Tag: gardening

There’s a whole lotta pollinatin’ goin’ on!

Published on by edremsrola7 Comments

My cat likes to begin his day almost exactly an hour and a half before I do. Most mornings he is patient and waits until 15 or 20 minutes before my alarm goes off to jump onto the bed and begin his purring. This morning he couldn’t wait and he began to massage my chest with the kneading motion of his paws, which incidentally made me very aware that it is time for his claws to be trimmed as a few of their needle sharp tips found their way to my bare flesh.

“OUCH!”

“Purrrrpurrrrrpurrrrr”

Now that I was awake, I could hear the birds singing and smell the fresh scent of early summer drifting in through the partially open window. It was definitely lighter than nighttime, but surely it wasn’t time to get up yet, was it? I checked my clock. Nope, the alarm would not begin to chime for over an hour yet! I went ahead and crawled out of bed, ran through my morning routine and realized that even though it had rained a little overnight and the sky was full of clouds, the temperature was not too bad, so I proceeded to enjoy my granola and fresh fruit out on my patio.

I love the lower viewing perspective when I am on my hands and knees, pulling weeds or digging in the soil and adding new plants in the garden.

Some birds were continuing to sing, but not the full choir that I had heard earlier. A pair of squirrels were already busily prancing around on the thick carpet in the Douglas fir grove while a Stellar Jay dropped by the birdbath, took a quick drink and flew up into one of the tall Western Red cedars. The morning air was cool, but quite humid and I was comfortable in just a t-shirt and vest. I breathed in the sweet scent of an Azalea on my neighbor’s side of the fence, which mixed nicely with the woodsy scent of my conifers and the natural mulch created by years of old needles being shed from the small grove of giant Douglas firs nearby. The distant soft roar of morning traffic reminded me of the sound of the ocean, or perhaps a river, not too far off.

Having spent much of the past weekend catching up on weeding the front garden, I realized that a fair amount of work remained in the back and a pleasant morning like this one was the perfect time to dive in. I finished my breakfast, poured a large ice tea to carry with me in the garden, donned my gloves and in moments I was on my hands and knees digging around the soil, removing weeds and discovering new volunteer seedlings popping up here and there.

Many exciting new garden plants begin their lives as chance seedlings that are spotted by a watchful eye, nurtured and grown for years, before finding their way into commercial production. Others begin as growth mutations that are propagated and again, observed for years, before becoming marketable plants.

I love it when my garden plants drop seeds and they manage to germinate in my garden. Most often, the seedlings grow very much like the species trees. Once in a while, a seedling will exhibit dwarf or other interesting features and is worth growing and further observation. With the great selection of unique and unusual cultivars of conifers and Japanese maples in my garden, there is bound to be a lot of cross-pollination going on, opening the door to the possibility of some new and exciting plants to be found in these many naturally occurring seedlings.

Last spring one very unique looking Japanese maple seedling germinated among the 12 or 15 that came to life in my garden. I was happy to see that it had survived the winter and still looks like a unique new cultivar with its new growth this year. Time will tell if it actually becomes something worth propagating and sharing with others, but for now, it is fun to watch it grow and I will need to decide on a place to move it since it sprouted up right next to one of my blueberry plants.

Keep an eye out as you are weeding your gardens, you never know what exciting new plants you may discover!

Ed-
Conifer Lover

Hooray! Hooray! It’s a coney day!

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Hooray, they’re here! The first of the colorful little spring-time treasures have begun to show themselves. I caught my first glimpse of new developing cones just about two weeks ago. If you have been reading my blog for a few years, you will know that I always look forward to spring when the conifers begin to “flower” and their colorful little cones emerge on last year’s stems. Both male and female cones will show up along stems and upper branches on many conifers – some at a very young age, others after they have aged some years. And this treasure hunt is not limited to early spring, some conifers develop their new cones on the current seasons new flush of growth, so cone hunting season can last into summer.

Clusters of cones add interest to the garden every spring.

The first cones I spotted this season were on a few different cultivars of Abies (fir) that I have in my garden. Abies balsamea ‘Tyler Blue’ is a blue foliage form of the Balsam fir and is a very attractive tree. I was doubly pleased when I first noticed that my young specimen began to develop cones last year. These cones are not as showy as some others with their brighter colors, but the light green new cones do stand out against the bluish foliage of this great tree. Over a period of weeks, as the cones mature, the main core of the cone begins to turn light lavender-purple while the light green “wings” remain. In a month or so, the cones will have swollen and become a more solid light purple color, eventually drying to brown over the summer and into autumn.

Colorful cones create quite a spring-time show on Abies koreana ‘Silver Show’.

Another spring-time show stopper is Abies koreana ‘Silver Show’. This beautiful cultivar has very showy curved needles which are rich green on one side, and have a silvery white coating on the other. Due to the curve of the needle, its white side is exposed making the tree shimmer in any light at all – even in our gray Pacific Northwest weather. A big part of the show for me is the massive amount of purple cones that develop, in well-numbered clusters all over the upper side of the branches. My small tree had cones on it when I planted it several years ago, and it was just a young plant at the time. The skinny purple cones will fatten up and become a much deeper purple than the ‘Tyler Blue’ mentioned above.

‘Mac’s Gold’ has pretty new foliage and colorful cones to add an exciting zing to your spring garden!

One of the first spruce to show off its cones in my garden is Picea glauca ‘Mac’s Gold’. Not only do its bright pink cones emerge and begin to develop, but at the same time it begins to push its bright butter-yellow new foliage. This color combination is the cause of many a second look whenever my spring-time guests make their way to the back garden. As summer arrives, the golden foliage darkens to a light green and the cones become darker and dry to a tan and brown with warmer temperatures and longer days.

There is so much happening in the garden right now and everyday I try to make time to take a stroll, seeking out whatever tiny treasures may be emerging in the splendor of spring!

Ed-
Conifer Lover

A dazzling beauty

Published on by edremsrola2 Comments

A few years back I mentioned my Christmas list for that year, on it were three exciting conifers. All three were forms of the Serbian Spruce, a tree once quite widespread throughout Europe. Now native stands of Picea omorika are limited to a mountainous region in western Serbia and eastern Bosnia. One of the cultivars I was hoping for, I found in my local independent garden center, one I was able to obtain some scion wood to graft my own new trees, and one remains on my wish list. 

The silvery white side of the needles catch every bit a daylight and shine brightly against the contrasting green side for a dazzling effect.

I grafted four specimens of Picea omorika ‘Kamenz’ back in 2011. I am growing one of those grafted plants in a container,  two I planted in my garden and one I gave to a good friend. When young, ‘Kamenz’ is a low growing bun-shaped plant that begins to spread wider than tall, but in time, it looks like it may want to send a shoot or two in a more upward growing fashion. I suppose one might choose to allow their specimen to grow taller, but it is easy enough to prune out any upward growing shoots to encourage the low, spreading form.

Along with its great form, I love the silvery effect of the waxy coating which covers the undersides of the needles. Common to the species, ‘Kamenz’ has bi-colored needles with a glossy green top and the silvery-white underside. The natural angle of branching and the way the needles are held on each branch allow for a great view of the silvery color which make this stunning specimen literally shine in the garden.

Great low-growing, compact and spreading form is just part of the appeal with ‘Kamenz’.

As I mentioned, I am growing one of my own grafted plants in a container on my patio. For some reason, this particular graft is showing a tendency to grow with a single leader. I may give it a little encouragement with a plant stake and some pruning to see if I might be able to influence its form into more of a compact Christmas tree shape. If successful, I think it will make a delightful little holiday decoration for the front walkway someday.

Keep an eye out at your favorite independent garden center, I have a feeling this one is becoming more popular and it should become easier to find. Of course you could always ask your favorite IGC to make a special order for you!

Ed-
Conifer Lover

Something extraordinary

Published on by edremsrola6 Comments

Back in the day—the late 1970s and through the mid-80s—Jean Iseli encouraged his employees to stay alert, no matter what nursery chore they may be involved in, and be on the watch for unusual mutations growing on the hundreds of thousands of conifers being grown at any given time. That is precisely how many plants, which have come into the marketplace over the past 25 years were discovered, by the watchful eyes of the workers. Well known examples are Juniperus horizontalis ‘Mother Lode’ which was observed as a single oddity growing among thousands of young J.h. ‘Wiltoni’ plants. Picea glauca ‘Pixie Dust’ was discovered as a sport growing on Picea glauca ‘Pixie’ while P.g. ‘Rainbow’s End’ and P.g. ‘Jean’s Dilly’ were both discovered as mutations growing on Picea glauca ‘Conica’.

Picea glauca ‘Jean’s Dilly’ is truly something extraordinary!

One of those plants, Picea glauca ‘Jean’s Dilly’ had been spotted as a witches’ broom growing on a small plant in a #1 container and, as was the tradition, was brought up to the sliding glass door just outside of Jean Iseli’s office. New discoveries were brought to this location for further observation where Jean could keep an eye on them and show them off to any visitor who showed an interest. This mutation had been brought to the observation deck and caught the attention of the chief propagator, Paul Halladin, who began to propagate the mutation because of its desirably unique characteristics. After the death of his brother, André Iseli wanted to name a great new plant after Jean. During its years of observation ‘Jean’s Dilly’ was proving itself to be an extraordinary new, improved form of the old Alberta. Being grown under the name of ‘Paul’s Dwarf’ for the first years of its propagation, it was decided that the name would be changed to ‘Jean’s Dilly’ and the nursery would begin to market the plant.

‘Jean’s Dilly’ is overall a much smaller version of the Dwarf Alberta Spruce, with its annual growth of about one third that of its parent. It also has distinctively shorter, thinner needles which give the plant a finer texture and smoother appearance. ‘Jean’s Dilly’ begins its spring flush of new growth three to four weeks after ‘Conica’ which can be a handy natural protection against early frost damage. With only a couple of inches of annual growth, it remains a small plant for a great number of years and makes it a perfect candidate for growing in a mixed container with other miniature conifers or flowering plants.

Both, this great little conifer, and the memory of the man it was named for, are truly something extraordinary.

Ed-
Conifer Lover

They’re coming, and there is nothing we can do about it

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Get ready.

Spring is less than a month away. I know, you are looking out your window and think I am out of my mind, spring feels more like a  year away rather than a month, but, it’s true. Spring officially begins March 20th this year. No matter what the weather might be doing in your part of the world right now, the days are definitely longer and signs of spring are beginning to show themselves. One of the sights that ensure spring is officially here in the Pacific Northwest is when Cone Hunting Season officially begins.

Now, I can generally count on a few early cone sightings in the month of April, and the cones are reliably emerging through the month of May. I love the spring cone season! So many colors. So many details. So many tiny surprises begin to emerge on my conifers that every walk through the garden I observe something new. I am very excited about spring!

Here are a few pictures of the exciting cones I look forward to seeing this coming spring! I almost always wander my garden during springtime with my trusty magnifying glass in hand – I don’t want to miss the beautiful details as captured in these pictures.

Enjoy!

I can always count on a terrific show from Picea abies ‘Acrocona’. Its clusters of brightly colored cones cover the tree and demand attention!
Always a favorite, Pinus contorta ‘Taylor’s Sunburst’ is very pretty as tiny yellow needles and bright pink, sea-urchin like cones emerge on new extending candles.
Very pretty, lavender colored pollen cones fill out the extending candles of new growth on Pinus parviflora ‘Glauca Brevifolia’.
Abies koreana ‘Silver Show’ is known for its beautiful silvery foliage highlights, but for me, the show begins in spring with the massive clusters of purple and pink cones!
Another favorite exciting springtime sight are the emerging purple cones against the yellowish foliage of Abies koreana ‘Aurea’.

They are coming soon!

Ed-
Conifer Lover