Among the broad-leaved evergreens which hold places of high esteem as garden subjects, several species of the Asiatic genus photinia command particular attention. Chinese photinia (P. serrulata) is the best of these generally available for areas of moderate climate. At least three others introduced by E. H. Wilson were highly regarded in their native land and it is unfortunate that after so many years they are not better known here.

Photinias are limited in their natural distribution to the Japanese islands and eastern Asia. These plants have much in common with shadbushes and chokeberries, and their brilliant fruits carried in rounded panicles show close relationship to mountain-ashes. Another close relative is the popular toyon or Christmas-berry of California. The best known deciduous species, P. villosa, has been widely planted in Europe and North America, and it is not at all uncommon to find volunteer seedlings establishing themselves in many districts. Although a vigorous and attractive subject, this shrub has no marked advantages over the deciduous cousins noted above nor over the many fine stranvaesia or ornamental crabapples.

This is far from the case with Photinia serrulata, however. When one thinks of adding lustrous evergreen leaves with rich coppery red and pink tones in spring to the well-known beauties of shadbushes and crabapples, the prospect is exciting indeed. A British East India Company captain brought the first plants of Chinese photinia back with him from Canton in 1804. Within a few years Captain Kirkpatrick’s prize had become very popular and was fairly well distributed among gardening enthusiasts.

Shoots and young leaves of this plant command immediate attention because of their striking reddish coloration: buds, petioles and midribs usually retain this effect. The leaves are more or less oblong, from 4 to 8 inches long and with finely toothed margins, as the scientific name indicates. Oddly enough, although the leaves are evergreen and usually remain on the branchlets through the winter and even for several months longer in mild areas, they often show fine autumn coloration in tones of pink, something after the fashion of Carolina rhododendrons.

In earliest spring, even in March in Florida, Texas and Georgia, terminal buds expand into graceful rounded panicles, with many branches eventually measuring up to 6 inches across. Jewel-like flower buds open to show five petals and 20 delicate stamens at the center. Though less than half an inch across individually, these delicate flowers are showy because of their numbers as well as their setting lustrous evergreen foliage.

Berry-like fruits about 1/4 inch across mature during the summer and standout with increasing effectiveness as they turn bright red in the autumn. Their beauty and excellent lasting qualities in early winter have led to the name Christmas-berry being applied occasionally to this species, although this should be reserved for the relative found in California.

Chinese photinias have the reputation of growing best near large bodies of water, and this may be one reason for their popularity along the Pacific Coast. In the eastern states, it is doubtful they can be depended on farther north than Cape Cod, even near the coast, and plantings north of Maryland should be made with special care. It is interesting to note that a fine 8- to 10- foot specimen has been famous on Long Island, and several of about half this stature can be found in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

After you buy, a warm loamy soil and a situation offering protection from winds are the first things to look for in selecting a location for these photinias. Temperatures much below 5 degrees Fahrenheit for any length of time will cause damage unless the setting has been selected to bring about thorough ripening of growth towards middle or late summer. Dryness of the soil will accomplish this effectively, and yet, if foliage is to remain rich and lustrous, moisture must be fairly constant through autumn and winter. Plants should be set out only in early spring, with every encouragement to promote extensive root and shoot growth in May and June but a gradual tapering off by midsummer.

In most situations these shrubs are best grown as rounded specimens with many stems from the ground. In mild sections where winter injury is rarely a factor they can be developed as small trees with a single trunk. Striking foliage effects, in addition to attractive flowers and fruits, make these photinias feature subjects. Specimens can be used for accent and variety in border plantings framing a lawn or formal garden picture. They are also appropriate near large buildings where the transitions from one stage to another can be watched from windows and porches throughout the year.

Appropriate companion subjects include flowering cherries, camellias, magnolias and other first-rank garden favorites. It is also difficult to surpass the effect of a photinia or two in a grouping with fine specimens of pines and other tree conifers.

Pruning Red Tip Photinias

More On Photinias

Photinia Pink Marble

In recent years we’ve all got used to those photinias with their bright red young growth. They’re evergreen, vigorous, easy to grow, and colourful.

Japanese Photinia in Autumn

I took this photo today. These small trees are Japanese Photinia. It is popular as hedge. Those red ( not green ) leaves are fresh leaves. ( Colour of the leaf turns to green from red ).

Photinia Red Robin Leaf Spot – How To Keep It Under Control

Photinia Red Robin Leaf Spot can be unsightly but there is no need to use chemicals – follow our tips and keep the spots at bay.

Photinia

I love this shrub – it has lovely green leaves that change to russety brown and little clusters of white flowers in spring. I would like another one to put somewhere else in the garden too but we are running out of room!

Red-tipped Photinia X Fraseri And Photinia Serrulata

Also, siting photinia where air circulation is best helps (though that doesn’t help your already-huge shrubs, does it?) This means not planting them too close to each other, as is often done to create hedges.

As we continue to provide information on flower gardening for beginners and flower gardening tips on a variety of flowering plants like the Photinia please let us know of any other topics you may be interested in.

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Of the several hundred species of hawthorns native over the entire United States, one stands out prominently as an excellent ornamental tree. It is Crataegus phaenopyrum, the Washington Thorn which does well all across the country.

Seldom is this tree found growing more than 30 feet high. In fact, the largest tree on record, according to the American Forestry Association, is at Laurel, Maryland. It measures 2 feet, 9 inches, in trunk circumference and 25 feet in height and has a 23-foot branch span.

The single white flowers, about 1/2 inch in diameter but borne in many-flowered clusters, appear in mid-June. One of the last hawthorns to bloom, the Washington hawthorne flowers at a time when few other ornamental trees bloom.

Just as important as its flowers are the clusters of bright red fruits. The berries are about 1/4 inch in diameter, and begin to color brightly in early fall.

One of the first things one notices about this tree is its habit. Not definitely fastigiate (erect and columnar), it is nevertheless upright in habit of growth. And with a very small amount of trimming, it can quickly be made to appear fastigiate.

This is a big asset, for the tree is frequently used in highway planting… often in the narrow strip between divided highways, where it helps cut down the headline glare at night.

Like all hawthorns, it seems to withstand poor soil and drought, two reasons why it is so successful in city gardens. It is not superior to the tree-of-heaven or the sumacs in this respect, but it will withstand difficult growing conditions.

The autumn color of the foliage is an excellent glossy red to orange, another reason for considering this tree of year-round interest. The dense twiggy habit and the numerous inch-long thorns make it an excellent barrier plant, and it withstands clipping into hedge form very well indeed. Its general habit and ornamental qualities make it useful as a specimen tree also.

However, this excellent tree is not immune to the troubles common to most hawthorns.

Lacebug and red spider may attack the foliage in summer. Sprays for both these pests are not difficult to time properly.

Fire blight can trouble many thorns as well as apples, pears and cotoneaster’s. Controlling this disease is difficult but all dead or dying branches should be removed as soon as noticed and burned.

Borers, too, cause trouble occasionally, getting into the trunks and limbs.

And all hawthorns are alternate hosts for the cedar apple rust. Therefore, if the red cedar is prevalent within a radius of one mile from a proposed planting site, this Washington Thorn should be considered carefully before it is planted to any great extent.

More About Hawthornes

The Hawthorn Tree

As I walked I came upon some hawthorn trees in full bloom and again I though that I had never seen such a sight or experienced such sweetness before.

State Crowns Two Brooklyn Trees As Champions

Two trees in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden — a holly and a hawthorn — are the largest of their species on record in New York State, according to the state’s Big Tree Register.

7 Ways To Grow Flowers

This article offers information on Washington hawthorn trees, which are perhaps most valued for the time at which they bloom (late spring to early summer). Many of the popular flowering specimens bloom earlier in the spring.

Hawthorn Tree Of Safari

Hawthorn Tree of Safari. This is the tree that inspires me, i like to sit beneath it whilst making my birds. The Hawthorn has many purposes and many myths, it is used in Magic and often referred to as the May tree and the Goddess tree.

The Hawthorn Tree

One of the most profound ones was this tree with it’s awesome berries. We, of course took pictures of it, so that we could identify it at home. Turns out… I think it’s a Washington Hawthorn Tree. Go figure… of course it would be.

Flower Gardening Guide

Discover tips and helpful information with all of your flower gardening questions.

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The Flowering Ornamental Dogwood 

If there is one American plant truly deserving of recommendation for ornamental use over a greater part of the United States, it is the flowering dogwood.

Commonly distributed in the woodlands over half the country at least, Cornus florida has been a highly valued ornamental since colonial times, and justly so.

One can seldom go wrong when giving flower gardening advice in recommending this dogwood for planting on the home grounds, especially where

acid to neutral soils prevail and long summer droughts do not govern the selection of plants. Fortunately, it is available from most nurseries.

Everyone is familiar with its white flower bracts, four of which together are thought of as a "flower." Actually the true, minute, yellow flowers are bunched in the center formed by these four bracts.

It is these true flowers which bear the bright red fruits in the fall that are so colorful and most attractive to the birds.

Native in the East from Florida to southern New Hampshire and Maine, and as far west as Ontario, to Texas and even Mexico, the flowering dogwood has made many ardent friends over the years. Old trees may be as much as 40 feet tall, and nearly a century old, but usually they are considerably lower than this and younger as well.

The flowers appear in midspring, and because the plant is so widely distributed it is an excellent "indicator" of just when midspring occurs in a specific area.

In the fall, the resplendent brilliant scarlet color makes this tree one of the best native or exotic trees for fall  display. It should be planted in full sun to produce its best fall color, for shaded trees are not nearly as colorful.

This is one of the reasons why we appreciate so much those trees which just happen to have grown on the edge of the woodlands, for they flower, fruit and color in the fall far better than they do in shady situations.

The bright red berries are about the size and shape of grains of puffed wheat, usually about five to twelve in number. They are really small nutlets surrounded with pulp. They turn red before the leaves become scarlet so that there is an excellent red-green color combination earlier in the fall. Birds are fond of the fruits and it is undoubtedly because of this that the tree has been so widely distributed in the woodlands of North America.

The branches grow in a horizontal plane which makes the tree definitely flat topped… an important characteristic. Older branches begin to droop a bit as they become heavier, thus displaying the upper side where the flowers are produced. This branching habit is not only of interest during the growing season but all winter long as well.

Most trees have an upright branching habit so those with horizontal branches like the dogwood are greatly needed for variation in the landscape, especially during the long winter months when all deciduous trees are bare of foliage.

There are several varieties of dogwood. The pink or red flowering form is the most popular for its large colored flower bracts are most beautiful in the spring. In its extreme northern range, this pink variety has proved slightly less hardy than the white flowered type.

Other varieties available from only a few nurseries would include the double-flowered form plena, the pendulous branching pendula and the yellow fruited xanthocarpa. To most people, none of these forms is as beautiful as this species.

If one carefully observes a large number of trees in flower, it soon becomes evident that the flowers vary in size, some being merely 2 inches from the tip of one bract to the tip of another, others being as much as 6.5 inches. Actually, the small-flowered types are just as beautiful as the very large-flowered forms, and to many of us even more so.

The dogwood is easily propagated by cuttings, grafting or seeds. Each seed usually contains two embryos, each one capable of producing a plant. The seed should be stratified for three to four months at about 41 degrees, otherwise it may take two years to germinate.

Grafting out-of-doors is simple and easy, especially if one is trying to "make over" the species with scions from one of the varieties. Wrapping such grafts in polyethylene film for a few weeks may help, but we at Flower Gardening Tips have had excellent success merely by grafting in early spring, when the tree is dormant and coating the grafted union with wax. Homeowners can quickly learn the technique of outdoor grafting on dogwood since it is so easily done.

On the West Coast, Cornus florida is represented by a first cousin, Cornus muttalli, which is taller (up to 75 feet) and has six bracts which gradually turn a pinkish color even though they first appear pure white. This tree, which blooms a little earlier in the spring, cannot be grown in the East and is recommended only for growing on the Pacific Coast where it is just as popular and colorful as is Cornus florida in the East.

Valley Forge in Pennsylvania, well-known for the historic battle fought there during the Revolutionary War, has become famous for the thousands of flowering dogwoods that have been planted there as a living memorial. Other towns and even highway departments have planted them in large numbers.

It is not exactly pest-free, for borers sometimes do attack the trunk and there is a canker disease which may trouble a few transplanted trees. However, the flowering dogwood is a tree of remarkable beauty every season of the year… something that cannot be said of many woody plants being grown in our gardens today.

The Pacific Dogwood

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Fall Flower And Gardening Checklist – Part 3

Before we wrap up this Fall Gardening Checklist series we wanted to give you a few more valuable and important tips. These are things you should also be preparing to take care of during the autumn and before the cold arrives.
 

VEGETABLE STORAGE
Beets, carrots, parsnips, potatoes (late) must be stored in a cool place. All except the potatoes could stay outdoors for a longer time by ridging soil over the rows in the garden. Other means of storage are pits dug in the ground and the vegetables covered with boards and hay. For small lots bushel baskets, or boxes submerged in the ground will do. Celery can be kept by covering with soil in the row. Cabbage is best dug and put in a cold cellar or pit.

Eggplant, peppers, and pumpkins must be stored where the temperature is mild. Tomatoes picked before frost and individually wrapped in newspaper will ripen in 2 weeks.

Radishes, lettuce, endive and other greens can be carried along in the garden for some time by covering each evening with cardboard, burlap, or the more enduring plastic sheeting.

COMPOST AND HUMUS
All but diseased and insect-infested material can be composted. Burn all questionable material.

Leaves can be put in a separate heap if there is space, or all materials mixed in one pile.

Begin with a bottom layer of coarse leaves, corn stalks, or dried stems. Next spread layer of the mixed materials 6 inches deep. Sprinkle a pound or more of any fertilizer, compost activator, or dried cow or chicken manure over 4×5 foot surface, then a thin layer of soil. Wet thoroughly.

Repeat layer by layer to build the pile. A 5 foot height is enough. The pile can be as long as desired. Keep the width to 6 feet. Mulching attachments for power tools are handy for fall work.

The humus supply in the soil is increased too, by sowing rye, or rye grass seed on areas left vacant by removal of crops in the garden. Three pounds per 1,000 square feet is ample. Rake the seed in, as in lawn making. Rolling is not necessary.

SOIL IMPROVEMENT
Before hard frost threatens, dig the soil and leave rough over winter. Where manure or compost is available, spread and dig in. Stiff soil is especially benefited. If soil needs lime, this is applied as ground, or pulverized limestone, 3 pounds per 100 square feet. It is merely spread over the surface after digging.

Soil on sloping ground must be covered to prevent washing. A cover crop of rye, a layer of compost, leaves, hay or the like will prevent erosion. Fall is a good time to dig in soil conditioners.

PROTECTION
In winter protection of outdoor hardy and semi-hardy plants, no covering is applied until all growth has ceased. Growth is ended by frost which opens tissue and prepares the plants for winter. Roses can be covered after several frosts, by mounding the soil up and around the base of the stems. Not all northern rose growers agree on covering, but I prefer it. The pink spirea (caryopteris), shrubs like the crape myrtle of the South, and those of similar tenderness are also covered.

The stems are tied loosely together with soft twine or burlap strips and wrapped with burlap. Where winters are severe, hay is used inside first, then burlap, or chicken wire surrounding the shrub. Fill with dry leaves and top with a piece of canvas. An inverted bushel basket stuffed with leaves is the best for low plants.

Climbing roses are protected where the winter temperatures go below zero. The stems are taken down from their sup-ports, tied together, laid on the ground and covered with 3 inches of soil.

It’s a practice in extremely cold sections to loosen the roots on one side and tip the whole plant over into a trench. No bending can be done when the stems are frozen. They will snap off. So do it early. Pansies and English daisies are covered with marsh (salt) hay.

EVERGREENS
These are protected in a different way and for a different reason. Exposed to winds, the leaves dry out, especially if the roots are in frozen soil. Protection consists in covering the root area with a mulch of leaves, and using a wind barrier of some sort. Burlap attached to stakes, branches of pines pushed into the ground, or smaller ones tied to several stems of the plants serve to break the wind.

PERENNIAL PROTECTION
Last to be covered are strawberries, hardy perennials, and rock garden plants. This is best done when ground is frozen. Covered while still soft, the plants will rot.

Soft crowned plants: delphinium, columbine, liatris, anchusa, are best covered with a cone of coal ashes, or 3 parts of soil mixed with one part of sand.

Others are covered with a light layer of marsh hay held in place with light twiggy branches. Provision must be made for water to drain off and not collect around the plants in prolonged wet weather.

Beds of spring flowering bulbs must also wait until they are thoroughly frozen before being covered else mice may harbor there for the winter.

SNOW PROTECTION
Bushy evergreens are, in regions of heavy snows, prone to injury when deep snow collects in the interior splitting them apart. Strips of burlap wound spirally around will give some protection. Tying the stems to each other in the interior is still better.

TREE PROTECTION
The stems of fruit trees, especially those newly planted, are in danger of having the bark peeled off by rabbits and mice during winter. Surround these with a band of close meshed chicken wire 2 feet high. Newly planted shade and flowering tree stems are wrapped with burlap strips, or the special craft paper used by tree men. This is protection against frost injury and the action of freezing winds.

Be prepared and ready to go with your fall flower gardening protection plans. You will be thankful you did come next spring!

How To Protect Plants From Frost & Bugs

More Fall Flower Garden Protection Tips

Mulching: Spread Organic Materials In Fall To Protect Plants

Mulching: Spread Organic Materials In Fall To Protect Plants, Improve Soil. Mulching is the simplest and most advantageous thing you can do for your garden. And it needn’t be pricey — whatever of the prizewinning mulching materials. Leaves: Collect leaves in the fall. Chop with a lawnmower or shredder.

How to Protect Plants in the Winter: Tips for Protecting Plants

Wrapping Plants in Cloth Will Also Help Protect Them During the Winter. Using old blankets, burlap sacks, sheets, towels or other thick fabric will help to protect tender plants from frosts and high winds.

How To Protect Perennials And Roses For Winter

But the sun will get lower on the horizon and the leaves will turn red and fall from the trees. Winter is inevitable. It’s time to plan and prepare before that first frost. Protect. Gardens need protection in the winter. In the north, the snow cover acts as a thermal blanket. But it isn’t the cold that kills the plant or shrub. It’s the drying winds and the freezing and thawing.

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