Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: Juan Fornes on January 03, 2011, 10:53:52 AM
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So, one of these trees is dangerous to stand under and the other is certainly not suitable for leaning against. Quite a pair!
Re the Chorisia: where does the "Silk Floss Tree" name come from, does anyone know?
Paddy
Paddy: as Maggy explained, Chorisia speciosa takes the common name of "silk floss tree" from the substance inside ripe fruits. In spanish, however, these trees are called "Arbol Botella" o "Palo borracho" ("Bottle Tree" or "Drunken Stick") (I remember the novel of Gerald Durrell "The Drunken Forest", where he describes one on his journeys through south-america in search of animals) because their trunks store water during wet seasons, giving them a very typical, peculiar look. Here in Valencia they can be seen in flower all year round, althogh winter makes them much reluctant to flower. Pictures below were taken this weekend:, and they are as follows:
1.- Little forest
2.- Detail of flower (see how different is the yellow, glowing looking beggining of petal and the smooth pink distal part: their substance is also very different)
3.- Tree fruiting
4.- Ripe fruit opening
5.- Detail of the substance filling the fruits.
6.- "Smooth" surface of trunk-
7.- Close-up of a fruit
These fruits, however, are not in their best season so they don´t look much as they should and are mostly seedless. When well grown, they look like white, cotton-like balls hanging up above.
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Juan,
That is quite a sight - of course, it is everyday for you but for me this is a very exotic tree and one which I would see only on holidays.
Many thanks for the wonderful photographs, very interesting.
Paddy
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So, one of these trees is dangerous to stand under and the other is certainly not suitable for leaning against. Quite a pair!
Re the Chorisia: where does the "Silk Floss Tree" name come from, does anyone know?
Paddy
Paddy: as Maggy explained, Chorisia speciosa takes the common name of "silk floss tree" from the substance inside ripe fruits. In spanish, however, these trees are called "Arbol Botella" o "Palo borracho" ("Bottle Tree" or "Drunken Stick") (I remember the novel of Gerald Durrell "The Drunken Forest", where he describes one on his journeys through south-america in search of animals) because their trunks store water during wet seasons, giving them a very typical, peculiar look. Here in Valencia they can be seen in flower all year round, althogh winter makes them much reluctant to flower. Pictures below were taken this weekend:, and they are as follows:
1.- Little forest
2.- Detail of flower (see how different is the yellow, glowing looking beggining of petal and the smooth pink distal part: their substance is also very different)
3.- Tree fruiting
4.- Ripe fruit opening
5.- Detail of the substance filling the fruits.
6.- "Smooth" surface of trunk-
7.- Close-up of a fruit
These fruits, however, are not in their best season so they don´t look much as they should and are mostly seedless. When well grown, they look like white, cotton-like balls hanging up above.
nice to see these, especially the grove!
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Paddy, you´re right: flowering Chorisias are a daily sight for me, but I can assure there is no day when passing beside them that I don´t stop and admire them.
Cohan, I´m glad you like them too.
I´d like to post two pics of my tiny garden, though I´m a little ashamed for your gardens are amazing. Mine is really a patio-garden. House was bought both as home and as our new flowershop. Patio was first covered with large, red sandstones pieces so beautiful we decided to put them as the shop floor. We dug the patio very deeply and then filled it in with turf. As opening was so near, we decided to plant all our "survivor" pot plants so patio wouldn´t look so naked: Howeia forsteriana, Ficus benjamina, Schefflera arboricola... 8 years later, plants showed how well they did. In some cases too well: Ficus benjamina is fiercely cut so it doesn´t disturb neighbours. Only big shrubs and trees survive, as my dogs "love" also gardening...
Pic 1 is view of the patio from the shop, showing "López", my Head Gardener and Howeia forsteriana, Beucarnea, Ficus benjamina and Ivy
Pic 2 is a back view of the patio. At the left: Dracaena fragans, Acokanthera oblongifolia, young Strelitzia alba (mother plant grew so high it felt over the wall), Euphorbia sp., Ivy on the wall... At the right: Schefflera arboricola, Ficus benjamina, small Acokanthera and Ivy.
I know it looks very untidy. In fact, it IS very untidy but birds, insects and spiders love this little "jungle"...
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And three trees from parks in Valencia:
1- Podocarpus neriifolius (what about this conifer, Paddy?) : pic missing from this post
2- Erythrina crista-galli flowering branch (still in bud)
3- E. crista-galli flower detail
4- E. crista-galli seeds
5- Female Ginko biloba tree, with some fruits still hanging : pic missing from thisd post
6- Ginko biloba fruits and seeds
7- Another group of Chorisia speciosa and
8- An especially "drunk" Chorisia
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Paddy, you´re right: flowering Chorisias are a daily sight for me, but I can assure there is no day when passing beside them that I don´t stop and admire them.
Cohan, I´m glad you like them too.
I´d like to post two pics of my tiny garden, though I´m a little ashamed for your gardens are amazing. Mine is really a patio-garden. House was bought both as home and as our new flowershop. Patio was first covered with large, red sandstones pieces so beautiful we decided to put them as the shop floor. We dug the patio very deeply and then filled it in with turf. As opening was so near, we decided to plant all our "survivor" pot plants so patio wouldn´t look so naked: Howeia forsteriana, Ficus benjamina, Schefflera arboricola... 8 years later, plants showed how well they did. In some cases too well: Ficus benjamina is fiercely cut so it doesn´t disturb neighbours. Only big shrubs and trees survive, as my dogs "love" also gardening...
Pic 1 is view of the patio from the shop, showing "López", my Head Gardener and Howeia forsteriana, Beucarnea, Ficus benjamina and Ivy
Pic 2 is a back view of the patio. At the left: Dracaena fragans, Acokanthera oblongifolia, young Strelitzia alba (mother plant grew so high it felt over the wall), Euphorbia sp., Ivy on the wall... At the right: Schefflera arboricola, Ficus benjamina, small Acokanthera and Ivy.
I know it looks very untidy. In fact, it IS very untidy but birds, insects and spiders love this little "jungle"...
i think this kind of jungle is much to be appreciated in an urban place--and i bet it is a comfort in hot weather! like a traditional courtyard oasis, but a bit more 'natural' :)
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Hi Juan,
I couldn't manage to see your podocarpus photograph - didn't show when downloaded - but I do like podocarpus; it can almost look like a cut-leafed maple, a beautiful plant.
On the other hand, I think the red of E. crista galli is amazing, a truly vibrant colour and the seed pods are nice as well, golden hairy pods.
Your patio is fabulous, certainly a jungle in your back garden and, as Cohan say, perfect for a hot climate.
Many thanks, Paddy
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I love the idea of a flower shop with a real garden! 8)
Juan, pictures 1 and 5 from your last batch did not load correctly.
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maggi crug have cotoneaster moupinensis listed this year..
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maggi crug have cotoneaster moupinensis listed this year..
Oh, thanks, Sean!
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Maybe one of the most impressive trees in Valencia city: Ficus macrophylla. They were planted in 1856, and the biggest (whose trunk is first pic) has the following measurements:
- Trunk at 1m height: 13,3 m diameter
- Height of tree: 23 m
- Treetop: 36m diameter
Pics are:
- Trunk of biggest tree
- Another tree
- General view of a third Ficus
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Another Erythrina from our parks. This is Erythrina caffra, a quite different tree from the E. crista-galli: flowers are more orange-red than crimson-red, and above all seeds are very different: beautiful bright red instead of the E. crista-galli brown ones. Building shown behind the tree is the "Museo de Bellas Artes Pio V", one of our most important Painting museums Building is dated XVIII century.
Pics are:
- Tree in flower
- Flowers
- Seed pods
- Another tree with much more leaves, but flowerless.
Thank you Maggi and Paddy for the advice of my pics of Podocarpus and female Gynko: they got damaged in my camera (not sure why). Hope these will appear right...
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Juan,
Ficus is regularly grown as a house plant here in Ireland and, I imagine, in other countries in northern Europe but we would never see one so magnificent as that you have shown. What an amazing trunk, such character and age - it even makes me feel young.
It is good to see such vibrant colour, Erythrina caffra, as here in green, green Ireland it is, in fact, grey, grey, grey and raining, raining, raining.
Juan, I used teach English to Spanish students here in Ireland many years ago and can still recall the moment when a young Spaniard asked, with a look of total puzzlement on his face, where was the green in Ireland because all he had seen since his arrival was grey. The poor fellow was very homesick, I think.
Paddy
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yes, yes, yes, Paddy, o.k.: so no green in Ireland, and now you will tell me that Joyce´s Finnegans wake is very easy to read, right? ;D ;D ;D
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On the day that's in it, it's all grey.
Finnegan's Wake is a pleasant read.
Paddy
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Beautiful and magnificent trees, Juan!
Not much green or red to enjoy us here - first rain then snow, so back to square one :(
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On the day that's in it, it's all grey.
Finnegan's Wake is a pleasant read.
Paddy
Paddy: A pleasant read indeed, but impossible for me to read in its orginal language, so I must trust in a reliable translation. I think I´d better keep Durrell´s "Alexandria quartet" as my pillow book (I think this the book wich has imppressed more deeply)(sometimes I think my english is so awful writing here, that I must look mostly unreadable to most of you. What´s more, I see no conexion beetween Joyce and Durrell: I think we were talking of Ireland, so you better delete this from your mind. Delete, delete ... and I think I´d better take one cup of coffee. Or better, a cup of wine ;D)
Beautiful and magnificent trees, Juan!
Not much green or red to enjoy us here - first rain then snow, so back to square one :(
Tron you must be positive: in summer you will have much more hours of sun than me. And what´s more important, you have Calypso bulbosa around you! Life can be beautiful! :)
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Beautiful and magnificent trees, Juan!
Not much green or red to enjoy us here - first rain then snow, so back to square one :(
Tron you must be positive: in summer you will have much more hours of sun than me. And what´s more important, you have Calypso bulbosa around you! Life can be beautiful! :)
Juan,
Usually I am positive ;D but this winter started very early and not one of the winterflowering shrubs and perennials does show any color. It is right we have more light in summer but not more warmth! And the Calypso? (Norne in Norw.) - I have to go very far from here to find it! If I ever get the Chance I will try to grow it in my garden :)
http://www.pbase.com/alb123/image/31814271
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Tron: that´s definitely THE PICTURE of a Calypso! Amazing! Since I first saw a picture of it, I felt in love with that flower. I thought they were very widespread in Norway (how bolding can ignorance be...) In fact, I imagined you with a digging spade saying ""F..." you, Calypsos, give me just 10 cm2 to plant just 3 bulbs of something not being you!" ;D I hope you can get some of them for your garden! Lykke til!
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Maggi is it possible to have a new thread "Trees in parks and garden 2011" down reply 381 ?
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Maggi is it possible to have a new thread "Trees in parks and garden 2011" down reply 381 ?
Of course, that's a good idea. 8)
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My goodness, Maggi, you move quickly.
Paddy
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My goodness, Maggi, you move quickly.
Paddy
I can do at times, Paddy.... deceptively so for a woman of my build..... comfort rather than speed, these days!! ;D ;D
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I have to show Juan that, despite the dreary weather, there is some colour here in our gardens at this time of year. Here are some of our Witch Hazels which are flowering at the moment.
Paddy
Hamamelis mollis 'Pallida'
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Diane'
Hamamelis x intermedis 'Feuerzauber'
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Dear goodness..... I shouldn't complain.... but I will! I cannot believe how much further advanced everyone else's plants seems to be than our garden. :-\ :-X
Really lovely witch hazels, Paddy.
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Thank you Paddy! Really beautiful. I had never seen a red Hamamelis before! Always learning!
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Juan,
I don't know if they would suit your climate; though I don't see why they wouldn't. Here, they provide colour very early in the year and are appreciated for that.
Paddy
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Amazing January scenes in your garden Paddy !!
Looking superb ! :D
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Paddy, gorgeous Hamamelis, one of my favorite shrubs. Are the varieties you grow sweet and spicy scented? As much as I like the red and orange flowered ones, the yellow ones really do show off best from a distance, I like the H. mollis 'Pallida' one best. In protected places, like in the parking lot ("car park") courtyard at my previous office, the near tree-sized witch hazels were protected by a wrap-around two story building on 3 sides, these shrubs would be in full bloom in February and fill the air with a spicy aroma, but in more open situations the earliest flowering would be March. We're in the deep freeze here, two months away from flowering possibilities, so it is welcome to see your shrubs looking so lovely.
I might just have to post some trees I photographed summer 2010 but never got around to showing.
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I am a bit jealous, Paddy! My red Hamamelis died of nothing some years ago and the yellow one (Pallida) is late this year. When I see your plants I am looking forward to mine - whenever that will be!
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Mark,
Yes, the witch hazels do have a smell, particularly H. mollis 'Pallida' and Mary always brings some branches into the house to enjoy their scent.
Mary put up a set of photographs of a visit to the national collection of hamamelis in England on another site. I will put them up in the "Travel/Places to visit" forum.
Paddy
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I must have missed this thread, strange as Hamamelis have been a bit of a pre-occupation in the last few days. I have just bought H. x intermedia ‘Diane’ having wanted one for some time. I have mentioned Pat Edwards' Open Day on the other thread and should say that Witch Hazel Nursery Sittingbourne Kent is open on Jan 23rd too.
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Paddy, I think Hamamelis wouldn´t do well here: they like fresh soils and enviroments, and better if soil is acid, hating dryness: and all those matters are totally opposite to mine. It´s really a pitty because it´s really a very nice shrub (your first pic of Hamamelis mollis "Pallida" is specially beautifull, with that sorrounding. By the way , isn´t that "thing" at the left a coniferous...? :)), but the same happens with Forsythia, a shrub that I have seen here in very few places, and all were languishing, with few flowers and leaves later, nothing compared with those spectacular, superb, proudly challenging yellow branches I see in colder climates. So, your pictures have been most welcome. Wish pics could include scent!
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OK, Juan,
To the left of H. mollis 'Pallida' is Abies koreana, one of the few conifers in the garden.
Paddy
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Magnolia X Proctoriana (salicifolia x stellata) flowering in my garden today
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A wonderful early display, John.
Magnolia stellata is just into full bloom here and M. salicifolia is in flower in nearby Mount Congreve.
Paddy
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My stellatas are not yet out and salicifolia is just breaking as is Leonard Messel.
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Magnolia zenii (flowers are frost resistant/frost proof; and fragrant)
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Magnolia x loebneri 'Merrill'
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Giles,
A lovely shape to the flower of 'Merrill'.
Paddy
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Beautiful Giles. I wish I had the room but have to make do with one Magnolia stellata form in a pot.
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David and Paddy,
Thankyou.
Why not plant the stellata out David?
They take pruning quite well, should it start to romp away.
I've even seen stellata grown as a hedge....and it looked quite nice 8)
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A few interesting trees from Mount Usher Gardens in Co. Wicklow yesterday.
Sorbus magalocarpa gave a very good display. I couldn't figure out what it was at all but I was rescued by finding a label - handy things, those labels. There were some fruit still on the tree and I took three home to attempt germinate them. In the first photograph, a general view, it is in the centre of the shot.
Parrotiopsis jacquemontiana - do the flowers ever look good on this tree? I have a small tree at home, about 10 years old, very slow growing and has never given a decent display. The petals on the flowers seem to get damaged very easily and quickly and it is only when there is a spell of mild and calm weather that they last at all. The tree in Mount Usher was a straggly old thing, a good size and must be quite an age but the flowers were, as with mine, miserable.
Stachyurus praecox - I hope my identification is correct - was a stunning display, a wonderful plant.
Finally, the opening foliage of Aesculus neglecta cv Erythroblasta, a wonderful colour.
Paddy
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In the plants wanted section Emma T has posted for info/sources on a Paulownia tormentosa white flowered form ....
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=7008.new#new
I thought I'd flag up her post here to catch the eye of the tree-lovers! ;)
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Several dry frost free weeks...
Magnolia amoena
Magnolia x kewensis 'Wada's Memory'
Magnolia x loebneri 'Leonard Messel'
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Magnolia stellata's :
'Waterlily'
'Rosea'
'Jane Platt'
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Is 'Jane Platt' so closed in flower the hole period? This form looks very nice, in the way you show.
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It opens a bit more, on a sunny day, Uli, but remains distinct from my other stellatas.
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Giles,
a cultivar we not realised in this part of the nursery world.
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Cherry trees (Prunus x yedoensis) have started to bloom here and I went to a park of a former castle at the centre of my town today. Though a tree was nearly in full bloom, their flowering stage in the park were 30-40% in general. They will be in their full bloom this weekend I think.
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Some trees that are performing well at the moment.These aer all trees that would suit a small garden,particularly Malus floribunda and Amelanchier.These are all fourty years old.
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and the others but only about 15yrs.old.
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Lovely stuff John.
Yesterday was a beautiful day, if a little cooler than of late, and we visited Lanhydrock House and garden in Cornwall, about 45 minutes drive for us. We had hoped that the yellow Magnolias would be in flower and we were not disappointed. Here are some pics of them as well as a few other Magnolia shots. Good pictures of trees in blossom are a step beyond my photographic capabilities and you will have to take them as they come, the yellow Magnolias al had sign boards with descriptive information and to avoid making copius notes I photographed them too. Other pics of the days visit will appear in the Rhododendron thread; the Visits to Gardens thread, and a couple may appear in the Daffs thread as well. Here we go then with the Magnolias, and cousins across the pond will be proud of these:
Magnolia 'Yellow Lantern'
Sign board for above
M. 'Yellow Fever' with a lovely Acer in front and a red Rhododendron behind
Sign board for above
M. 'Elizabeth'
Sign board for above
Close up of M. 'Elizabeth' flower
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Some other Magnolia shots from Lanhydrock:
Magnolia x loebneri 'Spring Snow' somewhat overshadowed by a lovely Rhododendron
M. x soulangeana
An unknown Magnolia flower in close up
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Hello David. I just got Magnolia "Elizabeth" last year.
Here are 2 pics this year. And Magnolia "Jane".
John B
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If it stayed your plants size John I would have room for it but the Lanhydrock size-noooooo.
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David,
I've found most magnolias take very well to pruning! I regularly cut back mine, as they would certainly overtake my smallish garden (smallish meaning large for the city, postage stamp for the rest of you). The only one I have allowed full romp is 'Elizabeth', as she is relatively small, at 10m and a bit on the columnar side. Otherwise, I find between 3-4m a good height for most.
Or did I misunderstand thyn comment? :-X
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David,
I've found most magnolias take very well to pruning! I regularly cut back mine, as they would certainly overtake my smallish garden (smallish meaning large for the city, postage stamp for the rest of you). The only one I have allowed full romp is 'Elizabeth', as she is relatively small, at 10m and a bit on the columnar side. Otherwise, I find between 3-4m a good height for most.
Or did I misunderstand thyn comment? :-X
Doesn't look columnar on my pic from Lanhydrock Jamie.
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David,
truly columnar it is not, but when compared to a soulangiana, which wants to go wide, this is an upright tree. I would liken it to an apple tree in general habit, but will get much taller, if allowed. Again, like and apple, you can shape it. Just prune right after the blooms are over and it will branch quite densely. I have even seen single trees with 4-5 different magnolia cultivars grafted on. Not always attractive, but a good way to maintain multiple cultivars in a limited space, especially for breeding purposes.
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Magnolia sieboldii subsp. sinensis 'Ursula Grau'
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Beautiful Giles. Is it fragrant?
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..smells of Ralgex I'm afraid, Gail...
here M.obovata - emerging leaves like parasols - I guess a frost now, and it's curtains...
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..smells of Ralgex I'm afraid, Gail...
Should be OK to bend down to smell it then :P
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I wonder if anyone can help with this:
Looks to me like a Birch (but I only have one tree book and that isn't very good) and, as can bee seen in picture 2 the leaf edges are very hairy (my book doesn't mention this at all). It's presently growing in a small pot about 9" wide and 12" deep and the tree is about 2' high, and as long as I keep it well watered in hot weather it doesn't seem to mind.
Here's where the memory plays tricks! I think that about ten years ago whilst on holiday in Montecatini, Tuscany, I collected some seed, brought it home and sowed it, and this is the result. Maureen thinks it's something the local squirrel left in my garden and I just dug it up and grew it on. Quite frankly either of us could be right-but I hope it's me ;D. Can anyone put any logic to the quandry?
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A lovely little Beech tree, David. My container grown copper beech has its leaves at very nearly the same stage.
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I agree with Maggi, it's a beech tree.
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Definitely a Fagus sylvatica, common beech, probably the most common tree in Germany, if not most of Europe. Magnificent is the word for a forest of these towering beauties. We have them planted all along the green belt ringing the city of Cologne. In Spring, it is like walking through a cathedral of bright green and shimmering light. If you haven't guessed, one of my favourite trees, although much to grand for my garden. I live about a kilometer from this green cathedral, so no problem. I've tried them in a pot, but, frankly, not a winner. Better as a bonsai, then.
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Jamie,
Mary and I visited a large garden yesterday and, while there were many beautiful and eye-catching trees in flower, it was the young emerging foliage of the beech trees which we most admired. They are truly beautiful at this time of year. It must be wonderful to walk among them in the green belt around Cologne.
Paddy
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Giles,
Were your Magnolia amoena and zenii raised from seed?
Having seed-grown all my Magnolias, I am always amazed at how easy to please & straightforward they are & how relatively quickly they bloom from seed. The M. kobus gang is of course very precocious---I have had them blooming at year 4.
However, of all the species I have grown, M. amoena has given me the only seedling-grief I have ever experienced with any member of this genus with high first year seedling mortality, premature drying/dropping of leaves etc. etc. Not quite sure if it was weakness in the seed batch I was working with, or if this species is known to have "issues" with soil/culture, etc.
Any comments?
Also, is there any chance of even a few seed of your M. zenii (which I have been wanting for a long time)?
Currently nursing some 300+++ Magnolia seedlings (half of which are M. macrophylla).
Kristl
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I wonder if anyone can help with this:
Looks to me like a Birch (but I only have one tree book and that isn't very good) and, as can bee seen in picture 2 the leaf edges are very hairy (my book doesn't mention this at all). It's presently growing in a small pot about 9" wide and 12" deep and the tree is about 2' high, and as long as I keep it well watered in hot weather it doesn't seem to mind.
Here's where the memory plays tricks! I think that about ten years ago whilst on holiday in Montecatini, Tuscany, I collected some seed, brought it home and sowed it, and this is the result. Maureen thinks it's something the local squirrel left in my garden and I just dug it up and grew it on. Quite frankly either of us could be right-but I hope it's me ;D. Can anyone put any logic to the quandry?
Thank you Maggi, Mark and Jamie. So I was wrong on the species, looks as though Maureen was right on the squirrel. I can't see they will have many beeches in Montecatini. I'll have to go back and take a look ;D
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Two trees flowering in our garden now often evade my attention, because of their small blooms in a season filled with large colourful flowers on much smaller plants. The larch we have had in a pot for 8-10 years, and it started blooming two years ago. It is probably a common european larch (L. decidua).
The dwarf birch (Betula nana) was taken as a small plant (5 cm or 2 inches) in 1995 from mountains in central Norway at an elevation of about 1000 m. Now it is 50-60 cm (just under two feet) tall, and this is the first year I have noticed it blooming.
The last three pictures were taken early to mid April last year in Frontenac Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. Even though the individual maple flower is small, there was no missing the masses of red and yellow in a woodland still brown and bare after a long winter. I am not sure which maples they are, maybe Kristl can help? Some early flowers were to be found among the trees, among them Hepatica (acutiloba?) and Claytonia virginica.
Knud
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Cork or Rock Elm, Ulmus thomasii is a little-known North American elm, not native to Nova Scotia. It is a very long lived species with extremely hard wood.
Here in Annapolis Royal, I have run into a planted clone of it in a public area; quite surprisingly, as most tree plantings here tend towards the common.
Today I paid the tree a visit & it was just at that perfect pre-leaf stage where one can see its beautiful twisted shape, furrowed bark with craggy, corky ridges, from which it gets its common name. This is a fascinating, picturesque tree, that is also, unfortunately, susceptible to Dutch Elm Disease, although I have seen many healthy, huge, old specimens in the wild in Ontario.
Like all Elms, the seed is *very* short lived (a few weeks), and is an immediate, warm germinator. It can be frozen once fully dried to preserve viability.
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Must ask a question on this thread. When I was in Texas a number of years ago I was shown a small tree. A companion suggested I bite a leaf - it makes your mouth a little numb which was quite a different sensation.. Might be good if you had a toothache. Anyone know the name of this tree?
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Pseudodentistensis ??? ;D
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Must ask a question on this thread. When I was in Texas a number of years ago I was shown a small tree. A companion suggested I bite a leaf - it makes your mouth a little numb which was quite a different sensation.. Might be good if you had a toothache. Anyone know the name of this tree?
Pat, please don't listen to David ;D ;D
It was just ONE Google click. Have a look here if this is what you mean:
http://www.answers.com/topic/toothache-tree (http://www.answers.com/topic/toothache-tree)
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..both the zenii and amoena were bought as grafted plants, and have never set seed with me.
Here a sieboldii, I think it must be a tetraploid one as it looks rather wonderful..
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Giles - Very lovely sieboldiis you've posted. I especilly like 'Ursula Grau'.
re: the obovata should it not have red petioles? Attached one I grew from seed - a cross of tripetala x obovata and you can see it has inherited the red petioles of obovata. It is already a whopping big plant with 75cm. long leaves and skyward bound. I reckon these big leafers must be enjoyed as youngsters as all too soon the flowers are up at canopy level.
johnw
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Luit David does give us some laughs so I do not mind the ribbing.
Thanks for finding it so easily Luit :-[ I know the trunk was distinctive but don't remember why. Will have to search out photos of the trip and see if I took any photos.
Now to write the name somewhere - safe!!
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.....don't get me worried, John.......
Here - M. x wieseneri
(Flowers about 6" across, fantastic fragrance, plant still no more than about 3'6" tall).
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Many shrubs flower 2 to 3 weeks earlier than last year:
Choisia ternata Aztec Pearl
Exochorda × macrantha The Bride
Syringa x persica Alba
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Luit - The Bride is lovely. I wonder why it is so hard to find in North America.
johnw
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John, when I acquired it I just had seen it first time in a garden. Now I see them in many places here. They are even used in a part of Keukenhof Flower Garden between many various bulbs, from Muscari, Frits., tulips, Narcissus etc. etc. which looks very nice.
I think they are cultivated enough here to export them??
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John, when I acquired it I just had seen it first time in a garden.
I think they are cultivated enough here to export them??
I've raised many of these from seed over the years---an easy warm germinator and comes amazingly true.
The one I grew this winter is in fact large enough already to go into the garden next week.
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John, when I acquired it I just had seen it first time in a garden. Now I see them in many places here. They are even used in a part of Keukenhof Flower Garden between many various bulbs, from Muscari, Frits., tulips, Narcissus etc. etc. which looks very nice.
I think they are cultivated enough here to export them??
Luit - The first time I saw it a Newfoundland customer had brought one back from France and asked me to source it. We imported about 500 from Holland and they sold in a flash. Everyone has been screaming for it ever since but nobody has bothered to propagate it over here.
johnw - grey, dark, 6c and horrendously damp and chilly. Much the same for the week. The early Magnolias are almost fully out.
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comes amazingly true.
Kristl - Missed this. Unfortunately they want The Bride and nothing else will do. I don't know why a name is so necessary for plants to sell in a garden centre but seedlings are a hard sell for them. You will drive down a street here in a few days and ehouse after house has Magnolia x soulangeana, yet there are so many other good ones, in fact better ones with cleaner colours. Same with Rhododendron PJM, better coloured ones are out there but no they want PJM. Maddening.
johnw
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Very strange, Skimmia japonica v. reevesiana is billed as a winter flowering evergreen shrub and performs as such in the UK and in BC. Here all the flower buds have come through the winter unscathed and yet they have a week or more to go before they open. If we have a very brief January thaw they try to open and subsequently get frozen off when serious cold returns. If we have a long autumn well into January and then the cold comes or if the cold comes early and stays then they flower in May. Puzzling. Has anyone else observed this?
johnw
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Another (better) Magnolia x wieseneri, a M. acuminata subchordata, and my all time favourite Magnolia wilsonii (nice fragrance,nice foliage too.)
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A superb x wieseneri Giles. Nothing beats it for the fragrance of the tropics and so hard to describe. Can you imagine one with a thousand flowers?
johnw
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8)
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A superb x wieseneri Giles. Nothing beats it for the fragrance of the tropics and so hard to describe. Can you imagine one with a thousand flowers?
johnw
Holy moly! I'd be grateful for one! Stunning shape ....where IS our scent button?
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Another (better) Magnolia x wieseneri, a M. acuminata subchordata, and my all time favourite Magnolia wilsonii (nice fragrance,nice foliage too.)
Fabulous to see and imagine the smell Giles :)
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A ten+ year old Pinus aristata, characterised by the resin flecs on the needles. I have this one in the rock garden. I read somewhere that they mature into magnificent trees after a few thousand years, but that they were not much of a garden tree the first 200-300 years. It is more likely that it will succumb to lowland life before it reaches 100, - but that will do me.
Knud
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Some flowering shrubs. I believe the names of the Syringa and Viburnum are right,
but if someone means that they are not, I would be happy to know:
Syringa villosae Minuet?
Syringa villosae Agnes Smith
Viburnum plicatum Cascade? 1
Viburnum plicatum Cascade? 2
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We have a Pinus aristata in our front garden, I don't know if you remember it, Knud?
I'm trying to think how old it must be now...probably planted some time around 1985.
It is around 5m high and the spread of the branches at the base is almost my arm span, say around 1.5. I am very fond of it... and it is giving a lot of pleasure, even at it's (for a bristlecone pine) very young age. I don't supppose it will be here in two thousand years, either... but it's a nice thought!
Will try to remember to get a photo tomorrow .
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We have a Pinus aristata in our front garden, I don't know if you remember it, Knud?
I'm trying to think how old it must be now...probably planted some time around 1985.
It is around 5m high and the spread of the branches at the base is almost my arm span, say around 1.5.
Yes, I do remember it, Maggi. The height and spread of your aristata tell me I may have to move my rock garden in twenty years time. I guess one should be careful with trees in rock gardens, but it is so tempting to include slow growing ones. We have several small aristatas, in troughs and in pots. Some will eventually go into the garden proper.
Knud
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One of the most obliging things about Pines is their willingness to grow for many years in pots.... meaning that even a tiny garden can enjoy a real tree! Marvelous trees!
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A superb x wieseneri Giles. Nothing beats it for the fragrance of the tropics and so hard to describe. Can you imagine one with a thousand flowers?
johnw
Well, if I try really hard! The only one I know is in Nymans Garden in Sussex. Although it's a fairly big tree, it never seems to have many flowers & they are not always on the lowest branches. Frustrating, because the scent is fantastic.
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Enkianthus campanulatus Unfortunately this doesn't flower very freely with me, possibly because it's in too much shade. Rather than risk moving it I'll try striking some cuttings this summer.
Enkianthus chinensis
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The syringia Agnes Smith would go well with the found rose here which is named "Agnes Smith" after the grave on which it was found. The same unknown rose is an unknown in California too.
Have attached two of our river red gums with the late afternoon sun highlighting them. The first is in front of our house and the other is over the creek in the paddock. It had a swing on it for many years until the rope finally gave way.
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For white bark you can't beat Betula jacquemontii, some forms are much better than others and this looks like a good one.
johnw
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Magnolia sieboldii 'Genesis'
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The Magnolia is rather lovely. A friend in our Group is especially interested in trees and shrubs and has quite a collection of magnolias, but also some other fascinating species such as Pterostyrax hispida. In our garden the real star must be Cornus controversa 'Variegata', now becoming quite a sizeable specimen.
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Lovely plants Tim, does the Pterostyrax hispida have a scent? We once visited a garden where Cornus controversa 'Variegata' was planted at the foot of a considerable bank, when we visited it was in flower and it was wonderful to see the flowers at eye height as we came down the side.
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No scent that I noticed, though it's a bit of a windy site. The most impressive Cornus I have seen is at Abbotsbury Garden, and like the one you mentioned you could look at it from a higher point. If I had a photo I would show the specimen of Myrtus luma at Mt. Usher Garden which is one of the finest trees I've ever seen! Our small specimen at home was badly damaged by this last winter.
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For white bark you can't beat Betula jacquemontii, some forms are much better than others and this looks like a good one.
johnw
John this my favourite tree,i have been told there is a purple leaved form does anybody know if this is true.
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....certainly a purple leaved Betula utilis (there's one at college), but don't know of a purple var. jacquemontii.
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....certainly a purple leaved Betula utilis (there's one at college), but don't know of a purple var. jacquemontii.
Giles that's what i thought.
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Magnolia sieboldii 'Genesis'
Magnolia grandiflora 'Kaye Parris'
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Magnolia sieboldii 'Genesis'
Magnolia grandiflora 'Kaye Parris'
Lovely shot of 'Genesis' Giles.
You're far ahead of us with grandiflora. Three of us here have buds on our grandiflora "Bracken's Brown Beauty' but with the cool weather they are desparately slow to swell. If we have a stretch of 20c+ for a couple of weeks we may see them in flower by September.
johnw
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This is a pic of Don, a member of our local group who looks like he's struggling with a set of propellers at our meeting last Saturday
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In fact this is a bloom off his tree magnolia, Magnolia macrophylla, though he said these leaves were a bit small!
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A close-up of the flower
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and a look inside
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cheers
fermi
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Mercy! That is really lovely...... you're not going to miss that in someone's garden are you?
Must not have been a windy day, or Don would never have got into the meeting... he'd have been wind-surfing, whether he liked it or not. :o
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Fabulous foliage and flower,Fermi.
Paddy
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I've had a pot grown specimen of New Zealand's Celery Pine or Tanekaha (Phyllocladus trichomanoides) for many years. The leaves are in fact modified shoots or phylloclades. I find one reference to it herein, growing at Mount Usher. Is it found elsewhere in the UK?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllocladus_trichomanoides