Flowering Cherry trees contribute most to the floral pageantry of spring blossom and they are easy to grow. Cherries are graceful and well shaped trees and many varieties have excellent Autumn colour. (Scarlet leaves of Prunus sargentii and pubesens, yellow of hybrids Pandora or Tai-Haku or coppery Ukon.)
Historically most varieties originate from China and Japan including the doubles called Yae zakura. Special parties and holiday trips are arranged to visit flowering cherries in Japan where they are revered as inspiration for artists and warriors as a symbol of purity.
Different species have different habits and the ultimate shape of a Cherry tree is in the DNA. For a small space a narrow upright fastigiated (clusters of erect branches often appearing to form a single column) tree resembling a short Poplar may be useful. Prunus Yedoensis erecta for example.
Tulip or wine glass shaped are broader but still useful in smaller gardens Prunus Hillieri Spire. This sort can add height to a garden design without requiring too much ground space. The circle around the tree helps water to penetrate, avoids competition from grass and looks aesthetically pleasing.
Upright spreading varieties such as Tai Haku are the most familiar. Prunus Spontanea and Okame are recommended varieties.
Weeping or pendulous trees are the opposite of fastigiate and are useful near ponds and are generally lower growing like Prunus Kiku-Shidare.
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There are several other standard habits including Conical or Cone maintained in shape by pruning. For smaller gardens the Bushy topped varieties like Prunus Morello and the Autumnalis may suit. Another variety of note is Prunus Shirotae with a flat topped appearance when mature that is useful when a distant view is
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Today, frequent GPOD contributor Cherry Ong is taking us along on a garden tour she was able to go on in June. The tour was part of a four-day plant-study weekend organized by the Vancouver Hardy Plant Group, and the tour visited some beautiful gardens near Vancouver, Canada.
Can I grow acai berry trees? Often compared to the blueberry for its similar nutritional benefits, acai products made from this trendy superfood have been finding their way onto grocery store shelves. But due to their short shelf life, fresh berries are difficult to purchase outside acai berry growing zones. Learn all about how to grow acai berries at home.
Daffodils are classified into 13 divisions and currently one of the most popular is Division 8 Tazetta Narcissi. These are a group of low growing daffodils that are at home in rockeries or containers.
The Japanese poetic work, ‘Manyoshu’ published in 759 AD but written 300-400 years prior selected 7 flowers for Autumn. This corresponds to the 7 Herbs of spring reported on an earlier post.
Abeliophyllum distichum also called White Forsythia is more refined than traditional yellow Forsythia to which it is distantly related, both being part of the Olive family.
Ornamental Japanese Maples are widely available for planting in your garden. The autumn colouring makes these trees spectacular when planted en mass in a woodland or Japanese garden setting.
It shows how long this blog has been operating. The Rio Olympics 2016 will be the third time we have commented on suitable Olympic flowers. See Beijing 2008 and London 2012 below. Today is the ‘Anniversary Games’ in London a curtain raiser for the Brazil games. For Brazil we should start with the nut (OK so that is the author) and then the Cacti as he is a prickly sort of guy. Feeding plants and flowers with fertiliser or hormone treatment will not fall foul of the drug testing rules – there are no plant urine samples to test!
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.
The leaves of this Hydragea Aspera are one of its key features. As with other Aspera subspecies the branches and leaves are ‘strigose’ which botanically means ‘beset with appressed straight and stiff hairs’ that means rough and furry to me.
Lilacs are members of the Syringia family and are named for the colour. There are deep lilacs verging on violet and light pinkish lilacs even some pretty floriferous white flowering Lilacs.