Swampy Loblolly Bay. This selection of our native Loblolly Bay was made by a former employee and plantsman, Chuck Weeks. He found it here in Aiken Co., SC, and this is the furthest inland that I know of this species being found. As a kid, I would buy this species from Fruitland Nurseries in Augusta, but they would often be damaged from the cold, because their selection was from a source much further south. Plantsman Sean Hogan of Portland, OR, likes this selection so much that he suggested we give it a cultivar name. Sean suggested 'Swampy,' so that is what we stuck with. It seems to be quite vigorous and cold hardy. Susan Daniels, horticulturist at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, GA, has even planted it in parking lot medians and she says that it has done great. I believe that it is most contented planted in conjunction with other trees or even as an understory plant. It begins flowering here in late July to early August with 2-3" single white Stewartia-like flowers and continues well into or through September. It is essentially an evergreen, but in late summer and fall a few of the oldest leaves will turn a bright orange to red. One will see this plant growing standing in water in the wild, but definitely don't plant it in this environment in the landscape without planting it on a mound and then letting its roots seek their own level. For all practical purposes I would consider this a 25-35' tree, but older established plants can be found in the 70-80' range.
