Winter Flowering Cherry
Its name describes it simply. Winter flowering cherry, Prunus X subhirtella, is a flowering cherry that blooms for winter. It is more popular where winters are cool enough to inhibit other bloom. It is less common here only because of other options for wintry floral color. Besides, slightly more floriferous flowering cherries bloom almost immediately afterward.
WIntertime bloom is actually a bit more reliable here than where it is more popular. Frost is too mild locally to damage it much, and mostly occurs earlier. Rain is mostly too light and too brief to dislodge much of the bloom. Bloom is a bit less profuse than that of other cherries because it is a bit more continuous. Therefore, it recovers from minor damage.
The relatively common sort of this uncommon flowering cherry blooms for late winter. Its bloom is slightly lavenderish pink. Some rare cultivars can bloom as early as autumn or as late as spring. A few are pendulous. Floral color ranges from white to pink. Floral form is mostly single but can be double. Deciduous foliage turns yellow or orange for autumn.
Force To Be Reckoned With
Winter flowering cherry, flowering quince, witch hazel and forsythia are finishing bloom. Later types of flowering cherry and flowering quince bloom immediately afterward. Lilac, redbud and weigela bloom only slightly later. Flowering crabapple extends the season of such flashy early bloom. It is relatively easy to force any of these for even earlier bloom.
Forcing is more popular where cool weather inhibits bloom through winter. It accelerates bloom simply by exposing it to home interior warmth. Bulbs that remain dormant in cold gardens bloom sooner in warm homes. Winter is the most popular time for forcing bulbs. It is now time to force formerly dormant deciduous stems to bloom a bit earlier for spring.
It is less wasteful to force deciduous stems to bloom than to force bulbs to bloom. Bulbs rarely survive because they exhaust their resources without replenishment. Those that do survive and have potential to bloom again may take a year to recover. Bulbs are not cheap. Deciduous stems are free, and are as disposable as other popular cut flowers.
The most popular stems to force are the fruitless counterparts of fruit trees. This includes flowering cherry, flowering crabapple and flowering quince. Flowering quince is actually not closely related to fruiting quince though. It also includes flowering apricot, flowering plum, flowering peach and flowering pear. Flowering pear is likely to smell badly though.
Stems from deciduous trees that actually produce fruit are just as easy to force. They are only less popular because they are not bred to be as pretty. Also, removal of their stems compromises fruit production. Those who plan to force such stems can leave a few extra during dormant pruning. Collection of stems should not damage or disfigure the source.
Stems are ready to force when their floral buds are just about to pop. Ideally, some buds should be slightly exposing their floral color within. A few flowers could be blooming. At that stage, bloom accelerates significantly in response to home interior warmth. Aridity can desiccate larger blooms. Otherwise, wisteria, dogwood, deciduous magnolias and perhaps azaleas are conducive to forcing.
Dual Citizenship
French peony Persian buttercup was added to one of our landscapes last year. They are not two different perennials, such as French peony and Persian buttercup. They are a group of cultivars of one species, Ranunculus asiaticus ‘French Peony’. Ranunculus asiaticus is the species of Persian buttercup. ‘French Peony’ is its cultivar.
So, is it French or Persian? Well, yes.
Ranunculus asiaticus, Persian buttercup is native to Southwestern Asia, Southeastern Europe, Northeastern Africa and elsewhere within the Mediterranean Region. This range could potentially include the Southern Coast of France within the Mediterranean Region, but much more likely includes Persia within Southwestern Asia. My guess would be that Persian buttercup is as Persian as its name says it is.
‘French Peony’ is a group of cultivars that could have been developed anywhere and given an appealing name that promotes its marketability, but was most likely developed in France, where most breeding of this particular species was done. My guess would be that ‘French Peony’ is as French as its name says it is.
Of course, French peony Persian buttercup could have been developed anywhere, even Persia, and merely given its appealing French name without actually being French. Alternatively, it could have been developed completely in France, from Ranunculus asiaticus from the Southern Coast of France, without actually being Persian. For that matter, it could have been developed in Greece from Greek stock.
To me, French peony Persian buttercup seems to be chicly cosmopolitan. I remember it as popular for urban window boxes within the greatest cities of the World, such as San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco. If I had not seen that it is also popular in Reno and Portland, I would consider it to be as Californian as so many other exotic species and varieties that are popular here.
Design and Implementation
This is so silly that I sort of like it. I mean, I found it to be sufficiently amusing to get a picture of it to send to Brent. It is a nice large urn, with an Aeonium arboreum that is a bit bolder than any of mine, and delightfully blue Senecio mandraliscae. It has nothing else going for it, but perhaps its simplicity is an asset. It might look junky if it contained any other well planned but comparably maintained material.
My only personal criticism of its design is that it is located on otherwise useful pavement, where pedestrian traffic must divert around it; but I am merely a horticulturist, not a landscape designer. For all I know, it could be there to intentionally soften the expansiveness of all that useful pavement, without occupying too much of it. I would also say that the urn should be outfitted with species that are more tolerant of the partial shade of its particular exposure, but obviously, these two simple species are reasonably happy there.
My more realistic criticism is of its implementation. Is it really too difficult for so-called maintenance ‘gardeners’ to maintain this as the landscape designer who designed it thought they should be able to? Must landscape designers design their landscapes with the expectation that their work will not be maintained as expected? Although it is delightfully silly, it might be more visually appealing if the Senecio mandraliscae cascaded a bit more over the edge. Alternatively, it could be confined to the upper surface of the urn if a third perennial were allowed to cascade somewhat over the edge; but again, I am no landscape designer. The urn is nice, but might be nicer with a bit of foliar color, form and texture over some of its exterior.
Six on Saturday: 6 X
Rhody, Carson and I are still here. We should be in Washington now. We were supposed to leave at about midnight between last Tuesday and Wednesday. Now, we plan to leave at about midnight between Sunday and Monday, and stay in the Pacific Northwest for as long as initially planned. I wrote about the delay earlier. It is why I posted no pictures of our trip yet. Instead, there are three ‘X’s and three eXotics, although the last might really be an undocumented native species. The first three ‘X’s are between generic and specific names of three interspecific hybrids. By next week, I should get six pictures from Oregon and Washington. Incidentally, the Official State Flower of Washington was nicely named after Rhody.
1. Prunus X subhirtella, winter flowering cherry was featured for the garden column last week, or later in some papers. This picture was not used. I did not want it to go to waste.
2. Pelargonium X hortorum, zonal geranium is nothing special, but I happen to like this red too much to discard it after it was clobbered by a car. I can only hope it was a Buick.
3. Freesia X hybrids, freesia is likewise nothing special, but got my attention just after I mentioned feral freesia in the garden column. It is misplaced but too colorful to be feral.
4. Vinca major, greater periwinkle is an aggressively invasive naturalized exotic species. Less pretty aggressively invasive naturalized exotic species would replace what I remove.
5. Allium triquetrum, wild onion is supposedly another aggressively invasive naturalized exotic species. It is so established that I had always considered it to be a native species.
6. Thuja plicata, Western red cedar is supposedly a naturalized species, but could be an undocumented native species. No one seems to know; but it is not aggressively invasive.
This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/
Victorian Box
In the right situation, Victorian box, Pittosporum undulatum, is a nice small to mid-sized shade tree with dense foliage, sculptural branch structure and pleasantly fragrant spring bloom. In the wrong situation, it drops enough leaves, flowers and sticky seeds and bits of seed capsules to make quite a mess. This finely textured and sometimes sticky debris is easily absorbed into thick, shade tolerant ground cover like Algerian ivy, but is difficult to rake from pavement and to clean from roof gutters. Besides, even though Victorian box is not a large tree, the roots can eventually become aggressive enough to displace pavement.
Young trees grow rather vigorously to about ten feet tall and wide, and then slow down somewhat as they continue to grow to as much as three times as tall and wide. They are easily contained with occasional selective pruning. The small, clustered flowers are not as impressive as their fragrance, adding only a bit of pale yellowish white color over the exterior of the rounded canopy. Some people, as well as birds, like the greenish olive-sized fruit that turns orange and eventually splits open to reveal sticky orange seeds within. (‘Pittosporum’ translates into ‘sticky seed’.) Leaves are about two or three inches long, or longer, with ‘undulating’ margins.
Selection of Appropriate Trees
Japanese maples are among my least favorite of trees. There; I said it! Even though I can not think of any single species of tree that has so many distinct and fascinating cultivars, I am bothered by how Japanese maples have been denigrated by their own overuse. That which is naturally an understory tree (lives in the partial shade of larger trees), which should be thoughtfully selected for its individual form, texture and color, to function as a focal point specimen tree, has become too common and misused.
Every tree should be thoughtfully selected for its particular application. The ultimate size, shape, shade, potential mess, cultural requirements, root characteristics and foliar characteristics (evergreen or deciduous) all need to be considered. Japanese maples are certainly appropriate for certain applications, but not every application. The same goes for London plane, crape myrtle, Chinese pistache and any overused tree.
Crape myrtles and Japanese maples are popular partly because they do not get too big, and are proportionate to small spaces. However, they do not get big enough for other situations. Although a silver maple will not fit into an atrium as well as a Japanese maple would, it is a much better shade tree for a big lawn. Italian cypress can actually get taller, but its very narrow shape makes a minimal shadow. Monterey cypress gets broader, but the shade is too dark for lawn.
Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a perfect tree. Jacaranda is of moderate size, has a good shape, and makes medium shade, but is quite messy, particularly over pavement. Silk tree is both messy and has aggressive roots that can break pavement, but just like jacaranda, it looks great and is not a problem surrounded by ground cover. Both are deciduous, so allow warming sunshine through in winter. An evergreen tree that would be better to obscure an unwanted view should not get so large that it also blocks a desirable view for a neighbor.
Palm trees are very different from all other trees in that they have no branches, only leaves. As they grow out of reach, they will need to be groomed by professional arborists. Palms only grow upward, and can not be pruned around utility cables. They will need to be removed if their trunks get too close to high voltage cables.
I certainly do not intend to convince anyone to not plant any trees. I merely want people to consider the variables involved with the selection of trees that are appropriate to each particular application. Trees are long term commitments. Problems caused by improper selection can be difficult or impossible to correct later.
Horridculture – Traditional Delay
This article is scheduled to post at midnight between March 19 and March 20, which is precisely when we were scheduled to leave for the Pacific Northwest. We were supposed to arrive on the Kitsap Peninsula late in the afternoon, and likely continue to the coast the following morning. Now, we will not leave until midnight between Sunday, March 24 and Monday, March 25. I know that it is only five days later, but it changes the entire schedule. I should still be there in time to prune the apple trees prior to bloom. I do not know when we will return now, but it will likely be about Thursday, April 4.
Then, two and a half weeks later, we leave again for eleven days in Beverly Hills in Los Angeles County, and Buckeye near Phoenix in Arizona. That would involve leaving Wednesday, April 24, and returning on Saturday, May 4. That should be before the weather gets too warm in Arizona to prune the mesquite trees there comfortably. I suppose that the second trip does not necessarily need to be delayed just because the first trip was. We could still leave on Wednesday, April 17 and return on Saturday, April 27 as originally planned, even if that leaves less time between the two trips. Perhaps I should not worry about this until we return from the first trip!
This seems to happen annually. Regardless of how intent I am on leaving on time, we encounter a delay of some sort of another. Ultimately, we leave at about the same time annually, but only after planning to leave about a week earlier, just as we planned for the previous few years. I can not complain, of course, since the delay is justified, but that is another topic for another post.
Cabbage
Resemblance to lettuce is merely coincidental. Cabbage, Brassica oleracea, is instead a close relative of very dissimilar vegetables. Brussels sprout, broccoli and cauliflower are different varieties of the same species. So are collard, kale and kohlrabi. All are winter cole crops. (Cabbage comprises the varieties of capitata, tuba, sabauda or acephala.)
Cabbage became seasonable last autumn. Its last phase is now maturing. It grows most easily from cell pack seedlings. Alternatively, it can grow from seed, which starts about a month and half earlier. Cabbage is biennial, so will go to seed if it stays in the garden too late. Warm weather initiates and accelerates the process, which ruins flavor and texture.
Green cabbage is the most popular type. Red cabbage is the second most popular type. Dutch white cabbage often classifies simply as a pale type of green cabbage. A mature cabbage weighs about a pound or two. Its loose outer foliage can be a foot to nearly two feet wide. Within more ideal climates, some varieties grow slower but significantly larger. With rain through winter, irrigation is probably unnecessary. Soil should be organically rich.
Tony Tomeo 