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It’s great to look at the new plant picks lists put out by nurseries and growers from near and far. But some of the most coveted advice gardeners get about plants is the advice from fellow gardeners. And that’s what makes this pick list so special. The Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden was the private garden of Elisabeth and Pendelton Miller. With stunning views of Puget Sound, this garden is known for its wide and varied selection of trees, shrubs, and woodland herbaceous perennials. In just three acres of gardens are over 3,600 taxa of plant material. Now the site is in the capable hands of a board of trustees who want nothing more than to educate Pacific Northwest gardeners about the plant material which thrives here. This eliminates a lot of research work on our part. The list for 2003, like other years, was put together by nursery professionals, growers, horticulturists, avid gardeners and landscape and garden designers. Selections are made within three categories: trees and conifers, shrubs and vines and perennials and bulbs. You’ll find old favorites and newcomers alike, so there is something here for everyone and every type of need. And, it’s accessible on-line at www.greatplantpicks.org. Don’t miss the separate pages for each plant describing culture, habit, usage and suitable companion plants. There’s even a picture. In fact, there’s so much information that comfortable seating is a must when visiting this website! Some Sunny Considerations Cherry trees also flower in spring and prefer full sun. Yoshino Cherry (Prunus x yedoensis) was among the cherry trees planted in Washington D.C. many years ago. On the Great Plant Picks List is ‘Akebono’ offering pure pink flowers in early spring and sprightly yellow-orange fall color. Growing twenty-five to thirty feet tall and spreading twenty-five to thirty-five feet wide, this tree makes a beautiful lawn specimen. Another great lawn specimen is the PACIFIC SUNSET ® Maple (A. truncatum x A. platanoides Warrenred’ P.P. No. 7433). This tree has incredible orange fall color with medium-sized leaves. Growing to thirty feet tall and with a twenty-five foot spread, its pyramidal-to-round structure is pleasing, and it still allows space for low-growing shrubs or perennials. The russet colors of the PACIFIC SUNSET® foliage and the reddish-orange fruit of Creeping Taiwan Bramble (Rubus pentalobus) come together to make a colorful combination while providing for the birds. To create a completely different
feeling while still using maples, Japanese maples (Acer palmatum)
provide an Asian feel to any landscape. Their delicate but colorful
simplicity has inspired hundreds of Japanese gardens, and here it
inspires gardens for those who delight in texture, form and color while
creating an unassuming ambience. There is a Japanese maple for any
location, even a container. ‘Shaina’ is a layered, but densely-leaved
maple which reaches only three to four feet in height, and that very
slowly. For more spacious sunny locations, there is ‘Ukigumo’ (Acer
palmatum ‘Ukigumo’). This tree displays green leaves which turn
flaming red in fall. As its name implies, ‘Orangeola’ produces burgundy
red new growth which turns coppery-red in fall, and, ‘Shishigashira’
begins the spring with bright green leaves which later turn bright
reddish-orange. Looking beneath these beauties, we might find a David
Viburnum (Viburnum davidii), a staple here which does well in
sun or shade and looks best when massed. After it’s established, this
plant is drought tolerant, its moisture retained in its thick, leathery
leaves. Rhododendron ‘The Hon. Jean Marie de Montague’ thrives in heat
and sun. It gets to be about five feet tall in ten years and will grow
larger in time. With its red blooms held in trusses of up to fourteen
blooms at a time, it’s an exuberant mid-season bloomer and would look
well flanking any of these maple selections. Ilex crenata
‘Convexa’ with its small evergreen leaves and dark purple black berries
is an excellent foil for the summer blooms of Penstemon
‘Blackbird’, and Georgia Blue Speedwell (Veronica peduncularis
‘Georgia Blue’) makes a fine groundcover growing to about four inches
in height and blooming from summer to mid-autumn. Conifers can be sun worshippers too, and Golden Japanese Cedar and Plume Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica ‘Sekkan-sugi’ and Cryptomeria Elegans Group) are rapidly growing conifers that do best in full sun down to partial shade. The Plume Japanese Cedar can achieve thirty feet in height and eight feet in width. In time they can be larger. ‘Sekkan-sugi’ is upright, growing to twenty-five feet tall and more, displaying dense golden foliage. Paired with park-sized blue-needled giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron gaganteum ‘Glaucum’) or, for the modest backyards most of us have, Oriental Spruce (Picea orientalis) and Himalayan White Birch (Betula utilis var jacquemontii) in front, a wooded backdrop can easily be created. The Himalayan White Birch planted in front would add striking vertical accents from its silvery bark peeling back to reveal burgundy undertones. Planted beneath might go Minuet Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia ‘Minuet’). This shrub grows to be five to six feet tall and wide. Like rhododendrons, this shrub is Ericaceous, but its blooms are like patterned stars, made prominent by the dark back drop of its evergreen leaves. ‘Minuet’ is slow-growing, and would be an excellent companion to the deciduous Rhododendron ‘Snowbird’ which grows well in sunny to partially sunny conditions. ‘Snowbird’ produces sweetly-fragrant spring blooms, and it’s hardy and stoloniferous. Its medium green foliage and comfortable height of four feet make it easy to mix in any number of naturalizing conditions. The Woodlands The Spring Pea Bush, (Lathyrus vernus), is a moisture-loving perennial that, while slow to establish, is tough as nails once it has. A member of the pea family, it offers about two months of purple-blue blooms. Evergreen here, this perennial enjoys more light in winter so consider planting under deciduous trees. Have fun tiptoeing through the magnolias, and the viburnums, and the campanulas… I only wish I could have gotten to all of them! You will not be disappointed. ~ Nancy Tom is an environmental horticulturist who designs, installs and maintains landscapes for Down-to-Earth Gardens, Inc. This article appeared in Garden Showcase, April 2003. ~ Archived
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