10A
FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2003
A Sea of Gold
Ah, sunflower! weary of time
Who contest the steps of the
sun
Seeking after that sweet gold
en clime
Where the traveler’s journey is
done.
-William Blake from “Songs
of Experience”
By Judy Hall
HHJ/staff writer
Sunflowers form a sea of gold
on the forty acres tract planted
on Kersey Road in South
Houston County. Sunflowers, a
cousin to the daisy are the only
single flower that can grow as
high as 100 inches tall at a rate
of almost 12 inches a week.
ABS Farms, owner of the
land, planted it earlier this year
to create a hunting area for
some of their guests at
Henderson Village. According
to Ashlin Cross, an employee at
ABS Farms, guests are allowed,
for a fee, to hunt doves on the
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Gold medal winners for planting in Georgia
Last week we looked at one of
the 2003 Georgia Gold Medal
Winners, the Mexican zinnia.
We said that this summer annu
al was an outstanding, low
maintenance find for the sunny
flower bed, one which performs
well under hot, dry conditions.
This week we will highlight the
other four winners.
Our herbaceous perennial
winner is Miss Huff Lantana
(Lantana camara “Miss Huff.”)
While most lantanas are not
true perennials in that they
cannot be depended on to sur
vive the cold of winter, Miss
Huff is the exception, even as
far north as hardiness zone
seven. After dying back in the
fall, new growth arises from the
base of the plant each spring.
Miss Huff is a tough customer,
blooming from spring to frost,
attracting hoards of butterflies
along the way. Its strong
smelling foliage is said to repel
deer, a growing pest of Georgia
landscapes. Growing five to sue
feet tall and ten feet wide at
maturity, Miss Huff is more of a
shrub than other lantanas.
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land during dove season.
Cross say the sunflowers are
now forming the seeds in the
center of the bloom. About
three weeks prior to hunting
season, the sunflowers will be
sprayed with a chemical to kill
them. At that time, the seeds
from the plants will drop to the
ground attracting the doves.
According to information
from the Georgia Department
of Natural Resources, dove sea
son in both the northern and
southern hunting zones in
Georgia this year run from
Sept. 27 - Oct. 26, Nov. 27-29
and Dec. 10 - Jan. 15. Hunters
have a limit of 12 doves per day.
In the meantime; while the
sunflower seeds are forming
and dove hunting season is
more than two months away,
it’s a good time to just drive by
the fields, slowing down to
admire the beautiful golden
flowers as they turn their faces
to seek the sun.
MB
Tim Lewis
Gardening
timlewis@addressisp.com
Flowers vary in color from pink
to orange and yellow, depending
on their maturity.
While Miss Huff is a widely
adaptable plant, thriving in hot,
dry areas, it responds well when
provided moist, rich soil with
ample moisture. One final note
it is best to wait until early
spring, just after new growth
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has begun, to prune back the
dead leaves and stems from the
killing frosts of the previous
fall. This will enhance the
plant’s cold hardiness.
Our next Gold Medal Winner
is Crossvine (Bignonia capreola
ta). The first vine to receive this
coveted award, it is recommend
ed for hardiness zones six to
nine. Crossvine is native to
Georgia, and is a tough, ever
green vine that produces a reli
able spring display of red tubu
lar flowers with yellow mark
ings. A vigorous climber, reach
ing 30 to 50 feet, leaves are dark
green, two to six inches long
and one to two inches wide,
turning reddish purple in win
ter. Flowers continue for three
to four weeks in the spring in
clusters of two to five, and are
one to two inches long and
about one inch wide. Flowers
also appear sporadically
throughout the summer.
Crossvine prefers a moist,
well-drained acidic soil and
thrives in either full sun or par
tial shade. Cuttings are easy to
root if taken in the summer.
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Henry Anise-tree (Illicium
henryi) is the evergreen shrub
Gold Medal Winner.
Recommended for hardiness
zones seven to nine, it is not
really a tree but a large shrub,
reaching six to eight feet tall
and wide. It thrives in shade to
partial shade, which makes it a
good choice for companion
plantings with camellias, stew
artia, azaleas, and other shade
loving plants. Henry Anise-tree
has glossy foliage and crimson
pink flowers appearing in April
and May. Its leaves, when
crushed, smell like licorice,
which makes it unattractive to
deer.
The 2003 Georgia Gold Medal
tree winner is Chinese
Fringetree (Chionanthus
retusus). Similar in size and
growth habit to dogwoods, this
fine specimen plant blooms
about a month later than dog
wood, thus extending the spring
shower of flowers. Its pure
white, strap-like flowers arise in
such profusion that they look
like “billowing clouds of white.”
Another outstanding trait of
og% |
HH.J Judy Hall
Kyra Walker holds a few of the marvels to be found on Kersey
Road in South Houston County. Above, the field is a wonder to
behold.
Chinese Fringetree is its gray
ish-brown bark, which curls as
the tree ages. It also boasts of
having pest resistance and good
drought tolerance. Thriving in
full sun to partial shade in har
diness zones six to eight,
Chinese fringetree reaches 15 to
25 feet tall. Oval, three to four
inch wide leaves are deciduous,
with some even remaining into
December.
These 2003 Georgia Gold
Medal Winners were chosen
after considerable screening of
plant characteristics such as
pest resistance, drought toler
ance, adaptability, and showi
ness. They are excellent choices
for your yard and garden. Try
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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
them! If you would like to know
what the previous ten years of
Georgia Gold Medal Winners
were, send me an e-mail and I’ll
be glad to share them with you.
The information for this arti
cle was provided by Gary L.
Wade and James T. Midcap,
University of Georgia Extension
Horticulturists.
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