Fastia Japonica

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.

The larger Acer is not Japonica but Davidii. Under it’s branches is a more tender Acer palmatum Japonica var. dissectum ‘Inaba-shidare’ or the purple leaved Japanese maple.

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

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

Aucuba Japonica Variegata also known as the spotted Laurel will just about grow in any position in the garden.

 Continuing this week with a profile of plants for winter interest which also perform well in the shade, we have Skimmia Japonica Rubella

The male plant Skimmia Japonica Rubella comes to life in the Winter

We live and learn as gardeners. It is unlikely that those who fell in love with Japanese spirea (Spiraea japonica) when it was imported to the United States a century ago had any idea that the gorgeous ornamental, with its showy pink flowers, would be a threat to native ecosystems today. Yet it clearly is, and responsible homeowners should find an alternative to Spirea.

There is no question about it Skimmia Japonica Temptation is a gem of a plant.

Pieris Forest flame commonly, known as the Lily of the valley shrub.