Added three 'Mt. Airy' in spring 2011.
I got the first ones at Scott's and they were quite large balled and burlapped shrubs, almost more than I could handle to plant.
I put them in the west walk garden in front of the Alberta spruces, and it just turned out to be an inspired combination. They really go well in front of the spruces.
Fothergilla has bottlebrush spikes without any leaves when it first flowers, and they smell like honey but you have to get your nose in them to notice it.
Gardenii is supposed to stay smaller, but I think "smaller" still means a very big shrub to five feet or more. It can be pruned for shape in winter.
The one closest to the driveway suckers and I cut down the shoots that appear. The one by the bulkhead door does not sucker.
Fall color has been spectacular, a real kaleidoscope of hues.
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| Nov. 15, 2011 - a solid gold this year for some reason |
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| November 1, 2012 I mean, really! |
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| November 1, 2012 |
In 2011 I added 'Mt. Airy' cultivars in various spots but moved them a couple times before they wound up at the end of the gravel garden. 'Mt. Airy' gets larger than the gardenii, and will grow fairly upright, to about 5 feet. I can't remember where I got them.
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| May 4, 2013 |
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| 5/11/14 one of the original gardenii plants |
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| 5/19/14 |
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| 11/3/14 |
By 2015 only two of the 'Mt. Airy' fothergillas were left, and then I moved one behind the low wall of the patio, under the little Japanese maple sapling. So now there is only one fothergilla at the end of the gravel garden.
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| 5/9/15 before I moved the second smaller one to the patio wall. It was struggling here. |
As usual the gardenii fothergillas along the west walk had spectacular fall foliage color in 2015.
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| 10/30 and 10/31/15 |
