October Meeting 1999

by Evelyn Weesjes

For the 5 minute talk, Dave Mackas spoke on “Companionable Native Ground Covers”

He chose five native plants as good companion plants to grow with rhododendrons.

Dave’s garden is shady so his choices of natives are those suited to light or deep shade. In spots where it is too shady for dwarf rhododendrons he has chosen Wood Sorrel (Oxalis oregana), a low ground cover with white (or pink) flowers. With adequate moisture, it makes a solid dark green cover although its disadvantage is its invasive habit. Vanilla Leaf (Achlys triphylla), taller growing to 1 1/2 feet, has a large trifoliate leaf and stalks of small white flowers. It spreads by stolons and in dry shade makes a dense cover. It is, however, herbaceous and disappears in winter. For darker areas or under shrubs, Wild Ginger (Asarum caudatum) makes a dense evergreen mat. It has shiny round leaves and a star-shaped reddish-brown flower. Twin Flower (Linnaea borealis) makes a fairly dense creeping carpet with dainty paired small white (to pinkish) flowers on upright stalks in slightly moist shade. Red Huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium) is a taller shrub with a light, airy habit, bright green stems and translucent red, edible berries. It makes a good foil for rhododendrons.

Brian Russell of Brentwood Farm Nursery (to be re-named Russell Nursery) was the main speaker, back again this time to talk to us about Japanese maples and specifically the varieties of Acer palmatum.

His first slides were on the spectacular fall colour of the Japanese maples in Japan as seen

both in the wild and in many gardens where they are widely grown. Since the Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) is variable in size of plant, from small tree to dwarf shrub, and extremely variable in leaf shape and colour, it was necessary to sort them into groups. Depending on leaf shape, there are the Palmate, Dissectum, or Linearilobum groups.

The first variety shown, “Shigitatsusawa” belongs to the Variegated group and has silvery-white leaves with green veins. It is best for light shade as it lacks chlorophyll. “Osakazuki” in the Palmate group, is an upright form, green in summer with excellent red fall colour and rated one of the best.

In the Linearilobum group (with long, narrow leaf lobes) is “Villa Taranto”, a large shrub with apricot fall colour. Another in this group is “Red Pygmy” a dwarf form with very narrow red leaves in spring, bronze-green in summer and orange in fall. Somewhat similar is A. palmatum dissectum “Viridis” green in summer with orange, yellow and reddish fall colour. “Crimson Queen” a bit taller, holds its dark red colour until it turns brilliant red in fall. A tall, strong growing small tree is “Suminagashi” with purple-red leaves and attractive coloured seeds (samaras).

Japanese maples make excellent companion plants for rhododendrons and add another season of interest with their fall colour. They especially look great beside large ponds. Siting them so that the late afternoon sun back lights the fall colour of the leaves creates a spectacular picture. Older trees often have multi-stems with an angular branching habit, and with careful pruning to emphasize these features, the tree can become a picturesque focal point of a garden. For winter interest, the bark of “Sango Kaku” takes on a bright red colour after the leaves have dropped.

Brian also discussed propagation of Japanese maples by grafting and touched on pruning and diseases that affect them. From the many varieties he showed it was possible to select a plant of a size and colour suitable for most any garden. He certainly proved that Japanese maples are indeed an excellent companion to rhododendrons. Brian also brought a number of his plants as examples and which we could purchase.