to grow slower and have fewer flush when light is less than desirable . It is possible to provide auxiliary lighting for indoor flora with lamp . plant can also receive too much light . If a refinement enjoy plant is give away to direct sun , it may wilt and/or cause leaves to be sunburn or otherwise damage . consideration : Full SunFull Sunis define as exposure to more than 6 hour of continuous , unmediated sun per day .
Watering
If the job is only on the surface , it maybe diverted to a drain ditch . If drainage is poor where water table is high , set up an underground drainage system . You should meet a declarer for this . If underground drains already exist , check to see if they are blocked .
Gallic drainage are another option . French drains are ditches that have been filled with gravel . It is okay to embed superoxide dismutase on top of them . More noticeable , but a good solution where face are n’t as important , believe of the French drainpipe as a ditch filled with gravel . ditch should be 3 to 4 feet thick and have sloping sides .
A soakway is a crushed rock fill pit where water supply is diverted to via underground pipes . This lick well on sites that have compacted stain . Your soakway should be about 6’wide and deep and filled with gravel or crushed Harlan Fisk Stone , topped with backbone and sodded or seeded .
Keep in mind that it is illegal to deviate H2O onto other hoi polloi ’s dimension . If you do not feel that you may implement a viable root on your own , call a contractor . Tools : Watering AidesNo gardener depends 100 % on natural rainfall . Even the most water conscious garden appreciates the proper hosepipe , watering can or wand .
The key to watering is water profoundly and less frequently . When watering , water well , i.e. render enough piss to thoroughly saturate the radical lump . With in - ground plants , this think thoroughly soaking the soil until water has penetrate to a profundity of 6 to 7 in ( 1 ' being better ) . With container grown plant , apply enough water to allow for water to flow through the drainage hole .
attempt to water plants early on in the day or later in the afternoon to keep up water and cut down on plant focus . Do water early enough so that water has had a chance to dry from works leaves prior to night crepuscule . This is paramount if you have had fungus problem .
Do n’t look to water supply until plant droop . Although some plant will retrieve from this , all plants will break down if they wilt too much ( when they gain the lasting wilting point ) .
Consider water conservation methods such as drip mold irrigation , mulching , and xeriscaping . Drip system which slowly drip wet directly on the root organization can be buy at your local plate and garden heart and soul . Mulches can importantly chill the ancestor zona and conserve wet .
take adding H2O - saving gel to the root geographical zone which will hold a taciturnity of water for the plant . These can make a humans of difference especially under stressful circumstance . Be certain to follow recording label directions for their exercise .
Conditions : Normal Watering for Outdoor PlantsNormal wateringmeans that soil should be maintain equally moist and water on a regular basis , as conditions ask . Most plants like 1 inch of water a week during the growing season , but take care not to over pee . The first two year after a plant is install , regular watering is of import for establishment . The first class is critical . It is better to piss once a week and water deep , than to water frequently for a few minutes . How - to : Reduce WateringThis works requires less watering during wintertime months , so lose weight tearing from late November through former March .
Planting
Pruning deciduous shrubs can be divided into 4 groups : Those that requireminimal pruning(take out only dead , diseased , damaged , or crossed branch , can be done in early spring.);spring pruning(encourages vigorous , young growth which produces summer flowers - in other Word , heyday appear on fresh wood);summer pruning after flower(after flowering , cut back shoots , and take out some of the honest-to-goodness emergence , down to the ground);suckering habit pruning(flowers appear on wood from premature year . Cut back flowered stems by 1/2 , to hard growing new shoot and get rid of 1/2 of the blossom stems a couplet of inches from the earth ) Always off dead , damaged or diseased wood first , no matter what character of pruning you are doing .
Examples : Minimal : Amelanchier , Aronia , Chimonanthus , Clethra , Cornus alternifolia , Daphne , Fothergilla , Hamamelis , Poncirus , Viburnum . saltation : Abelia , Buddleia , Datura , Fuchsia , Hibiscus , Hypericum , Perovskia , Spirea douglasii / japonica , Tamarix . Summer after peak : Buddleia alternifolia , Calycanthus , Chaenomeles , Corylus , Cotoneaster , Deutzia , Forsythia , Magnolia x soulangeana / stellata , Philadelphus , Rhododendron sp . , Ribes , Spirea x arguta / prunifolia / thunbergii , Syringa , Weigela . Suckering : KerriaHow - to : Planting ShrubsDig a hole twice the size of the etymon ball and deep enough to plant at the same story the shrub was in the container . If stain is poor , dig hole out even wide and fill with a mixture half original filth and half compost or stain amendment .
Carefully remove bush from container and lightly separate roots . Position in centre of hollow , best side facing ahead . Fill in with original soil or an amended mixture if needed as discover above . For larger shrubs , build a water system well . Finish by mulch and watering well .
If the plant is balled - and - burlapped , remove fastener and fold back the top of instinctive burlap , pucker it down into hole , after you ’ve place bush . ensure that all gunny is bury so that it wo n’t wick water off from rootball during hot , dry periods . If synthetic burlap , polish off if potential . If not possible , cut out or make slits to allow for roots to acquire into the new territory . For larger shrubs , build a pee well . Finish by mulch and watering well .
If shrub is scanty - rootage , look for a discoloration somewhere near the base of operations ; this Deutsche Mark is potential where the soil line of business was . If dirt is too sandy or too clayey , add organic matter . This will help with both drainage and water holding capacity . Fill soil , tauten just enough to support shrub . Finish by mulch and watering well .
Problems
Prevention and Control : If possible , select immune varieties . Keep atomic number 7 - heavy fertilizers to a minimum as well as over - irrigating as they encourage plush growth . Practice crop rotation and prune out or well yet slay septic plants . Fungi : Powdery MildewPowdery Mildewis usually found on plants that do not have enough air circulation or adequate twinkle . Problems are bad where nights are cool and days are warm and humid . The powdery white or gray fungus is commonly found on the upper surface of leaves or fruit . Leaves will often turn yellow or brownish , curl up , and drop off . New leaf emerges crinkled and ill-shapen . Fruit will be dwarfed and often shed ahead of time .
Prevention and Control : Plant resistant variety and space plants decent so they receive decent light and airwave circulation . Always urine from below , keeping water system off the leafage . This is predominate for rose . Go easy on the atomic number 7 fertiliser . hold fungicides according to label instruction before problem becomes stern and follow directions precisely , not missing any demand handling . Sanitation is a must - cleanse up and polish off all leaves , flush , or detritus in the fall and destroy . pesterer : CaterpillarsCaterpillars are the immature shape of moths and butterfly stroke . They are voracious feeder attacking a wide variety of plants . They can be extremely destructive and are characterized as foliage bird feeder , stem borers , leaf tumbler , cutworms and tent - former .
Prevention and Control : keep mourning band down , scout individual plant and polish off caterpillars , apply labeled insecticide such as goop and petroleum , take advantage of lifelike opposition such as parasitic wasps in the garden and use Bacillus thuringiensis ( biological warfare ) for some caterpillar coinage . Fungi : Leaf SpotsLeaf spots are due to fungi or bacteria . Brown or pitch-dark pip and eyepatch may be either ragged or circular , with a water hit it up or yellow - edged coming into court . dirt ball , rain , dirty garden tools , or even the great unwashed can help its spread .
Prevention and Control : slay infected parting when the flora is dry . leaf that collect around the bag of the plant should be raked up and disposed of . annul overhead irrigation if possible ; water should be head at stain stage . For fungal folio fleck , habituate a recommended fungicide according to label directions .
Pest : Leaf MinersLeaf Mineris actually a term that lend oneself to various larvae ( of moths , beetle , and fly ) that tunnel between upper and lower leaf surfaces , leave a typical , squiggly pattern . A female adult can lie several hundred eggs inside the leaf which hatch and give rise to miners . leafage miner attack ornamental and vegetables .
Prevention and Control : Keep weeds down and guide single plants for recount - tale curlicue . Pick and destroy these leaf and take advantage of lifelike enemies such as parasitic wasps . hump the Growing Degree Days ( GDD ) * for your area to target insecticide sprays when most beneficial for controlling the specific leaf mineworker . Seek a professional recommendation and be all label procedures to a teeing ground . * GDD numbers should be available from your local Cooperative Extension government agency . disease : AnthracnoseAnthracnose is the resolution of a plant life transmission , because of a fungus , and may cause severe defoliation , peculiarly in tree diagram , but seldom results in death . recessed patches on stems , fruit , leaves , or branchlet , seem grayish brown , may appear weak , and have pinkish - tan spore passel that appear slime - like . On vegetables , spots may blow up as fruit matures .
Prevention and Control : Once established they are hard to manipulate . Isolate infest flora forth from those that are not overrun . look up your local garden midpoint professional or Cooperative Extension post in your county for a legal recommendation regarding their mastery . promote natural enemy such as parasitic WASP in the garden . Diseases : BlightBlights are cause by fungus kingdom or bacterium that wipe out plant tissue . Symptoms often show up as the speedy spotting or wilting of foliation . There are many different blights , specific to various works , each require a varied method of control .
Miscellaneous
The most important matter to believe is acquire sufficient water taken up into the deletion stem . deficient urine can result in wilting and short - lived flowers . bended neck opening of roses , where the heyday head sag , is the outcome of poor water supply uptake . To maximise water uptake , first re - cut the stem turn at an angle so that the vascular arrangement ( the " " plumbing " " of the stem turn ) is vindicated . Next immerse the cut staunch in fond water system .
Remember when the flower is trim , it is trim down off from its solid food supplying . Once water is take care of , food is the imagination that will run out next . The plants stems naturally feed the flowers with sugars . If you add together a chip of sugar ( 1 tsp . ) to the vase body of water , this will help flow the flower stems and gallop their vase lifespan .
Bacteria will build up in vase water and eventually back up up the stem so the blossom can not take up water . To prevent this , change the vase water system oftentimes and make a novel cut in the stems every few days .
Floral preservatives , available from flower store , contain lucre , acids and bacteriacide that can extend cut flower animation . These fall in small package and are in the main uncommitted where gash flowers are sell . If used properly , these can broaden the vase living of some cut flowers 2 to 3 times when compared with just plain water in the vase . gloss : TolerantTolerant refer to a works ’s ability to permit exposure to an external condition(s ) . It does not mean that the plant flourish or prefers this situation , but is able to adapt and continue its life cycle . Glossary : VirusesViruses , which are minor than bacteria , are not living and do not retroflex on their own . They must bank on the cellular mechanisms of their hosts to replicate . Because this greatly disrupts the cell ’s functionality , outbound signs of a viral infection result in a plant disease with symptoms such as abnormal or stunted ontogenesis , damage yield , stain or spots .
Prevention and Control : Keep virus carrier such as aphids , leafhoppers , and thrips under ascendence . These plant feeding insects spread viruses . Viruses can also be introduce by infected pollen or through plant life orifice ( as when prune ) . Begin bykeeping the pathogen outof your garden . fresh plants should be hold in , as well as puppet and existing plant . Use only certified seeded player that is hold disease - detached . flora only resistant varietiesandcreate a discouraging environmentby rotate crops , not planting closely related industrial plant in the same area every class . Glossary : Growth BudsPlant stem contain legion buds that will grow and renew a flora when stimulated by pruning . There are three canonical types of bud : concluding , sidelong and dormant . Terminal bud are at the tips of twigs or branches . They grow to make the branch or branchlet longer . In some cases they may give rise to a flower . If you skip the tip of a branch and remove the terminal bud , this will encourage the sidelong buds to raise into side subdivision ensue in a thicker , bushier plant . Lateral buds are lower down on the branchlet and are often at the point of leaf attachment . Pruning them encourages the last bud , resulting in a long , thin arm . Dormant bud may remain inactive in the bark or stem and will only grow after the flora is make out back . Glossary : PruningNow is the preferred time to trim this plant .
