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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Why FALL Planting?

Experienced gardeners prefer fall planting. Not for all plants, but for a great many that the beginner seldom thinks of setting out except in spring.

Unless you are in a very cold section of the country, roses planted in fall take hold better than do spring-set bushes. So do most fruit trees and bushes, other deciduous trees and shrubs and many evergreens. The majority of hardy perennials, too, respond best when moved in autumn rather than in spring.

Fall planting is advantageous to the gardener too. Over most of North America spring is short, its days all too crowded.

Despite carefully made plans and the best intentions, it is usually physically impossible to accomplish all the planting and other work that needs doing. This is true if you do the work yourself; it is so if you hire professional help.

 In the mad rush of spring, skilled Gardeners and nurserymen seem to be almost as scarce as the proverbial hen’s tooth, and if you succeed in corralling one (or more), chances are he will be so rushed that your planting may be done less carefully than had you employed him at a more leisurely season.

But plantwise, why is fall the best time to set out most material? The first point to recognize is that the operation we call planting is actually transplanting. It consists of moving a living plant from one place to another in such a fashion that it will become reestablished.

Such transplanting is an artificial disturbance. In nature it occurs rarely, as when a tornado or swollen stream rips a plant from its anchorage and sets it some place else, where it takes root. But these are freak accidents. Plants usually spend their entire lives in the place where nature propagated them.

Transplanting is analogous to an operation on a human being. Parts of the body are cut away, the physiological processes disturbed. Common sense dictates that an operation should he done at a time most favorable to the patient, at the beginning of a period when recuperation is likely to take place most rapidly and when no undue demands are expected to be made upon the patient’s energies. For most plants, fall meets these conditions best.

Let’s examine the reasons why this is so. The above-ground parts of a plant depend upon the roots for water and nutrients, and to find them, roots often travel much greater distances than ordinarily supposed. A lowly perennial may send some of its feeders down 2, 3 or even more feet, and the spread of these feeders almost invariably far exceeds that of the foliage. In the case of trees and shrubs, too, the underground parts usually occupy more space then the stems and leaves.

It follows that no matter how carefully transplanting is done, some roots are cut off and the plant’s ability to supply its stems and leaves with water and nutrients is temporarily reduced. In fall, with its shorter days, lower temperatures, less intense sunshine and in many cases normal loss of foliage, the demands for water and nutrients made by the tops of hardy plants are at a near minimum and decrease as day follows day. This is a significant factor.

Roots of fall transplants are able to continue growth long after top growth has ceased, because the ground beneath remains warm and moist even after the upper inch or two is frozen. Therefore, new roots, generate readily from the cut and broken ends of transplants, enabling them to rapidly re-establish their root systems.

Contrast this with conditions that prevail in spring. Then all factors that favor vigorous top growth (with its resulting heavier demands upon the roots) are at work. Days are lengthening, the sun strengthening. Winds are stealing water from every stem and leaf. And as the leaves increase in size and number, the demand for water and nutrients increases correspondingly.

Are there any disadvantages to fall planting? Yes, in some cases there’s danger of winterkilling. Winter is the crucial period for plants on the border-line of hardiness in any given locality, plants which are so close to being tender and winterkilled anyway that the root disturbance tips the balance against them.

For such plants spring transplanting is safer, because in order to survive the winter, these borderline plants need a fully established root system. Planted in spring, they have a whole growing season in which to re-root before being called upon to face the rigors of winter.

Transplanting done too late for the particular plant type may also result in winterkilling. In such cases there simply is not sufficient time for adequate rooting before the under soil becomes too cold.

Then, too, heaving (soil movement due to alternate freezing and thawing) can tear and break roots, and with smallish items, such as rock garden plants and perennials, this may cause so much damage that serious harm or death results. However, precautions can be taken to minimize this danger.

On the negative side, one other factor must be taken into account. Experience has proved that a few plants transplant better in spring (preferably late spring) than in fall. These include some subjects with more or less fleshy roots, such as magnolias and beeches. If you have any doubts about a particular plant, check with an experienced gardener.

The actual operation of transplanting is the same whether done in fall or spring. Only the details of after care differ. Regardless of season, the soil must be deeply and thoroughly prepared and should be in a crumbly rather than pasty condition.

Preparation ordinarily involves loosening the earth to a depth of 10 inches or more, mixing in a generous amount of organic matter (compost, leafmold, rotted manure, peatmoss or commercial humus) and some fertilizer.

In fall, use only slowly available fertilizers such as coarse bonemeal, pulverized sheep manure or prepared mixtures that have much of their nitrogen content in organic form. The quickly soluble, rapid-acting kinds are more advantageous in spring, for these serve chiefly to stimulate leaf growth, which is not of immediate importance in fall. For certain plants, some soils will need liming. And in some cases, the use of a synthetic soil conditioner may be advisable.

The details of preparing the soil depend upon the particular plants to be set out. In any case, see that the preparation is thorough and, if possible, have it completed well in advance of planting. This gives the earth time to settle somewhat and makes firm planting at the right depth easier.

If you must plant before the soil has settled sufficiently by itself, either tread it until moderately firm (while it is dry enough not to stick to the shoes) or give it a thorough soaking with the hose and then allow it to dry. Either treatment will settle it enough for planting.

The old admonition that it’s better to put a 10-cent plant in a dollar hole than a dollar plant in a 10-cent hole still holds. For every plant you install, make a hole sufficiently large to easily accommodate the ball of roots without crowding and to permit you to pack a liberal amount of good soil around the old roots to encourage growth of new ones.

This is especially important with trees, shrubs and evergreens planted where the entire surrounding soil is not specially prepared, as it usually is with herbaceous plants and closely set shrubs. For a moderate-sized shrub or tree, the role should be at least 2 feet wider than the spread of the roots… more if the soil is poorand more when big specimens are being moved.

One of the great advantages of fall planting is that purchased nursery stock is then newly dug. It has not been wintered in a nursery cellar or storage shed as have most spring-sold plants.

Take care when planting not to let the roots become dry. If the specimens are moved with a ball of soil, as evergreens always should be and larger trees and shrubs often are, be sure, not to break it.

Spread the roots of plants that are moved without a soil ball in the directions in which they run naturally and work good soil between them. Set the plants at the same depth or only very slightly deeper than they were previously. Firm the soil well, but do not ram it until it is as hard as a road. Unless rain is imminent, soak the soil immediately after planting and keep well watered.

Secure fall-planted trees firmly to stakes or guy wires to prevent winter storms from loosening or toppling them over. Deciduous shrubs rarely need staking, but it is often good to prune back or thin out some of the branches. Evergreens (both shrubs and trees) will appreciate a burlap screen if they are exposed to wind or strong winter sun.

Very important, too, is the subject of winter protection. For most plants, a mulch 1 or 2 inches deep (3 or 4 inches for evergreens) spread over the ground after it has frozen will delay frost penetration to greater depths and enable roots to grow for a longer period. A mulch will also reduce heaving.

Suitable materials are coarse compost, half-rotted leaves, manure, straw and peat-moss. A mulch of this type, however, is not practicable for ground-hugging plants such as strawberries and many rock garden subjects, which require a light covering of salt hay or evergreen branches. Perennials, too, prefer the latter type mulch.

Roses require a little different kind of winter protection. After the top inch of earth has frozen, bill the soil high around the bases of the stems to protect the lower buds, and fill the hollows between the hills with loose manure or some other mulch material.

Let’s take a look now at the best fall planting times for the different plant types. Evergreens should go in first. These have to support a crop of leaves all winter and so need plenty of time to develop ample roots. Deciduous trees and shrubs, excepting those few kinds that move better in spring, may be safely planted considerably later than evergreens. Put them in any time between the start of natural leaf fall and the first hard ground freeze.

Roses should be planted as soon as obtainable, and planting may continue until frost makes it impracticable. Perennials and biennials should be planted as soon as possible after the first killing frost to enable them to root well before the soil freezes.

Planting In Autumn

More Tips For Fall Gardening

How To Naturalize Spring-Flowering Bulbs

Of these, only spring-blooming bulbs absolutely must be planted in fall. This “now or never” push makes fall bulb planting an annual tradition in many households, where spending an hour or two each fall can reap colorful spring time bulbs.

Fall Work Makes Spring Planting Easier

Crisp autumn days make you want to drink hot chocolate and sit by a warming fire. I’ll join you, but first we have a few things to do to be ready for spring gardening. (Did you really think I was done giving you things to do?)

5 Tips for Fall Gardening

If you’re ready to take the organic gardening plunge, we have some great tips for you from the experts at Bonnie Plants, a green-gardening wholesaler in Union Springs, AL: Don’t be intimidated.

Fall Gardening Tasks

Pruning chores are easier in fall as the leaves drop. But be certain to only prune away dead or diseased wood – if you prune healthy wood, it will spur new growth that will become damaged by winter cold.

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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 2

When preparing our flower beds and garden in the fall for the upcoming winter we do not want to forget about these! Here we review what to do now for your lawn, house plants, and planting shrubs and trees.

LAWNS
Seeding and feeding are best done now. There is less weed competition and grass grows best in most places, in autumn. Cut and remove crab grass before it sheds its seeds. Clean out other weeds too. Loosen the soil in bare patches, work in grass fertilizer or a complete plant food, then sow with a grass mixture suited to your conditions. If fall-planted grass gets an early, strong it can stand the late fall raking of leaves without damage.

Even on a good lawn, plant food and extra seed are advisable. For such "extra" growth use 3 pounds plant food and 1/4 pound grass seed to 100 square feet.

In making a new lawn in the fall, dig the area and mix peat moss and plant food with the surface soil. If extra topsoil is needed put on at least 2 inches. Rake and roll two or three times to get an even, firm surface. Sow 1/2 pound grass seed per 100 square feet. Rake and finally roll using a 200 pound roller.

HOUSE PLANTS
It’s time to take in house plants, and to dig up and pot others to be used indoors. Geraniums, actively growing petunias, and dwarf salvia are suitable. Cut away a third of the tops before digging: pot firmly, water, and keep in a warm place.

PLANTING TREES AND SHRUBS
Transplant evergreens any time in September or early October. This applies to conifers, pine, spruce, hemlock and the like and the broad-leaved kinds: rhododendrons, mountain laurel, azaleas and similar plants. All growth has matured. The plants come with a ball of soil. Set the plants at same depth they were in the nursery. Their roots are near the surface and will be injured if buried deeply. All must be watered thoroughly and the soil packed against the ball. Mix good soil with peat moss or humus plus a handful of 5-10-5 fertilizer per plant.

Late September and October is also time for ordering and transplanting the deciduous (leaf dropping) trees and shrubs. The few possible exceptions are magnolia, birch, cherry and dogwood, although when dug from the nursery dogwood is safe.

Unless the trees or shrubs are large, a ball of soil is not necessary. Most shade and flowering trees up to 10 feet high can be transplanted bareroot. However, keep the roots moistened until planted. Pack screened soil between the roots and flood with water. Single stemmed trees planted this way should be secured to two stakes.

Fall Plant And Tree Care

More Tips For Fall Flower Growing And Planting

Fall Is The Time To Plant Flower Bulbs

Bulbs are a wonderful addition to any yard or garden. Once planted, bulbs take little care and are a surprise when they pop up and take on life and color.

Fall Is For Planting

If I plant in the spring I only get one chance for roots to grow before summer. If I plant in fall I get much more root growth and time for the plant to establish itself.

Transformed Garden Plants Become Indoor Plants

Fall is a good time, before frost, to pot up a few chosen plants for continued bloom in the house long after freezing weather has brought an end to the garden season. Ageratum, lobelia, sweet alyssum, dwarf marigolds, and petunias. All of these bulbs should be dug with great care just like caring for spathoglottis so that they will not be cut or injured by the spade or fork.

Fall Tips of Gardens and Growers

A great deal of thought will be given to house plants during the next few months. The object will be to keep them growing and blooming through the dull days.

The Important Fall Garden Activity

Garden Sanitation – This all-important job should precede all other fall garden activities. Following the vacation period, many garden plants need to be groomed. Remove all dead foliage and old blooms from the plants or from the bed.

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