To create some size variation in the evergreen I got a variety of inkberry cultivars. 'Shamrock' being the shortest (3-4') is in the front and behind it are a 'Densa' (8-10') on one side and 'Nigra' (4-6') on the other. All three of these are listed as female plants. To get berries a male plant is needed. Unfortunately I was not able to get hold of a male plant (such as the 'Chamzin' cultivar). I saw somewhere that any male holly that blooms at the same time is capable of fertilizing a female, so I put in a 'Jim Dandy' winterberry holly, Ilex verticillata 'Jim Dandy' nearby. This bloomed at about the same time as the three inkberries.
Since I was watch the flowers rather closely I noticed that
while both 'Densa' and 'Nigra' had exclusively female flowers, 'Shamrock'
appeared to have both male and female flowers.
I could find no mention of 'Shamrock' bearing both types of flowers.
Also on the holly front I added a 'Southern Gentleman'
winterberry near a well established female.
A few years ago I but in an early blooming 'Jim Dandy' as a pollination
partner, but berry production did not improve much. The 'Jim Dandy' is usually finishing up
blooming just as the established female is starting to bloom. This new 'Southern Gentleman' here has
started blooming about 2 weeks later than 'Jim Dandy', hopefully in better
synch with the female. Maybe this year
we will get a bush full of red berries.
Here's the slope prior to planting. The winterberry is at the top left and the lower growing aromatic sumac cultivars are on either side of the steps. |
Tried to grow fireweed from seed last year, but no luck. This year I got some as seedlings. |
Here are two red oaks that I will be planting in the woods. These saplings are about 4 years old. |
We are also
seeing a number of our white pines, Pinus
strobus, in our wind break coming apart.
These were planted 40-50 years ago and are probably not in their ideal
habitat. To fill in the gaps in this row
of evergreens I've planted some seedling of Canadian hemlock, Tsuga canadensis. I've spaced these out widely so that any
future attack by wooly adelgid will be slowed, since the plants won't be in
contact with one another. I've marked the location of each with a pink flag, otherwise these little plants would disappear into the undergrowth.
I also got a bunch of bare root wild ginger, Asarum canadense, in early spring. I would like to use them as aground cover
along with some Heuchera and violets. So
far most of these are surviving, but they do need some help by removing some of
the competitive plants. My previous
attempt did not go so well as the plants were overwhelmed with vinca and the leaves of an English walnut.
Most of the American plums, Prunus
americana, that were planted last fall survived winter. One died rather suddenly this spring when all
the leaves wilted. There was a lot of
insect activity near the roots, or it
could have been too much shade from a neighboring box elder.
I've always loved the look of blue cohosh, Caulophyllum thalictroides, blanketing a shady hillside. I've been reluctant to plant it in the past because I haven't seen it growing nearby, even though I seems like the right conditions. This year I broke down and bought a couple of plants to put in on a shady, moist hillside. This is an area where I have been removing garlic mustard and Japanese stiltgrass, so it's time to get some more plants in there to take their place.
Post bloom, this Itea tends to blend in with the surrounding foliage. |