New Growth on Daphniphyllum macropodum

Two weeks ago the Daphniphyllum macropodum had barely started to open its new growth above emerging sprays of red floral buds:

Two weeks makes a lot of difference. The new growth stands in vivid contrast to the old:

 

Strange angle on this one to get the whole plant in frame: 

 

Even after they fade to dark green the leaves are still pleasantly dramatic.

Foliage Follow-Up: March 2015

I seldom photograph foliage well, but a couple shots turned out reasonably well this week. First is loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) with pale new growth atop the course, dark green leaves, and a backdrop of interwoven black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) branches:

Brachyglottis greyi with a backdrop of European olive (Olea europaea). I like the gray on gray.

Bloom Day: March 2015

Bloom day images are a bit delayed this week due to record setting rains, with nearly two inches falling in my area in a single day. Spring is the time of flowering shrubs in my yard:

The sweetly scented sweet olive (Osmanthus x burkwoodii):

The rains took a bit of toll on it:

Northwest staple (and potential invasive species) English laurel (Prunus laurocerasus), looking a bit like bottlebrush flowers with its many fuzzy anthers and other floral bits:

The so-called "red neck rhododendron" (Daphniphyllum macropodum) is nearly in bloom. I love the red color and the bold, horizontal leaves:

Berberidaceae represents itself well in early spring with mahonias and barberries. Here is the low-growing low Oregon grape (Mahonia nervosa) with spending purple winter foliage contrasting nicely with the yellow blooms:

An evergreen barberry, Berberis replicata:

 

Northwest staple Oregon grape, Mahonia aquifolium. Most onlinen resources get the height of this plant all wrong, suggesting it only grows to 6 feet / 2 meters. In fact in can grow three times that height in the right conditions. It develops great wine colored foliage in full sun during the winter, which fades back to green just as the bright yellow flowers emerge.



 

Viburnum x pragense never seems to stop blooming:

 

 

Pieris japonica cultivars also have along bloom period. The bumblebees seem to love them.

 

And vines! This Clematis armandii. It was supposed to be the 'Apple Blossom' cultivar which has a lovely peachy-pink blush, but unfortunately it appears it was mislabeled and is merely the white-flowered species. Still lovely though.

Vinca minor is much derided as a mundane groundcover, but the blossoms are lovely up close, and the plants are evergreen and tough as nails in dry shade once established.

Also blooming but refusing to be photographed: Cymbalaria muralis, Viola labradorica, and a few other small-flowered early perennials.

Frost Damage on Pseudopanax laetus 'Kiwi Gem'

The last six weeks of spring-like conditions caused several plants to bud out early, including my recently acquired Pseudopanax laetus 'Kiwi Gem.' This is a fairly recent Monrovia introduction which I have only had since last summer. About two weeks ago temperatures dipped down to 29° to 30°F (-2° to -1° C) overnight. Light frost coated everything but left most plants unfazed - except for the new growth on this shrubby aralia relative.

This plant is supposed to be hardy to Zone 7, but we'll see.

Transplanting Bamboo: Part 1

I have had a clump of black bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra) growing along my driveway. The foundation of the house and the hard-packed gravel of the driveway keep it in check for several years, but it eventually escaped. After creeping into a garden space with better soil and water, its roots quickly took over. I spend a day eradicating the roots and installing permanent barriers. However, I must have missed a root. A year ago seven enormous purple shoots erupted from the surface. They were so huge and perfect I couldn't bear to destroy them, so I let them grow for a season. the result was a 25 foot (7.6 m) stand of magnificent canes. The picture is a bit spoiled by the angle and the bright sunshine, but it's clear the bamboo is twice as tall as the house:

Unfortunately this shaded a lot of indoor space. Also, this clump acted as a new node of contagion and quickly sent runners through the bed. It had to go. I dug and pruned roots for about an hour until I liberated most of the root ball:

I dismantled part of the retaining all around the bed and dragged the offending clump back to the parking area by myself somehow, although it was a beast. The propane tank is a standard 5 gallon (18.9 L) tank for scale:

Lying on its side, the clump is longer than my house is wide:

Although I was able to drag the clump from its bed by myself, getting it uphill and maneuvered into its new location required four people. Pictures to follow in Part 2. And there are still rhizomes to dig up and eradicate...

The Lovely Loquat

Loquats are fully hardy and evergreen in Seattle and impart a tropical look to the garden. Each late winter my loquat tree (Eriobotrya japonica) sends out "candles" of new foliage. The new leaves are exceedingly pale and lovely, and quickly turn tough and dark green. As they unfurl, the stems below lengthen rapidly, adding 1-2 feet (30-60 cm) to each branch.

 

The paleness contrasts nicely with the wood and mature leaves. A bit of bad pruning is visible here behind one of the new shoots: 

 

Loquats are vigorous when happy. Mine gets a hard pruning a couple times a year. I have heard that I chop off branches from my loquat each year than most people who grow them in the Northwest have in total plant volume. Trimmings from last summer:

Each time I chop off enough to fill a 100 gallon (375L) compost bin:

 





The tree always bounces back quickly. The graceful leaves in the shade seem to unfurl more quickly than those in full sun. I love the contrast: