Acer Japonica Palmatum

Notes

Compact, early flowering shrubs with jam making potential from fruit in autumn make these plants well worth cultivating. As I think you can now imagine Chaenomeles make good and often under utilised shrubs and small trees in the garden  landscape. Varieties vary from 3 feet to 12 feet in height. I grew my plants from seed supplied by the Royal Horticultural Society in the annual seed distribution.

Read Japanese Maple root and branch review

The above Acer is actually dwarfed by Nigella, which will soon be taken up as they have finished flowering. The split leaves look like a spread hand hence the name palmatum.

My Fastia Japonica is coming into full winter flower after a summer of evergreen leaves that provide interest and structure in the border. For short while the plant was treated as an indoor decoration but it has not looked back after it was planted out 2 years ago. The white pompom flowers are rich in nectar providing food for the few flying insects that are around during winter. They stand out against the dark green leaves. It is strange that a tropical style plant with large hand shaped leaves should flower so well late in our season. When the growth has been lush I have to occasionally give it a prune. I try not to cut individual leaves.

My plant came home with me in the early 1990s from Western Hills Nursery in Northern California, which still sells it today (including by mail, apparently).Much smaller on all fronts than the all-green Kerria japonica, and with single (not the bawdier puffy double) flowers, K.j. ‘Picta’ is an airy thing, perhaps 4 or 5 feet tall. Because it’s a bit of a colonizer, the potential width varies greatly; mine is now 10 feet across. I dig up suckers and share them or move them to another part of the garden, if it gets too wide, and a few times over the years when it was looking thin, I simply cut the whole thing to the g

Adam and I talked about not just the Japanese types, but also other garden-sized maples for adding interest in every season and garden situation–in pots or the high shade of woodland gardens, to full-sun locations.my maple q&a with adam wheelerQ. When I was at Broken Arrow recently, there were many choice things to look at—but I kept noticing the maples you offer, particularly. How many do you grow?A. In the collection at the nursery, I suspect we have 150 or 200 different maples, and really that’s the tip of the iceberg with this genus.Q. There are a lot of native A

The candelabra primulas, ranging from white to reddish (even bawdier than my favorite bawdy primrose!), require no care whatsoever: Plant a few in a shady, moist spot (the classic location: streamside) and let them do their thing. I started with several maybe eight years ago. If they’re happy, they will colonize, sowing around and moving a bit, with more plants some years and fewer others.The ones nearest to the edge where bed meets lawn here sow into the turf, a habit I consider generous of them, not thuggish. I simply dig out the little babies early in the month, when the foliage is the size of baby salad greens, and move them into new spots or pot them up to share with friends. They don’t miss a beat; the foliage quickly expands to nearly 12 inches.Primula japonica blooms from mid-May until almost July for me, and in the most a

I THINK MY VARIEGATED KERRIA (along with various other flowering shrubs) has decided that 2011 is the Year of Everything in Excess, covering itself in gaudy gold flowers the likes of which I’ve never seen, and spilling out into the path like never before. (You may recall from its plant profile how this shade-garden favorite looks in a “typical” year.) In the photo foreground is one of a few new whimsical gates a neighbor friend built out of some basic hardware and a few rusty old bits of tag-sale finds I’d grown tired of moving around.

Q: Can you prune Fatsia japonica plants, and if so, when is a good time and how much should you prune? DB, Co Galway

Acer Griseum, absolutely outstanding

 In your garden you may be surrounded with multiple shades of green from your trees, shrubs, plants and lawn. Fair enough