Appreciation: Out and About

Here is a great tree I saw today: Notholithocarpus densiflorus, Tanoak, in Stanley Park on Lagoon Drive opposite the putting green. I was going to post it for ID, wondering how a chestnut could have have such tiny leaves (around 12 cm long), but I found the name on the map included in Nina Shoroplova's new book Legacy of Trees: Purposeful Wandering in Vancouver's Stanley Park. Also, I posted photos of the leaves of the one at UBCBG in 2013, not that I remembered that. I was pleased to see in a comment in that thread that it has been found to be closely related to Castanea, so I wasn't way off: May 16, 2013 - Decorative leaves.

 

There's an entire book written about that species: The Tanoak Tree: An Environmental History of a Pacific Coast Hardwood

 

That book gets a good review on Goodreads: The Tanoak Tree: An Environmental History of a Pacific Coast Hardwood by Frederica Bowcutt
There is a link there to this book trailer on YouTube, has a lot to say in three minutes:

 

I'd like to join "the emerging army of Tanoak defenders". Such a beautiful and useful tree - sad to know it is in decline. I was interested though to watch these 2 videos following the one Wendy attached - explaining from a forester's point of view that Tanoak "has a natural ability to take more than its fair share of the growing space."

Hmmm. Not sure everyone would agree what its 'fair share' should actually be. Sudden Oak Death is certainly complicating the discussion.


Thank you Wendy and Daniel for bring this to my (our) attention.

 

Was it here someone mentioned "cornerstone species" recently? He mentioned that in the second video about the tanoak in California.
Interesting comment on YouTube:

 

ScienceDirect https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049964417302669

That sounds very encouraging and I hope other studies corroborate the result. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Trichoderma asperellum isolate 04-22 could be scaled up to treat forests?

 

Here are two nice plants along the English Bay seawall, one of my walking routes to the pedestrian ferry to Granville Island Public Market.
Brachyglottis greyi (not so - see Ron B's note below - Brachyglottis 'Sunshine' (Dunedin Group) )


And Rosa sericea subsp. omeiensis f. pteracantha, winged thorn rose. I have posted a close-up of the stems previously: Appreciation: - Winged thorn rose
Ron B mentioned that it gets ugly in the winter, but I'm pretty sure the Parks Board cuts this almost to the ground for the winter. At another park setting where there are a couple of these, they cut them back about half-way during the summer too.

 

The daisy bush is Brachyglottis 'Sunshine' (Dunedin Group) (Senecio greyi misapplied, Senecio 'Sunshine'). It is perhaps derived from a crossing of B. compacta and B. laxifolia. If this parentage is ever confirmed then its naming would presumably become B. x jubar 'Sunshine'.

 

Thank you - I should have looked at my old photos instead of looking on the internet - I seem to have got the name right at some point, maybe from you.
I'm going to replace the photos with correctly named ones.

 

I found this reddish flowered tree on a walk the other day. I had to cross the street to figure out what it was. Magnolia insignis I believe. It is at the corner of 33rd West and Willow St, at Eric Hamber Secondary School. The flowers are really nice, but I am not sure about the overall bloom of the tree. It is not so showy at the bloom of a typical deciduous magnolia one finds around town. I was also impressed by the very yellow leaved catalpa planted next to the magnolia.

 

The Magnolia probably came from China via Piroche Plants in Pitt Meadows. The Catalpa is C. bignonioides 'Aurea'.

 

Viburnum carlesii, Korean spice viburnum blooming in early spring. The scent is very strong and intoxicatingly pleasant. I am not sure how to describe it, but perhaps something between hyacinths and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies...

 

Good afternoon Nik, what beautiful blooms and with the added scent makes it perfect.
My wife and I are doing our best to plant scented shrubs in our garden to compliment the maples, as this is their one drawback.

 

Hi D, with all my experience with plants in my lifetime, this shrub has the most exquisite and ‘delicious’ fragrance in my opinion. And keep in mind this comes from a person who has grown plenty of Cattleya orchids with delightful scents. It is just amazing. I get to pass by it every spring when I go to work, and I always stop there to get a good inhale for a minute or so. And you don’t have to be close to the flowers, it just permeates the air. Then I can recall it all day long...
I must get one of them for our yard soon.

 

The close views of the viburnums reveal that the planting consists of two different kinds, with only the third photo showing V. carlesii. I think the other plant is probably an example of V. x carlcephalum (V. carlesii x V. macrocephalum).

 

That brings me to a question - I photographed this plant on Friday, thought the inflorescences looked like Viburnum but the leaves did not, but I was looking at leaves like the ones shown on the end of the branches. The leaves before that on the branch do look like Viburnum. Is this the same or a similar plant, and would you call these leaves different enough to be dimorphic? I looked very very carefully to be sure that the different leaves were on the same branch. It was like that all over the plant.

 

I had a Viburnum carlesii in my last garden and thought it had the most beautiful fragrance ever. Other gardeners at the time often spoke of V. x carlcephalum but I never had a chance to smell that species nor V. burkwoodii. Among those who have tested all 3, is there any consensus about which is most fragrant?

After reading this, I would like to buy one again - maybe Viburnum carlesii 'Compactum'.

 

Hi Ron B, the second and third photos are from the same plant, just different stages of flower development. If you think that is V. x carlcephalum that is good to know. I would like to get the exact same plant. I tried some seedlings from under these plants, but they did not make it past their second year...

 

Hi Margot, how would you describe the fragrance of V. carlesii?

 

The plants in the second and third Viburnum planting close views have clearly different leaves, in addition to floral differences.

Wendy's plant is V. plicatum.

 

Hard to say after so many years . . . spicy-sweet, perhaps? I don't have a great sense of smell but I could smell my V. carlesii at a distance. The blossom was so beautiful too; especially at the stage before all the buds have opened as in Nik's photo above.

 

Good morning, whist out on our early walk along a very peaceful and pretty country lane very near to our house, we came across yards and yards and yards of fly tipping, that had appeared overnight. So after making the necessary phone calls we walked on and came across this to cheer us up. Wild BlackBerry and Hypericum in flower glowing and mingling in the morning sunlight. Got a close up of the flower amongst the brambles as well.
It took away some of the anger, but not much if I'm to be honest.

 

This is one is along side of another river near us, The 'River Test'. Beautiful walk to be had for my wife and I. More Raptors for me to view also. I was the authorised Raptor handler in my job before my retirement, so it is of great interest to me.
This Iris is growing aplenty along the river and is highly colourful.
Iris pseudacorus ( also known as 'Yellow Flag' ) amongst many other names.

 

I am so far behind on pictures, but I want to post this, that I have figured out is a Martagon lily or hybrid Martagon lily, in Stanley Park at the Shakespeare Garden. Here is a page about them: Lilium 'Claude Shride' (Martagon Lily). We were surprised by the leaf shape.

 

Good morning Wendy, what a beautiful lily, up to 6ft tall Wow. Does it have perfume as well?
My wife grows Lilies and their perfume fills our garden. Any day now hers will be flowering. I will post a photo on the virtual garden thread soon.