Why I Oughta...

As a sort-of tip of my cap to the plantsman Roy Diblik, I've started to document some of my own self-guided education with new plants and trees that I've come across in a tiny series of posts all called " getting to know ".  The most recent one of these was Primrose a couple of weeks ago.  Before that, I've tried to learn about everything from Pineapple Lily to the Thai Giant to the Siberian Larch .   The latest entry in this series is a Ginkgo 1 tree that is new (to me).   I came across it in the place that I've found other, surprisingly unique species: at the Home Depot on Butterfield.  The nursery manager seems like they take the biggest risks with inventory of any of the Home Depots around us.  They have - on occasion - things you won't find at the other stores.   So, what was this unique species?  I'd describe it as odd.  It is also small.  And sitting on a pallet next to a couple of contorted Harry Lauder Walkingstick trees.  See below for th

One of the great joys of keeping a garden journal or garden diary is that it allows you to see how much you've changed over the years.  The changes happen with growth and die-back of the plants, but also in your tastes and preferences of plant materials.  That's certainly happened to me as I've gotten to know trees and plants and both what works and what doesn't.  But also, what is the *right* plant (natives, drought-tolerant) and what might be the *wrong* plant (invasive or short-lived).   Take for instance the flowering pear tree.  When I started, I was so excited and proud to plant a small, $5 Cleveland Pear tree in our old yard.  It thrived .  So much so, that I bought even more of them.  Little did I know (at the time) that they're both NOT great trees in terms of longevity, but also...if you get the wrong variety...they're invasive.   I even went so far as to plant a couple at our new house when we moved.  Would I plant those today?  I don't think so. 

The tour of conifer trees that I spotted at the Big Box nursery continues today with a look at the third tree that I've come to know: the Slender Hinoki Cypress.  Earlier this week, I posted the hardship of seeing a Japanese White Pine .  And then about my mixed and uncertain feelings about seeing a columnar Norway Spruce .  Today?  Another tree that I 'dreamed' about back in 2019:  The Slender Hinoki Cypress .  You can see the label below:  Hinoki False Cypress - Chameacyparis obtusa 'Gracilis'. I posted about this species in 2019 and talked about how the features (columnar/narrow, the movement, the needles) scratched me right where I itch .  Last Fall, I invoked this particular tree in talking about how I have an affinity for the wood box-planter with upright conifer on top .   Of the three that I've recently posted (White Pine, Columnar Norway Spruce and this Slender Hinkoki Cypress), this one is THE ONE THAT MAKES THE MOST SENSE.   If I'm going to buy on

Yesterday, I posted a photo and took a HUGE, deep breath and walked past a second Japanese White Pine tree that I saw at the big box nursery .  Why did I have to take a breath?  Because, I *really* wanted one of those trees.  Why did I walk past it?  Because I bought one last year.  And it seems to have failed this Winter.  But, what else did I see on that VERY SAME visit?    A tree that - like the Japanese White Pine - is also something that I've lusted after for a while.  In fact, I even posted an entire "Tree Dreaming" post about this species on the blog back in 2018.   What's that tree?  It is a columnar Norway Spruce - Picea abies 'Cupressina'.  Here's that post from 2018 .  Here - below - is the tag on one of these that I saw at the big box nursery showing the $99 price tag. Back in 2018, I said that there was A LOT to like about this tree: columnar, vertical, fast(ish) and unique.  At the time, I also said that it could withstand snow loads, but a

 The folks at The Growing Place in Naperville and Aurora have recently posted a list of some "new" or at least "new to them" plants and trees that they will be carrying this season .  There are a few things that I'm seeing on the list that are interesting to consider, but one item in particular made me go and do more research.  It is all.the.way.at.the.bottom of the list they published.  Go ahead, click here .  And scroll down.  There, you'll find the Lindsey’s Skyward Bald Cypress tree.  Here's how they describe it on their site: What's that?  Narrow form?  Oh, you know me, I'm a sucker for narrow, columnar-form trees.  A quick look around the Web reveals even more details including: "fern-like needles", "very upward facing branches", "Winter interest", "dramatic symmetrical columnar habit", "showy bronze carpet".   You hand me at fern-like + narrow.  And, here (below) is what it looks like in t

I've done this before on the blog - where I put out a plan for future tree planting locations - mostly as a way to guide my planning, but also marking down a place for when I buy a tree on impulse and provide it a place to grow.  For this post, I wanted to specifically think about trees as they relate to the patio area and rear of the house.  I've identified five spots to plant trees that you can see in the plan below. I'll quickly mention each of these - but note, they're NOT in priority order.  But, they each are likely deserving of a specific tree type/variety/caliper.  So, let's consider this a macro list (for now). 1.  Backyard - focal on southside.  Across from large Oak.   This is what I think needs to be a substantial tree - something on the order of 2" caliper.  And, likely a shade tree. 2.  Outside of Kitchen window, patio shade tree.   This one, too, should be a more mature tree.  It is in a vulnerable position in terms of being out in the open, but

I was at Home Depot a week or so back and and came across the tree above that stopped me in my tracks.  It is a beauty.  I looked a little closer and realized that what I was looking at was a Weeping Alaskan Cedar Tree.  The one I dreamed about in 2017 here on the blog .  And something that looks VERY different than the tree that I planted in 2018 and called a weeping cedar:  the Emerald Falls Himalayan Weeping Cedar .  That tree didn't make it through the first Winter , but that hasn't stopped me from thinking about it since then.  This past Winter, I posted another weeping cedar - a columnar variety called the Van Den Aker Narrow - and talked about how I'm drawn to this tree in both forms. The tag on the tree at Home Depot looks like this below.  It lists the tree as: Chamaecyparis - Weeping Alaskan Cedar and is listed at $99.  I'd say it is about six feet tall from the rootflare to the top tip.  The $99 price had me think twice about it - because I'

Last Summer, we visited Disneyland Paris and one of the things that both Natalie and I were struck by was the landscaping outside of Phantom Manor .  They had these trees that were all curly and the foliage looked like it was dying and twisted.  A little bit of digging when we got home turned up that the trees that we were seeing were most likely Harry Lauder's Walkingstick .  It was then that I started to think about contorted trees as a thing - and (potentially) a thing for our own yard.  I mentioned in this post about a contorted Larch tree that I thought it was interesting to consider adding to our yard.  I've been giving a lot of thought to the types of trees we should be adding - and have posted about most of them.  Getting a contorted tree was tops on my list for this season.  Well...on a recent Sunday, we took a drive out to The Growing Place in Aurora where they had their nursery set up as a 'drive through'.  You stay in your car and drive through the

Stuck at home due to 'social distancing' like we are?  I'm sure that you're dreaming about your Spring and Summer garden like I am these days.  If you're doing any tree planning, you are likely turning to some online resources to research and buy your trees.  I came across this link from one of our local nurseries:  The Growing Place in Naperville where they list their 2020 bare root tree availability for purchase .  They're running a special on their bare root tree inventory, but you have to call them at 630.355.4000 and place your order by March 29, 2020. They say that there are "Limited quantities on select varieties." So, why would you buy bare root trees? The Growing Place lists some benefits including: What are they offering this year?  You can click here to see the full list and all the details .  But, below, is a snapshot of what is available.  Redpointe Maple. 1.25" Branched. $99 Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry. 3' Multi-stem

Over the past few years, I've posted a few times about Japanese-inspired gardening and how I'm increasingly drawn to it for various reasons.  I spent a bit of time walking around Gotenyama Gardens in Tokyo and as I walked down the steps into the kind-of sunken garden, I was surrounded by a lush garden in the middle of a metropolitan city.   And that fascination with Japanese gardens has manifested itself in a couple of things, but mostly columnar trees .  But, there are other elements that I've talked about including ferns and this Japanese Forest Grass , too.  One of the types of tree that I don't seem to have covered at all here on the blog is a Japanese Maple tree.  I've seen them at the garden center over the past few years and they're always tempting (and pricey), but I didn't know too much about them to ever make a decision on them.  This Winter, I started to poke around them as thinking about this part of our yard and wanted to get a little bit smar

Two days ago was the latest in the run of [ tree dreaming ] posts featuring this columnar Japanese Larch called "Paper Lanterns" that throws off these beautiful - and delicate - paper-y cones .  In that post, I mentioned that I while I haven't covered Larch trees before, in looking at columnar Larches, I came across a tree that checks a couple of really desirable boxes for my tastes in trees. Is there a tree that is: a deciduous conifer.   Puts on a 'Fall show'. Is Japanese-inspired. Grows in a narrow, columnar form. Displays a weeping branching structure. And...is considered contorted.   Turns out, there's a tree that checks all six of those boxes.  It is called the Diana Weeping Larch .  I found it when I was looking around at columnar larches and found this story on FineGardening about trees in tight spaces .  They showed this photo (below) of the Diana Weeping Japanese Larch.  This is a special tree, isn't it: This is not my photo.  Fo

More dreaming about trees going on here on the blog today.  Yesterday, I posted about the columnar American Sweetgum called Slender Silhouette .  The whole [tree dreaming] series can be found at the very bottom of this post.  If you're not interested in following along with me in documenting some of the trees that I've come across this Winter that are worth sharing, you can just move along here.  But, today I'm posting about something interesting:  a new (to me) deciduous conifer.  I have a few deciduous conifers on our property including a Dawn Redwood and Bald Cypress that are both small trees.  Turns out, the largest portion of deciduous conifers appear to be larch trees.  From this post on The Spruce : Most of the deciduous conifers belong to the genus Larix and are commonly known as larch trees . These trees have short needles in clusters that run along the branches, with flowers sprinkled throughout. The flowers transform into cones. Larch trees are appealing

Despite it being February, it is still dark and cold and the gardener and tree-planter in me is still dreaming about other trees to think about adding to our backyard.  Just yesterday, I featured this Parkland Pillar Birch that is the second columnar Birch tree in the series.  Today, I'm turning back to the list of 'narrow trees' from Savvy Gardening for another tree in my dreaming series.  I've already featured #10 on the list in the  Van Den Akker Narrow Weeping Alaskan Cedar  - on my [ tree dreaming ] list at the end of January. Now comes a post about their #8 on the list:  The Slender Silhouette American Sweetgum . Here's what it looks like via this photo below from this post courtesy of the University of arkansas system extension : This is not my photo. Sharing it as a good look at the American Sweetgum Slender Silhouette tree form.   Found it here via the U of Arkansas System Extension Office .  Original source seems to be  here on Flickr .   Looks

Yesterday, I featured two pine trees in my latests [tree dreaming] series post: a cool pine with 'candles' on the tips and a super narrow Umbrella pine that has Japanese influence .  Today, is another post about a tree that I'm dreaming about:  a columnar birch tree called the Parkland Pillar Birch . I've shared a few posts about birch trees on the blog over the years. Just in mid-January, I posted a tree-dreaming post about two 'white' trees:  the Dakota Pinnacle Birch and the Swedish Aspen .  Both of them feature white-ish bark and have a narrow, columnar growth habit. If you go look at that post, you'll see that those two trees (Dakota Pinnacle and Swedish Aspen) are kinda similar.  This, Parkland Pillar Birch is very (to my eye) similar to those other two.  From this product listing, we find out that the Parkland Pillar Birch can go all the way down to Zone 3 - which is nice.    About the Parkland Pillar Birch from FirstEditionPlants.com : Park

A few days ago, I posted my latest [ tree dreaming ] post about the Van Den Aker Weeping Narrow/columnar Alaskan Cedar and in doing the poking around on the Web about that very tree, I came across a few other trees that are worth documenting here for future contemplation.  This post is about two trees:  The Oregon Green Austrian Pine and the "Joe Kozey" Narrow Japanese Umbrella Pine tree.  The Austrian Pine isn't (I think) necessarily a columnar tree, but it has narrow/columnar varieties.  But the Umbrella Pine certainly is columnar in habit. First the Oregon Green Austrian Pine.  It has these interesting 'candles' that emerge on the tips of the tree. Via Monrovia comes this photo: Photo above via Monrovia.  Source .   Kinda cool, isn't it? Monrovia describes the tree thusly : Via the Monrovia product listing .   Next on the list of tree specimens that are worth dreaming about is this 'Joe Kozey' Narrow Japanese Umbrella Pine.  Here&#