Itea virginica

http://tenn.bio.utk.edu/vascular/database/vascular-photos-enlarge.asp?CategoryID=Dicots&FamilyID=Saxifragaceae&GenusID=Itea&SpeciesID=virginica&PhotoNameID=it_virg3&PhotographerNameID=John%20Beck

I found this plant at an old house site. Can anybody tell me anything about it. Does it have any landscape value.

I think it does. It grows very well in wet areas, but doesn't require it to be wet. The white flowers are effective for 2 to 3 weeks and give a graceful Asian pagoda look to the shrub in late spring/early summer. It looks good in foliage when it's not in flower and is very tough and adaptable, looking as good at the end of the growing season as it did at the beginning. It also turns a nice purple-red in the fall, retaining some leaves all winter(depending on zone and winter severity). Mine holds about 2/3 of it's foliage through most winters. It also grows thick enough to provide great cover for birds and other wildlife. It's truly a deserving ornamental native for the garden in my opinion.

Gloria,

It's cultivated varieties 'Little Henry' and 'Henry's Garnet' bring top dollar for their fragrant white flowers and nice fall color. Even seem to handle some abuse from drying out fairly well. You should try one, I think that you'll like it.

Regards,
Ernie

I have a bunch of these rooted from the abandoned house site. They didn't get any fall color though. Dark green leaf with a zig-zag edge. At first I thought it was a camellia--it is growing in a clump of old camellias. Wonder if I have identified it correctly because this one seems to be evergreen.

I've got mine that kept its leaves over winter. Doesn't do much here. I think there's better things for my zone than this one.

I am in zone 8 also. The plant had nice flowers.

Here's a pic of mine, with it's flaming fall foliage. The older stems are reddish, which lends some winter interest as well.

I bought a "Henry's Garnet" last fall at a 5&10 store. It had excellent fall color and it did shed all of it's leaves. If yours is evergreen that makes me think you have something else.

Yes, it's an Itea virginica ‘Saturnalia’. It was one of the few survivors when my greenhouse caught fire and fried. It never really recovered properly and is now in a very protected location with morning sun. I finally planted it this past year but had difficulty getting it out of the melted pot - lots of roots. Maybe it's just not the right plant for here - too summer cool.

Gloria...mine is not evergreen (Henry's Garnet) but it could be in you area. I love it..great fall color and wonderful flowers good for arrangements. It does sucker however.

As I mentioned in my first post, Itea virginica can and does often hold onto many leaves throughout the winter. For me, mine usually holds onto about 2/3 of it's leaves through winter, but this winter has been harsh and it's only got about 1/4 of it's leaves right now(all on the bottom 1/2). But, even if it held onto all of it's leaves it should still have a significant color change in the fall, where the leaves turn a similar color to PrairieGirlZ5's photo(purple-red). If yours held onto it's leaves and had no color change at all, then I suspect you don't have Itea virginica. Maybe you could post a photo of your plant?

scan of my plant. there are thorny protrusions along the leaf edges.

k-man...I find it hard to believe that you sometimes have yours keep their leaves in your zone and I (even with a mild winter) always lose mine (all of them). Strange.

levilyla - The leaves on mine are pretty persistent too, but eventually I lose them all. Mine is planted in full sun, western exposure.

gloria - That is not an itea. Looks like some kind of holly?

Here is one of mine in its summer glory. I bought my plants about 3 years ago and they have survived some drought, although I think they are supposed to be a good wetland plant.

Passiflora_pink: Not. the flowers on this plant are not long catkins like your Itea. It is not growing in a wet area, probably 2nd terrace from any stream bed.

I'm further south than Gloria (50miles from beach), and mine doesn't have a leaf on it now.

I would post that picture in the ID forum and find out exactly what it is. It could be something you don't want.

Good idea, Escambia Guy.

It was however on the grounds of an antebellum home site. the historic structure burned, and the most recent owner built a small cottage there in the 1930s. She died 5 or 6 years ago and the cottage was bulldozed. In other words the plants there have been in a cultivated garden. As I said, it was near a clump of camellias. Off to the ID forum I go. Hi. Ho.

It looks like an Osmanthus species to me. I think it's most likely Chinese Osmanthus (Osmanthus heterophyllus ).

levilyla,

Do you have a cultivar, unnamed seedling, or wild specimen of Itea virginica? I suspect there is a great deal of variety in this tendency to hold onto leaves throughout the winter and I just happen to have a seedling origin one that tends to hold onto it's leaves than yours(and perhaps others).

In my experience, 'Henry's Garnet' likes to hold onto leaves well into the winter, but usually is leafless by the time spring rolls around, and 'Little Henry' tends to drop it's leaves in mid to late fall, while others of unknown origin range from semi-evergreen to tardily deciduous. I've come to the conclusion that wild origin plants from further South tend to be more evergreen, while those from further North are more deciduous. At least that's been my observations of wild or wild origin plants. If escambiaguy has wild plants and they are completely deciduous for him, then there's more variety and diversity amongst wild populations than I've seen, which is very likely, since I've only observed relatively small(in geographic terms) wild populations.

K_man blue. Osmanthus heterophyllus.
Here is a varigated form:

http://www.greatplantpicks.org/index.php?page=display&id=2669&searchterm=2007&searchtype=year

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Osmanthus-heterophyllus-flowers2.JPG

This one has the same flowers, leaf form a little different and more holly-like than the ones I have.

thanks, k_man.

This message was edited Feb 28, 2007 1:15 PM

Now showing in my yard: Thanks y'all. P.S. I know this is not an Itea.



This message was edited Feb 28, 2007 2:23 PM

Rub it in, gloria. At least the sun is out here today.

Silver maples and elms all believe it is finally spring. Buds are a-popping like mad.

Time to take the camera out and go collect some of the spring ephemerousness (ephemerosity? ephemininity?)...

Edited to correct spelling of made-up words...

This message was edited Feb 28, 2007 4:06 PM

VV: You must be back from the Old Country.

Daffodils blooming all of february, went for a drive this a.m. noticed the Japanese Magnolias in full bloom. Spring in Alabama is three blinks and its gone, so I better take notice while its coming on.

k-man....Mine is SUPPOSED to be Henry's Garnet. That is all I know..got it from a nursery.

gloria, Our spring is is short, usually during the winter, but 80 degree temps that most of us are having here in central Alabama, sure do make the plants and those who love them think forward. We know we are going to be zapped, but it is a great sight. Our Magnolia shrubs are in full bloom, and in my garden the leaf buds are not far from getting zapped. I love where I live. It's a really nice place to be a gardener.

"our spring is short, usually during the winter"? huh??

peony,

You must mean you go straight from winter to summer weather, or something, right? My saucer magnolias are right next to the deck, in a little protected pocket between the house and the garage. They are in bud again already, but they'll probably get zapped before they bloom. No worries, they'll bud and bloom again, sometime in spring, and possibly again in fall and winter. LOL They're very, um, saucy.

It really is an adventuresome thing to be a gardener. Where we garden affects how we view plants. Just think - it's not long until the azaleas are just knocking our socks off! Our trees and shrubs are already showing the pregnant buds that will give us the beauty that we expect. In August, September, and thereafter, things just hang on! Every region has its benefits. I love woody plants.

Yes, first comes the pregnancy, then we hang on!!

Speaking of loving woody plants in Prattville, AL...

Just got through reading an article about your crib! Page 13, Feb. 2007 (volume 04 number 02) edition of Landscape Superintendent and Maintenance Professional (http://www.landscapeonline.com, sourced from http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com) titled Seven Years Later, The Impact of a Greenery Law.

Did you know, peony1, that you were so on the cutting edge?

Prattville wants to raise its quality of life by requiring more/better landscape plantings in new developments. Neighboring jurisdictions without such requirements can draw developers away from them.

How's that new Prattville Town Center looking?

peony01, we seem to get stuck in a late spring here. Never really gets hot and maybe that's why I've never seen an Itea do that well, certainly not like the pictures I see. All the Camellias are in full bloom, all my stuff is leafing out and the azaleas infront of my porch are about to burst into bloom. Apparently we had snow lastnight which probably lasted an hour before it melted. I just noticed my Tree Fuchsia actually made it through the winter which surprises me as we had some heavy damaging temperatures, snow and wind this winter. Nothing like seeing a 30' brown Eucalyptus.

We had our spring in December and January. I don't know what this real spring will bring because most of my early daffodils were in full bloom..my Hellebore foetidus bloomed and is now hanging over like a limp rag, my Camellia buds /blooms are all brown. Guess I will find out this month.

Just adding a photo of an Itea virginica cultivar that was still holding onto its leaves as of last week. This one is 'Little Henry'.

Equilibrium: My "Itea" turned out to be an osmanthus. Good to have a photo of a real Itea. I must say, poor, Little Henry, looks froze. Guess he will wake up in the Spring.

I got an itea yunnanensis from Lazy S's nursery last year, it's planted in the northern corner of my yard, in a frequently flooded spot. It remained evergreen over the winter. This is a rough spot- I have 3 Japanese maples, somewhat raised, & blueberries, buttonbush, clethra, hydrangea, passiflora, heuchera,-I'm waiting to see what will make it for the long term...It's shaded on 3 side by large trees at the park & in my neighbor's yard, w/ a little southern exposure

So this is what it's come to? Mocking the dead?

I agree with Gloria's sentiments -- poor Little Henry®! On a wee lad that size (exposed to the abusive northern IL climate) no wonder there are frozen dead leaves still hanging on. That is probably a different situation than semi-evergreen-ness described above, or even marcescence. Dead (or frozen before abscission) leaves will often hang on through the winter on all kinds of species. One can often observe this on plants that "flush" new growth too late in the season.

Around the Ohio River valley region, one can find several different clones commonly:

•'Henry's Garnet'
•Little Henry®
and my particular favorite...
•'Merlot'

You can occasionally see 'Saturnalia', 'Sarah Eve', or 'Long Spire' around, but the compact versions with reliably consistent fall color are what growers seem to prefer. I don't think I can recall a plant with foliage persisting, but I'll look around the parks next week.

Here's a Little Henry® dwarf sweetspire (Itea virginica 'Sprich'), which was selected and named at Hummingbird Nursery right up the road from me, in the calmer comfortable climes of KY.

Here's mine, it's either 'Little Henry' or 'Henry's Garnet.' I don't know how to tell the difference.

Those Little Henrys look a lot happier. What is in the fore ground?

And here's a 'Henry's Garnet' sweetspire at the Valley (that gray thing bottom left is a Clethra alnifolia seedhead).