I Covet My Neighbors' Burning Bushes

Yea, I know.  What a sinful thing to say.  But I do.  Burning bushes in October are beautiful.  When our gardens and flowers are on their downward slide to brown, the burning bush ratchets its color up to fiery red. The bush is supposedly easy to grow and virtually maintenance-free.  At least that's what my research has led me to believe. Burning Bush Facts

My neighbor's Burning Bush

Another neighbor's Burning Bush

 However, here's my experience with Mr. Euonymus alata "Compactus".  Over the years, I have bought and planted 3 different Burning Bushes.  The first one died over the winter; not sure why. The second was eaten by rabbits; they girdled the trunk. I wrapped the trunk of the 3rd replacement bush with tin foil to "foil" the rabbits. It seemed to work, but then the deer ate the upper branches down to the tin foil.  I was about to dig and dispose of this 3rd bush in the spring when surprisingly it sprouted new branches and leaves almost over-night. I guess it really liked the severe pruning the deer had performed. I let it grow and it really seemed to do well that year.  It did not turn red in the fall, however.  I figured it was just too young.  I caged it and tin-foiled it over the winter, but the deer reached right into the cage and chewed the trunk and branches.  It was pretty badly abused by this last spring.  I pruned off the worst, and hoped for the best.  Again, it did grow and try to recover over the summer, but again the leaves DID NOT turn red!  AGH!

My Burning Bush

Okay, I'll give it one more try.  I've caged and mulched it for the winter.  If the deer eat it, so be it. If it survives the winter, I think I'll replant it somewhere in the back lawn in the "live or die... you're on your own" zone.  And that's why I covet my neighbors' burning bushes.

The New Hydrangea Bed

I planted the new hydrangea bed today. This is the bed I set up back on Aug. 9th (See "New Bed") with newspaper and wood chips.  I dug my 3 non-blooming hydrangeas and planted them alongside the new hydrangea I planted in August. (See "August Plantings")  The ground beneath the chips was soft and "dig-able" to about 10 inches.  Then it seemed to change to a hard-packed gravel soil.  The digging was work!  But I kept at it and finally got them settled into their new homes.

I decided to cage and mulch them right away. This bed is on the nightly deer trail, and the deer have already shown me that they find hydrangeas tasty.  The deer have been nibbling away at the August planting, even after I twisted tin foil around all the branches.  It's not pleasant to bite into tin foil, and this trick has help me discourage deer in the past.  However, maybe they are getting wise to my ways, because this time it has not stopped them. Out came the wire fencing, and once I circled the bushes, I added dried leaves for mulch.  I'll add more leaves as the season progresses.  The mulching serves two purposes: protection from deer and the winter cold.

Will all this effort get me blooming hydrangeas?  Who knows? I'm hopeful though I'm not sure why. I guess that's one of the allures of gardening. The gardener is always searching for the right conditions, the right home, to help a plant flourish.  Success is exciting; failure... well, just try something else.