![]() ![]() Broad and bushy, this Himalayan tree carries a crop of pale sulfur flower heads and big raspberry-red fruits against a backdrop of sea-green leaves. Still, a handful have survived, suggesting that selections from local trees might bring this beautiful plant into wider use here. ![]() ![]() The evergreen dogwood ( Cornus capitata) has had a spotty career in the Northwest, and few remain after our recent cold winters. The tree is rare in the wild in southwest Washington, more common from central Oregon south, where it may exceed seventy feet. With pale bark and narrow leaves backed with gold felt, the chinquapin is well worth the effort to satisfy it. Our few good garden specimens of this chestnut relative are growing in well-drained, rather shady sites. The golden chinquapin Chrysolepis chrysophylla is a glamorous native that begs to be brought into the garden but usually pouts when planted. cuspidata make especially nice fifteen- to twenty-foot specimens in the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle, where some cultivars of C. ![]() Camellia pitardii, with beautiful pale rose flowers, and the pink-flowered hybrid between C. In addition to the usual cultivars, some rarer species make handsome trees. But a few of the best tall ones could be planted as small trees in semi-shade. Azara is best in a woodland edge.Ĭamellias are abundant in the Northwest as shrubs, reaching rooftops only in age. Plants in warm, sheltered spots may produce small, yellowish, chocolate-scented flowers in late winter. Oval, shiny, dark green, and barely half an inch long, they are neatly arranged along slender twigs to form a diaphanous fifteen- to twenty-five-foot crown. The boxleaf azara ( Azara microphylla), from Chile, has perhaps the smallest leaves of any broadleaved tree. Besides a fall and winter display of creamy flowers and orange-red fruits, the strawberry tree offers ease of cultivation in any well-drained soil. While usually used as a shrub, this small-leaved plant can reach fifteen feet or more. unedo), native to Ireland and the Mediterranean, is at all common in the Northwest. All are smaller variations on the theme of glossy, oval leaves, red fruit, white flowers, and reddish, peeling bark on a sinuous framework. There are several relatives in the genus that sometimes show up in collections. The native madrone ( Arbutus menziesii) is fussy in cultivation whether natural or planted, it needs to be left alone. Plants from A through L are included here the remainder will appear in the next issue. They are introduced in alphabetical order by Latin name for easy reference. The trees and large shrubs described below have all weathered enough winters in Washington and Oregon west of the Cascades to have proven their hardiness here. In short, broadleaved evergreen trees are a varied bunch with much to offer the landscaper and gardener. Finally, not all broadleaved evergreen trees shroud everything beneath them in perpetual shade some are light and airy, and a few of the best thin out a bit for winter. Second, they are as easy to grow, and about as fast, as other groups of plants, though they vary widely in their particulars. First, dozens of broadleaved evergreen trees are hardy west of the Cascades in Oregon and Washington they have proven themselves in the few places they have been tried. Perhaps we should begin by clearing up a few misconceptions. For these purposes, trees need to be evergreen, and conifers are not always appropriate in shape or character. And where there is harshness to soften or ugliness to hide, we need the camouflage of foliage year round. When drizzly skies blend streets and buildings into a wash of grays, the sparkle of living greenery overhead can be a powerful tonic. We would do well to welcome more broadleaved evergreen trees. While one of the handsomest of these, the madrone ( Arbutus menziesii), is an abundant native, few others are commonly grown or even widely known among gardeners in this region. Most notably missing from many Northwest landscapes are broadleaved evergreen trees. Lost in all of this is the richness and diversity that comes from a more cosmopolitan plant selection. The occasional bad freeze lends the weight of logic to the widespread feeling that plants from warmer climates do not belong here. Even though snow is headline news west of the Cascades and our winter color is green, something about our rugged coniferous backdrop seems to call for the ambience of northern Europe, New England, or even the prairies of the Midwest. The cultivated landscape of the Pacific Northwest draws on many borrowed ideas, most of which have come from the northerly latitudes and colder climates. ![]()
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