Osage oranges (Maclura pomifera) are fairly common in Virginia, and according to National Register of Big Trees,the state is home to one of the two co-champions as well as the previous champion. The trees are common enough that one might be tempted to think they have always grown here.  In fact, they are originally native to a small area of the southern plains, but now this very hardy tree grows over much of the United States.  The first Virginians to encounter this tree were Lewis and Clark, who sent cuttings back to Thomas Jefferson. 

     I have liked this tree from childhood, long before I knew what it was or cared about anything horticultural.  What attracted me was the fruit, which was used effectively as painful projectiles lobbed at my brother. More adult members of my family would put the oddly attractive fruit into bowls as something pretty to look at, but would also enjoy the fruit's fragrance, which is reminiscent of oranges, hence the tree's common name.  The fruit is also said to repel a number of insects, including cockroaches and crickets, and compounds in the fruit are being studied as a natural alternative to  DEET in the mosquito fight.

     The wood of the tree is pound for pound some of the densest of any species and has some remarkable properties.  It was the preferred source of bow wood for several native tribes and later as tool handles.  The close grained wood is very rot resistant and was used as long-lasting fence posts.  As firewood it provides more BTU's than any other native tree.  The tree itself was widely planted before the invention of barbed wire as a hedge row, and if kept pruned stays very thick and dense, while its thorns keep large animals in bounds.  perfectly suited for the environment, it was also widely planted as a wind break on the prairies.

     Osage Oranges will grow anywhere from 25 to 50' tall and wide and prefer full sun to light shade.  They are capable of withstanding heavily acidic or alkaline soils, are drought tolerant once established, are long-lived and are hardy from zones 4 to 9.  If you would like to grow one in your own garden, you will likely have to take a cutting or grow one from seed, as they are almost non-existent in the nursery trade.  This tree is dioecious, meaning male and females are on seperate trees, so if you want the fruit get a female, which will still bear without a male nearby.   

Les Parks 

     It is the time of year one of my favorite fall plants is blooming, Salvia leucantha or Mexican Bush Sage.  I really like purple, and I really like tall upright perennials.  However, I am somewhat hesitant in calling S. leucantha a perennial, as it isn't always so.  Some years it's an annual, even here in zone 8.  From what I have read, and from my personal experience, it is not our cold winters that do them in, but wet ones.  If S. leucantha is not given good drainage, it can easily rot during a wet winter.  As to sunlight, it prefers as much as you can give it, and even though it is drought tolerant, during its summer growth spurt, make sure it has adequate moisture.

     S. luecantha starts blooming in late September and will continue to produce flowers until we get freezing weather.  Like many tender perennials, it is best to leave the cold-damaged stems and foliage in place until late March, and then cut them down to the ground.  Because of it's less than perennial nature, I always buy new ones on spring.  However, if you look in the herb section of the nursery, S. leucantha can often be found among the culinary sages and at a fraction of the price you would pay in the perennial section.  I am not the only one who appreciates this plant, our native bumblebees are quite fond of it as well.

   Right now one of my favorite native plants is in full color, however the color comes not from flowers, but from the fruit of American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana).  The color of the berries can be anywhere from magenta to a vivid purple.  American Beautyberry normally grows on the fringes, on the edge of the woods, near ditches and in places with moist soil.  Though it can easily be found in the wild, it can also have a place in the home garden.  Just give it some room as it can get 6' tall and wide, or more, but there is a great deal of variation in size.  It will grow in full sun to a fair amount of shade, and is not particular about soil type as long as it stays moist.  Beautyberry is not very drought tolerant.  In early summer the plant flowers, but while not ugly, the small pale pinkish purple flowers are not very showy.  Ripening in September, the fruit more than makes up for the bloom's lack of color.  The foliage will turn a pale yellow before dropping in the fall and is not very remarkable, but is a nice foil to the colorful fruit.  The berries will remain on the shrub for several months, unless the mockingbirds or robins discover it first. 

     One trick to growing Beautyberry is to cut it back hard every year or two in late winter.  The reason for this is to encourage lots of new growth in the spring, which will in turn encourage lots of flowers and consequently berries.  Other than to enjoy the beauty of the fruit, there is another reason to grow Beautyberry.  There have been numerous studies that have confirmed that Callicarpa americanais a natural mosquito repellent.  So plant several and never buy another Citronella Geranium again!