Douglas Justice's blog for October has been out for two weeks already, at October in the Garden 2024 - UBC Botanical Garden. The subject this month is Apples and related pome fruit trees. Speaking of apples, Dee Ann Bernard, Director of UBC Botanical Garden, has posted an article about the October 19/20, 2024 Apple Festival at Celebrating an “A-Peeling” Heritage - UBC Botanical Garden. As Douglas mentions, the apples in the garden have all been picked. But then there's this Malus domestica 'Nova Easygro' that has flowers now. Presumably this is a second growth. I was looking for an interesting espaliered apple, but the one I fancied turned out to be a pear - Pyrus communis 'Aurora: This is the Malus 'Liberty' mentioned in the blog as a standout this year. In the pome relatives category, the most striking example is the Aria yuana that is so showy right at the entrance to the Asian Garden. I told myself I didn't need to taste it this year, but the pomes looked so appealing that I did try a nice ripe one. I liked it better than last time I tried one, but I didn't want another. Not too far away is Aria hemsleyi. Also in the same area is Sorbus sargentiana, that I've posted previously as Christmas tree mountain ash (my name). Back in the food garden, the Mespilus germanica 'Large Russian' has very impressive fruits, at least in comparison to the medlars on the block of street trees in Kitsilano. I was looking forward to a taste of the Aronia melanocarpa, but there was not a single fruit on it.
That's it for pomes. The rest of my photos were distractions. These pawpaws, Asimina triloba, seem to not be old enough yet to flower, but they get by on their good looks in the autumn. I was so excited to see the flowers on the Zingiber mioga, yet I totally forgot that I posted the flowers last year. I didn't even recognize them, had to look them same as last year up to be sure they belonged to those leaves. Actually, I didn't see them at first, was grousing about having missed them, and then they started appearing - the longer I looked, the more there were. Surely they didn't just pop up while I was watching. Photos aren't any better than last year's. Here are two ferns, both in the Dryopteridaceae family. Cyrtomium macrophyllum - big leaf holly fern. Dryopteris goldieana - Goldie's wood fern Boehmeria platanifolia Douglas mentioned Symphyotrichum novae-angliae in his August blog. It's still happily blooming away. Also looking to be in season is the Impatiens omeiana. There were still flowers on Inula hookeri, though clearly its season has passed. Here's a little colour - Rhus copallinum, winged sumac. And a view of the Parthenocissus tricuspidata on the far side of the food garden.
Interesting. The cultivated material we have is definitely A. melanocarpa. I'll have another look at the wild collections (particularly the one pictured in Garden Explorer). Thanks for the heads-up.
I meant A. arbutifolia instead of A. x prunifolia. And if we go by this leaves shiny and turning scarlet does fit A. melanocarpa anyway: Aronia in Flora of North America @ efloras.org
Actually, this mountain ash has been determined to be Sorbus splendens (I believe the new label is in the queue) a close relative of S. sargentiana. Sorbus splendens differs in its larger winter buds, leaves with fewer, larger leaflets with oblique bases, and larger inflorescences that bear dark red-orange (vs. orange) pomes.
Medlar is now Crataegus germanica; it proved to be nested within the hawthorns in genetic studies. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:723452-1 https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:726564-1
Described as a pome here. Where the combination Crataegus germanica is also listed as a synonym of Mespilus g.: Mespilus germanica - Trees and Shrubs Online
