In love with my doublefile viburnums!

Lilacs vs. doublefile viburnums

Not really a fair contest for me. I actually like the scent and bloom colours of lilacs but they (lilacs) are two week wonders. What do you have after the flowers turn brown? Yes, you get a green blob for the rest of the summer, culminating with a boring yellow autumn "show" which really isn't. Still, customers are buying lilacs like toilet paper on sale (selling anything flowering is child's play it seems) so what do I know?

And yet...

Viburnum plicatum "Popcorn"
("Popcorn" doublefile viburnum) 

Mid-may usually means viburnums are blooming in Toronto. I won't show a picture of my Viburnum lantana "Mohican" bloom because my brother in law has scarred me forever by mentioning that he smelled, er, semen when the wayfaring tree was recently blooming next to our deck.

Thank you, Mike!

Instead, I'm posting a few pictures of other viburnums (3 doublefile, one not) that reside in the Lee-Jung backyard.

Sorry, no lilacs!

Viburnum sargentii "Onondaga"
("Onondaga"  Sargent viburnum) 

No, not a hydrangea but a viburnum!
"Popcorn" doublefile viburnum blooms 

"Popcorn" doublefile viburnum
(Viburnum plicatum "Popcorn")

Viburnum plicatum "Popcorn"
("Popcorn" doublefile viburnum blooms) 

"Shasta" doublefile viburnum
(Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum "Shasta")

Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum 
"Summer Snowflake"
("Summer Snowflake" doublefile viburnum)
in front a client's house

Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum
"Summer Snowflake" doublefile viburnum 

The Royal Botanical Gardens: a spring visit

Tulips, peonies, and wisteria from a warmer time...

Well, not this spring (yet) but from 2009. Going through my archives, I realized I never posted about my visit with Linda (my better half) to the RBG about five years ago. For the currently flower-deprived readers out there, I'm sure you'll appreciate the following pictures of spring blooms from warmer days in the past. (Who knows, we might even see similar sights around town in May but I wouldn't bet the farm on this given the severity of winter 2013-2014.)

Royal Botanical Gardens pale pink tulips 

The Royal Botanical Gardens is the

 "largest botanical garden in Canada, a National Historic Site, and registered charitable organization with a mandate to bring together people, plants and nature" and "located at the western tip of Lake Ontario. Four distinct formal gardens are contained with 1100 hectares of nature reserve, nestled into the slopes of the Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve." 

(Sources: http://www.rbg.ca/aboutus and http://www.rbg.ca/gardensandtrails respectively)

My visit didn't cover the entire 110 hectares--just a quiet afternoon on a pleasant May day. The RBG is only about 30-45 minutes from Toronto located near Burlington. It's very well-known for its herbaceous perennials display (especially peonies), tulips at the Rock Garden and the mature specimens in the Arboretum.

I think a visit is long overdue!

(p.s. I apologize in advance for not providing the correct cultivars for the peonies and tulips. If you can help, just send me an e-mail. Thanks!)

Royal Botanical Gardens
dark purple wine tree peony 

Royal Botanical Gardens pink tree peony

Royal Botanical Gardens purple tree peony 

Royal Botanical Gardens massed tulips 

Royal Botanical Gardens orange tulips 

Royal Botanical Gardens pale orange tulips

Royal Botanical Gardens
Japanese wisteria
(Wisteria floribunda "Lawrence")

Royal Botanical Gardens
doublefile Viburnum plicatum "Lanarth"

Royal Botanical Gardens
doublefile Viburnum plicatum "Lanarth" blooms 

Royal Botanical Gardens
 purple lilac Syringa vulgaris

Royal Botanical Gardens
Syringa vulgaris purple lilac 

Royal Botanical Gardens
tulips in Rock garden 

Royal Botanical Gardens
pink and red tulips in the Rock Garden

Royal Botanical Gardens red tulips 

Royal Botanical Gardens yellow tulips red streaks

Royal Botanical Gardens
 clipped boxwoods Laking  knot garden 

Royal Botanical Gardens
clipped boxwood knot garden at
the Laking Garden 

Royal Botanical Gardens
Laking Garden knot garden
 with topiary and thyme

Toronto lilacs are nice but...

Fragrant snowballs rock!

Detail of a Fragrant Snowball (Viburnum x carlcephalum) bloom

When we started planning our garden circa 1993, admittedly my wife and I knew very little in terms of plant selection. I suppose, like many other new homeowners, we were preoccupied by little distractions like a leaky roof and an ugly kitchen. The backyard was literally a junkpile! But we knew that we "needed" a plant that would give off a nice scent when we imagined ourselves relaxing on an imaginary deck some time in the distant feature. 

I did some research, pre-Google, and found a possible choice for a fragrant shrub that had to survive newbie gardeners and a semi-shady site. I remember going to a "choice" garden centre in Toronto and finding the most forlorn looking excuse of a shrub that had a hefty price tag (what did know?) As we all know, hope triumphs experience (especially in a garden centre) so I bit the bullet and bought a rather non-descript two gallon Fragrant Snowball (Viburnum x carlcephalum).

Over the years, it has bloomed with varying success, dependent more on whether the marauding squirrels left it alone (you will know my pain when you see anticipated blooms left on the ground, nipped off by these culprits for no other apparent reason than relieving their boredom.)

We, near Lake Ontario, had a very mild winter into 2012 with almost no persistent snow cover and fewer than average bone-crushing cold days  so perhaps this explains why my beloved Snowball is now having its best show ever. (Viburnum x carcephalum is a cross between V. carlesii and V. macrocephalum if you're wondering about its parental history.) The snowball-like cymes emerge with a pinkish tinge which turn white and smell fabulous (spicy/clovey to me.) 

My snowballs never set fruit which is an important ornamental feature for many in this genus (but not a big deal to me with x carlcephalum). The shrub's form is rather gangly but I've seen standards (single-trunked lollipops) blooming right now in Toronto (not a bad route to go if your into this sort of thing.)  Fall foliage is alright as well, running from a red-brown to wine to burgundy description. Maybe if you have 6' by 6' spot near a deck (they do get big) or patio, a fragrant viburnum (which x carlcephalum is one) would work.

I profiled another fragrant viburnum, Bodnant Viburnum (Viburnum x bodnantense "Dawn") last year in a similarly titled post called "You can keep your lilacs..." if you want to investigate further other sweet-smelling members in this genus. I wanted to show you, on the other hand, a non-fragrant (actually no smell at all) snowball viburnum also blooming its pretty head off in the back:

"Popcorn" doublefile viburnum (Viburnum plicatum "Popcorn")

Viburnum plicatum "Popcorn" is  known as a Japanese snowball and likely not as well-known as the other doublefile viburnums like Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum "Shasta", "Mariesii" or "Summer Snowflake". As the cultivar name suggests, the white flowers are massed in layers but are sterile pom-poms instead of fertile lacecaps.  

I bought this as another two gallon container at the other end of the garden centre spectrum: Wal-Mart! I was stunned to see this in the sea of baby junipers, mugo pines and Emerald cedars. And the price was certainly agreeable! It's about 6 feet high now and a showoff now in May like the other plicatums. It does look like giant popcorn doesn't it?

Alas, invariably I get asked "I like those hydrangeas, but can you get them in blue?"

Next post will cover lacecap viburnums in bloom right now. Call me the viburnum enabler!

Garden muses' Toronto garden in the fall

Fall colour in a downtown city garden (mine)

My posts usually deal with OPG (other people's gardens) since OPG are usually neat, manicured, tidy; at least, well looked after by myself or the homeowner. These adjectives, alas, don't apply to my garden which is part nursery and part trial garden. It's kind of like the cobbler's kids and their shoes.

But the missus and I do love our little patch of paradise right downtown, even with the lack of privacy and two (!) monstrous Tree(s?) of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) dispensing their seeds everywhere. And the suckers...ugh! Through careful site analysis, bubble diagrams outlining functionalities, and the well-executed master plan (i.e., buying what looked nice at the nurseries and plonking them where there was room), garden muses and his muse have wrought Sissinghurst out of Sanford and Son, to mix metaphors.


Well, not exactly Sissinghurst or another paragon of a fine garden, but a yard that is showing its best right now. There is little emphasis on flowers because of the squirrels (who love to decapitate any bud exactly 2 days before bloom) and the surrounding houses (which provide us with precisely 3.289 hours of direct sunlight a day). Fall colour in a downtown city garden (mine)

I really do love my "Ukigumo" but I love them all!

Japanese Maples (Acer palmatum cv) are nice enough the rest of the year but during autumn they really shine. This shot shows a yellow "Ukigumo" behind a seedling Eastern Redbud, a small potted "Bloodgood" to its right, and then a coral pink "Butterfly". At the top, from left to right, we have an "Arnold Promise" witchhazel, "Summer Snowflake" Doublefile Viburnum, and "Onondaga" Sargent Viburnum. In the lower left corner is a "Grace" smokebush which oddly has been disappointing in the fall colour department this year. The "Halcyon" hosta in the lower right area hasn't turned an orange-yellow yet but will, soon enough.

Acer palmatum "Crimson Queen" and "Seiryu" among an "Onodaga" viburnum

Here's a look from the opposite view. Other Japanese maples in this view include "Crimson Queen" in the lower left corner and an orangey "Seiryu"in the centre. Yes, there is actually a path somewhere leading to the garage. Now you can appreciate the lack of privacy concern with the apartment next to us in the background. At least there's a nice show if anyone bothered looking out.

Cornus kousa on the left hasn't turned colour yet but the Katsuratree has

Not the best picture I can manage but the colours are/will be nice anyway. From left, there's a Kousa Dogwood which is slowly turning red and purple, a Pagoda Dogwood that's lost most of its leaves already but you can still make out its horizontal branching, a "baby" Katsuratree with its mellow-yellow foliage, and a rather large Arrowwood Viburnum at the right. There's yellow peeking behind from a neighbour's serviceberry and the trunk of the aforementioned Ailanthus. I won't discuss the white lattice so don't ask.

Everyone likes Rudbeckia or that's what I read

I love perennials, I really do! And to prove it, here's a shot of the Rudbeckia that's still holding up well in front of another doublefile viburnum (a cultivar called "Popcorn"), more Arrowwood Viburnum, some solomon seal and astilbe, and the orange "Seiryu" Japanese maple. There was once a gravel path on the left side leading from the patio to the garage but somehow over the years my two children have displaced a ton of crushed granite. 

I mean, really, where did it go?