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.
Today is the ninth of February and I’ll bet you’re wondering right now what blueberries plants look like this time of year. Okay you weren’t actually thinking about that so I’ll tell you. They look beautiful. Some varieties are bare of leaves and the stems range in color from bright red to a rich green, some varieties maintain their leaves through out the year and the leaf color, for example, on the Vaccinium corybosum‘Sunshine Blue’ is verdigris, a bluish green with a blush of red. Vaccinium corymbosum ‘Legacy’ is also evergreen and the leaves on this bush are a bronzy green. Our native evergreen huckleberry, Vaccinium ovatum, as the name suggests is a glossy green year round, very adaptable, very useful (and tasty) garden plant. Some of the brighter twigged blueberries are Vaccinium corybosum ‘Duke’ and Vaccinium corybosum ‘Patriot’. Whether you are growing fields of blueberries or just a few varieties in your city garden you will enjoy their winter beauty.
Weather totally makes or breaks my day, at least to begin with. When I get up and see a morning star, I know it is clear and not raining. This is good for me, a gardener and horticulturalist at a nursery. So of course I wish upon this star for many things and one of them being that it will be a nice day. For someone from the Great Pacific Northwest this doesn’t mean seventy and sunny but more like fifty and slightly overcast, yet with blue sky and the sun appearing now and then. This is perfect outdoor working/gardening weather, not too hot to get sweaty and sunny enough so you can see what you are doing and stay cheerful. Today is a day like that, morning star, wish, lovely pink sunrise that the gas station girl and I concurred was a good sign (in spite of “pink sky in morning sailors take warning”), nice drive to the nursery and now blue sky full of many colors and kinds of clouds. There is a slight breeze blowing and all this fresh air that has been coming in lately has an invigorating quality to it as well. I suppose all this could change in an instant but for now it puts me in a great mood, improves the my thoughts and thus my work (which I love) and if this happens for some or all of the folks today don’t you think the world will be just a bit better for it?
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.
The weather, what we talk about around here, is crisp, clear, sunny, blue skies and downright cold. I don't know why but it making me a little cranky and maybe it is not the weather but the frozen pipe I have going to the washing machine and just the general concern about plants, animals and all of us in this cold weather. On my way to work I was thinking about what could bring me out of this funk, no need to get crotchety at this glorious time of year. I looked up and saw the hill, Mount Pisgah, with a lovely pink glow. I could not meditate something this great no matter how long I sat. Ahh, I can arrive with a little better cheer.
PHN Growers Blog
