Trees in parks and gardens 2010

[johnw]

Uli  - I had no idea there were name cultivars of Toona.  Is the new growth pinkish on 'Flamingo'?

To both you and Paddy I can't comment on the habit of the Toona in N.S. or at my friend's as he has so many trees his plant is jammed in tightly, one only sees the leaves against the sky - obviously good usage of it.

I will try to visit him soon and take more photos. He has a great collection.

johnw

[Paddy Tobin]

Uli,

Your mention of a Toona cultivar called, "Flamingo" reminds me of Acer negundo 'Flamingo' which was a tree found in every garden centre here about twenty years ago. The young foliage was pink and white edged and was absolutely disgusting. So, the very name "Flamingo" would put me off seeking out this Toona cultivar.

Paddy

[Gail]

There is a Toona 'Flamingo' at Wisley (picture here- http://www.flickr.com/photos/33037982@N04/3511736064/)
I bought a young plant once but it died the first winter.

[Paddy Tobin]

I have been taking life very gently here over the last few days and ventured out to take a few photographs of trees around the garden.

Starting with a disappointment:
Acacia melanoxylon obviously not going to resprout at this stage, dead, a victim to the hard winter.
Acer negundo - probably looked on as a weed tree to forumists in North America but I have four trees here grown from seed and they do a nice job of enclosing the garden shed.
Acer palmatum, grown from seed
Aesculus hippocastanum with Fraxinus excelsior on the boundary of the garden
Aesculus pavia setting seed - hope they develop.

Paddy

Gail, just spotted your post and will have a look in a second. P.

Post Scriptum: No, Gail, I wouldn't give it garden room. Too much pink.

[Paddy Tobin]

A few more. Paddy

Carpinus betulus 'Fastigiata', a group of three at the top of this bed. The lower branches have been removed to allow planting underneath. This tree does not retain its upright habit and these three will meet in a few years.
Cedrus atlantica - I hate this tree
Cornus controversa variegata - Mary loves this tree
Crataegus crus-galli, a group of three, excellent autumn colour but dangerous thorns approximately 8cm long
Crataegus prunifolius - lovely scent at the moment, good big haws.
Crinodendron hookeri and Acer brilliantissimum, the latter a good small tree to brighten a dark corner.

[Gail]

Cedrus atlantica - I hate this tree

How can you hate it??  At that size it is a fairy tale tree, just needs a dusting of snow.

[Paddy Tobin]

Gail,

I have a general dislike of conifers. They generally fail to signal the changes in season and remain their dull same through the year. There are a few exceptions which I like but not many.

Paddy

[johnw]

Cedrus atlantica - I hate this tree

How can you hate it??  At that size it is a fairy tale tree, just needs a dusting of snow.

And if we could only grow it!  There are several tortured ones in the Province.

johnw

[Paddy Tobin]

John,

Your climate has spared you the monotonous dowdiness of permanent dull green. How lucky you are. Why do I grow it? Well, I don't. Mary does.

Paddy

[Gail]

Can't you use it as a climbing frame for a Tropaeolum or something, Paddy to spare yourself the "monotonous dowdiness"?

[Paddy Tobin]

Gail,

I shall suggest same to Mary as she is fond of the tropaeolum. Personally, I would prefer the chainsaw solution.

Paddy

[johnw]

John,

Your climate has spared you the monotonous dowdiness of permanent dull green. How lucky you are. Why do I grow it? Well, I don't. Mary does.

Paddy

But it's the blue one that struggles here and it's the one we want!  And even February green is better than white in this climate

johnw

[Paddy Tobin]

So, John, in the land of winter white even the dullest green is worth space. Just shows, there is space for almost every plant in some garden. I've even seen some members of the forum growing dandelions ("Piss-a-beds" to us in our youth)/

A few more trees from the garden.

Gymnocladus dioica, The Kentucky Coffee Tree we spoke of earlier in this thread. Note that the trunk has a number of kinks where the apical bud died back overwinter and a side bud sprouted the following spring. I hope that this tree will get itself going at some stage as it is such a nice thing.

Cydonia oblonga, Quince Tree, excellent blossom in spring and beautiful fruit in autumn, the source of marmelada.

Juglans regia - a young plant but eventually...

Platanus orientalis 'Digitata' - planted on my fiftieth birthday and I reckon this is going to be a great tree when I reach one hundred.

Quercus cerris - hardly ornamental but an excellent background tree.

Paddy

[Stephenb]

Have just had a chance to read throught this interesting thread. I have an interest in (unusual) edible trees/shrubs (which is most species, if one includes famine food plants...) and have started a couple of hundred species mostly from seed the last 15 years and the area I'm using was originally infested with Honey Fungus, so I've systematically dug over the area removing all tree roots before first planting potatoes for a year and then replanting (no idea whether this strategy will work, but with a wide spread of species some will work). Most are still quite young so nothing much to show.  

A couple of comments prompted by posts above:

Gymnocladus - it survives here (min. -24C the last 15 years), but grows incredibly slowly and is now no more than 20 cm after perhaps 10 years from seed!

Paulownia tomentosa: I got hold of some seed about 8 years ago and they germinated quickly. I had heard of folk in milder climates than mine who had lost plants and I saw one at Kew that had been cut down and was was growing strongly from the root (I had assumed that this was due to frost damage). I therefore didn't give it much hope, expecting at best it to regrow from the root each year. The last few winters were mild and it came through with only slight damage at the tips. Then we had this last very severe winter where it was exposed to -24C and 3 months of continuous sub-zero temperatures with little snow cover. I was certain it was dead. To my great surprise a week ago, I notice that there were shoots appearing right to the top and it wasn't damaged at all! It is now 3-4m high and still in a nursery bed waiting for a permanent position. I've decided I don't really have space for it and have offered it to the botanics...

Another tree that suprised me with its hardiness (and I don't think it has been mentioned before) I saw first in a botanical garden in Hawaii, the Paper Mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera. Surely a tree commonly grown for its bark fiber in the Pacific Islands would survive my Norwegian winter - sounded absurd... Well, I found a seed source and thought I would try it as a pot plant as it has really interesting foliage. They germinated, but I left the plant in the garden one winter. Miraculously, it survived! I later discovered that the tree actually originated in northern China, hence its hardiness. I had it for 6 years, it flowered at about 1-2m high but died that winter which wasn't that extreme. I had had 2 trees originally and after my discovery gave one to the botanics here. Luckily, they still had it and they took cuttings for me and returned the tree to me. The last time I had it for 5 years, but it now seems to have died again in this hard winter. A couple of pictures of the leaves below, the last one from a tree at Kruidtuin, Leuven in Belgium:

  

[johnw]

Stephen  - I am happy to hear the Broussonetia turned out to be hardier than expected.  I first fell in love with it when Hugh Johnson's book on trees  first came out in the 1970's.  There was a remakable picture of it in that book.  We saw huge trees on the main street in Williamburg, Virginia.  Another was Kalopanax pictus that has proven to be very tough here; again huge old trees at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston.  They sent me seeds and I passed the seedlings around in Nova Scotia and all are doing well.

I went back to that book as there was another tree, an extraordinary specimen of Zelkova carpinifolia growing in Devon, that I have always wondered about its hardiness.

johnw