IMARCHED UP THE HILL and stuck my face in a stand of twig willows and dogwoods the other day, starved for some color in this relentlessly mud-toned non-winter. The world looked really bright and shiny through their gold and red twigs, and then I remembered the giant pussy willows (Salix chaenomeloides, cut and stuck in a vase, above) down by the road and went to pay them a visit as well. Time to sound another cry in favor of these easiest of plants–and offer a new source of an incredible variety of willows, in particular. [read more…]
deciduous
all warm and fuzzy about the world of willows
February 6, 2012 By 25 Comments
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great shrub: intermediate hybrid witch-hazels
January 28, 2012 By 36 Comments
ILOST A LOT OF SHRUBS last year, between deliberate culling required by the garden’s age (twenty-five overgrown years!) and a freakish late-October snowstorm that then took even more than were in my giveback plans. One silver lining—or should I say golden and coppery, perhaps?—was that spots opened up for some witch-hazels, or Hamamelis, and I’m enjoying the first rewards from my young plants like the intermediate hybrid called ‘Jelena’ (above) right now. [read more…]
great shrub: fothergilla, a multi-season star
October 23, 2011 By 18 Comments
SOME OF THE FIRST SHRUBS I PLANTED here 25 years ago are looking a little past their prime (as is their keeper), so I was cheered today to read an entry for Fothergilla major (above) in a woody plant encyclopedia that said some specimens have been witnessed to look good even after 60 years. Coming up momentarily is Fothergilla’s second big moment of the growing season—its autumn show (above)—so it seemed like a good time to recommend this true multi-season beauty. [read more…]
sentimental shrub: viburnum sieboldii
September 5, 2011 By 10 Comments
COARSE AND SLIGHTLY UNKEMPT AS IT MAY BE, Viburnum sieboldii was one of my first viburnums and is still beloved here. And as if it knows it has some rough edges to make up for, it gives me little extras, in addition to being easy to grow. There is fruit the birds enjoy that evolves through several colors as it ripens over a long period, and foliage that smells like a somewhat funky pineapple to me when rubbed or crushed (one not-quite-aroma-therapeutic way to tell if V. sieboldii is the plant you’re looking at). [read more…]
great shrub: aralia elata ‘silver umbrella’
August 22, 2011 By 10 Comments
IHAVE ALREADY CONFESSED MANY TIMES OVER to a love of the genus Aralia. One fairly recent acquisition, bought as a young grafted shrub maybe five years ago, is finally shaping up enough to cause people—and a happy frenzy of bees and wasps—to really take notice this time of year. Aralia elata ‘Silver Umbrella,’ a variegated form of the Japanese angelica tree, is in fine form. [read more…]
