Plant Species Information

A crazy confession

“Vas, when you tell me the names of landscape plants, it means nothing to me.” What a shocker from an experienced landscaper and Red Seal candidate. This blog post will make the case for improving your plant identification, and for never dismissing it.

This is what my buddy missed. If he had looked at the bigger picture, he would have realized that everything starts with plant names. You can’t provide proper care and maintenance to plants when you don’t even know what they’re called. Names allow you to dig deeper; or you can let Siri do some of the digging for you. If you like plants, your discoveries might please you. My buddy is missing out.

Plant examples

Fully grown, Acanthus is an imposing plant, but at its baby stage, it could easily be mistaken for a weed. This actually happened to us in the field in a bed with just one specimen.

Since I was able to find out the plant name, we didn’t pull it. I stood my ground and defended it.

One patch of Oxalis wasn’t so lucky. Beautifully spread out under Rhododendrons, it was doing its thing in the shade it loves. Unfortunately, the leaves look like clover to the untrained eye. So, it went missing and the owner quickly noticed. Oops.

The last example is hilarious. Thinking the tree was a lilac (Syringa) the foreman responsible for the site let it grow until his horrified boss arrived to set him straight. The tree was actually a fast-growing cottonwood (Populus) invader. Left alone, it would eventually overwhelm its spot. It had to go once it was clearly identified as a cottonwood tree, not a lilac shrub. Yes, plant identification skills make maintenance easier.

Quotes

After receiving a number of plant name requests through text from another landscape manager, I wondered what was happening. Did she lose access to Google? I sent my answers back and let it go.

Months later I discovered that the plant names were required for a quote. It’s difficult to make a quote without proper plant names. Nurseries require botanical names, otherwise they can’t give you any prices. That makes sense.

In this case, the quote couldn’t be written up without proper plant names. No quote, no project and no extra income. There you go buddy. Now you know.

Expert on call

No, you’ll never know all plants but strata landscape plants tend to repeat so you have a great shot at becoming an expert. And your clients will likely approach you for help. So get ready.

If my buddy becomes a Red Seal landscape horticulturist with poor plant identification skills, he won’t be able to deliver great value to his employer. Personally, I love plants, so I work on my plant identification all the time. It’s an important skill. Trust me. So work on it.

In your face plant

I love Gunneras. They almost make me laugh because they’re so big and imposing with their huge umbrella-like leaves. I happened to run into a few specimens at a garden in Morgan Creek, Surrey, last week but the show was clearly over.

Many of the spent leaves, now completely brown, were drooping into the pond. And this is already a hint: Gunneras require moist soil conditions.

They also need space and shelter. So, whoever designed this large water feature garden knew what she was doing. I found the plants at the pond edge, under deciduous trees where they have shade or semi-shade conditions. They all had plenty of space.

Gunneras work best as specimen plants. Fully grown, they’re hard to miss.

Last step

Gunnera buds are tightly packed around the crown. So, remember this one last step: cut back the leaves and stack them over top of the crown to protect it from frost.

I remember seeing a pile of giant Gunnera leaves stacked high by a creek at Como Lake, in Coquitlam. My first reaction was that someone forgot to clear away the debris. Now I know better, years later. The giant leaves protect the crown from frost.

Because Gunnera require lots of space, we don’t get to cut them back very often. Most strata (multi-family) complexes don’t have large gardens that would fit Gunnera specimens. This one does, so we had some fun cutting it back.

You can tell from the rough leaf piles that we need more practice. Twelve months from now, we’ll try to stack the leaves nicely. I always tell my apprentices to do everything in the field; and experience as many new things as possible. This was one such experience. Now they can file away Gunnera and remember the one critical late season step.

I hope you do, too.

Prerequisite

Yes, you can have some fun with early frost but, first, you have to leave some of your perennials and ornamental grasses standing. If you cut them back too early, you’ll lose out on seeing magic in your garden.

One good example are Sedums. Right now their flowers are still standing and they wear early frost quite well. Also, take a good look and you’ll see new growth at the base, waiting to push out in spring 2022.

If the flowers aren’t looking great or you find them broken up, then cut them back. We can’t do much about that. See one example below.

Ornamental grasses

Ornamental grasses covered in frost look even better than Sedums. Unfortunately, people cut them back too soon. As soon as one stalk looks amiss, the entire plant gets cut down. And that’s too bad because many ornamental grasses flower in the fall; and, covered in frost, the flower heads look awesome.

Don’t be afraid to experiment by letting your ornamental grasses stand all winter. I have one potted specimen of Calamagrostis on the patio, and it looks fine.

Shrubs and trees

In December we don’t have to do much to our shrubs and evergreen trees, unless they’re in the way. Just watch for early frost and enjoy the show. Like I did recently at a strata complex we service.

Walk into your morning garden and observe it for a few minutes. If you work at a strata property, steal a bit of company time to enjoy the show. Azaleas and dwarf evergreen trees looked fantastic covered in light frost.

Frost magic

I love seeing plants covered in light frost. It gives them a new look in late fall. If you want to enjoy the show in your own garden, cutback your plants later or wait until spring.

And don’t forget to share your own pictures.

Plenty to see in December

I know it’s sad to see the warm seasons go but there is still plenty to see in the landscape as we hit winter. Come take a look with Red Seal Vas. How many of these plants do you know?

Fatsia japonica flowers in winter which makes it special and very welcome! The huge leaves are hard to miss. Just make sure you give this plant plenty of space to grow.

Like Fatsias, Hellebores also flower in winter. These flowers really pop in dormant winter landscapes. Interestingly, this specimen had up-turned flowers; normally the flowers point down which annoys some gardeners.

Viburnum bodnantense is one of my favorite shrubs. It’s fun to see its flowers on bare branches. I always stop and take photos.

Callicarpa looks awesome in fall. Planted in the middle of a round bed, it really popped with its purple berries. In summer, the flowers are tiny so be careful when you do mid-season pruning. You wouldn’t want to miss this show in your own garden.

I love this Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas) holdout! Many people consider these trees “messy”, if that’s even possible. I know that all jam-makers would beg to differ.

Japanese holly (Ilex crenata) have tiny but beautiful flowers in summer. You have to get really close to see them. And in the fall, we get these dark berries.

Viburnum tinus looks great in fall when it’s not all chewed up by its enemy, the beetle Pyrrhalta vuburni. I love the metallic blue.

Arbutus unedo are easy to identify because they have spiked strawberries. This one, like the Cornelian cherry above, is holding on in a sheltered place.

When you stop to observe the plants in your landscape, you get nice surprises like these Escallonia flowers. I also like the waxy foliage.

Can you guess the tree species from these fruits? It’s a female Ginkgo biloba tree. When crushed, the fruits have an unpleasant odor but, again, I doesn’t bother me. I love trees!

It’s rare to see female Ginkgo trees so enjoy this photo. The tree is so ancient, it occupies its own tree family.

Conclusion

There is lots to see in our December West Coast landscapes. Slow down and take a good look. You could be pleasantly surprised.

You can do it!

Planting spring bulbs in fall is easy and it doesn’t take much. Just get some bulbs, find a pot or planted bed, and find a garden trowel. Then you just need faith that the bulbs will come up in spring.

Let’s see how Red Seal Vas planted daffodils in his patio pot in minutes.

Shopping

First you need to buy bulbs you like. I love to shop online at West Coast Seeds. They have great products at great prices, and they’re local. Considering COVID-19 problems and the store’s distance from my home, online shopping was a no-brainer, even with shipping charges.

Buy whatever you like. I like daffodils because they last for several seasons and can even be naturalized in planted beds. For this blog, I purchased cupped narcissi because I liked the look. Deer resistance is a nice bonus but I’m not expecting to see deer on my second floor patio.

The beauty of planting spring bulbs is that you can experiment every season. Change things up.

Planting

Normally late November on the West Coast is ideal for planting spring bulbs. I planted my daffodils today (December 12, 2020) because I’ve been busy. But don’t worry: the rule is to plant before frost hits and your soil becomes unworkable. The soil in my pot was fine and I planted in beautiful afternoon sun.

Bonus: while I worked, I enjoyed the look of my Calamagrostis ornamental grass. Since I rule over my patio, nobody cuts back my ornamental grasses in late fall. Nobody!

Planting depth

The package gives you planting depth instructions so don’t stress. The rule is to plant at twice the height of your bulbs. Just make sure you plant at roughly the same level. That way your bulbs will pop-up together. For this reason it’s a good idea to plant one pot or bed yourself. Two or more people will inevitably plant at slightly different heights. Try to avoid this.

Since my pot is bare, I left the package envelope in the pot to mark it. Now all we need is faith that the bubs will come up in spring. Check your bulb flowering time to avoid any panic. Some are early, and some mid or late spring bloomers.

The bulbs I planted can be used as cut flowers but I won’t have too many. But I suppose I could surprise my wife next spring.

Conclusion

Spring bulbs are easy to plant in late fall and they give us a nice show in spring when gardens start to come alive. Daffodils can be left alone to bloom for several seasons. Just cut them back once they fade and the stalks turn brown.

Don’t be afraid to experiment. Buy different bulbs every fall and try new arrangements. One idea I love is planting tulips with two different heights.

Have some fun with spring flowering bulbs!