| March 2010 HARDY PLANT SOCIETY Newsletter |
water Lily - Brooklyn Botanical Garden
HARDY PLANT SOCIETY
March 2010 Newsletter
President's Message
We just completed our tenth annual symposium, March into Spring. It
was well attended and everyone appeared to have a good time. As
usual, the food was great and the speakers were wonderful. Soup
recipes will be on the website. We all knew that Adam Wheeler would
be informative, inspiring and would provoke the normal “plant lust”.
Roy Diblik proved to be a treasure! What a great speaker with
wonderful, common-sense ideas and great plans. The vendors (Broken
Arrow Nursery, John O’Brien Nurserymen, and Quackin’ Grass Nursery)
helped us find plants that we had to have - even if we didn’t know that
they existed moments before. We signed up many new members. It
would not be possible to do this without the help our most loyal
members. I would like to thank them here for all that they do: Art Bruce
(fresh from knee surgery), Kathy Simmons, Christa Sywenkyj, Rose
Riley, Keri Milne, Tina Knowlton, Sylvia Correia, Nancy and Gary
Johnson, Wayne Paquette, and Carole Williamson. If you haven’t been
to one of our symposiums, consider it for next year.
Speaking of things that we need, we managed to track down Roy
Diblik's Small Perennial Gardens. Many of you were asking about it
after his presentation. It covers many of the topics he discussed
including the why of Know Maintenance Gardening and the plans and
plants that he uses to create his gardens. We should have them by our
next meeting.
It looks as if Spring is here with the snowdrops, witch hazels and
cyclamen flowering, but be cautious. I expect it will be cold again
before it is finally gone. I speak from the experience of a person whose
mother kept planning outdoor birthday parties for March 20th. Well, it is
the First Day of Spring, isn’t it?
Enjoy your warm days when you find them!
THE WINSOME COTONEASTERS
In today’s Potting Shed column we will examine a sampler of the
virtually ignored cotoneasters. Many are easy and satisfying in the
garden, often as the underpinning to larger plants. The cotoneasters
discussed below come from China and the Himalayas. None are weedy.
All are handsome. I grow the following plants and can personally
vouch for their merits. And if I can grow them at Quackin’ Grass in
Brooklyn you are assured they are perfectly hardy for all of us in
northeastern Connecticut.
Cotoneaster horizontalis ‘Variegatus’, the variegated form of Rockspray
Cotoneaster (pronounced cuh-toe-nee-AZ-tuhr), is an all-season plant
in full sun. Beautiful white-edged green folded leaves, like a library full
of miniature half-opened books, pick up pink tones in autumn. Small
pink buds in spring open to tiny pink-tinged white flowers. These cute
little flowers develop into berries which turn bright red come autumn.
When the foliage drops you are left with these red fruits on a herring
bone branching pattern. This deciduous ground cover with its amazing
array of gently arching branches will grow up to two feet tall but five to
seven feet across. I have also seen this plant used to great effect
trained-up against the side of a building. Especially beautiful after light
snowfall with delicate embroidery of snow clinging to the fine ribbing
of the branches, this is an extraordinary moment in the winter garden.
The Willowleaf Cotoneaster, Cotoneaster salicifolius ‘Scarlet Leader’,
on the other hand is a virtually evergreen cousin of C. horizontalis. The
deep semi-glossy green leaves of summer change beautiful maroon-
bronze in winter retaining the fine sheen. The long arching branches
stretch and reach, sometimes irregularly for an interesting organized
chaos. Embedded among the leaves are small striking bright red and
persistent berries shaped like tears or tiny pears. This lovely
cotoneaster is purportedly hardy to climatic zone 6 but has performed
well on an exposed, westward-facing slope in my zone 5b garden. It
appears to be tougher than some might believe. Though it is wonderful
in spring and summer with its dark green leathery foliage, flowers and
developing fruit, it is just plain beautiful during the autumn and winter
months.
Cotoneaster dammeri ‘Mooncreeper’ is a mat-forming form of the
Bearberry Cotoneaster. Branches follow the contours of the landscape
only an inch or two deep. The moderately glossy dark green leaves are
alternate, simple and virtually evergreen in the north, certainly more
likely to be evergreen in climates further south. The leaves which do
resemble our native Bearberry may turn dull green to even a purple-red
when temperatures fall. It forms typical flowers, singly or in pairs,
about one-third to one-half inch in diameter. The bright red globe-
shaped berries in late summer are always showy against the beautiful
foliage, even in sparsely producing years. And whichever color the
leaves become late season, dependent upon the always complex mix of
seasonal weather and temperatures, the fruits are handsome embedded
among the foil of foliage.
Another terrific cotoneaster and a dwarf grower is C. microphyllus
variety thymifolius, sometimes listed as a cultivar, C. microphyllus
‘Thymifolius’. Small profuse dark green thyme-like leaves (as indicated
in the variety name, thymifolius) cover stiff branches. And though the
stems are rigid the tiny evergreen leaves provide a delicate, airy look.
When the temperatures descend my plants tend to pick up a bronze-
chocolate shade upon which small red berries glow. Michael Dirr
states that this neat little shrub may grow as high as three feet but here
at the near northern end of its range in my garden it has remained
under two feet with a slightly wider spread.
All cotoneasters require plenty of sun in fertile well-drained soil. They
are susceptible to fireblight; however, I believe this condition is more
prevalent in southern gardens. And, certainly if planted in good
conditions and watered during droughts it is a lesser issue. Actually
many demonstrate moderate drought tolerance. Some plants become
less attractive as they grow older. Doesn’t that sound frightfully
familiar! But no matter: unlike their human counterparts they can be
pruned back and revitalized.
Cotoneasters can enhance your gardens in several ways. One or more
could form a lower tier, a step down from a group of taller shrubs. They
can be used to great effect as a larger-scale ground cover, one species
alone or even in combination with others should a complex tangle suit
your fancy. They offer fine foliage, small but sweet flowers and fine red
berries well into winter. Some are virtually evergreen and most develop
very fine autumn tones forming a wonderful backdrop for the fruits.
Cotoneasters are an old-fashioned often ignored group of really fine
shrubs, a genus that you might consider sampling. Place one of more
in the sights of your garden dreams this winter.
Wayne Paquette,
www.QuackinGrassNursery.com
Quackin’ Grass Nursery
16 Laurel Hill Road, Brooklyn CT 06234
UPCOMING SPEAKERS
MARCH 24
Since it is March and we are seeing more and more life in our gardens,
it is a great time to talk about attracting those most magical of birds,
the hummingbird. I am sure that we have all seen and heard about
butterfly gardens. Hummers deserve their own plants too! Our
presentation this month, Hummingbird Habitat, will help us understand
the species that we should be able to see, their life cycles and general
needs, and the ways to attract them to our gardens. Both feeders and
plantings that provide food and perching, nesting sites will be
discussed.
Ruth McCormick comes from a gardening family and was introduced
very early to the joys and duties of keeping a garden. She has worked
for more than 12 years at Tripple Brook Farm, a mail-order purveyor of
unique and under-appreciated plants. She has worked in all stages of
plant production, learning each plant’s characteristics in and out of the
ground. She is currently working on a project to test a large number of
miniature groundcovers in Zone 5.
APRIL 28
Our last regular meeting of the season will be with 2 legendary
plantsmen, John Bieber and Darrell Trout, discussing a genus that has
developed a reputation as being a group of plants that are, well,
difficult to please. John Bieber and Darrell Trout, co-founders, and
president and vice-president respectively, of the Daphne Society will
give a slide illustrated presentation on the genus Daphne. They will
describe the wide range of plants within the genus and dispel some of
the myths about growing them. Hear about plants that vary from a few
inches in height to over 15 feet tall, most with fragrant flowers along
with decorative buds and fruit. Get hints on growing and propagating
them.
John Bieber is the past chairman of the Long Island Chapter of the
North American Rock Garden Society and has been rock gardening for
over 25 years. He enjoys growing and propagating unusual plants.
Darrell Trout is the past president of the Long Island Horticultural
Society, a Certified Nursery Professional and free lance garden writer
and photographer. He has written six books including Country Garden
Planner and Kitchen Garden Planner, which received a Quill and Trowel
Award from the Garden Writers of America.
SPRING/SUMER 2010 SPEAKERS CALENDAR
Spring 2010
March 24 Ruth McCormick/Triplebrook Nursery - Hummingbird
Habitat
April 28 John Bieber and Darrell Trout – Introduction to Daphnes”
Summer
Picnic 2010 Jonathan Lehrer – Pushing the Zone
GENERAL MEETING INFORMATION
Socializing and goodies will begin at 7:00PM with the speaker
scheduled for 7:30 PM. Members whose last names begin with the
letters A-M are asked to bring goodies in March.
Directions to The Solomon Welles House, Wethersfield, CT
From the Silas Deane Highway (Route 99) turn East on Nott Street. The
house is located at the intersection of Nott Street, Hartford Avenue and
State Street. The street address is 220 Hartford Avenue, Wethersfield,
CT.
From I 91, take exit 26 and follow signs to Motor Vehicle Department.
The house is just beyond the MVD building at the intersection of Nott
Street, Hartford Avenue and State Street.
There is a circular drive in front of the house and people may stop there
to unload anything that they are bringing to the meeting. There are two
handicapped spaces to the left of the house on this semicircle. To get
to the main parking area, you must follow the driveway around the left
side of the house to the area below and behind it. A pathway leas to
the house from the parking are and you may enter the house from either
the front door the side kitchen door.
PICNIC AND SPEAKER JUNE 26
HPS would like to continue our recently instituted Summer Picnic and
add a new element. We have added a speaker to the mix of great food
and visiting friends! The event will be held at Quackin’ Grass Nursery
as in the past but with the bonus of Dr. Jonathan Lehrer providing a
slide lecture.
Jonathan is presently a full-fledged professor at Farmingdale State
College on Long Island. A graduate of UConn, he was integral in
developing the popular UConn Plant Database website. His graduate
work in conjunction with Dr. Mark Brand focused upon the mysteries of
Japanese barberry cultivars and their invasive potential. A New York
native, he is also a hopeless plant addict with an eye for variegated
plants and choice woody species.
His presentation, Pushing the Zone, will feature a walk around the
nursery highlighting the placement of more sensitive plants in
supportive microclimates.
The picnic is scheduled for Saturday June 26 at Quackin’ Grass Nursery
(Rain date 27 June). The picnic is to begin at 11 am. HPS will provide
the paper goods and the beverages. The meal itself will be pot luck.
Please RSVP to Leslie Shields either by email (SELCHIE1@AOL.COM)
or phone (1-860-747-8175) by 18 June. Please include the following
information along with your name:
The number of people coming with you.
The food you will be supplying i.e. main dish, side dish, dessert, etc.
A way to contact you in case the weather is “iffy”.
Please bring a lawn chair if you own one.
Directions to Quackin’ Grass 16 Laurel Hill Road, Brooklyn CT:
From the west – take I 84 to I 384 to Rt 6 east. Follow toward Brooklyn.
There is a Ct Grown brown sign at Laurel Hill Road. Turn left. Quackin’
Grass is the second driveway on the right…
From the south/east – take I 395 to exit 91 (Rt 6 west) Head west on Rt 6.
Laurel Hill Road is 1 mile west of the intersection of Rt. 6 and Rt. 169.
Watch for the CT Grown sign. Turn right onto Laurel Hill Road. Turn
down the second drive on the right.
Specific directions can be found on the website
www.QuackinGrassNursery.com or by calling 1 (860) 779-1732
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