Plantmad Blog

Chief Joseph

2012-01-21T18:29:00.001-08:00

Future Pinus contorta latifolia 'Chief Joseph' trees..

Acer saccharum 'Monumentale'

2012-01-21T18:24:00.001-08:00

My buddy Phil gives his prized Acer saccharum 'Monumentale' it's annual pruning while I hover below picking up the pieces for scion wood!

Ulmus parviflora 'Hokkaido'

2012-01-18T18:43:00.000-08:00

Ulmus parviflora 'Hokkaido'

This little Elm is about 15 years old, we made some cuttings of it this year.

Grevillea victoriae

2012-01-18T18:39:00.000-08:00

One of the loveliest plants in the garden at the moment is Grevillea victoriae. This plant has proved itself to be bone hardy here in the NW. It has take snow & cold down to 10F without even batting an eye lid! Flowers begin appearing around October time & continue through the Winter & on to early Spring.

Some Garden Snow

2012-01-18T18:34:00.000-08:00

Sunday the 15th about an inch of snow fell in the Garden, just enough to make things looks nice without causing any problems!!

Kiidk'yaas - The Golden Spruce.

2012-01-01T21:11:00.000-08:00

Picea sitchensis 'Bentham's Sunlight'

Also known as Kiidk'yaas - This Golden Spruce had the honor of being the first tree planted into the Plantmad Garden, January 1st 2012! Bentham's Gold is the cultivar name given to the original tree that grew on the banks of the Yakoun River & was sacred to the people of the Haida Indian Nation, British Columbia. In 1997 it was illegally felled by a lunatic political protester. Thankfully scion wood had already been taken from this plant by the University of British Columbia & so clones of this plant live on as 'Bentham's Sunlight'.

We figured we should make a few more too!

Winter Cuttings

2011-12-28T16:30:00.000-08:00

It's winter cutting time at Plantmad, we don't do nearly as many wintertime cuttings but there are a few things that just have to be done at this time of year!

Mahonia cuttings..

Lots of weird & wonderful things!

I fought the Elk & the Elk Won!

2011-12-18T11:59:00.000-08:00

So just when our Akebono Cherry Circle shows on new images from Space.........

The Elk decide that they have had enough of sharing the field, looks like we are back to the drawing board!

It's Mahonia time!

2011-12-18T07:35:00.000-08:00

Lionel Fortesque

The Mahonia's are beginning their Winter time display in the Plantmad Garden. This year we are going to cut up some branches & stick some cuttings!

Charity

Stewartia monodelpha

2011-11-25T12:53:00.001-08:00

Lovely Fall colour on our Stewartia monodelpha liners this year.

Vitis ficifolia var. lobata

2011-11-25T12:49:00.001-08:00

Vitis ficifolia var. lobata

I picked this plant up from the old Heronswood Nursery back in 2003, it's turned out to be a lovely little vine that grows well in a woodland or shade garden. Excellent Fall Colour.

2011-11-20T07:35:00.001-08:00

Ginkgo biloba 'Mariken'

This dwarf Ginkgo first made it's way to the US from Holland back in the 90's but it's only in the last year or two that it's caught on with garden writers & plant nuts!

Fothergilla gardenii 'Mt. Airy'

2011-11-19T07:27:00.001-08:00

Fothergilla gardenii 'Mt. Airy'

Added some Liners in Fall Colour to the Blog Gallery..

Burn Day!!

2011-10-02T18:30:00.000-07:00

October 1st 2011, the first official burn day of the new Season!

Acer flabellatum

2011-10-02T18:27:00.000-07:00

Acer flabellatum from seed wild collected in Vietnam

(Grown under contract for a local arboretum).

Bamboo Pruning!

2011-09-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

Our friend Ian of Connor Bamboo stopped by today to show us how to prune our Chusquea gigantea.

Stewartia monodelpha liners

2011-08-17T17:28:00.001-07:00

Our Stewartia monodelpha liners for 2011 sales.

Few (if any) ornamental qualities!

2011-08-17T17:28:00.000-07:00

Sambucus nigra 'Pendula', this Weeping Elderberry has few redeeming features but hey, not many people have got one :^)...

Pileostegia viburnoides

2011-08-11T20:20:00.000-07:00

Pileostegia viburnoides, We have had this lovely climbing hydrangea relative in the garden for 10 years but this is the first year we have been able to offer it for sale.

Future Plants!

2011-08-11T20:03:00.000-07:00

The mist house is slowly filling up with future plants :^)....

Eucryphia glutinosa

2011-08-11T19:58:00.000-07:00

While many Eucryphia survive in our Zone 8 Oregon Garden at 700' only Eucryphia glutinosa thrives!

Pyllostachys bambusoides 'Albovariegata'

2011-07-16T18:20:00.000-07:00

We are indebted to our buddy Ian of Connor Bamboo for this, one of those variegated plants that has to grow on you for a while!

Pyllostachys bambusoides 'Albovariegata'

Hydrangea seemanii

2011-07-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

This evergreen Climbing Hydrangea had taken about 10 years to get to this size but it's proved itself to be completely cold hardy & a great garden plant, & we have liners available this year!

A bloody long name!

2011-07-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

Back in March we were kindly given a few scions of Notholithocarpus densiflorus f. attenuato dentatus.Another friend was able to get us a few N. densiflorus seedlings to use as rootstocks, but these were just self seeded & pulled up from under a large plant. We didn't have high hopes but we did get a few to take!

New Plants for 2011 - I

2011-07-10T06:02:00.000-07:00

Pileostegia viburnoides

We have finally built up numbers enough to be able to offer this great climbing hydrangea relative for the first time this year.

Staking!

2011-07-10T05:56:00.000-07:00

Chiyoko busy staking up our 2011 Acer pseudoplatanus 'Esk Sunset' grafts.

This makes me happy :^)...

2011-07-09T17:39:00.000-07:00

Germinating seedlings of Acer pentaphyllum.

Cool Calycanthus

2011-07-09T17:34:00.000-07:00

Two Cool Calycanthus flowering in the garden this week

Calycanthus x raulstonii 'Hartlage Wine'

Calycanthus 'Venus'

One More Wisteria!

2011-06-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

This Wisteria has more names than you can shake a stick at but according to Peter Valder there is only one Double Flowering form of Wisteria & the most valid cultivar name is 'Violacea Plena'. Other names it is commonly sold under are 'Black Dragon', 'Kokuryu' & 'Yae Kokuryu'.

Odd Man Out!

2011-06-18T17:10:00.000-07:00

A not very green plant in a very green garden!

Acer pseudoplatanus 'Esk Sunset'

Two more Wisteria pics from the Garden..

2011-06-12T19:14:00.000-07:00

The super long racemes of 'Macrobotrys'

'Honbeni' also known as Pink Ice.

Wisteria 'Burford'.

2011-06-12T19:08:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a Wisteria that is quick to flower then Burford isn't for you! But if you are looking for a Wisteria that's ultimately great it could just be what you are looking for!!

Alien Invader!

2011-06-12T18:59:00.000-07:00

Well about as dangerous as!!

Phyllostachys nigra

Corokia cotoneaster

2011-05-29T05:15:00.000-07:00

The little bright yellow flowers of the Wire-Netting Bush always brighten up the day! We have had three worse that normal winters in a row now & while many so called hardy plants in our garden have died this has continued to do well.

The Kids!

2011-05-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

Hydrangea anomala petiolaris 'Mirranda'

Wisteria 'Anwen'

New graft potting is done!

2011-05-15T18:15:00.000-07:00

All our 2011 grafts are finally potted - Well done Chiyoko.
Now it's on to the rooted cuttings.

Planting our Windmill Palm...

2011-05-14T17:02:00.000-07:00

Our Trachycarpus fortunei has lived in the same 36" Cedar Box for the last 6 or 7 years, Since the box was falling to bits & we didn't want to pot it into an even bigger box we figured it was time to plant it in the garden. Getting it from the back of the house to the front garden was no easy task though!

Me giving instructions to the Palm

Somehow we got it into the hole & upright!

Et Voila..

May Apples

2011-05-11T17:29:00.000-07:00

The Native American Mayapple Podophyllum peltatum is very cool when it comes up out the ground each Spring..

The Chinese Mayapple Podophyllum delavayi though that's in a league of it's own!!

Another variegated plant!

2011-05-08T07:12:00.000-07:00

Here is an as yet unnamed & unavailable variegated selection of Stewartia pseudocamellia

Schefflera delavayi

2011-05-08T07:05:00.000-07:00

Newly potted Schefflera delavayi liners.

Potting & more Potting!

2011-04-28T21:55:00.000-07:00

Spring grafting is done now but Chiyoko is still busy potting Wisteria grafts as they come off the callus beds.

From the very big to the very small!

2011-04-25T19:45:00.000-07:00

Though Gunnera conjures up images of giant 6' leaves they are not all huge, here is one at the other end of the spectrum Gunnera monoica. While it's supposed to be a zone 8 plant we have never been able to keep it alive in the garden for more than a couple of years but it's very happy living in a waterlogged pot in a cool greenhouse.

Back from the Dead.

2011-04-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

We have several Gunnera tinctoria & Gunnera manicata around the garden & nursery but this one is the only Gunnera tinctoria we have that we grew from seed that was wild collected in Chile in 2005. Last June we potted it into this larger container & left it out in the Sun (Whoops) within a couple of days it was dried up & gone! We didn't throw the box away though & now 10 months later it's decided to re emerge & give life another chance :^)..

The Chilean Firebush germinates!

2011-04-21T21:49:00.000-07:00

Last year we posted this photo of Embothrium coccineum growing at Norbert Kinnen's Big Phat & Special Plants Nursery. Norbert kindly shared the tree's seed crop with us & now we have lots of germinating Embothrium seedlings popping up.

Osmanthus delavayi

2011-04-17T06:26:00.000-07:00

One the many great plants introduced by the great French Missionary / Plant Explorer Père Armand David (1826 - 1900). It's pretty safe to say that any plant that bares his name is worth a spot in your garden.

Osmanthus delavayi

April 16th 2011

Aesulus hippocastanum 'Umbraculifera'

2011-04-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

Looking like something out of Dr. Who, the new breaking buds of Aesculus hippocastanum 'Umbraculifera'. This is supposedly a dwarf form of the Horse Chestnut but ours is still growing at about 18" a year!

Cuttings are waking up.

2011-03-27T12:23:00.000-07:00

It's been a horrible Spring so far here in Oregon. We have yet to reach 60F this year (a new record!) & most plants look more like late February than late March! Still slowly things are waking up.

Disanthus cercidifolius 'Ena Nishiki'

Pileostegia viburnoides

New Grafts

2011-03-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

Plants coming off our callus bed this week:

Davidia involucrata 'Sonoma'

Acer pseudoplatanus 'Esk Sunset' (Syn. Eskimo Sunset).

From Witch-hazel to Winter-hazel!

2011-03-21T19:08:00.000-07:00

Well the Witch-hazels are done now, time for the Winter-hazels to take over. This is one of our favorites, Corylopsis pauceflora.

Witch-hazels Galore!

2011-03-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

A busy day grafting Witch-hazels today, about 25 cultivars!

New Toys

2011-03-19T19:18:00.000-07:00

Two new plants for the Plantmad collection (well if the grafts take!) On the left Notholithocarpus densiflorus f. attenuato dentatus & on the right Quercus pontica.

A long Name gets longer....

2011-03-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

At the Miller Garden last week I came accross one of my favorite but rearly seen plants:

Lithocarpus densiflorus f. attenuato dentatus

I guess this name wasn't long enough for the botanists though, it's now

Notholithocarpus densiflorus f. attenuato dentatus!

Hepatica Madness

2011-03-13T21:25:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I was up at the Miller Botanic Garden in Seattle for the Spring Great Plant Picks Meeting. One of the many Miller projects is Hepatica breeding & they were all flowering in their full glory when we visited.

More Miller Garden Hepatica pics.

Wisteria grafting again!

2011-03-05T17:40:00.000-08:00

Our plan wast o begin our Wisteria grafting last weekend but the weather was so cold & horrible we delayed starting until this week! Here Chiyoko is putting new Wisteria grafts onto our callus bed, they will stay here for 2 to 3 weeks before we pot them up.

Hard at work....

2011-02-19T18:50:00.000-08:00

Chiyoko was hard at work all day pulling grafted Wisteria orders for Spring Shipments.

More signs of Spring...

2011-02-19T18:45:00.000-08:00

This weeks signs of Spring in the garden are our favorite Cornus mas cultivar 'Spring Glow'

Also Sycopsis sinensis the "Fig Hazel" this China Native of the Witch Hazel Family doesn't have the show stopping flowers of the Hamamelis but they are certainly worth a second look & the plant is reliably evergreen down to zone 7.

Sarcococa

2011-02-12T21:44:00.000-08:00

You kind of have to get down on your knees to enjoy the winter flowers on Sweetbox. But it worth making the effort! We picked up this unnamed species from Woodlanders Nursery back in 2002 and it's been growing happily under our Doug Firs ever since.

Time to get back to work!

2011-02-12T14:17:00.000-08:00

Helleborus nigercors 'Honeyhill Joy'

Well after a long winter break, it's time to get back to work! We have finally finished cleaning up the garden of all the winter debris & its beginning to show signs of life again!

Almost too late!

2010-10-23T18:35:00.000-07:00

Our cold spring & cool Summer have meant that some of our plants that crave warmer temperatures are only just getting around to flowering!

Grevillea victoriae

Musa basjoo

(Not holding my breath for any bananas!)

Windcliff Garden

2010-08-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to visit Windcliff the garden of Daniel J. Hinkley & Robert Jones. Walking around the garden with Dan & looking at all his wild collected plants from around the world is a plant nuts dream!

The Eucryphia

2010-08-21T18:28:00.000-07:00

The Eucryphia are in full flower this week, there are about 7 species of this small tree from Southern hemisphere most are from Australasia but a couple come from the Andes of Chile & Argentina. They are well suited to the mild zone 8 climate of the UK, Coastal BC & Washington state. Our Oregon garden is 100 miles away from the coast & though officially zone 8 only 1 species thrives here, Eucryphia glutinosa which is a reliable zone 7 plant.

Eucryphia glutinosa

Several other species grow in our garden including the English classic Eucryphia x nymansensis 'Nymansay' from Nyman's Garden Sussex. While it still flowers profusely it has a much harder time than the more robust E. glutinosa in our climate.

Eucryphia x nymansensis 'Nymansay'

Tabaco del Diablo

2010-08-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

Lobelia tupa

The Devils Tobacco

Looking great in the garden this week is Lobelia tupa, this Chilean native is know as Devils tobacco probably because of it's hallucinogenic properties. It's considered a sacred plant by the Mapuche Indians of Southern Chile. Our plants come from seed that was wild collected in Chile in 2005.

New Cuttings

2010-07-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

Our mist house is slowly filling up with newly made cuttings!

Just Wierd

2010-07-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

Platycarya strobilacea flowers a just a bit weird! These obscure members of the Walnut family are growing in an out of the way corner of the the Hoyt Arboretum. The central cone like catkin is the female part of the flower surrounded by the male pollen producers.

Not your old Ohio Buckeye!

2010-07-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

Had a chance to spend a few hours at the Hoyt Arboretum yesterday afternoon & a couple of Summer flowering Buckeyes really stood out! In the foreground is Aesculus californica & in the background Aesculus wilsonii from China. Though very similar the Aesculus wilsonii had the better shape & form.

Star Anise

2010-07-05T18:42:00.000-07:00

Star Anise are small evergreen trees that are native Asia, South Eastern North America & the West Indies. They should not be confused with the Anise herb Pimpinella anisum.

Japanese Star Anise Illicium anisatum is one of the more commonly seen species. It is used to make incense in Japan but the fruits are toxic if eaten!

Flowering for the first time in our garden this year is the very cool Illicium henryi from Southern China.

Venus Dogwood

2010-06-26T15:56:00.000-07:00

Cornus 'Venus' a cross between Cornus kousa & Cornus nutallii has been flowering for about 3 weeks now & still looks great in the garden.

The Chilean Fire Bush

2010-06-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

I wish this Embothrium coccineum was growing in our garden but it isn't! It started out it's life on our Nursery but is now growing just down the road at Norbert Kinnen's Big Phat Plants Nursery.

Sinocalycanthus chinensis

2010-06-24T19:04:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite June flowering plants is the Chinese Sweetshrub a close relative of the American Sweetshrubs Calycanthus floridus & Calycanthus occidentalis. The flowers look like they are almost artificial which would help explain another of it's Common names the Chinese Wax Shrub. Can be grown in full Sun or complete shade.

Pink Yellow & Blue!

2010-05-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

In the garden this week, the shrimp pink new foliage of Acer palmatum 'Geisha', the tiny yellow flowers of Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash' & the cool blue flowers of Wisteria frutescens 'Amethyst Falls'

Two Variegated Wisteria

2010-05-14T16:56:00.001-07:00

We hope to have built up enough stock plants to be able to add these to our list next year.

Wisteria sinensis 'Variegata'

Wisteria floribunda 'Mon Nishiki'

Spring Rolls On.....

2010-05-14T16:50:00.000-07:00

The Stewartia monodelpha that germinated back in February are moving on!

In Search of the Dove Tree.

2010-05-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

Few trees have been searched for with as much zeal & resource as the once elusive Dove Tree. First discovered in 1868 by French missionary and naturalist Père Armand David (He was also the first Westerner to describe the Giant Panda!). In 1899 Sir Harry Veitch of Vietch Nurseries England commissioned Plant Collector Ernest Wilson for three years. His Goal was to travel to China & search for interesting plant material in general but it was always understood that the main focus of the journey was to find & bring back Dove Tree Seed.

So in 1899 Wilson set off for remote Sichuan province with only a hand drown map to a single tree that had been seen 11 years before in 1888! This was no easy journey he survived an outbreak of Bubonic Plague in Hong Kong before even getting to China. Once there he escaped local bandits, and nearly drowned when his boat overturned. Finally in 1900 with the help of locals he arrived at the location marked on the map only to find that tree had been chopped down!!!

Undaunted he continued his search and was finally rewarded a month or so latter when he found several trees that were heavily flowering. In the Fall of that year a large quantity of seed was collected & sent back to England in 1901.

Dogwood Heaven

2010-04-26T17:26:00.001-07:00

It's Dogwood Heaven in Western Oregon this week! With all those new fancy cultivars out there it's still hard to beat the old faithful Cornus florida 'Rubra' when it's in flower! This one grows in our garden & is about 50 years old.

Indian Rhubarb

2010-04-17T18:42:00.000-07:00

One of our favorites in the garden is Darmera peltata, native to West side of Southern Oregon & Northern California is makes a great garden perennial. A slow but steady grower with stunning pink flower stems before the foliage emerges in the Spring.

Koto Strings & a Creature's Red Face!

2010-04-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

With the return of Spring come the fantastic colors of new Japanese Maple foliage. Here are a couple that are leafing out in our garden this week.

Acer palmatum 'Koto No Ito'
楓　’琴の糸’
Koto Strings (a Japanese string instrument)

Acer palmatum 'Shindeshojo'
楓　’新出狸々’
Shojo is a mythical Chinese creature with a red face!

Signs of life!

2010-04-03T17:57:00.000-07:00

Wisteria floribunda 'Black Dragon'

The first Wisteria we grafted 6 weeks ago & potted 2 weeks ago are now showing signs of life! Next we have to go through them all & remove the flower buds so that they don't flower themselves to death before they have enough new roots.

Ribes sanguineum 'Brocklebankii'

2010-03-29T19:52:00.000-07:00

Flowering in the garden this week: Ribes sanguineum 'Brocklebankii', native to the Pacific Northwest but this cultivar arose in the UK then traveled back to America! The pink flowers are set off by the yellow foliage. Brocklebankii is significantly slower growing that most green leafed cultivars of the species.

Osmanthus delavayi

2010-03-22T19:39:00.001-07:00

Osmanthus delavayi is often given short shrift in favor of some of the more exotic members of the Osmanthus family but it's hard to beat when in flower! But then so many of the plants discovered & collected by Jean Marie Delavay in the 1800's are still hard to beat even today!

New Aesculus Liners

2010-03-21T18:02:00.000-07:00

Aesculus hippocastanum 'Lacineata', A. neglecta 'Erythroblastos' & A. glabra 'Nana', grafted last month & now leafing out! Here are a few more Aesculus pics from our garden.

Potting begins!

2010-03-07T18:07:00.000-08:00

So while I spent Saturday grafting Wisteria & listening to BBC Radio 4 podcasts Chiyoko began potting up the grafts that we put on the callus bed 3 weeks ago. Beginning with about 25 cultivars of Hamamelis!

Stewartia monodelpha is up!

2010-03-07T10:39:00.000-08:00

The Stewartia monodelpha that we sowed last fall has finally made it through the perlite! Looks like the S. rostrata, S. sinensis & S. pseudocamellia are going to sit & wait until next year though!!

Wisteria grafting

2010-03-01T17:08:00.000-08:00

This weekend we began grafting our 2010 Wisteria crop. We cleft graft bareroot seedlings & put them on our callus bed for a couple of weeks before potting them up.

Azara microphylla

2010-03-01T17:03:00.000-08:00

Our favorite & toughest Azara is flowering in the garden this week. Our coldest winter temperatures in more than 20 years (10F) didn't do it any harm!

Watering Time...

2010-02-22T18:09:00.000-08:00

With temps in the high 50's & low 60's over the last few days our plants are waking up & demanding water! Many haven't had a drink since last November.

Hellebore Heaven

2010-02-22T18:01:00.000-08:00

It's Hellebore heaven here in the Plantmad Garden at the moment! Here are a few more pics!

Cyclamen trochopteranthum

2010-02-20T18:13:00.001-08:00

Probaby the two most available species of hardy Cyclamen are C. hederifolium which flowers in the fall & C. coum which flowers in the Spring. However there are a great many more. One of our favorites is Cyclamen trochopteranthum. Native to the to rocky areas of Southwest Turkey it's certainly tough! Our plant has lived happily in this pot for about 10 years or so. Every so often I remember to throw a bit of fertilizer on top and this last winter they froze solid in the pot during our coldest weather in 20 years!

Distylium racemosum

2010-02-14T18:02:00.000-08:00

Distylium racemosum
イスノキ

A rather bland and nondescript plant most of the year this Hamamelidaceae does have its good points. Its an excellent hardy evergreen tree & it flowers in February!

Cornus officinalis 'Kintoki'

2010-02-14T17:52:00.000-08:00

Cornus officinalis 'Kintoki'
山茱萸 (サンシュユ)

Flowering in our garden this week is Cornus officinalis 'Kintoki', the Asian version of Cornus mas (Cornelian Cherry). Cornus officinalis flowers are just a touch deeper yellow in color and the bark is more exfoliating. The cultivar Kintoki is a semi dwarf selection.

Signs of Spring

2010-02-14T17:47:00.000-08:00

Signs of Spring, the Stewartia monodelpha seed Chiyoko sowed last November is now beginning to germinate.

Wintersweet

2010-01-23T16:30:00.000-08:00

Chimonanthus praecox 'Su Xin La Mei'
ロウバイ（蝋梅)

This Chinese cultivar of Wintersweet looks very similar to the cultivar 'Luteus' but for us it grows a little faster. Like 'Luteus' the flowers have a fantastic winter time scent. Began Flowering in our garden this year on January 15th.

Late Fall Colour.

2009-11-30T18:35:00.000-08:00

November 29th & two plants in the Garden are still showing good Fall Colour:

Nothofagus antartica 'Puget Pillar'

Liquidambar styraciflua 'Slender Silhouette'

Air Pots™

2009-11-16T18:13:00.001-08:00

In early November we depotted and washed out some liners grown in Airpots™ to compare them to the liners grown in regular pots. As we expected from previous trials the liners grown in Airpots™ not only had more roots but the roots were of a much better structure with few if any circling roots & a great many more root tips. You can see the differences between the 2 root systems here.

Davidia Seed

2009-11-13T18:41:00.001-08:00

[11/13/09] Today we also picked all the seed off our
Davidia involucrata 'Sonoma'

Stewartia seed sowing

2009-11-13T18:35:00.001-08:00

Its been a while (well a long time) since we posted to this blog, it's been a busy Summer!! This weekend we sowed all our different Stewartia seed picked from the many Stewartia in our garden.

Survivors

2009-06-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

So only 2 of our many Callistemon survived the winter of 2008/09. Even the fabled Woodlanders clone succumbed to the cold, snow & ice. Callistemon sieberi however survived unscathed & doesn't even have any damaged foliage. The other survivor was Callistemon citrinus 'Splendens' - OK I cheated on this one it was in a pot in the greenhouse :^)..

Silverbells & Snowbells

2009-06-01T16:45:00.001-07:00

Tis the season for Silverbells & Snowbells. Two of the best in our garden this week are Stryax obassia & Halesia diptera var. magniflora.

One of a kind!

2009-05-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

This is a seedling Acer palmatum selected from a batch of seedlings collected from Acer palmatum 'Linearlobum'. It just celebrated it's 6th birthday.

New Grafts begining to grow.

2009-05-07T21:31:00.000-07:00

The Wisterias that we grafted back in February in March are now begining to grow. Often the flower buds shoot out first as you can see here with this double flowered Black Dragon.

Wisteria floribunda 'Mon Nishiki'

2009-05-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

We have 2 variegated cultivars, Wisteria floribunda 'Mon Nishiki' & Wisteria sinensis 'Variegata' Sometimes one looks better, sometimes the other! At the moment 'Mon Nishiki looks the best.