Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Weeping Bottle Brush

When it comes to buying plants, I try to maintain a budget, add plants slowly, and propagate what I can to save money.  That being said, I went completely off the deep end last weekend and splurged on a beautiful weeping 'Hannah Ray' bottle brush .

I was at the Hill Country Water Gardens Nursery for their big gala sale.  For one hour in the morning, they offered a door buster buy 1 get 1 free deal that sounded really good.  Due to other scheduling demands, we chose to go later in the day, when they were offering buy 4 get 1 free.  Still a good deal.  I purchased quite a few 1 gallon sized plants, and a lot of 4 inch sized plants, which I like to pot up and grow out myself.  Patience saves big bucks.

My husband and I were shopping together when we simultaneously saw another customer leaving with the most fabulous looking bottle brush.  It was such a lovely specimen; covered with blooms.  We both ooh'd and ah'd over the plant, and reminisced about all the bottle brushes that we had killed over the years.  There was the original standard bottle brush, then the little John bottle brush, then the little John bottle brush take two.  All three were goners at our hands.  Had we learned enough in our failed attempts to maybe try again?

Yes, Yes, let's do it!  Let's try again!

After we selected a beautiful bottle brush of our own, Chip, one of Hill Country's helpful staff, was happy to give us hand.  Because we had a long way to go, Chip wrapped Hannah Ray with great care.  She looked like something out of an episode of the Sopranos laying in the truck bed.


The almost one hour trip from Hill Country Water Gardens to our house at speeds of 70 MPH did not phase our tightly wrapped and shapely girl.


Now, for the big unwrap and reveal.



Ta Da!  I don't remember any nursery ever wrapping a plant so nicely.  Thanks Hill Country.  She arrived in perfect condition.


Planting Hannah Ray was a big job.  Everything seemed to be in the way of her massive root ball.  First, I had to transplant a lamb's ear that was too close, and then, I had to dislodge the drip irrigation lines, which were stuck under layers of mulch and plants.


The picture of the hole doesn't seem all that big in the photo until you see how much dirt was displaced.  This wheelbarrow contains all the soil from the hole.  That's quite a bit of soil and it gives you a look at our wonderful, gravely sand.  That's sarcasm by the way, but who's ever happy with their soil? 


Moving and planting a tree of this size is hard work, but it's worth it for the immediate beauty it adds to the garden. In my opinion, the bottle brush has some of the most gorgeous and interesting flowers among flowering trees.


These butterflies think these flowers are pretty awesome too.  We hadn't had this plant in the ground for 5 minutes when the butterflies started showing up.  I guess it's true.  If you plant it, they will come.  



Happy Spring!

17 comments:

  1. Sooooo lovely! Lucky you. I've tried two bottle brushes myself without success, but I also have terrible soil.--I think even worse than yours. Laura

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    1. We amended with lots of compost, plus we gave her an ideal, primo garden location. The only conern I have is cold hardiness. We'll see how it goes.

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  2. Oh my... I can see why you fell in love with that weeping bottle brush. How nice the butterflies are enjoying your purchase. Happy Spring!

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    1. I've seen lots of butterflies looking for a meal, but plants have been slow to bloom out my way. Hopefully, the rain will turn that around real quick.

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  3. HCWG is a happy place. Wishing you huge success with this new addition - she's beautiful.

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    1. I venture out to HCWG at least once or twice a year. Each time I go, they seem to have more and more plants, pottery, and statuary. I also love the fairy garden supplies. Too cute.

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  4. It really is a beauty. So full. I hope it takes to its new home. But I have to say I'd give my eye teeth to be able to dig a hole like that. It is 4" pots for me if I have any hope of putting something anywhere other than my raised beds. I have lived places where I was happy with my soil. Canada.

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    1. I've been to Vancouver, Canada. Everything was so beautiful and so green. I guess that's one of the reasons why; good soil equals happy plants.

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  5. Hi Ally,

    Your garden is just beautiful! We are working on a video series and would love to include you and your garden. Would you contact me when you get a moment? Thanks!

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  6. She is a beauty. Hope it works this time.

    I'm with Jenny...I envy that size hole. I think we can dig deeper here than Jenny. But, not as big a hole as that.

    I'd love one of these. But, if you're worried about cold hardiness, we surely would be here. Then, there are our sweet little deer to deal with.

    Keep us posted on her progress.

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  7. How pretty! And how nice that she attracts butterflies so fast! I hope she does well for you. I am impressed with the wrap job. It's nice to meet another Texas blogger!

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  8. wow, what an amazing reward to have those gorgeous butterflies arrive! I think you'll have hummingbirds too!

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  9. We love using bottlebrush in our designs. They are quite deer resistant.

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  10. Your bottle brush is so beautiful - hope it thrives! We just bought the same variety from Natural Gardener, and couldn't seem to keep it happy (in the pot, albeit) for even three days. I trimmed of the dried, crinkled leaves (that were so soft and lovely at the nursery), and am left with 1/3 of the original plant. Still not planted, but hoping it will survive. Any tips on care? Watering, sun, etc?

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    1. Miss Hanna Ray threw a hissy fit about a week after we planted her. All the leaves turned gray, then dried up and started falling off. I called HCG because they have a 2 week plant guarantee. During my conversation with them, we came to the conclusion that I had not watered enough. I started thoroughly drenching her every other day. There were times when I thought I would kill her with too much water after accidentally leaving the hose on drip overnight. Now Hanna is slowly re-leafing and I think she's going to make it. Tips: Full sun, extra water till established, and apply a mixture liquid seaweed or your favorite root stimulator to help her along. BTW, I also bought two cold hardy bottle brush shrubs about the same time. Both of them are doing fine with my normal new plant care.

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  11. would you happen to know why my bottle brush is falling over? we moved into a new house a year ago and got them planted on both sides of the backyard to hopefully grow big and give us some privacy. we did have a nasty storm with lots of wind come through a few days ago but now most of our bottle brush is laying over. like the top is too heavy or something, any tips? how far can you cut them back and still have them return? thanks so much.

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    1. A year is probably not enough time to develop the root system necessary to support the plant in a bad storm. You may need to stake the plant to help it along. I have not pruned my tree, but from what I've read, you should use a light hand. Good luck.

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