Best of the Bush Clovers: Trial Plant Results

This easy-care, drought-tolerant, late-blooming shrub may be just what your garden is missing

By the timeAugustrolls around , I ’m looking for something young in the garden to pique my interest . I ’m not quite quick for downfall plants to take their turn , so I prize that shrubby George H.W. Bush clovers ( Lespedezaspp . and cvs . , Zones 4–8 ) bridge the seasons , providing me with the jolt I require . My first real encounter with bush trefoil was years ago on a recent - season sojourn to Olbrich Botanical Gardensin Madison , Wisconsin . There it was when I round down a turn , draped in vibrant magenta blossom and tumble into the path as if to say , “ See what I can do . ” I had clearly lose it on the same promenade inJunewhen it was hiding in unvarnished wad — a fine - textured , copious green bush — giving no steer of what was to come .

The two bush clover metal money most cultivated in gardens , shrub bush clover ( Lespedeza bicolorand cvs . ) and Thunberg bush clover ( L. thunbergiiand cvs . ) , are semi - arboraceous plants that are treat like perennial — although their robust shrubby habit would never lead most gardeners to register them as such . In northern venue , the stem fail back in winter but resprout to quickly hit their full height in summer . Whether you view bush clover as a perennial or a bush , remember that most need a serious amount of space to do their thing ; for example , the popular cultivar ‘ Gibraltar ’ ( L. thunbergii‘Gibraltar ’ ) grows 10 to 12 foot all-inclusive ! But do n’t fret if you garden in square understructure and notacres , because there are also small options that are certain to please .

In late summertime , modest pealike flowers in an assortment ofpinks drape the bush clover age group for about a calendar month . flower are hold in light chandelier clusters in the folio axils of the uppermost stems and collectively form prodigious flowered sprays to at least 2 understructure long . The weight unit of the plentiful flowers bows the stems , exaggerating the jet - like habits . Heavy rain during tip salad days may overload the stems , causing them to bend closely to the ground . habit bounce back after the flush andleaves dry out , but sometimes the base may stay on relaxed until the flowers have dropped .

At a glance

Lespedezaspp . and cvs .

• Zones:4–8

• Conditions : Full Sunday ; intermediate to dry , well - drain soil

• Native compass : Asia , Australia , North America

• blighter and diseases : No serious problem

• Propagation : Semi - hardwood and root cuttings , division , and seeded player

The trifoliate parting are classically pealike too , with the three oval leaflets make a finer texture than would a comparably sized unproblematic leaf . The concluding leave have a spidery look before they fully unfold , allowing the silvery undersides to stick out out at this level . Mature foliage ranges from unripe to blueish green , with new leave-taking often being silvern or xanthous ; I ’ve hear stories about fall color but have not seen it here in the Midwest .

Now that my center have been spread to the fabulousness of bush clovers , it saddens me that they are so uncommon in local landscapes . Battling against my desire to see bush clovers more often is the fact that they can be pests in parting of the country and should be avoided or used with caution . For me , it ’s a treat whenever and wherever I find one in prime . With an appreciative nod and silent kudos to the nurseryman , I file the location away for a revisit the next year .

Top-rated bush clovers with great color and form

‘Samidare’

‘ Samidare’(L. thunbergii‘Samidare ’ ) and ‘ Gibraltar ’ were in a neck - to - neck wash for dependable bush trefoil until ‘ Samidare ’ surge into the lead in the final years . While its lovely fuchsia - purple flowers are as ample as those of ‘ Gibraltar ’ , each flower is slightly longer , a tad broad , and a chip darker . ‘ Samidare ’ have more evaluator remarks commending the transcendency of its bloom show and the uniformness of its habit , which was as bushy and robust as ‘ Gibraltar ’ but smaller overall . Before turning immature , this choice ’s young silvery leaves are a pleasing counterpoint to the dark bronze stems . Bowed halt on showery daylight were less marked on ‘ Samidare ’ , although it was just as prostrate to having its flower stripped off by strong farting and intense rain . The wintertime frame of bush clovers are like living sculptures and are especially endearing overlaid with Baron Snow of Leicester or incase in glistening ice .

‘Gibraltar’

‘ Gibraltar’(L. thunbergii‘Gibraltar ’ ) is credibly the most popular and best - known bush clover ; it was the only shrubby one I sleep together until our trial . Bright , rosy pink flowers blanket its long arching halt for a substantial month or more from tardy summer into fall . The flower show is outstanding by any standards and slimly alien compared to that of other plants blooming at the time . The cushy , fuzzy novel leaves have a silvery shininess for a clock time before turn blue - special K and are of a fine grain than the foliage of ‘ Gempei ’ . Its drug abuse is most comparable to ‘ Samidare ’ , albeit larger . Ironically , although ‘ Gibraltar ’ was selected for its short stature , its shaggy-coated unvarying substance abuse was thelargest of all . I wish there was n’t a downside to this cultivar , butrainwater collect among the thousands of flowers and leaves , pulling stem downward more than usual . Still , recovery is proficient if rain does n’t persist for multiple days . grow ‘ Gibraltar ’ on a hillside or above a wall stress the cascade down effect of itspendulous branch .

‘Gempei’

There are bush clovers with charming bichrome flowers , but‘Gempei’(L. thunbergii‘Gempei ’ ) is unparalleled in having freestanding clusters of rosy pink flower and white flowers intermingled onthe same plant . The ratio of pink to white is varying by plant life — one of our four flora had many more livid flowers than the others . Interestingly , a mashup of the two colouring material periodically showed up as whitened flowers splash with pink ( render ) . The with child prime are near an in recollective and half an inch wide-eyed , and they blossom for about a calendar month start in early fall . The yellow - fleeceable terminal leaves slice to chartreuse in belated summer , while the low leaves are dark green throughout . ‘ Gempei ’ has a bushy mound habit with more upright green halt than other cultivar . Having one of the nicest forms in the group along with a inviolable floral show garnered ‘ Gempei ’ a mellow military rating irrespective of the volatility of the flower colors .

‘Pink Cascade’

‘ Pink Cascade’(L. thunbergii‘Pink Cascade ’ ) has slightly non-white efflorescence than ‘ pinkish spring ’ ( L. thunbergii‘Pink Fountain ’ ) , yet both are clearer pinkish than other cultivars . At peak in early fall , the medium pinkish prime of ‘ Pink Cascade ’ both contrast with and complement the rosier , purple - bloom cultivars in the visitation bed . The compounding of chartreuse terminals atop fledged disconsolate - green leave-taking adds a tittle of interest before flowers take over the show . The termscascadeandfountainmay conjure up up a standardised trope , but the arching stems of ‘ Pink Cascade ’ are less pronounced than on ‘ Pink Fountain ’ . Its shaggy drug abuse remain tightly rounded throughout , although arching stem nigher to the base were once in a while observed . ‘ Pink Cascade ’ is a natural paired with natural spring grass ( Pennisetumalopecuroidesand cvs . , Zones 5–9 ) , but I commend one of the safer infertile selections , such as burnt umber - preen ‘ Cayenne ’ or the smaller and pinker ‘ Hush Puppy ’ .

‘White Fountain’

My evaluator were never as burbling about the flowered displayof‘White Fountain’(L. thunbergii‘White Fountain ’ ) as they were about other cultivars , but I witness the unadulterated blanched peak to be a pleasant change from the rosy tones . nebuliser of crisp bloodless flowers grace long arc stems to begin with than most bush clovers — begin in early August for us and lasting to October . The pale , yellowish unripened foliage looks like that of ‘ Gempei ’ , just not as yellow . ‘ White Fountain ’ has a clearly outflow - like drug abuse with weeping bakshis during the heyday time of year . Stems are more upright until flowers librate them down , but unlike with some of the other big ones , we never record that a meaning rain event magnify the effect . From a single arching bow in 2013 , ‘ White Fountain ’ grew into a robust George Herbert Walker Bush within the first yr .

Honorable mentions not to be overlooked

These two beauties did n’t make it to the top of the inclination , but that does n’t mean they ’re not gardenworthy . Check out their fantastic pas seul on color .

‘Edo-shibori’

Sometimes a plant fall short of come top target but still deserve tending . Such is the character of bicolored‘Edo - shibori’(L. thunbergii‘Edo - shibori ’ ) . Fuchsia - and - white flowers munificently blanket its arched staunch from late summer to midautumn . The two colors call tending to the distinctive structure of legume blossoms . The white banner or banner — the largest of the five petals — is brushed with deep fuchsia banding . The two backstage petals match the vibrancy of the markings and nuzzle the white keel petals . Though declamatory , the bushy , vase - shaped wont is not the enceinte of the bunch . Spring leaf have a bronze plaster cast that hold into former summertime on the chicken - green terminals ; the lower foliage is glum green . The vagary of our winters proved problematic for ‘ Edo - shibori ’ , which struggled more than most Thunberg President George W. Bush trefoil , with crown loss over multiple winter . On the incontrovertible side , the plants rebounded vigorously to become attractive and floriferous every summer .

‘Candy Girl’

Most of our trial feature a mixing of old and new cultivars , and occasionally one that has n’t been loose , but sometimes new introductions are hard to find or simply do n’t exist . All the bush clovers were new to me but not necessarily rare . ‘ Candy Girl’(L. bicolor‘Candy Girl ’ ) is so raw that most gardeners wo n’t know it yet , and it is the only bush clover that has not dispatch the full four old age of our trial . The sweet two - toned flowersare reminiscent of ‘ Edo - shibori ’ ; a burst of raspberry - garden pink on the livid measure is echoed in the intensely colored wing flower petal that cradle the imperial - blushed keel . As a tyke , ‘ Candy Girl ’ has a tight bushy habit with upright flowering stalk . As it matures , the habit fills out but remains bushy , with arching to pendulous stems load up with chubby flower clusters in autumn . After a few year in our test , it is now near at its expect 4 - infantry acme . A bronze honk on the weak unripened terminal leaves creates a gilded to coppery glow in autumn ; this is the only cultivar where we saw this colour variety . ‘ Candy Girl ’ is so novel that for now you may have to lend it to your wish list rather than your shopping cart .

Best-in-show bush clovers

Trial parameters

Since 2013 , the Chicago Botanic Garden has evaluated 16 different crotch hair clover in comparative trials . Besides observing their ornamental trait , we monitored the industrial plant to see how well they mature and adapted to environmental and grunge conditions , while keep a close eye on any disease or pest problems and assessing plant injury or losses over wintertime .

How long : Minimum four years

Zone:5b

shape : Full sun ; well - enfeeble , alkaline , clay - loam soil

Care : We provided minimum tutelage , allowing the plants to thrive or failunder natural weather .

Click here to see a pdf of the bush - trefoil run results .

Planting alert: Best to avoid bush clovers in the Southeast

Brought to the United States as ornamentals in the mid-1800s , bush clovers became wide used for erosion control andwildlife preservation in the early1900s . In their ideal grow conditions , these shrubs are prolific seeders and ramblers . Unfortunately today , bush clover have become problematic in some arena , mainly in the southeastern United States . L. thunbergiiis list as invasive in Georgia and Kentucky , whileL. bicoloris listed as invasive in those states plus Alabama , Indiana , North Carolina , Pennsylvania , South Carolina , Tennessee , Virginia , and West Virginia . encroaching plant lists regularly deepen , however . Please check the invasive plant lists for yourarea before plant bush clover .

Richard Hawke is an expert horticulturist and the director of ornamental industrial plant research at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe , Illinois .

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‘Samidare’ Thunberg bush clover.Photo: courtesy of Chicago Botanic Garden

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‘Samidare’ Thunberg bush clover

‘Samidare’ Thunberg bush clover.Photo: courtesy of Chicago Botanic Garden

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