SEASON-LONG FLOWERING PLANTS

color to sums

IN MY opinion, there are
very few really outstanding
summer flowering shrubs.

I include those plants that pro-
vide no more than a few short days
of summer pleasure, followed by
long months of winter during
which they impose upon our al-
ready bleak views with their unat-
tractive appearance as a pile of
dead twigs.

Plants such as mock orange
(philadelphus), spirea (spiraea),
buddleia, weigela, potentilla and
beauty bush (kolkwitzia) can pro-
duce prodigious displays of color-
ful, sometimes fragrant, blooms in
mid-summer.

Came winter, the sa.ne plants
look as though they belong in the
enchanted forest that surrounds
Broomiiida’s cosy little cursed
castle hideaway. Just the place to
be if you’re a raven, rat, or some
kind of cold-bicoded, scaie-skinn-
ed creature,

I’m 2 broadleaved evergreen
man myself, Give me a nice display
of blooms in spring quickly
fellowed by some colorful new leaf
growth and ending with a quict
retirement inte our natural,

Rhododendrons, pieris,
camellias, photinia, azaleas, etc.
ell maintain a minimum staudard
of dress throughout the year. No-
body decides to get naked just
because the temperature takes a
nose dive.

The problem here is that most of
these plants flower in spring. A
garden full of these plants is rather
bland by the time we reach the full
swing of summer. This forces us to
rely on annuals and herbaceous
perennials to brighten things up.

There are a few exceptions, all

of which have the drawback of be-
ing slightly less hardy than their
deciduous cousins. Given severe
winters such as the previous one, if
they didn’t die outright they would
certainly have suffered some
substantial damage.

Abelia x grandiflora deserve

over the
garden gate

Geoff Tobiasson

much more attention than they
currently receive in our Pacific
Northwest gardens.

The gracefully arching branches
are densely clothed with small, at-
tractive, dark green tinged
burgundy leaves throughout all but
the worst of our winters.

The white to light pink tubular
flowers appear in clusters from
mid-summer to early fall from the
tips of the branches and their side
shoots. The bud casing that is left
behind when the flower drops, can
provide added color well into late

off

of

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‘autumn.

Plant them in full sun or sun
with some light shade. Light,
loamy soils are preferred, but they
ean be adapted to any well-drained
site. Plant close to the house or in
some other area that offers protec-
tion from freezing winter winds.

Do not shear these plants. To
maintain the graceful, arching
habit, thin cut longer branches
back to the centre of the plant —
very useful as large scale founda-
tion plantings or groundcover,
space dividers, or screens.

The California lilac (ceanothus)
is too tender to our area, but what
avid gardener and collector of
special plants would let risk of loss
stand in the way of owning a treat?

If you reside in the milder
regions of the North Shore (West
Bay, Ambleside, Lower Caulfeild)
these are well worth the risk.
Small, glossy green leaves densely
cover these mid-sized shrubs year
round.

Tight clusters of small, lilac-like
flowers appear in shades of blue,
lavender, and pink. These general-
ly appear in the June through
August period, but some will
flower again in hotter than normal
Septembers.

These plants must have full sun,
good drainage and protection from
harsh winters weather. If die-back
occurs, prune back to healthy
growth in spring after the new
growth has appeared.

The last group of my three most
favorite summer-flowering
broadleaved evergreens is the Pink
Princess piant (escallonia).

This one produces clusters of
bright pink flowers and glossy,
mid-green leaves all summer long.

Once again, die-back can be a
problem so a protected location is

19 - Friday, May 26, 1989 - North Shore News

essential, as is sun and good
drainage. Use it as a clipped hedge,
screen, barrier, or, in the case of e.
‘Newport Dwarf’, a groundcover.
Don’t get me wrong. There is

nothing irons with the occasional
or hydrangea. Just try mixing
them in with a few of the above-
mentioned plants to avoid letting
the garden look too creepy.

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