What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 57: swamp doghobble

 Now that fall is here I’m starting to put new native species in, so they can develop strong root systems over the winter and come up raring to go in the spring. Everything I’ve planted in the fall has done extremely well with no pampering except insuring the plants get water through the winter. Usually the rainfall takes care of that.

This week, I added a lovely native shrub, swamp doghobble, to the shade bed. It will be the backdrop for a number of the other plants already living there and eventually will grow tall enough to hide the drainage ditch and pipe we have on the back side of the bed. With its leaves turning red in the autumn, it will also add some color!

More info:

Eubotrys racemosa 

Common Name(s):

 

• Swamp Doghobble
• Sweetbells Leucothoe

Previously known as:

 

• Leucothoe racemosa

Phonetic Spelling

YOO-bot-trees ray-see-MO-suh

Description

Swamp Doghobble is a 3 to 6 feet tall deciduous shrub with alternate leaves. The shiny stems are a mix of green and red. In the spring, white, bell-shaped flowers appear on 3- to 4-inch racemes. Leaves turn red in the fall.

It prefers a moist, cool, acidic soil. It can be grown in full sun, but must have good moisture. Does not tolerate drought or windy conditions. Although winter hardy to Zone 5, this shrub should be planted in a protected location and given a good winter mulch in cooler areas.  Can be evergreen in warmer zones.

This twiggy, spreading plant sends out suckers to form colonies.  Although it has no serious insect or disease problems, it is susceptible to root rot and leaf spot.