The October Meeting 2000

In his 5 minute talk, Norman Todd introduced his audience to W.A.S.H. , a useful acronym to describe the basics of rhododendron culture. W – for Water, whose application might ideally follow the monsoon pattern of the original rhodo home: a wet summer and a dry winter. Lacking such a reordering of local climates, he prescribed one inch of the needful per week to the plant’s spread, delivered via the equivalent of an ordinary hosing for one minute, two times every seven days in season. A – for Acid. A pH of 5.5 is ideal, and mercifully, this condition can be created where it does not exist, through the use of H, for example (but we’re getting ahead of the proper order, so be patient). Reliable reports have revealed successful growing of rhodos on high pH limestone soils, surely a contradiction to the accepted lore. But the existence of a significant iron content in the limestone may provide the necessary compensation (remember the remedial use of iron sulfate as an acid enhancer). Or perhaps a fungal symbiont supervenes. S – for Shade. An average of half a day of sun – generally not more – is the ideal for a proper setting of buds. And finally, H – for Humus. Bark mulch is especially suitable, for it gives the right 5.5 pH, and unlike peat moss, facilitates an airy environment beloved by the rhodo roots. W.A.S.H. then, as the foundation of Rhodo Kindergarten 101, taught imaginatively as usual, by Norman. But in case anyone might quibble with these teachings, Norman claims that success or failure in rhodo culture is governed by polyfactorial influences. (That’s Rhodos 202).

A Survey of Maritime Canada

by Jim Hofmann

The October meeting presented to VRS members a rare opportunity to reacquaint with a broad spectrum of plants for possible use in their gardens. Carol Dancer introduced us to a plant enthusiast friend of hers – James Ellison , Horticulturist/Nurseryman, hailing from Bunchberry Nurseries in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. Much gratitude goes to Mr. Ellison for his substantial and splendidly illustrated talk.

The presentation was organized by grouping the plants that were talked about and their respective habitats into 3 sections:

1) Companion plants for Rhododendrons, emphasizing plants successfully grown in the Annapolis Valley with a focus on the Native Plants of the Canadian ‘East Coast’ and North Eastern States;

2) Ericaceous lowland and Ericaceous sub-Arctic/alpine plants with some emphasis on Native Plant material; and

3) Sub-Arctic and Alpine ‘Rock Plants’, as a general group, wonderfully illustrated with slides from places like the Newfoundland coastal rockscapes and inland plateau and, with a hop across the Atlantic, some haunting rock and bog barrens in Scotland.

Mr. Ellison began his talk by describing the Canadian East Coast and, in particular, the area in his immediate vicinity – the Annapolis Valley. Our geography lesson included the ever-important-to-gardeners Climatic Hardiness Zones maps of the area. (See the Climatic Zones for Nova Scotia and the Maritimes map included with this write-up.) According to the zones map creators, Mr. Ellison is not supposed to be able to grow Buxus sempervirens, Prunus Laurocerasus, or Hypericum ‘Hidcote’, (Zone 7) whereas he can reliably grow Acer palmatum, Deutzia gracilis, and Forsythia X ‘Spectabilis’ (ie. Zone 6 indicator plants). Just so that we didn’t get too comfortable with these strict delineations, he emphasized the approximations inherent in the zones map idea with a few examples of exceptional weather – but, we knew this already from Victoria’s February ’89 experience, didn’t we?

The Plants

1) Non-ericaceous ‘Companion plants for Rhodos’ started with Eastern natives and included annotated slides of the very tough Rhododendron Canadense with its remarkable hardiness (-40^o C), slate grey leaf with pink/white flowers and thriving in very lean and severe circumstances. Nova Scotia was said to have 4 species of Cypripedium (the Raven’s Head – a form having a flower with an exaggerated shape and deep maroon coloring – was particularly intriguing). All these orchids were said to be very difficult to grow because of specific mycorrizal associations required, as many of us know who have tried to grow Cypripedium acaule. As if one wasn’t enough, Nova Scotia has 3 species of Trillium – most noteworthy to me here was the clear red bloom of T. erectum shown. Locally, I’ve seen it grown having an unattractive browny purple colored bloom. Mr. Ellison emphasized the companionability of the trilliums with rhodos, given sufficient soil depth. Moving to ferns, he touched on the widely distributed Maidenhair Fern, Adiantum pedatum, and showed the ‘real stuff’ of the little plant as it poked its fronds heavenwards from exposed and cold rock crevices in otherwise botanically bleak surroundings. Then, seeing the Eastern Polypody, Polypodium virginianum, I could see it being used as an excellent looking groundcover and epiphyte, adaptable to tree, shrub and/or rhododendron understory garden positions. I wondered whether its evergreen habit is due to the summer rainfall in Nova Scotia as opposed to here, where our native Polypody disappears in the summer drought.

Turning then to non-natives, we heard about Pulmonarias (like P. longifolia ‘Cevennes’), the glorious Glaucidium palmatum, grasses like Hakonechloe macra aureola, Carex sps. (Carex conica given as an example of their commonly evergreen habit), and the viney (but slug-prone) Codonopsis vinciflora for ‘peaty’ walls. I was particularly happy to learn that Hostas are being bred for slug resistance, according to our speaker. Mr. Ellison showed a couple of nice examples – Hosta ‘June’ and larger ‘Sum and Substance’. (Note that this Newsletter’s Editor breathed a great sigh of relief when he heard they were also being bred out of their normal “insipid” flower color, the goal being toward the reds!) Being shown that ‘Wester Flisk’ Helleborus foetidus was hardy in Zone 6b, I took comfort that one of my favorite plants can now be used and sited here in Victoria with less worry.

Woody companions included surprisingly nice forms of Daphne. The virtues of Daphne x burkwoodii (‘Brigg’s Moonlight’) and a vigorous white form of Daphne mezereum with showy yellow/orange fruits (selected from seedlings) were justifiably extolled. It was good to hear that the Magnolias were being bred for smaller size and variable flower color.

2) Some Ericaceous companion plants presented were Zenobia pulverenta ‘Billowy Blue’ with its blue leaf (and here, the more the shade, the bluer it gets); some Cassiopes (C.wardii being unusually large and hopefully adaptable); the bigeneric hybrid and much awarded Phylliopsis x hillierii; Erica x stuartii forms ‘Irish Lemon’ and ‘Irish Orange’ (also noteable for their shade tolerance) and Gaylussacia baccata, the East Northern American native noted to be a good drought tolerant huckleberry with great fall color.

3) For sub-artic and alpine rock plants, the moister, leaner, and more exposed positions, according to the photographs, would keep Kalmia polifolia and the smaller Loiseleuria procumbens, tight growing Vacciniums like V. uliginosum and Arctostaphylos alpina happy although Empetrum nigrum was said to be drought tolerant once established. Comforting, here, was that V. uliginosum and A. alpina (beautiful together, from the slide shown) were said to be of easy culture.

Among a few other ericaceous plants that were shown after the bulk of them, our native Gaultheria (salal) put on a very different robe in G. hispida from Tasmania, with black green foliage and huge white fruit on a 3 foot shrub and in Gaultheria trichocarpa with robin’s-egg blue berries.

As well, a few more non-ericaceous companion plants were presented late in the talk which, for me, stood out of the crowd and belonged to known and well-used genera: Prunus incisa as a very small (2 foot) and small leaved Prunus with brilliant red fall color, and the deep shade tolerant, huge leaved, and nice fruiting Viburnum alnifolia. The Rubus tricolor (no thorns!) with red stems, dark green leaf upper, and grey leaf undersides especially appealed to me and I’ll do my best to try them locally. The slides of the Rubus attested to its remarkable vigour.

Mr. Ellison touched on attempts at hybridizing some good foliage forms of hardier rhododendrons. Examples such as ‘Grand Prix’, a