November 2021 – Shrubs Information
This page will give you detailed information on the plants mentioned in the November Quail Creek Newsletter. The references are ones I have pulled from the internet and are ones I have found to be most helpful in the plant description and growing. You can, of course, also do your own lookup and find more information.
Most of these plants can be acquired in some of the big-box stores in our area, there are several garden centers in Baldwin County that carry some of these plants, In Mobile County, you can check with Stokley Garden Express on Government Blvd as well as in Semmes. The one in Semmes is colocated with Stokley Nursery. They are the retail arm of Stokley Nursery which seems to have a really good selection of native plants. I would highly recommend you use Google, Edge, Safari, or your favorite browser to search for garden centers or nurseries in Baldwin and Mobile counties.
I also highly recommend the website https://www.plantsomethingalabama.com/. Enter this website and use the FIND link. Enter your zip code and it will reference all known garden centers and nurseries within a selected radius of the specified zip code. It is not a complete list but does a pretty good job. This website is a part of ALNLA (Alabama Nursery and Landscape Association).
November Plants
American Beautyberry is a very common shrub found at the edge of fields or in shady woodlands. It is known for its grouping of brilliant purple berries which are displayed in the fall as clusters on the individual stalks where a leaf joins the stalk. In my yard, they pretty will grow in the interface between the open yard and the native undergrowth. It also can be used to make Beautyberry jelly – a pretty much straightforward process. Here is a URL to making the jelly: https://hearthandvine.com/beautyberry-jelly
This is an excellent butterfly attractor and will attract hummingbirds as well. It comes in different colors, some are quite fragrant but it does have some downsides. The main one being, in some places in the U.S. it is, considered an invasive species as it will produce thousands of seeds during its reproductive cycle. Therefore, it is important to deadhead the flowers to help stop this issue. There are hybrids that have been bred to help eliminate this problem.
A truly stunning white mound of white flowers that bloom in the spring. It may be trained so that there is one “trunk” and the top is a mass of white. It is also known as a Grancy Greybeard.
It does require full sun for about 5-6 hours a day and shade in the afternoon preferring acidic soil. It will, typically, grow to a height of 12-20 feet in height and width. It is a very low-maintenance tree and deer do not care for it. One must remember in pruning that it flowers on second-year growth!
One of the really nice features of this shrub is that it blooms well in the shade. It is a low-maintenance shrub and is a great hummingbird plant. It is almost pest-free and can be grown in full sun and shade. It will grow to become 15-25 feet in height and about 15-20 feet in diameter and will attract butterflies and hummingbirds.