Snow Poles are in for the Winter!

We never used to put snow poles in our greenhouses, though they are only made out of half inch black pipe the design had been used by several nurseries in the area for over 30 years without a single house being lost. In December 2008 though we had the snowfall from hell with between 20" & 30" of snow falling over a couple of days. Many nurseries in our area lost all their greenhouses some of them large multi span structures that were far more elegant & costly when compared to our simple tunnels. Thanks to Chiyoko's hard work in removing snow we didn't loose of ours but they were damaged. They are now flatter on top than they used to be & so weaker than before. The snow poles are now our bit of added insurance during the winter months!

Witch Hazels Ready to go!

A contract propagation order for about 25 cultivars of Hamamelis & a few other odds & ends ready for the off!

Kalopanax pictus

Kalopanax pictus

(syn. Kalopanax septemlobus)

We are not brave enough to grow this plant for production, Chiyoko draws the line at Mahonia potting! We do have this one growing in the garden though, I think it always looks it's most impressive at this time of year.

A lone flower!

Disanthus cercidifolius

There are many reasons to plant a Disanthus cercidifolius in your garden not least among them being their fantastic Autumn Color. That being said their small flowers are probably not one of the reasons, though when they do flower they give away their identity as members of the Hamamelidaceae. This year we have liners of both the species & the variegated cultivar from Japan 'Ena Nishiki' available.

Manchurian Maple Seeds....

Acer mandshuricum seed.

We picked our curious Acer mandshuricum seed this week. The first time I saw this seed was when I ordered it from a seed company & I called them up to complain that they had sent me non viable hollow seed! Despite it's funny hollow looking appearance there are viable embryos in there!

Gunnera manicata

This photo of Gunnera manicata was taken at Dart's Hill Garden in Surrey BC. The two most commonly available giant Gunneras that we see in the PNW are Gunnera manicata & Gunnera tinctoria (syn. Gunnera chilensis). Unfortunately G. tinctoria is often sold as G. manicata & it can be difficult to tell the difference until they flower. A non scientific way to tell the difference is that the inflorescence of  G. Manicata resembles a Bottle Brush while those of G. tinctoria resemble Corn on the Cob! If planted in the same conditions G. manicata will be larger in every way.

A Magpie

Stachyurus chinensis 'Magpie'

One of our new acquisitions this year is this great looking Stachyurus cultivar. We have had it in the garden once before but lost it shortly after planting. If this one does well liners liners will show up on our stock availability list in a year or two!