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Index
1. Tree Care/Planting Information. (Sept. 30, 2003)
2. Interesting Shrubs for Borders or on Their Own (August 24, 2005)
Summersweet 'Sixteen Candles' (Clethra alnifolia 'Sixteen Candles')
Slender Deutzia (Deutzia gracilis)
Turkestan Euonymus (Euonymus nanus var. turkestanicus)
Hydrangea 'White Dome' (Hydrangea arborescens 'White Dome')
Black Jetbead (Rhodotypos scandens)
3. Plant hardiness tips from Galetta Nurseries. (March 27, 2005)
4. Hydrangea: Annabelle Hydrangea: Question from a customer.
5. Tree Peonies A Customer’s Question On Tree Peonies
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Articles:
Ottawa Citizen articles stimulates search for Tree Care and Planting Information. (September 30, 2003)
A September 7, 2003 article (Making Smart Choices: Thinking Climate and Scale when hand-picking trees, shrubs for city lots) by Jennifer Campbell made its way to the top of my reading pile this morning.
Going to the link cited in the article (www.ottawaforests.ca) reminded me of many useful tree-related fact sheets available from the Landowner Resource Center in Manotick. Look for the one titled "Successful Transplanting of Woodland Vegetation for Plant Salvage or Habitat Restoration Projects". This 12-page document is an excellent primer on soil and location considerations for successful establishment of wild-collected trees and perennials.
Click here for an excellent article on watering newly planted and mature trees as well as watering needs of trees near foundations.
Click on two more tree-related links which yield extensive documents on <http://216.95.181.112/main2.asp?ID=46>Common Tree Diseases and Treatments and <http://216.95.181.112/main2.asp?ID=47>Common Tree Pests and Organic Controls.
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Interesting Shrubs for Borders or on Their Own (August 24, 2005)
Conventional gardening wisdom proclaims that shrubs and small trees are the all-season structural backbone of a garden. They provide shade and wind protection to other more ephemeral plants that pulse in and out of glory throughout the season. Over the past three years we have been increasing the number of small trees and shrubs in our own gardens and right now the following are looking really good for the reasons stated in the plant profiles which follow.
If you wish to see photos of the shrubs, click on the following link (http://www.pepinierelemay.com ), choose the language of your choice, and then select the appropriate categories provided. Lemay Nurseries, suppliers of our tree and shrub stock while we stocked trees & shrubs in our nursery, have a great resource site for tree and shrub information.
'Sixteen Candles' Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia 'Sixteen Candles')
| Hardiness zone |
4 |
| Maximum height |
70 cm /28" |
| Maximum width |
70 cm / 28" |
| Exposure |
Sun / Half-shade / Shade |
| Plants attracting birds |
Yes (butterflies too) |
| Fragrant plants |
Yes |
Notes : Mounded habit. Flowers, in 6-8" racemes, are fragrant creamy white. Foliage dark green turning yellow in fall.
Culture: Summersweet likes an acidic soil, so never add lime. Cultivate as you would an azalea or blueberry bush. Sweet pepperbush is moderately salt tolerant, and can be grown near (but not directly behind) the beach. It grows naturally in poorly drained, moist soils, but once established in cultivation, it thrives on drier, well drained soils as well. It will get larger and produce more suckers if provided plenty of water.
Slender Deutzia (Deutzia gracilis)
| Hardiness zone |
4 |
| Maximum height |
1 m / 3' |
| Maximum width |
1 m / 3 |
| Exposure |
Sun/ Half-shade |
| Plants attracting birds |
No |
| Fragrant plants |
Yes |
Notes : Masses of snowy white flowers, in late May lasting for about 2 weeks, on mounding shrub. Likes well-drained soil.
Culture: Fertile, well drained soil is ideal. Deutzias are not fussy about pH requirements. Seldom bothered by pests or disease, although an occasional case of aphids or leaf spot is possible. They tend to develop dead wood and often look bedraggled; a heavy pruning right after bloom helps keep them looking good.
Turkestan Euonymus (Euonymus nanus var. turkestanicus)
| Hardiness zone |
2b |
| Maximum height |
1 m / 3' |
| Maximum width |
80 cm / 32" |
| Exposure |
Sun/ Half-shade |
| Plants attracting birds |
Yes |
| Fragrant plants |
No |
Notes : Fine-textured twigs with bluish foliage make an attractive shrub through the growing season. Very attractive pink fruits with a star shape opening when dried in fall. Tolerant to dry soil.
'White Dome' Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens 'White Dome')
| Hardiness zone |
3 |
| Maximum height |
1.25 m / 4 |
| Maximum width |
1.25 m / 4 |
| Exposure |
Sun/ Half-shade |
| Plants attracting birds |
No |
| Fragrant plants |
No |
Notes : Clouds of big, dome-shaped lacy white blooms. Strong-growing plant with dark green leaves. Strong stems hold blooms upright better than older varieties.
Black Jetbead (Rhodotypos scandens)
| Hardiness zone |
4 |
| Maximum height |
1.75 m. / 5' |
| Maximum width |
1.25 m. / 4' |
| Exposure |
Half-shade / Shade / Shade |
| Plants attracting birds |
No |
| Fragrant plants |
No |
Notes : Single, pure white flowers, 1.5 " diameter, in early June. Glossy black, bead-like berries remain attractive throughout the fall. (Caution: the berries of Black Jetbead are poisonous, highly toxic, and must not be ingested.) Great for shade - it can be used where little else will grow. Leaves turn pale yellow in fall. Form is mounding with arching branches. It has a fast growth rate - trim severely each spring. Use where trying for a naturalized look. Known to sucker: keep an eye on it.
In late May I provided similar information on Lead Plant/ Indigobush (Amorpha canascens) , Siberian Salt Tree (Halimodendron halodendron), Seven Sons Tree (Heptacodium miconioides), 'McExcel' Sentinel Apple (Malus columnar 'McExcel'), 'Hellikki' Finnish Rhododendron (Rhododendron 'Hellikki'), and 'Flowering Choice' Spirea (Spiraea japonica 'Flowering Choice'). The info. is available on Françoise Lemay Nurseries web site.
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Plant hardiness tips from Galetta Nurseries. (March 27, 2005)
I really liked Mark Dallas' recent (March 24) email to his customers. Mark and I frequently 'talk shop' and share local information and experiences. It is with this spirit of cooperation that I relay Mark's observations to our customers. We believe sharing of local gardening success/failure stories is an important role of nurseries - we want gardeners to succeed with their purchases.
The following is Mark's unedited information:
Spring already?? Well, it ought to be, but there's still 2' of snow on the ground at my nursery. Despite the weather, local gardeners are already asking me about new plants for the area and, judging from the questions, there are some misconceptions about which plants will really work well in this area. First, some general notes, and then a list of plants that generally don't do well in this area.
How I define a hardy plant.
The "hardiness zone" you live in will definitely affect how well your plants will survive -- and you can create "micro-climates" within your own property to help the less hardy plants survive even when they aren't supposed to. But, in general, you're very safe in the Ottawa area with Zone 4 plants; generally OK with Zone 5a, although many will suffer over the winter; and, Zone 5b and Zone 6 plants are a very definite risk.
Zone maps are a good guide to plant hardiness, but the maps are very general. What also helps people decide on whether or not to put in a specific plant is the experience of local gardeners. Here's my own experience with growing plants in this area, combined with the experience of hundreds of other people I've talked to over the years.
Over the past 15 years, I've tried to grow over 500 types of shrubs, roses, and trees. Based on my own (often bitter!) experience of growing plants from seedlings or cuttings, here are my thoughts on what works and, more importantly, what doesn't. Please let me know your own experience with these plants and I'll add your comments here......first, some notes:
1. By "hardy", I mean a plant that requires no winter protection other than normal snow cover.
2. Even hardy plants can die in a bitter winter -- nothing is immortal!
3. We guarantee our hardy plants for one year. If we have doubts about any plant, we'll let you know before you buy it!
4. Just because a nursery sells you a plant, that doesn't mean that they've tested it for hardiness -- there are lots of gorgeous plants for sale out there that get shipped to Ottawa from warmer climates. Many are worth a try -- just don't expect them to survive our winters.
Trees that struggle to survive:
As of spring 2005, we no longer sell trees, but here's some knowledge I've gained over the years on trees that aren't reliably hardy...
Sunburst Honey Locust, Dawn Redwood (there is a specimen at the Experimental Farm, but it's struggling), Gingko (does OK in downtown, but suffers in the west end),Magnolia, Japanese Maple, flowering Japanese cherry, flowering dogwood (Cornus kousa -- regular dogwood are very tough)
Shrubs that often don't make it:
I've killed many many of these over the years....Weeping Mulberry, Redbud, Butterfly Bush (Buddlea), Summersweet (Clethra), Daphne, Deutzia, Rhododendrons, many Azaleas (except the Northern Lights series -- tough as nails!!), Purple Smoke Tree (serious die-back about 1 of every 3 years).
Fruit trees that aren't reliably hardy...
Apples: Fuji, Delicious, Melba, Gravenstein, Northern Spy, Granny Smith.....and almost any of the fancy apples you see in the grocery store.
Cherries: any sweet cherry; Montmorency sour cherry.
Apricots: if it has "-cot" at the end of its name, it's going to suffer in our winters.
Vines that aren't reliably hardy.....
Climbing Hydrangea, Silver Lace Vine, Mahonia (Oregon Grape Holly), Wisteria, Boston Ivy (although it will often thrive in downtown Ottawa, it struggles in the west end), many varieties of clematis.
Roses that are definitely not hardy.....Any hybrid tea rose & most floribunda roses.
Hardier varieties, but winter protection is still a must: Austin roses.
Extremely hardy: Explorer, Morden, Pavement, and most rugosa / shrub varieties.
Hydrangea
Annabelle Hydrangea Question from a customer.
In mid-July my Annabelle hydrangea turns from white blooms to green. Is this because of a lack of acid soil?
C. W.
Phil's Response
I think it has more to do with moisture and natural aging of the blooms. I don't think soil acidity has any influence on the Annabelle. You might be interested in the following links for greater detail.
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/hydrangea.html
http://www.growinglifestyle.com/h/garden/hydrangea/
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Tree Peonies
Customer’s Question On Tree Peonies
Q. Good morning Phil,
Reading through your peony sale info, I never realized how many types of peonies there are. We have a tree peony, planted three years ago that has lots of healthy leaves but has never had any flowers. Are they supposed to bloom in the spring? It gets lots of sun but is planted in a damper part of the garden. Any suggestions as to why it is not flowering? M. B.
Phil’s reply
Hello M.B.,
Your question tweaked my interest on what tree peony cultural information is on the web and the following links highlight some of the more authoritative info I found.
First of all, yes tree peonies are spring bloomers. They are in fact one of the first peonies to bloom in the spring - usually about mid-May. Now to shed some light on cultural requirements of tree peonies and to help solve your bloom dilemma:
My first link, (click here) from Song Sparrow Farms (a well-known peony supplier) notes that it may take 3 years for a tree peony to come into bloom. It points out that tree peonies should be planted with the graft (usually very visible) placed about 5-6 inches below soil level for good root establishment.
My second link (click here) is from the University of Vermont. This fairly extensive fact sheet highlights that tree peonies prefer a slightly alkaline soil that is well fortified with organic material (compost or aged manure). With a rich soil they can better tolerate periods of drought; otherwise they need constant moisture for flower production. The author, gardening in USDA Zone 3, points out that flower buds may be sensitive to spring frosts – perhaps a factor this year in your tree peony not producing blooms. He suggests wrapping tree peonies for the winter (go to the link for his technique) as a means of protecting buds from spring frosts. Over the past few years we have usually wrapped our tree peony and have been rewarded with a few blooms. The last two winters I have not wrapped it – and got no blooms in the spring. Guess what I’ll be doing from now on!
My third link, from Cricket Hill Garden in Connecticut (a tree peony specalist nursery) has extensive planting and care instructions for success with tree peonies. They point out that over-watering and poor drainage are two conditions to avoid. Perhaps your wet site is the factor most likely causing your peony problem.
While at the Cricket Hill Garden site, be sure to explore the photos of the wide selection of tree peonies. Click here for Cricket Hill's site.
Hope the above gives you some clues to making your peony produce the blooms for which they are famous.
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