What great unusual trees and shrubs are you growing?

The only unusual tree I have in my small suburban backyard is a lovely old Hercules Club (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis, aka Toothache Tree). It is about 20 feet tall and, in the springtime, is covered with butterflies, bees, wasps, flies. The frustrating thing is that no nurseries carry it. A gal I talked to at Blue Moon Nursery in Edom this past weekend told me they don't carry it because the employees don't like messing with its thorns. But it's such a great plant for wildlife. Someday I'll get my hands on another HC tree. Until then I'll enjoy the one I have.

Carla

This message was edited Oct 7, 2006 9:16 AM

I don't have any unusual trees yet unless you count Prunus subhirtella and a pink Cornus florida. I have Viburnum bracteatum 'Emerald Luster' performing well in full sun just as Dirr promised. Viburnum xpragense 'Decker' is an unusual evergreen (at least in my neighborhood) that is doing well. I 'm beginning to collect Cryptomerias - have had 'Gyoku Ryu' the longest and love it. My favorite by far is Chamaecyparis thyoides 'Webb's Gold'. I want at least 2 more now that I've seen how beautiful it is growing. The yellow is the softest I've seen in a conifer. Outstanding in every way so far but only planted a year ago.

Love all the Berberis that have been posted. Would love to try them. I only have B. thunbergii 'Rose Glow' but I'm rather fond of it.

Also have:
Buddleia lindleyana
Illicium parviflorum
Ilex vomitoria 'Shadow's Female'
Chamaecyparis thyoides 'Glauca Pendula'
Chamaecyparis thyoides 'Variegata'
Hedera helix 'Peppermint' adult bush ivy
Bambusa multiplex 'Fernleaf'
Thuja occidentalis 'Sherwood Frost'

The last five are yet to be planted along with a multitude of companions in my pot ghetto:)

This message was edited Oct 6, 2006 11:00 PM

Maackia, if your (most beautiful) Pseudolarix doesn't make it, I have many seedlings started from the tree in Minneapolis that was planted in the early 1930's.

New this year at my place:
Hemiptelea davidii
Leitneria floridana
Salix arctica
Salix fargesii
Salix lanata (okay, not that unusual, but nobody grows it)
Salix serpillifolia
Salix uva-ursa
Sorbus poteriifolia

And looking forward to harvesting close to a hundred persimmon this year from my one Meader persimmon.

Also growing Styrax americanum-Kankakee form here. Have been through two winters, although I would not call them z4a. One bloomed this past spring.

I have 'Rubykins' willows and a Siberian Pine. I would be careful buying a non-native pine. The native Pine Wilt Worm (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) is killing many pines particularly the Scots Pine. Native pines have put up with it for centuries.
Rubykins has red catkins and a stripe in the middle of the leaf. My other stripes are Chimaphila maculata (Striped Wintergreen) and Mitchella repens (Partridge Berry). I will be buying Kalmia polifolia, also striped.
Larry

I've been growing Acnistus australis (syn. Dunalia australis) (Mini Angel's Trumpet) for a few years and treating it like typical Brugs by digging them up. Then I noticed at University of BC Botanical Gardens they've been outside for years doing just fine. Nice shrub with mini blue Brugs blooms all summer. I planted one infront of the house to see how it goes. It's been growing like crazy but I think it needs to be grown harder to bloom well with sharp drainage. From South America.

Wow!!!! So many interesting trees and shrubs and ones I have never seen or heard of before. Great thread, gettign to learn new things.

Hi all,
Sorry, I'm a little late getting to this thread.

Here is a list of the trees/shrubs/conifers that I have planted in my yard. Some are unusual (for this area) and some are not. And I have way too many potted specimens that are not in the ground (250+) and really no place to plant them. On a positive note, when something kicks-the-bucket, I have a replacement (or 5) waiting in the wings... (:o)

Abies concolor 'Conica' 9-03
Abies concolor 'Gables Weeping' 9-03
Abies lasiocarpa 'Arizonica Compacta Glauca' 5-29-05
Abies lasiocarpa 'Green Globe' 5-29-05
Acer circinatum 'Sunglow' 2003
Acer japonicum 'Aconitifolium' 2004?
Acer palmatum Robinson's Red 2003
Acer pseudosieboldianum 2000
Acer triflorum 2002 or 2003?
Amorpha canescens (MN ecotype)
Berberis thunbergii 'Helmond Pillar'
Buxus microphylla 'Wintergreen'
Caragana arborescens 'Walker' (on its own roots, not a standard)
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filifera Aurea' 1998?
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filifera Nana' 1998?
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filifera Variegata' 2000?
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Long Island' (name not legitimate)
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Silver Lode'
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Tsukumo' 2003
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'White Pygmy'
Chamaecyparis thyoides 'Heatherbun'
Chionanthus virginicus (male and female)
Cladrastis kentukea 'Perkin's Pink' 5-05
Cornus alternifolia 'Argentea' (Variegata)
Cornus alternifolia 'Golden Shadows' 2004
Corylus avellana 'Contorta' (Harry Lauder's Walking Stick - on its own roots)
Cotinus coggygria 'Golden Spirit'
Fagus sylvatica 'Dawyck Purple' 2001
Fothergilla gardenii x major 'Mount Airy'
Gymnocladus dioicus 5-05
Juniperus horizontalis 'Hughes' Prior to 1993
Juniperus horizontalis 'Mother Lode'
Juniperus scopulorum 'Holden'
Juniperus scopulorum 'Tolleson's Blue Weeping' 1996 or 1997
Juniperus squamata 'Blue Star'
Larix decidua 'Lanark #2 Seedling' (grafted on a standard) 2003
Larix kaempferi 'Blue Rabbit' 6-03
Larix kaempferi 'Diane' 1998
Larix kaempferi 'Jakobsen's Pyramid' 5-29-05
Larix kaempferi 'Pendula' 1998
Larix laricina 'Craftsbury Flats' 9-03
Metasequoia glyptostroboides 1999 or 2000?
Metasequoia glyptostroboides 'Ogon' aka 'Gold Rush' 5-29-05
Picea abies 'Schmidt's Weeping' (Dwarf weeping spruce)
Picea glauca 'Cecilia' (grafted on a standard) 9-02
Picea glauca 'Pendula'
Picea pungens 'St. Mary' (aka 'St. Mary's Broom') 9-02
Pinus banksiana 'Manomet' 2003
Pinus cembra 'Blue Mound'
Pinus cembra 'Compacta'
Pinus cembra 'Glauca Compacta'
Pinus densiflora 'Jane Kluis' (this may be a hybrid) 9-02
Pinus koraiensis 'Silveray'
Pinus mugo 'Big Tuna' 2003 (will be removed-sawfly magnet)
Pinus mugo 'Jacobsen' 2003
Pinus mugo 'Mitsch Mini'
Pinus mugo 'Teeny' (Sherwood Compact) 9-02
Pinus mugo 'Winchester'
Pinus parviflora 'Ara Kawa' (Warted)
Pinus parviflora 'Eric' 9-03 (was purchased as a strobus, but the plant is definitely NOT a strobus cultivar)
Pinus parviflora 'Hagaromo'
Pinus parviflora 'Tanima No Uki'
Pinus parviflora 'Tempelhof' 2004?
Pinus ponderosa Broom seedling (Jerry Morris) 9-03
Pinus resinosa 'State Trooper' (was 'Edelweiss WB')
Pinus strobus 'Green Twist' 9-03
Pinus strobus 'Horsford' 1998?
Pinus strobus 'Sea Urchin' 9-03
Pinus strobus 'Weston Elf' 9-03
Quercus Crimson Spire™
Salix babylonica 'Annularis'
Stewartia pseudocamellia var. Koreana
Thuja occidentalis 'Aurea'
Thuja occidentalis 'DeGroot's Spire'
Thuja occidentalis 'Dirigo Dwarf' 2003 (I believe that this is the same as T. o. 'Tiny Tim'; it sure looks like it, anyway)
Thuja occidentalis 'Filiformis'
Thuja occidentalis 'Goldflake' (Variegated sport of 'Smaragd') 2003
Thuja occidentalis 'Hetz Wintergreen' 7-02
Thuja occidentalis 'Malonyana Aurea' 2004
Thuja occidentalis 'Pendula'
Thuja occidentalis 'Pumila Sudworth'
Thuja occidentalis 'Tiny Tim'
Thuja occidentalis Unknown cultivar (large, round globe, possibly 'Woodwardii')
Thuja occidentalis 'Watnong' 9-02
Thuja plicata 'Whipcord'
Tsuga canadensis 'Betty Rose' 9-03
Tsuga canadensis 'Cole Prostrate'
Tsuga canadensis 'Jervis'
Tsuga canadensis 'Moon Frost' 5-29-05
Tsuga diversifolia 2001?
Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum 'Summer Snowflake' 2002 or 2003?
Yucca filamentosa 'Bright Edge'
Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard'
Yucca filamentosa 'Golden Sword'

Mike



This message was edited Oct 20, 2006 11:52 AM

I have been poring over this thread will something like a kid must feel with the new Toys-R-Us catalog making a christmas list....what an amazing assortment of plants you all are growing. I am looking many of them up - and making my list and checking it twice... LOL Great stuff!!

There was a question a ways back in the thread about B. 'Helmond's Pillar' and having grown 2 of them for a couple years....I thought my meager addition to this awesome thread would be to post a pic of this really great shrub (growing near a Viburnum 'Kern's Pink), and then bow out gracefully and keep drooling over all the wonderful plants you all have listed... :-)

Jamie

Here is a link to the pic of my 'Helmond Pillar' from the plant files area:

http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/53162/

The pic is from 2004 so the plant is much larger now. I will need to take another pic next spring to show the size difference.

Mike

What a lovely Viburnum Jamie~ I'm adding that to my list as well! :-)

Jamie,
Do you know the zone range for V. 'Kern's Pink'?
Thanks,
Mike

According to Plantfiles ( http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/84767/index.html ) the zones are 5a - 9b.

Jamie, how long have you had these, and how quickly do they grow? I really love the color, but I need something relatively fast-growing.

PrairieGirl, Mike and Greenjay ~~

Thanks all for the kind words....The zone info on the tag that came with my plant says 6-9...so I don't know about any lower zones than that. The pic above is from the first season after a Fall planting. It has grown out and filled in quickly, but grows slowly in height. I have been really happy with all the new growth it puts on after flowering is over in May, so I would say although it doesn't tend to grow 'up', it really is a quick grower 'out' filling in its spot in the garden and throws lots of sturdy horizontal branches. The flowers last a LONG time as well....well over 6 weeks here in my garden.

Jamie

Let us know how it does next year. I wonder if it will jump up in the second year, after it is completely established?

Yes, the plant is beautiful (as well as the rest of your garden, that we can see). I have a V. p. t. 'Summer Snowflake' in my garden, but the plant has not bloomed yet and it may not since it's out-of-zone, in zone 4a. I love the color of the flowers on the 'Kern's Pink'

Hmmm.... pondering a zone 6a plant in a zone 4a garden... ??? (:o)
Mike

Mike~You could always keep it in a pot for a few years. I have four really big pots snagged from a carwash that was throwing them out, guess they were in the way. Their loss, my gain, he he.

Man, I must be slooow. Just working through VV's post, keep getting interrupted by small humanoid with high voice.

Jamie,
Eye's glazed over, arms out stretched, blabbling must have 'Kerns Pink'. Did you happen to purchase it through mail order? kt

greenjay~~

I am thinking along those same lines....next year will be it 3rd full season in my garden....the pic above being taken in '05. I will definitely watch its progress and let ya know....sleep, creep, LEAP right.. :-)

mike~~ I have a new 'Summer Snowflake' planted this year as well. Just a mere baby at 1 ft tall and twice as wide, but it bloomed its little heart out all summer. Lliving here in the Pacific Northwest, I forget how the zones can so change the bloom cycle in plants. I did however garden in Montana for a year or so....a whole different ballgame, huh?? I am so excited to see the new Viburnums in the next years to come....(V. 'Pink Beauty', 'Molly Schroeder' 'Mary Milton' and "Summer Snowflake' were all new to me this season after a major re-do of the entire back garden). I will keep track of them in my journal, and here as well...
I have shifted in my gardening away from perennials almost soley, and find myself drawn to trees, shrubs, and the more unusual plants I find here on DG. This forum has already lighted a spark, and I just found it the other day! I look forward to learning so much over the long winter, when I tend to turn to Dave's Garden while mine sleeps....

Jamie

ps....this shot shows another Viburnum - 'Mariesii' with a new Japanes Maple 'Ukigumo' on a burm I planted early in the re-do...it looks so bare now in the pic, as it has now filled in to overflowing....

kt~~

I just read your post...made me chuckle! :-) I bought mine on a clearance table late one fall after all the foliage was gone. I read the tag and snatched it up so fast.... I think Greer Gardens Nursery { http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/428/ } has it though. I have bought many shrubs and trees from them, fantastic plants!!

Have a nice day!
Jamie

Now I know what to put on my xmas wish list... LOL