Happy 2012!
Instead of staying home in summery weather, I went Back East to enjoy the New Years festivities. When I got home today I was surprised by the amount of growth that had occurred over a five day period. My peas grew at least a foot and are now in bloom. The kale expanded. The cabbage unfurled. And the dill is suddenly looking geriatric.
But the nicest surprise from being away was the full bloom of my Luculia. Summer before last I went to Far Reaches Farm in Port Townsend WA to see what kinds of great rarities they had. They experiment with all sorts of plants there and are always looking to push the boundaries of zone. Fortunately they had some plants that were not going to be hardy... and what could they do but give this frost free gardener a little gift. On top of that the plant came from seed that a friend collected. I have known Josh of Phyto Photo for many years now, and even though he no longer works as a propagator extraordinaire, he does botanize while out in the field taking photos. And a recent trip yielded this beautiful shrub, Luculia.
At the end of my trip to the Pacific Northwest I crammed my plants in my suitcase and lugged them home. I proceeded to neglect the poor plant for a year and a half until recently when I finally plunked it down along the fence line in a momentary act of kindness.
I'm not certain which Luculia it is, but I believe it to be L. pinceana. Not only does it have attractive foliage and lovely pale pink flowers, it's also jasmine-ly fragrant and on top of all that, it blooms in the fall and winter seasons.
Guess who's taking cuttings in spring??!!
Instead of staying home in summery weather, I went Back East to enjoy the New Years festivities. When I got home today I was surprised by the amount of growth that had occurred over a five day period. My peas grew at least a foot and are now in bloom. The kale expanded. The cabbage unfurled. And the dill is suddenly looking geriatric.
But the nicest surprise from being away was the full bloom of my Luculia. Summer before last I went to Far Reaches Farm in Port Townsend WA to see what kinds of great rarities they had. They experiment with all sorts of plants there and are always looking to push the boundaries of zone. Fortunately they had some plants that were not going to be hardy... and what could they do but give this frost free gardener a little gift. On top of that the plant came from seed that a friend collected. I have known Josh of Phyto Photo for many years now, and even though he no longer works as a propagator extraordinaire, he does botanize while out in the field taking photos. And a recent trip yielded this beautiful shrub, Luculia.
At the end of my trip to the Pacific Northwest I crammed my plants in my suitcase and lugged them home. I proceeded to neglect the poor plant for a year and a half until recently when I finally plunked it down along the fence line in a momentary act of kindness.
I'm not certain which Luculia it is, but I believe it to be L. pinceana. Not only does it have attractive foliage and lovely pale pink flowers, it's also jasmine-ly fragrant and on top of all that, it blooms in the fall and winter seasons.
Guess who's taking cuttings in spring??!!
Lucky you to be able to grow Luculia! I've loved the genus since seeing L. gratissima wild in Nepal in '88, but they're too tender for outdoors cultivation in the UK.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Dustin! Boy, were you in the right place at the right time, to bring home this beauty to the safety of your garden. What a delicate flower. And fragrant too?!
ReplyDelete