#moistsoils

Clethora alnifolia (Ruby Spice)

Of the Flowering Plants family - Clethraceae

Native Habitat: Native of eastern North America from southern Nova Scotia and Maine south to northern Florida, and west to eastern Texas.

Leaves: Deciduous, serrate, obovate, dark green leaves, 4” long and turn a variable yellow/golden brown in fall.

Size: 4 to 6’ in North America.

Bark & Flowers: Cylindrical, bottlebrush-like, terminal panicles of extremely fragrant rose pink flowers that bloom in July and August.

Preferred Soils: Maximal growing potential in moist, deep, well-drained soil and medium to wet soils in full sun and partial shade. Tolerates clay soils. 

Design Value: Great use as a border plant or massing shrub to create formal edges or boundaries in landscape designs.  Also provides a transitory or perpetual vegetative edge in planting schemes.  Also an appropriate plant for wetlands and remediative landscapes.  Wetland and riparian species are essential to healthy ecosystems because they are able to absorb the force of strong winds, fluctuating water levels, abating flood peaks, and preventing shoreline erosion, wetlands, and the plants growing in them, protect terrestrial areas from storm and flood damage. The plants in wetlands help to filter chemical and particulate pollutants, and trap sediment in the water table.

Hardiness Zone(s): 4 to 8.

Sassafras albidum (Sassafras) Of the Laurel family - Lauraceae

Native Habitat: Maine to Ontario and Michigan, south to Florida and Texas.

Leaves: Alternate, simple, 3 to 7″ long, bright to medium green above, glabrous and glaucous beneath, with mitten-shaped or 3-lobed.

Size: 30 to 60′ in North America, but can reach up to 80′

Bark: Dark reddish-brown, deeply ridged-and-furrowed, forming flat corky ridges that are easily cut.

Buds: Terminal, green-tinged with red tip, 1/3″ long.

Preferred Soils: Maximal growing potential in moist, acidic, rich, loamy soils.  Can tolerate drier soils, although reaches maximum development in moist, fertile areas, as long as they are not permanently wet.  Can grow in most pH soils and requires full sun or partial sun.

Hardiness Zone(s): 4 to 9.