I ran into Eric La Fountaine at the start of my visit today, and he put me onto this photo of the Ginkgo biloba with Euonymus carnosus in the background (and second photo), right at the entrance gate. Also at the entrance is Fothergilla 'Mt. Airy', which we've never posted and is not a plant I know at all. Brian Minter just mentioned it in his October 18 Vancouver Sun column on shrubs for fall colour, and I wondered why I didn't know it. It's been there all along. Hamamelidaceae, witch hazel, family. Here is another Euonymus, and another plant that we have never posted: Euonymus alatus 'Compactus'. I don't know how common this cultivar is, but this species is widely planted in Vancouver for its unfailing swathe of fall colour, even in a year like this when the anthocyanins are not so plentiful and other trees are not showing their reds. I like these for their winged branches. Not far from the previous plant is this Clethra barbinervis.
Here are some fruits, and while most are colourful, I'm starting with one that is not, except for some colour to the leaves. Mespilus germanica was featured October 23 on Botany Photo of the Day: Mespilus germanica | Botany Photo of the Day. A comment on the forum link to this notes that the name seems to have been changed to Crataegus. I hate it when they do that after I work so hard to remember a name. Here is Diospyros kaki 'Izu', persimmon. And Cydonia oblonga 'Champion', quince, with a lot of fruits. This cardoon, Cynara cardunculus, is neither colourful nor edible, and is well past its prime anyway, but it's showy.
Here are more fruits of the non-edible kind. The Meliosma pinnata var. oldhamii on the entrance plaza has lost most of its objectionable smell, so you can look up close at the bright red berries. This is a very attractive tree, but I would never recommend it for a small garden, though I see one website calls the flowers "fragrant" - Future Plants by Randy Stewart: Meliosma. Also bearing lots of red fruits is Cragaegus viridis 'Winter King', on the great lawn in the North Garden. On the other side of the great lawn is Liquidambar styraciflua 'Worplesdon', with tons of green fruits contrasting so well with the red leaves. I spent a lot of time on Google looking at the two liquidambar cultivars in this area to be sure which this is, and I was struck by how more filled in is the Alpine Garden in the background compared to the Google Maps street view, which would be at least four years old. Here is as close as I could get to a similar view on google: Google Maps. I was so uncertain that I was looking at the right tree because the stadium lights didn't line up correctly, but I finally noticed that they are different lights now.
One more group of photos from two days ago. I posted a mostly finished flowerhead and unopened seed pods of an Agapanthus a few weeks ago. Here are opened seed heads of Agapanthus coddii in the African area of the Alpine Garden. OK, back to colour. Here is Larix laricina. And a favourite, covered with flowers, Franklinia alatamaha. I remember a few years ago when I wondered if it was only ever going to have two flowers at any one time. I see on the new Garden Explorer that there are supposed to be two locations for this - I'll have to check out the other. Franklinia alatamaha - Franklin tree | UBC Botanical Garden Well, now that I'm onto flowers, here is Abelia x grandiflora, in the Bee garden, with its very showy calyces. This is very popular around town. One more - beautiful red leaves of Bergenia stracheyi frame purply-white flowers of Chrysanthemum yezoense.
I have a few updates on ones posted two weeks ago. Here is Euonymus carnosus. The Liquidambar styraciflua 'Worplesdon' has lost just about all its leaves - better to see how covered with fruits it is. I passed one of these in my neighbourhood this morning, was excited to think I recognized the cultivar. Nearby, the Liquidambar 'Lane Roberts' still has its very showy red leaves. The sun on the fruits on the Cragaegus viridis 'Winter King' lit up the lawn area.
