A few weeks ago I was in Portland and although it was a brisk day in February a bit of sun was shining through; a good day to wander into the Lan Su Chinese Garden, my first visit into this walled sanctuary in an urban setting. Many of the plants were very familiar: the winter jasmine was so lovely flowing over the rocks above the pond, many camellias were blooming, and the Edgeworthia was filling the air with a sweet fragrance. The tree that attracted my husband’s attention was a well shaped Japanese Black Pine. (You can see our example above, pruned to resemble an ostrich) He asked me if I knew that tree and I said yes it was a common landscape tree and we had lots at the nursery. I will bring one home to him and we can have it in our garden. It is not a tree I’d necessarily choose. There is no comparison to the right plant in the right situation. What is common in one case can be the most outstanding thing in another.
This morning Ashley and I joined Jane for a walking tour of the U of O campus. Jane is the campus landscape designer for the U of O. She has been coming out to the nursery for years to buy plants and we thought it was time for a field trip to her ‘garden’. The three of us appeared to be the only ones walking on campus fully decked out in rain gear head to foot. The weather would have no impact on our tour. We started with the new buildings, the coliseum, the alumni center and the very impressive student/athlete study center. Modern buildings are sometimes a challenge for me, but this one pulls everything together and is so thoughtfully done and you feel very much in nature; with water and a well appointed planting surrounding the building, lots of wood and stone and natural light inside the building and even a cozy fire surrounded by bright yellow couches just inside the door. It was cool, just edgy enough to be avant-garde, and comfortable enough to make you want to sit down and have a warm beverage. I felt like I was somewhere besides Eugene, it feels big town, new, nice and exciting.
Our cherry promenade is coming into its glory. It is composed of the delicate beauty Hally Jolivette, small (15 feet by 15 feet) deciduous tree with a dense round crown. Right now the trunks stand out with their shiny red peeling bark and the buds are just beginning to swell before opening to a delicious pink fading to white. This early bloomer is the perfect Valentine’s gift.
Today is the day to add some structure to your garden. It is January and a good time to get in the larger plants that you may have forgotten about or neglected to plant in the fall. By structure in your garden I mean the larger plants that have a year round presence. If you are lacking a bit of piazza in your garden and notice it this month it may mean you need a few more plants that look great year round. It’s a sunny, balmy day here in Pleasant Hill, Oregon and a good day to pick out a few evergreens or maples or sweet osmanthus. A rhododendron or two will add this element, the evergreen leaves and the buds that are appearing now and a lighter green dimension to the plant, almost like an ornament, or how about some brilliant nandina, with the red foliage lighting up the green backdrop. If you are inclined to add more edible plants how about a blueberry or three, some blueberries you will find are evergreen and some of the deciduous varieties have brilliant stem colors in shades of red and bright green. A visit to a nursery will give you some ideas if you don’t already have one and you are welcome here to poke around in the ‘off season’ to fill up a place in your garden that needs a little January kick. We look forward to seeing you.
I stopped in the Creswell Café yesterday afternoon for a treat of fruit salad. Paul the owner popped in and we talked about how well his trees, from Pleasant Hill Nursery, were doing. We talked quite a bit before he choose his six trees, discussing how to plant them, where they were to go and what varieties would be best for the site. He came here, I went there, Dave delivered the trees and showed him how to remove them from the big pots.
PHN Growers Blog
