Walter's Viburnum and Simpson's Stopper

marcia_m

14 years ago

Thanks, Marcia. I'm happy to read reports like yours. I want to plant some freeze-proof plants (as well as some tropicals). Is your viburnum evergreen? I saw two kinds of viburnum at HD--one was Viburnum suspensum. It had small flowers blooming now, and I can't remember what the other viburnum was--it might have been Walter's, or something else.

I just looked up Simpson's stopper on the web and it looks like a winner. I'll look for that when I'm plant shopping, too.

The only thing I have that did well on my sparsely planted lot was Ligustrum, probably not something any of you will want to plant.

I hope more of you will post what did well for you during the freeze.
Marcia in PA/FL

manature
Original Author

14 years ago

Hi, Marcia! Are you down here now? (I've been away for awhile and am kind of behind on things.)

I actually quite like ligustrum if it is used well. It makes a really nice looking "specimen" tree when limbed up into a pretty shape, and as you have already seen, it's tough.

The most common landscaping viburnum around here is the one they call sweet viburnum, I think. It has a largish leaf and is used extensively for hedges, etc. We inherited a small 2' high hedge around part of our yard 5 years ago, and it is now about 12 feet tall, though I'm debating cutting it back to around 7 or 8 feet. (It blocks an unattractive view and a lot of traffic noise, so I like it tall.) It blooms in the spring with sprays of white flowers and smells nice to me, though some people don't like the scent.

Walter's viburnum is a native plant with small, glossy dark green leaves. It can be confused with Schilling's holly. It gets clusters of little white flowers that have a nice fragrance, too, and that bees like. And it blooms off and on all spring through summer. Almost all year, really, with the heaviest bloom in the spring.

I think the dwarf variety of WV only gets about 4' tall, where the regular one can be much larger.

I'll bet you are having fun learning about your new garden.

Marcia

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My experience with simpson stopper and walter's viburnum is that they are both great shrubs IF you give them plenty of room and the right light. Though they will both take some shade, they both in my experience anyway like strong and even light to fill out nicely. In the wild both of these plants will form sprawling gangly, almost vine-like plants (sort of like old muscadine vines) in shady spots, where they tend to grow. Needless to say it difficult to use this natural form in the garden. But given sun and space simpson stopper will keep a nice small tree form and the walter's viburnum will fill out into a big pretty ball, especially with a little trimming. I have used both in hedges with mixed results. I finally gave up on the simpson. It just did not do well as a hedge in high shade--for me anyway. Walter's viburnum did better as a hedge but only in spots were the hedge got even light. They're both better as specimens in my opinion. The fruit of Simpson stopper is not bad tasting, but it's almost all seed and skin. The texture is a bit leathery. It has a faint resin taste. Carolina jasmine has been a great plant for me and bees and butterflies both like it. I haven't seen any die from it yet. Good Luck! Bill

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marcia_m

14 years ago

Yes, we're here now through early summer. I'm loving it and loving shopping for plants and digging in the dirt. I planted some snapdragons, dianthus, and pansies around our lamppost--really enjoyed that! I've followed the advice given on this forum to leave other plants alone until spring to see what leafs out and what is a goner.

Thank you for the additional info on the viburnums, Marcia. The HD plant probably was sweet viburnum but from your info it sounds like I'd rather have WV. I love the tropical plants (have so much to learn but I want to plant a banana, an orange bird of paradise, butterfly ginger, plumeria, etc.!) but want some low maintenance plants and plants that will survive the inevitable freezes that will come with future winters. (I did buy a Carolina jasmine yesterday but don't know where I'll plant it. It smelled nice, so I bought it!)
Marcia in PA/FL

manature
Original Author

14 years ago

Just to be sure...did you mean a Confederate jasmine? Are the flowers white or yellow? Carolina is yellow and I didn't know they smelled, though I have a young one. If so, I'll be looking forward to that. Confederate has white flowers that smell wonderful...but I don't think they bloom until late spring or summer, so that's probably not it. (I'm nosy. Always looking to learn something new!)

Glad you are having fun. It's too bad your first winter here wasn't a more typical Florida winter. Hopefully we won't have any more killing freezes, though.

Marcia

wanda9fl

14 years ago

I'm with you Marcia. I'm taking notes on what was hit hard and what actually enjoyed that cold snap. There will be a few new items on my list...especially the simpson stopper.
Plants in the garden are still dying back. I'm really surprised at the delayed reaction.

One other plant that just loved the cold was the feijoa. I have a hedge of it and am hoping that it'll finally give me some fruit.

marcia_m

14 years ago

My vine has yellow flowers, Marcia--the very uninformative HD label on the pot (no tag) says Carolina yellow jasmine. So I'm guessing it is Gelsemium sempervirens. I'm also looking forward to planting a star jasmine or another shrub-type jasmine. Any suggestions for one with great fragrance that isn't too fussy?

I've looked up feijoa on the web, Wanda. Is that something that can be found in the big box stores?
Marcia in PA/FL

floridays

14 years ago

Thanks for the report Marcia, this is helpful! I've been wanting to plant some Simpson Stoppers.

manature
Original Author

14 years ago

Okay, sounds like Carolina jessamine to me, Marcia. I'm glad to know they are fragrant. Mine has only had a couple of blooms so far, and I didn't pick up on that.

For fragrance, sweet almond, night-blooming jasmine and Lakeview Orange Jasmine are fantastic. But I can't say yet how they hold up in the cold. My Lakeviews are DEAD, blowtorched messes. I'm waiting to see if they come back in a few weeks. My sweet almond froze back to the ground on the exposed side, but is still green on the side next to another large shrub. And my night-blooming jasmine is blowtorched, too. So the jury is out on how those three do in recovering from the freeze. But for fragrance, they are all divine.

Marcia

laura1

14 years ago

I have the dwarf/compact WV in the front yard. They were so tiny when they were planted two years ago and they are now almost 3' tall. They are very compact and no freeze damage what so ever.
I have 1 lone regular WV in the back. I haven't checked on it since the freeze. I'm sure it is fine I'm just wondering about how big it has gotten. Some of the plants nearby were crowding it...not so much a problem now!

It is so heartbreaking to see most of the landscape dead or looking dead for months each year. I am taking special note of what is still green after the freezes and using those plants to replace my dead ones.

wanda9fl

14 years ago

Marcia PA,

I haven't seen them in the big box stores. I got mine from a local nursery. If you are interested, I can dig up at least a couple for you. Shoot me an e-mail.

Wanda

manature
Original Author

14 years ago

Laura, do you remember where you got your full sized WV? I really want a couple of those to replace dead STUFF. I'm going to get some more of the dwarf ones, too. Such a pretty shrub. Aren't you north of me a bit? (I'm in Sanford). Just curious as to how much cold yours withstood.

Marcia

marcia_m

14 years ago

Thanks, Wanda. I sent you an email.

On another thread, ritaweeda said that her Texas sage survived the freeze well. I saw them at HD today and liked the silvery leaves, so I bought one. I also saw 3 WVs, but didn't buy them. DH was with me, so I have to limit my plant purchases when shopping with him :-) I'll pick up one or two later. The good thing--my small back yard is mostly empty. The bad thing--I don't have a plan about where to plant anything!
Marcia

sandandsun

14 years ago

Manature,
About the night blooming jasmine, it is root hardy in our area. I would not prune until well after the sap rises, as it were, to know the full extent of the die back. If yours grow like mine do, the worst case is that you will have smaller bushier plants. By summer they will likely have returned to their former glory.
Although I lack experience with the Orange Jasmine, my research indicates that it should perform similarly. Otherwise I would not have recently purchased seeds for it. I would treat them just like the night bloomers.
Sweet almond? What's that?
Happy Spring! The Formosa azaleas are blooming; they're the Spring heralds here.
Be of good cheer,
Sandshine

vaodiva

14 years ago

Marcia, my Texas sage is fine as well so I can confirm that post.
As with all of you, I lost most everything, but I did get a few surprising survivors: jacobinias, half my broms, all my amaryllis, half the tricolor stromanthes, red shrimp plants and big leaf ligularia.

A friend told me last night that, according to the farmer's almanac, Feb is suposed to be worse. I've never really followed the almanac so I don't really know how to take that, but I really hope its wrong!!

zoozue

14 years ago

More died than survived. Though many will come back it is just depressing to look back at pictures of what used to be.

My jacobina's survived, my sheltered lion's ear survived, sweet almond plants did very well, virburnum susp. did well, glossy abellia loved the cold, simpson's stopper enjoyed the rain and the cold, loripetalum (sp) did well some is even flowering, both my alyssium sp. made it through and the bees are digging it. My native honey suckle looks great and is blooming also. Sheltered milkweeds made it (lost most of my milkweed seeds though) along with sheltered dwarf powderpuff but all the plants out in the open were not spared. Even ones that made it through last years cold March.

I hope we keep this thread up; because,I too, want to replant those things that survived the cold.

manature
Original Author

14 years ago

I have scraped the bark to take a peek on several of my woodier plants, and it looks like the night-blooming jasmine, the duranta (golden dewdrop)tree, the orange jasmine, and a couple more might only have to be pruned back a bit. There's quite a bit of green under the bark, so after I see how much leafs back out, I'll know how much dead wood has to be removed. But I don't think any of those will need to be cut back to the ground.

The hibiscus and things of that nature might have to be cut all the way back. Blackberry lily seems fine, and surprisingly, a big ol' Rex type begonia didn't even drop a leaf. My white birds of paradise will have to be cut almost completely back, but they have already started putting out new leaves, so by summer, they will probably look pretty good. The scheffleras will be cut to the ground, I'm sure. And so it goes!

I picked up an abelia that is supposed to do well here and to thrive during freezes, and also a clethra, which I thought was totally a northern plant. But the guy at Blodgett's said it was a variety he thinks will be good for the Orlando area. I'll post on how they do.

Marcia

Walter's Viburnum and Simpson's Stopper

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