I noticed this shrub this morning growing at the entrance to a walkway at the end of Cartwright St on Granville island and didn't recognize it. It looks like the kind of shrub that is hardy only in very mild winters. Can anyone identify it?
That looks right. Thanks very much, Sulev. My copy of the Brickell and Cole plant encyclopaedia says "min 5C" so I wonder how it survives here when even the mildest winters usually go down to -8C or colder. It's growing in the ground and looks too big for them to dig out every winter.
@eric_r, thank you for posting that! You have saved me hours today, because I knew I was supposed to know at least the genus of that, and I just photographed a row of them along the south side of the brick building on York at Chestnut. So I'm going to piggy-back on your thread, even though yours has white flowers, so might be different from mine that has pink flowers. The page at Rhaphiolepis x delacourii (Indian Hawthorn, Rhaphiolepis) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox (ncsu.edu) says that R. x delacourii, a hybrid of R. indica and R. umbellata, is the most frequent Rhaphiolepis encountered in landscapes (ah, but is that in North Carolina or is it true here in Vancouver as well?). It offers some ID hints, using terms that are not all that clear to me: Quick ID Hints: Growth is sympodial Pink/rose/white flowers are in an open terminal panicle Open evergreen shrub has leathery, reticulate leaves Here is a definition of sympodial from Sympodial - definition of sympodial by The Free Dictionary: An apparent axis that develops when growth occurs by means of lateral branches rather than continuing along the principal stem, often having a zigzag or irregular form. I think reticulate refers to all those fine veins. Common name Indian Hawthorn. Rosaceae family. I'm assuming the three plants at my location are the same as each other. There are some Berberis leaves and fruits that need to be ignored.
@wcutler , thanks very much for your detailed reply. It's interesting that both the plants you photographed and the one I found on Granville Island are growing against the wall of a building, so I wonder if that is what gives them enough protection to survive here. An old 1988 copy I have of of the Sunset Western Garden book says of Rhaphiolepis, "Zones 8-10, 12-24; grown as a worthwhile risk in zones 4-7." The zone map in the book only shows the USA, but extrapolating, it looks as if we would be in zone 4, with some possible microclimates being zone 5. The growth of the Granville Island specimen definitely fits the definition of "sympodial." I wonder if these plants are hybrids like the ones mentioned in the North Carolina book and if so, that makes them more hardy. The next time I'm on Granville Island I'll see if there is anyone in the building along which the plant is growing and if they can suggest to who ask about who might have chosen and planted this plant.
