Rhododendron and
Azalea News

Gardens

Companion plants...G is for Gentins

Colleen Forster of the Fraser South Chapter writes for The Yak, the chapter's newsletter.  Here is an article she wrote in November 2003.

You want blue?  You will get blue with Gentians...and not just blue...but electric fantastic true, true, blue!.  But you are going to have to work for it, because they are not all that easy to grow.  If you have a well-designed rockery, you will be more successful with the mat-forming types, but there are a few other taller ones that can thrive in mixed borders.  With careful selection, you can have gorgeous blue blooms from May to October...or even later if the weather holds.

it's the plan of addition...

It starts with the Star Gentian, G. vern, and then the Trumpet Gentians, G. acaulis and G. alpina.  Then for mid-summer blooms, try G. dahurica (Spotted Gentialn, G. pradoxa, G. septemfida (Crested Gentian), and G. cruciata (Cross Gentian).

For fall there are the lime-haters that will cool peary soils...G. sino-ornata, G. asclepiadea (Willow Gentian) and G. macaulyi, and the exception to the rule, G. farreri, which prefers a screen bed.  We also have some native gentians.  One suitable for quite moist sites is G. sceptrum (King Gentian) (G. menzieii), an herbaceous form growing 2 to 3 feet tall, with large purple-blue trumpets in late summer.

there are yellow and white gentians too...

In truth, not all gentians are blue...there is the yellow species, G. lutea, and several white types, but I personally dismiss these as not worthy of being called gentians!

descriptions...

The very low alpine species grow only 2 to 4 inches tall, and are never invasive, spreading only to 8 to 12 inches.  They are mostly evergreen or partially so, and have comparatively large flowers for their size...some trumpets up to a startling 2 inches long.  The herbaceous types are generally taller, from 12 to 36 inches.  Most make tidy clumps, and may retain a winter rosette of foliage.

be careful in your selection when buying...

When you see gentians in a plant center, please do not be so distracted by saying, Wow!   So many times that you forget to read the labels carefully to determine exactly which ones you are about to get.  They are quite particular as to growing conditions, and poor locations tend to encourage leaf disease.  Slugs can be dissuaded by a good dressing of grit around the base.  All gentians prefer drainable light humus soil that does not dry out in summer, and partial shade.  Spring and early summer blooms can tolerate a neutral soil...but the later they bloom, the more necessary an acidic soil.

Increase is tricky for many...due to their tight growth habit...but some, like G. acaulis and G. sino-ornata, come apart well; just make sure to firm the divisions in well to establish.  Seed production is probably best left to experienced professionals, but hey, you have nothing to lose...if you try!

So, if you are one of those gardeners blessed with a rockery, you owe it to yourself to have at least two or three different ones, and for those of us who do not...well...we can dream, can't we?

Attracting birds to the garden

A question for each of us: What would we do without the wonder of the chirping of birds first thing in the morning, to watch them in flight, to see the glorious beauty of each one, the height they soar to, the inspiration they give...and so much more.

Norma Senn of the Victoria Chapter wrote this thoughtful article for the chapter's newsletter in September 2003.  There is still time to bring some of these wonders to your garden so you, too, can enjoy the song of the birds.

According to surveys about leisure time activities, two great hobbies...gardening and bird watching...are increasing in popularity.  These activities go hand in hand, and like most gardeners, I find tremendous enjoyment watching the antics of our native birds.  To attract birds to the garden, they need to be provided with shelter, protection from predators, water, and food.

a sanctuary for our feathered friends...

Shelter for birds can take many forms, but groups of conifers planted together offer excellent natural shelter throughout the year.  Conifers offer protection from winds, and especially during cold windy weather in winter.  I find the spruce, red cedars, and pine trees planted around the edge of my garden give sanctuary to many species of birds.

There are hardy conifers available for all areas of British Columbia.  In addition to the evergreens mentioned above, others to consider using include: hemlocks, firs, yews, Douglas firs, and junipers.  Consult your local garden center staff if you need help in selecting suitable species for your area.  Some conifer species have the added benefit of offering good seed sources to birds at certain times of the year.  Occasionally, birds also find small insects along the tree boughs to eat.

provide protection from predators...like a thorny rose

In addition to shelter, birds need protection from predators.  While I love cats, it is very difficult to convince them that the local bird feeders are not fast food outlets.

Try to place bird feeders in open areas that do not offer predators cover to sneak up on feeding birds.  I have also had good results by growing a thorny climbing rose wound up and around the main trunk of a large pine tree where I hang a feeder.  The spiny rose stems prevent cats from climbing this particular tree, and birds are able to feed in relative peace.  Before I planted the rose, I would occasionally find my neighbor's cat perched on the tree branch directly overhanging the feeder.  The other advantage to this is that the rose has grown up and throughout the pine tree, so when it is in bloom, I have scarlet roses, and later red hips, intertwined with the pine boughs.

love your birds, give them a drink...

In summer, water for birds is as easy as providing a bird bath...and keeping it partially filled.  Of course, if you are lucky enough to have some sort of water feature in the garden like a stream, pool, or pond, you can also provide "landing spots" along the edge.

Flat rocks that provide ledges along the sides of ponds or streams and just protrude into the water features can make good spots for bathing and drinking.  Small birds need very shallow water for bathing, no more than about two inches deep.  They can drown in water that is any deeper.

A wintertime water supply is harder to provide.  While this may not be an option for everyone, there are electric water heaters available for bird baths from specialty garden supply firms that can be used to keep water from freezing.

a little gravel will make them happy...

Another enticing item for birds is gravel.  If you have a gravel driveway, you may find small birds regularly pecking at the gravel for fine pieces of grit.  I find leaving out a clay saucer filler with a couple of inches of commercially available budgie grit near the bird feeder attracts many birds.

food sources, many types...

Food sources can be as simple as a bird feeder routinely filled with various commercial seed sources.  Or, a more varied diet can be provided by careful selection of garden plants.  Depending on the kind of bird...and the time of the year...food sources could include: seeds, berries, insects, and flower nectar.

gardens need not be neat!

One of the things I like about attracting birds is that the garden should not be too neat.  For example, instead of deadheading everything, I leave many flower heads to ripen into seeds...and even some of our common weed species provide seeds for birds.  At any rate, it makes a good excuse to not be too compulsive about tidiness.  Red and black-colored fruits, in particular, are very attractive to many birds...but a word of caution in regards to fruit crops:

Birds can strip a crop of berries very quickly.  If you want to protect some fruit for yourself, cover the fruit carefully with good bird netting well before the fruit ripens.

suggested garden plants to attract birds...

Here is a list of some commonly available garden plants recommended for attracting birds.  Check to make sure trees, shrubs, and perennial plants are hardy for your area.

Friends, Norma has given great guidelines to attract birds. Try them.  You will be rewarded with the little creatures wanting to come back and back again.  They will cheer you up!

Solace in Evergreen Eden in the Northwoods

Michael Heim, member of the Midwest Chapter, writes for The Rootball News, the chapter's newsletter.  We are sure that many...or almost all...can relate to Mike's feelings.  Perhaps, he can give a little solace for the weary soul.

After a long intense day of teaching and dealing with people, I find it soothing to come home and let my introverted side come out by quietly taking in a woods filled with exotic evergreens.  The leaf shapes and textures and their palette of green are a visual smorgasbord.  Although southern magnolias aren't reliably hardy in our Wisconsin north woods...believe me, I have tried...other foliage makes a fairly decent substitute.  Specifically, of course, that of rhododendrons.

Even though I find the whole gamut of rhodie leaves lovely...from the massive bright green ovals of R. brachycarpum tigerstedtii to the dense dark glossies of R. bureavii, by far the most exotic are the huge straps of R. maximum.  Its intraspecific variation is also quite interesting.  Plants from a disjunctive population in central Vermont carry uniformly smaller, lighter leaves than those originating farther south.  Some will bloom for the first time in 2006, so I am curious to see whether flower color correlates with foliar characteristics.

enjoy mountain laurel...

Another favorite, whose foliage reminds me of a tropical rain forest is mountain laurel.  Unlike the rhodies, it can be enjoyed even in the coldest winter weather since its foliage does not curl up tightly.  One seedling which I collected from a New Hampshire population develops excellent red new growth...much like Pieris japonica.  Once it gets larger I hope to propagate it from cuttings.

Numerous companion plants thrive in this hilly woodland.  These include: Thujopsis, Cephalotaxus, four species of yew, three of cypress, two of beargrass, two of Leucothoe, several low hollies, numerous exotic evergreen ferns, box huckleberry, and sundry forms of Pachistima myrsinites and grape-hollies collected as cuttings in the northern Rockies.

sad to see loss of evergreen groundcover...

Fondness for our native evergreens causes me to always be on the lookout for outstanding forms.  Several attractive clones of trailing arbutus...one with large uniform leaves and another with bright green wavy leaves...were grown from cuttings collected in northern New England.  Robust forms such as these can exist there because of effective deer population management.  Over the years I have sadly watched the decimation of our native evergreen groundcovers.  Thus, the woodland where I am growing the aforementioned evergreens is by necessity surrounded by a five-foot tall chicken wire fence.  At a distance it blends in so well that it is virtually invisible and it is quite effective in keeping deer out.  Apparently they have difficulty judging its height.

The forest enclosure also contains an assortment of partridgeberry forms possessing larger than average foliage.  Of these diminutive coffee relatives, the most robust in both leaf size (nickel) and height (five inches) hails from a "lost world" in the Blue Hills of northern Wisconsin where it is surrounded by bare, quartzite boulder-strewn slopes, sheltered from both fire and deer and not reached by the last glacial advance.

Springs and cold air flow from the base of the talus year round...even in the hottest, driest weather.  Nearby I found another outstanding partridgeberry with beautiful glossy yellow-veined leaves, along with a foot-tall club moss having thick foliage.  The latter was easily propagated via root cutting.  As an experiment to compare cold-hardiness, other partridgeberry cuttings in the enclosure were collect in southern Louisiana on the last solid ground before salt marsh.  All but one perished their second winter when the temperature dropped to -28°F early on without the benefit of thick snow cover.

some companion plants...

On the other hand, some exotic plants do surprisingly well with the rhodies if grown quite low and given minimal snow cover in the coldest weather.  Among these are:

Simmia japonica repens
several Prunus laurocerasus (especially Zabeliana)
Osmanthus decorus
Sarcococcca hookeniana humilis
Cryptomeria
coast redwoods
Podocarpus lawrencii...from Australia!
Daphne retusa
Haberlea...a hardy gesneeriad
strap-leaved evergreen Nippon lily...Rohdea japonical

Camellias are a favorite of mine and I have tried them time and time again with apparent success...only to have them all die some winter for no obvious reason.  Their foliage remains fine...so the problem may lie with the roots.

layout of the land at my place...

Not all of my rhododendrons are growing in...or even prefer...a sheltered woodland site.  The P. J. Mezitt hybrids, for instance, thrive with low Manzanitas on a hot and frequently bone-dry ridge behind a cactus and yucca bed.  At the opposite end of the spectrum (and yard) is a mossy bed where R. forrestii reopens creeps along the side of an old stump.  Some of its companions are: devil's club, Hartford fern, blue poppies, Selagnella douglasii, sword ferns, Tanakaea, Stewartia, Soldanella, tall gentians.

An evergreen bed accents the center of our front yard with tall R. catawbiense (a Tennessee cutting) and Finnish hybrids, along with R. 'Anna H. Hall', R. 'Balta', R. 'April Reign', R. yak,
'Angel', mountain-laurels, Leucothoe.

Beneath them grow mats of: lingonberry, Pieris (Arcteria) nana, Pyracantha, and especially Andromeda polifolia 'Macrophylla', its dense glossy reticulated foliage covered with pink bells in spring.

Most folks do not believe that rhododendrons can be grown in Zone 3...so it is always a pleasure to observe visitors' reactions when they pull up by this thriving evergreen thicket.

must mention our heath bed...

One other planting deserves mention in the sunniest part of the front yard is our sandy heath bed...filled with low ericaceous and other exposure-loving plants, such as brooms.  Originally it held a collection of heath and heathers...but most of these suffocated one winter when the snowplow pushed deep compacted snow over them.  Now manzanitas and bearberry dominate...with sheep-laurel and sandmyrtle rising above them.  At the foot of the sandmyrtle grow two rhodies with flowers all out of proportion to their dwarf stature:  R calostrotum keleticum with purple flowers and R. 'Wren' with yellow.  Around and amongst them creeps a pink-flowered trailing arbutus that I collect not in some distant locale...but just down the road.

All of the aforementioned plants survived our 2002-2003 'winter from hell'...barely a dusting of snow, much wind, and temperatures holding well below zero for weeks on end.  By mid-February the ground in the woods was frozen seven feet deep.  I lost many of my favorite plants that winter...including numerous Magnolia grandiflora seedlings, 'hardy' cedar-of-Lebanon, dawn redwoods, Cunnighamia, most Southern Hemisphere conifers, snow gum, Tracchyarus palms, Erica tetralix, ilex crenata, and I. glabra 'Chamzin' ('Norid'), plus a four-foot tall giant sequoia which I had grown from seed.  Even so, I am amazed that so many different plants survived these punishing conditions.  For instance, the bright-red flowered Kalmia latioflia 'Sarah' came through unscathed out in the open.

That's what makes testing these plants so exciting.  It seems almost like a miracle, seeing them in all their green glory...withstanding the bitter-cold North.

R. makinoi, native to island of Honshu

Everett Hall of the Siuslaw Chapter is most pleased when he can select a rhododendron of the month.  Recently he chose R. makinoi.

It is a Japanese species that is native to the island of Honsiu.  And, it is reported that even if this rhododendron never came into bloom...it would still be a welcome addition to your garden. mature specimens of R. makinoi grown in cultivation are mound-shaped plants about five or six feet tall.

It is the foliage on R. makinoi that makes it so desirable as an ornamental plant.  The lance-shaped leaves are about 5 or 6 inches long and only 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch wide.  The leaf margins roll under and the entire leaf has a downward curve.  New growth appears in mid to late summer and is densely covered with soft white or tan indumentum that gives the whole plant a silver appearance.  This indumentum lasts for several weeks on the upper side of the leaves...eventually wearing off to become bright green.  The indumentum on the underside of the leaves slowly turns a wooly tan or light brown.

The trusses on R. makinoi re usually filled with about 10 to 15 two-inch funnel shaped flowers. The flowers range in color from a soft rose through clear shades of pink to white...and are sometimes speckled with crimson spots.

R. makinoi will grown in sun or part share in the coastal areas of Oregon...and should be given sharp drainage.  R. makinoi is a plant that will give you ear around pleasure as it sits proudly in your garden.

Rhododendron 'Elizabeth'...a favorite

A common sight in the Vancouver area is the more or less regular...but usually sparse...fall and winter flowering of Rhododendron 'Elizabeth'.  Normally blooming heavily in March or April, 'Elizabeth' sets flower buds easily...some of the buds that develop early in the season begin to open soon after it becomes cool in the autumn.  Given mild weather, we can expect flowers periodically through the winter months.

From the grower's point of view, 'Elizabeth' is an excellent cultivar because of the ease of rooting cuttings, and its rapid growth and precocious flowering (a heavily-flowered 2-gallon can be produced in less than two years).  The cultivar is sensitive to soil fertilizer salts and powdery mildew, however, and thus demands a high level of grower expertise for optimal growth.

It is characterized as "low growing" in much of the rhododendron literature...however, around Vancouver, it easily tops 1.5 m in 10 years.  Luckily, like a number of hybrid rhododendrons, 'Elizabeth' suffers the saw well, rebounding admirably from renovation pruning...an excellent trait for the small garden.

The cross (R. forresttii x R. griersonianum) was made in about 1933 by F. C. Puddle at Bodnant.  'Elizabeth' is a spreading shrub, growing eventually to around 3 m tall in the Pacific Northwest, with narrow, dark green, light indumented leaves and yellow stems.  The freely-borne flowers are large, waxen, tomato-red funnels that are held in lax trusses.

From R. forrestii (the seed-parent...the female is always listed first), 'Elizabeth' acquired its spreading habit and cold-hardiness.  Thankfully, it posses little of the phytophthora susceptibility that characterizes R. forrestii.  That species, also known under the synonym R. forrestii var. repens, commonly produces adventitious roots whenever its stems touch the ground, and this trait has also been transferred to 'Elizabeth'.

The elegant pointed leaves and large funnel-shaped flowers are inherited from the pollen-parent, R. griersonianum.  That species is a common parent of a number of familiar red-flowered hybrids ('Fabia', 'May Day', 'Vulcan', etc.)...but it is rarely cultivated.  'Creeping Jenny'is a seedling of the reciprocal cross (R. griersonianum x R. forrestii).  It is similar...but less hardy and more spreading.  'Elizabeth' is still considered to be one of the finest compact red hybrids and is grown widely.

Douglas Justice, member of the Vancouver Chapter, writes extensively for the ARS Journal and other publications and we are pleased to share his thoughts on a favorite.  Thanks, Douglas.

Glory of friendship

The glory of friendship is...
the spiritual inspiration that comes
to one when
he discovers that someone else
believes in him...
and is willing
to trust him with his friendship.

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson