Plant of the Month - January 2023
GENERAL INFORMATION: Hamamelis × intermedia cultivars are crosses between Japanese witch hazel (H. japonica) and Chinese witch hazel (H. mollis). These are wonderful additions to the winter garden with flower colours ranging from pale yellow to oranges and reds, with some creams. Our North American native forest understory small tree, H. virginiana, flowers earlier in the fall. It is wonderful walking underneath (or beside) and looking up at the yellow leaves illuminated by the sun, highlighting the yellow flowers. The seeds of all these ripen in the fall giving rise to the name - Hamamelis, Hama = same time, Melis = apple or fruit.
Synonym: H. x intermedia ‘Copper Beauty’.
Common Name: Witch Hazel.
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena'.
Life Cycle: Vase shaped deciduous Shrub.
Height: to 3-4 m, spreading to 3-4 m.
Bloom Time: Late December to March in Toronto.
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena' - close up.
Flower Colour & Size: The spidery flowers are about 2.5 cm long, consisting of four thin wavy petals, alternating with the pointed sepals of the purple red calyx. The petals appear copper coloured but have red bases, then orange with yellow tips at maturity. The younger tips are red. They curl up in cold weather, only to reproduce the display when the warmth returns. Unfortunately, my cultivar is unscented.
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena' summer leaves and fall colour.
Leaves: The short petioled oval leaves are rough, about 10 cm long, with wavy, almost toothed margins. Fall colour is brilliant orange scarlet in full sun but mostly yellow in shade.
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena' fruit.
Fruit: The seeds are in a green capsule becoming brown and woody by October. One or two hard black elliptical seeds are projected 2-3 m when the capsule splits open. To collect, harvest the almost ripe capsules and place in a mesh bag in the warm.
Range & Habitat: H. japonica grows in the mountains in Japan. H. mollis is from forests in southern China. It is the most fragrant of the species. Our native H. virginiana is a small understory tree in wooded ravines.
CULTIVATION:
Plant: where it can be seen from your home, preferably on the south side so the winter sun will shine through illuminating the flowers.
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena' Dec 31.
Light: Full sun to part shade.
Soil: Preferably acid, organically rich, well drained soils. All my cultivars grow happily in alkaline soil.
Water: Constant moisture is best.
USDA Hardiness: Zone 5-8.
Pruning: This cultivar may become too large. Prune in the spring after flowering to shape the shrub and to control size. Remove non-flowering branch tips to improve appearance before the buds open.
Propagation: By Seed. It will differ from the hybrid parent. Use repeated cycles of 20°C, then 4°C for 3 months each. Germination is very prolonged.
Vegetative - Cuttings are difficult to overwinter. Grafting or budding will produce plants faster. Layering is possible if you want only one or two plants.
Companion planting: Hellebores, spring bulbs and woodland perennials.
Problems: Insect damage to leaves, powdery mildew. Watch for suckers from grafted root stock.
References:
https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder
Royal Horticultural Society Plant Collector Guide: Witch Hazels. Lane, Chris: Timber Press, 2005. ISBN 0-88192-678-7.
Text and images supplied by Anna Leggatt (Toronto Master Gardener)
Plant of the Month - December 2022
GENERAL INFORMATION:
We always had a Christmas Rose flower arrangement on our festive table in England when I was young. My Mother had previously surrounded the plant with an open box in the fall. This was covered with glass if the temperature dropped below freezing. We usually had flowers to bring inside.
A friend gave me a small division of Helleborus niger ‘Praecox’ over forty years ago. This was from a clone in Vancouver. It starts to bloom in our Toronto garden in the fall, sometimes in the 3rd week of October. I cover it so I can pick flowers if weather permits. It divides easily, sections more or less falling apart, unlike the other Helleborus niger plants I grow.
Common Name: Christmas Rose, Black Hellebore, St Agnes Rose.
Helleborus niger 'Praecox' - buds October 27, 2022.
Life Cycle: Herbaceous evergreen perennial.
Height: to 30 cm, spreading to 40 cm.
Bloom Time: Early November to April in Toronto.
Flower Colour & Size: Bowl shaped, 7 cm across, usually single flowered with 5 white, long lasting, petaloid, green based sepals, sometimes fading to pink. The petals are reduced to small green nectaries below numerous yellow stamens and 5 green capsules.
Helleborus niger 'Praecox' November 11 2022.
Leaves: Dark green, leathery compound leaves with 7-9 irregularly toothed, palmate leaflets.
Helleborus niger 'Praecox' - leaves.
Range: Helleborus niger is native to Southern and Central Europe.
Habitat: It grows in alpine areas and montane woodlands.
CULTIVATION:
General Care: Cut back old leaves in spring when young leaves appear to prevent Hellebore Black Death (virus).
Plant: As a specimen, close to house, to enjoy bloom in winter.
Light: Semi-shade to full deciduous shade.
Soil: Neutral to alkaline, humus rich soils.
Water: Moist, well drained with medium amounts of water.
USDA Hardiness: Zone 3 - 8.
Companion planting: Spring bulbs, Hosta, ferns.
Propagation: Seed (if any - may be too cold for pollinators): fresh sown is best. Older seed requires soaking. Then use repeated cycles of 20°C, then 4°C for 3 months each. Germination is slow.
Divide carefully in spring.
Problems: Rot with winter wet. Slugs eat flowers. Black death of Hellebores.
Helleborus niger 'Praecox' - winter damage.
References:
https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org
Alpine Garden Society Encyclopedia of Alpines, Vol I.
Text and images supplied by Anna Leggatt (Toronto Master Gardener)
Plant of the Month November 2022
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Holly berries were an important part of our winter decorations in England when I was young. We checked all the holly trees on the farm in October for the best potential crop. We took a sled to collect branches just before Christmas, hoping for some ice or snow. Some vigorous trees never had berries. I eventually learned these were male.
English holly, Ilex aquifolium, is not hardy in Toronto. However, I found the Merserveae Hollies. Kathleen K. Meserve crossed Ilex aquifolium (English Holly, hardy to Zone 7) with I. rugosa (Tsuru Holly, hardy to Zone 3) in the 1950s. A patent for ‘Blue Princess’ was issued in 1975. I now grow several plants.
Common Name: Blue Holly
Ilex x meserveae 'Blue Princess'.
Cultivars: Ilex × meserveae ‘Blue Prince’, 'Blue Boy' & 'Blue Girl’, 'Blue Stallion' & 'Blue Maid’, 'China Girl’ & ‘China Boy’ (green foliage), ‘Castle Spire’ & ‘Castle Wall’ (narrow), ‘Little Rascal’ & ’Scallywag’ both male, 0.7 m high, both will pollinate other hollies. Many hollies have patent names.
Life Cycle: Broad-leaved evergreen shrub.
Height: 3-5 m.
Bloom Time: April, May.
Flower Colour & Size: Flowers on old wood. Small (3 mm) clusters of scented, white, 4-petalled flowers, with male and female on separate plants (dioecious). (Male have stamens, females have stamens without pollen bearing anthers.)
Ilex x meserveae 'Blue Princess' female flowers.
Close up of female flowers without anthers.
Fruit: Glossy bright red, 6 cm berries, from September through winter, or until eaten by birds.
Ilex x meserveae 'Blue Princess' berries in early winter.
Leaves: Shiny, blue-green 7 cm oval leaves with wavy margins and prominent spines, growing from purple stems.
Habitat: Garden hybrid.
Environmental Use: Pollen and nectar in spring. Fall and winter food for birds. Year round shelter.
CULTIVATION:
Plant: A male plant is necessary for pollination and berry formation. One male shrub is enough to pollinate five female shrubs of the same group if planted in proximity.
Light: Sun to part shade.
Soil: Neutral to slightly acidic.
Water: Average, moist well drained soil.
USDA Hardiness: Zone 4.
Planting: Use as a hedge, a specimen or in a mixed shrub border with more neutral soil tolerant rhododendrons such as ‘P.J.M.’
Pruning: As necessary, after the flowers form. Also a careful early December pruning for decorative branches indoors or in planters.
Propagation: Hybrid, so seed will not breed true. Also very slow germination. Check if Plant Protected. Take softwood cuttings in the late spring and early summer.
Problems: Usually problem free but may need protection from winter sun scorch. Leaf miner, scale, powdery mildew can occur.
References:
https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder
https://web.extension.illinois.edu/shrubselector
Text and images supplied by Anna Leggatt
Plant of the Month - October 2022
GENERAL INFORMATION:
I first met members of the Witch Hazel group when I came to Canada nearly 60 years ago. I admired the early spring flowers and the brilliant fall colour. 20 years later I saw Fothergilla in full flower. (Both these families are members of the Saxifragales!) Fothergilla made attractive low mounds covered with white, slightly scented bottle-brush flowers. With sun, fall colour was outstanding. However, they were dull during the summer months. Then I read about some hybrids with summer blue foliage. A sport of ‘Mount Airy’ had the bluest foliage. A patent for ‘Blue Shadow’ was issued in 2005. One was growing in my garden a few years later
.
Fothergilla x intermedia 'Blue Shadow'.
Common Name: Fothergilla Blue Shadow, Witch Alder, Bottlebrush.
Life Cycle: Multi-stemmed deciduous shrub.
Height and Spread: 1-2 m.
Bloom Time: April, May
Fothergilla x intermedia 'Blue Shadow' Inflorescence.
Flower Colour & Size: White, fragrant, 4-5 cm bottle-brush spikes of male and female flowers, both without petals. Male flowers have glowing white filaments and small yellow stamens. Flowering starts just as the leaves unfold.
Fothergilla x intermedia 'Blue Shadow' - Summer foliage.
Leaves: Rounded, rough, toothed leaves with short petioles, about 6 cm long. Mid green at first, changing to powdery blue in the summer. Fall colour is a brilliant mixture of red, orange and yellow.
Fothergilla x intermedia 'Blue Shadow' - Changing Fall Colour.
Range & Habitat: Hybrid between F. major (2-3 m tall from montane US SE), and F. gardenia (up to 1 m tall from US SE coastal plains).
CULTIVATION:
Light: Full sun to part shade.
Soil: Well drained, preferably slightly acidic. I have 3 different Fothergilla. Two are in shade and in slightly acid soil. The third has 6-8 hours sun and is planted in alkaline soil. All grow well.
Water: Constantly moist soils.
USDA Hardiness: Zones 4-8.
Companion planting: Small rhododendrons, azalea, Japanese maples, ornamental grasses.
Propagation: Buy from a licensed propagator. Plant patented, so no cuttings or donating suckers from your home garden. Seeds rarely form and are slow to germinate and will differ from parent as the plant is a hybrid. Keep seeds warm and moist for 6 months followed by 3 months cold stratification.
Problems: Few. Dislikes waterlogged soil. Deer resistant.
References:
https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org
Text and images supplied by Anna Leggatt
Plant of the Month - September 2022
Common Name: Japanese Painted Fern
GENERAL INFORMATION:
I have always liked ferns from when I was a child and had a hidey-hole in a fern bank. I first saw Japanese Painted Ferns on an ORGS garden trip about 30+ years ago. They were quickly added to our woodland garden. Garden centres soon had choices so I looked for better colours and new named varieties. Often similar looking cultivars have different names.
Athyrium niponicum var. pictum - pinnae.
Many of our plants have grown into large clumps and have been divided. Some dwindled after several years but many have hybridized and produced small plants in parts of our garden, with colours from green to burgundy-silver.
These are easy to grow, brighten up woodland beds and will survive some drought once established. It was rightly chosen 2004 Plant of the Year.
Cultivars:
Athyrium niponicum ‘Burgundy Lace’: New fronds purple with silvery stripes, becoming more silver as they age.
Athyrium niponicum ‘Joy Ride’: Crested, larger, more blue-green. Zone 3.
Athyrium niponicum var. pictum - Unknown Crested forms.
Athyrium niponicum ‘Lemon Cream’: Fronds with scattered with lemon-cream blotches. Zone 5.
Athyrium niponicum ‘Thrill Seeker’: Crested, lighter colour, more frilly than A. n. ‘Joy Ride’. Zone 3.
Athyrium niponicum ‘Silver Falls’: Longer arching fronds, more green-silver.
Athyrium ‘Ghost’: Silver grey, vigorous, to 75 cm tall. Found by Nancy Swell about 25 years ago. It is probably a natural hybrid of the Japanese painted fern and the European lady fern. I obtained one of her original plants.
Athyrium ‘Ghost’.
Other cultivars include ‘Crested Surf’, ’Branford Beauty’, ‘Pewter Lace’, ‘Ursula’s Red’, and ‘Wildwood Twist’.
Best to look before you buy and choose the best colours.
Life Cycle: Clumping perennial Fern: herbaceous and deciduous, with slow creeping rhizomes. Will live 4-5 years or more.
Height: 15-45 cm in height, 15-35 cm wide.
Fronds: Lance-shaped, bipinnate fronds with purple to red rachises (midribs). Pinnae (leaflets) are silver grey, to purple bronze. The colour is darker at the base. The sori (sporing bodies) are half-moon to J-shaped and are on the undersides of the fronds.
Athyrium niponicum var. pictum - young pinna.
Athyrium niponicum var. pictum - Sori.
Range: Asia - China, Japan, Korea.
Habitat: Shady woodlands.
CULTIVATION:
Plant: As a specimen or close together as a ground cover.
Light: Full to part shade. Best colours appear with some morning sun.
Soil: Well drained rich, moist soil, not fussy about pH.
Water: Keep moist. When established will tolerate some drought.
USDA Hardiness: Zone 4. It needs winter cold so it is not suitable for a house plant.
Companion planting: Other ferns, Brunnera, Heuchera, Hosta, woodland plants.
Athyrium niponicum var. pictum - sporeling.
Propagation: Divide in spring. Spore-grown ferns are variable in foliage coloration and character. They germinate readily in my Toronto garden.
Sow @ 20°C. First pour boiling water over milled sphagnum moss in a pot. Cool, sprinkle with spores, then enclose pot in plastic bag. Keep at room temperature. Spores germinate within 3-6 months. NB The gametophyte (prothallus) looks like a liverwort. Fernlets, the sporophytes, appear from underneath.
Problems: Occasional slug damage. Hot sun.
References: https://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/perennial/
https://www.chicagobotanic.org/downloads/planteval_notes/no39_ferns.pdf
Text and images supplied by Anna Leggatt
