Flowering Dogwoods for Sechelt penninsula?

Discussion in 'Outdoor Gardening in the Pacific Northwest' started by Polar, Nov 20, 2014.

  1. Polar

    Polar Active Member

    Messages:
    84
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    Pender Harbour & West Vancouver
    Hello,
    I'm looking for a flowering dogwood that would do well in the Pender Harbour area (Pacific Northwest, zone 8, characterized for it's wet winters)

    I remember many dogwoods were affected by anthracnose in Vancouver and area. Eddie's-white-wonder seemed to be an exception but that was 15 yrs ago. Is it still showing signs of resilience through the summer? Any other newer introductions of the flowering dogwoods showing resistance in Pacific Northwest? Of course I'd love a pink or red version, but I think I've heard they're the ones most hit by disease here.

    Would love to hear from any of you with a flowering dogwood experience.
     
  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

    Messages:
    21,250
    Likes Received:
    786
    Location:
    WA USA (Z8)
  3. Polar

    Polar Active Member

    Messages:
    84
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    Pender Harbour & West Vancouver
    Thank you for this info, Ron! It has led me on to other sources as well - a maze of info, old and new. Thanks again!
     
  4. Georgia Strait

    Georgia Strait Generous Contributor

    Messages:
    1,968
    Likes Received:
    736
    Location:
    South Okanagan & Greater Vancouver, BC Canada
    hello - i noticed a pink dogwood in the small civic park across from Mollys Reach (near the George Gibson statue that gets dressed up by the town gardeners - the statue made by Jack Harmon http://www.orderofbc.gov.bc.ca/members/obc-1996/1996-jack-harman/ )

    in any event - in the lowest part of the garden ... there is an ages old pink dogwood - that faithfully blooms each spring that I have seen it - I would say that garden has been there a good 30 years. We have been cottage-goers for many decades and that is my recollection.

    I wonder what that pink dogwood is. One would have to do DNA on it at this point I am sure as the Town of Gibsons gardeners change so often and now all they focus on is the seasonal hanging baskets and holiday lights. I would be pleasantly surprised if anyone took any records of what was planted where - tho I think that would be a great idea to have that info avail for locals and visitors alike.
     
  5. Polar

    Polar Active Member

    Messages:
    84
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    Pender Harbour & West Vancouver
    Thank you Georgia Strait for that tip! I will have a walk around there to see the tree.
    Best regards,
    Sonia
     
  6. Georgia Strait

    Georgia Strait Generous Contributor

    Messages:
    1,968
    Likes Received:
    736
    Location:
    South Okanagan & Greater Vancouver, BC Canada
    Hello - I am not sure of your garden style and locale (cottage english vs native modern etc ----- and rocky outcrops or forested away from the ocean etc)

    here are some other Coast local places I find inspiring for sturdy plantings - that can take some drought and exposures and low maintenance:

    1. around Gibsons Landing in general - there is one nice planting that I admire that is near "Log Henge" - the bus stop on Gower Pt Road below the Municipal Hall - there is a crosswalk to the west. The little garden is tiny - I think it has a fire hydrant in it - and many river / beach stones. It always looks nice. Then across the st is a little fountain that is intermittent - there is a "compass" in the pavement under the fountain. Hostas etc in the summer.

    then below "log henge" is the painted mural water garden - that eventually flows in to the harbor. It was all designed by a very skilled landscape architect Judith Reeve(s) - as far as I know.

    the plantings on South Fletcher Road around the library and municipal hall are quite attractive - some look tired now - after all it has been a good 10 years since originally installed. Nice planters.

    Gibsons Park Plaza - the shopping mall - the first stop light as you enter Gibsons from the Sechelt side (NEAR THE FAST FOOD PLACE) - that was all renovated a few years ago (2010 I think) - and the plantings professionally designed and installed - if you walk over toward the medical center building there is a nice river / beach stone drainage along the sidewalk - and some nice red twig dogwood (arctic fire?) and many grasses. It is professionally maintained - I have seen the person out there cleaning it up.

    and of course, I am sure you know the various private gardens that we all aspire to - watch for the garden tours that fundraise for the local botanical garden - http://www.coastbotanicalgarden.org/ ---- i am not usually up there for the tour time however, I know people who go and they really enjoy it.

    my personal low-key deer-proof plants include
    native salal
    Oregon grape
    rhodos of various colors and sizes
    hostas - tho deer like them but some do well in pots on a deck as a focal point (lime green in a black sculptural pot)

    tete a tete mini daffs
    flowering currant

    i have a white-flowering hawthorne that came with the cottage - and the birds absolutely love the berries - it grows to approx 20 feet tall - careful of your septic field - roots.

    vine maples are good here too. Acer circinatum

    Sword ferns - can't go wrong and they look great massed under the cedars just like in the forest trails around the coast.

    I put up pots / baskets of impatiens to add some summer sparkle - but if you come and go from your cottage then maybe that's a hassle (watering and feeding etc)

    Palace purple HEUCHERA - you'll see native plant in Smuggler Cove

    Ladies Mantle - for the foliage that shows such pretty dew drops

    some of the hardier clematis - some of the alpina (I grow them up the vine maples) - be warned if you choose the montana - they are usually raring to run up the nearest tree a good 18 or more feet!

    ------
    the nursery I like to visit is on the Hwy 101 just the Gibsons side of "rat portage hill" ... it is up Pell Road, which is the Gibsons side of Wilson Crk (CanadianTire) - then go up the hill that has the passing lane - past the provincial park campsite - then just before Flume Road you'll see Pell Road - turn LEFT toward the mountain very carefully - there is a nursery - it is lovely - and the lady is willing to special order (based on what she can get of course) - and they sell amazing tomatoes harvested from their own garden in the summer. www.facebook.com/pages/Jardin-de-Flores-Nursery-and-Farm-Roberts-Creek/393250897417292

    enjoy our winter armchair gardening here in BC!
     
  7. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

    Messages:
    21,250
    Likes Received:
    786
    Location:
    WA USA (Z8)
    The hawthorn (no 'e') is probably Crataegus monogyna. Impatiens wallerana recently developed a destructive mildew and disappeared from the marketplace in short order.
     
  8. Polar

    Polar Active Member

    Messages:
    84
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    Pender Harbour & West Vancouver
    Georgia Strait, just saw your thorough message ! Thank you so much for all this info, I really appreciate it and will do the rounds as soon as the fires stop. I hope you are handling this dense, acrid air....

    Best regards,
    Sonia
     
  9. Georgia Strait

    Georgia Strait Generous Contributor

    Messages:
    1,968
    Likes Received:
    736
    Location:
    South Okanagan & Greater Vancouver, BC Canada
    isn't that nice coincidence - I noticed some ornamental pink dogwoods out in bloom recently (June 2015) and was surprised to see them doing their thing in the heat and sunshine.

    maybe Ron B knows how to go about a DNA analysis from a leaf or bark scraping (out of curiosity - what is required?) - because that one in the park near the George Gibson statue deserves a medal. Honorary Dogwood Degree. Over at least 25 years, it has had various "municipal / town gardeners", some well-intended pruning, stuff piled on it, no water, some water, new concrete walls, full heat all day, dogs running around it etc - and it plugs along looking pretty good and always lots of blossom.

    Indeed, yes - very smokey and ash falling out of the sky at the coast nr Gibsons / Rbt Crk today - we send lots of take care msgs to all of our wildfire technicians and we hope very much for our BC native flora and fauna who make BC the special place that it is. (we survived Okanagan Mtn 2003 and know very much what it's like to have smoke and ash and fear and all the other aspects.)
     

Share This Page