Re: Myrica californica

Einion,
Not many California native shrubs to small trees have the clean, rich, deep green foliage of Myrica california. I remember seeing some 8 ft. tall hedges of Myrica california somewhere in southern England and they looked happy. Here in Santa Cruz and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area they just look like they are on the edge of their climate zone and under stress with associated insect pests. I use to live and garden up in Humboldt County (nearly 300 miles north of San Francisco where the coastal redwoods reach nearly 400 ft. tall) and they looked magnificent on the coast, both as 6-10 ft. garden plants and as naturally occurring 30 ft. + tall specimens. Birds seem to love hanging out in the plants both for food and shelter. Your  climate zone sounds like it might be abit cold in certain winters for Myrica but it sure is worth the try. Make sure that once your plants are big enough to plant out in the spring that you fertilize them with well balanced fertilizers and that you back off from giving them any measurable amounts of nitrogen in late summer through fall and instead fertilize with phosphorus and potassium to encourage strong, hardy plants. You might also generously mulch around the base of the plants to insulate the roots and give them a good soaking in the beginning of winter to hydrate the plant and protect it from any dry, cold winter winds.
Let us know how they perform,
Ernie Wasson
Cabrillo College
Monterey Bay, California
 

Einionygarddwr@aol.com wrote:

Medit-Plants has quite a number of members living in California, so I feel
this is the best forum for this particular query. What could be more
Mediterranean, & indeed Californian, than Myrica californica? I received
seeds of it in the spring of last year: they germinated readily under glass,
and there they stayed all last winter & right up until a couple of months
ago. At that point I took pity on them - they were still tiny little things,
less than 2" high, so I potted them up individually, & since then they have
started growing away much better, & the leaves are now some 2" in length & a
beautiful glossy green.

I know absolutely nothing about this plant - I got the seeds simply because I
liked the name! How big does it grow, what are the flowers & fruits like &,
most importantly of all, am I likely to succeed with it outside here on the
coast of North Wales, where the last winter's minimum of -7C compared to the
previous 3 winters' average of -3C? Any tips & suggestions gratefully
received.

Einion Hughes,
Rhyl,
Denbighshire,
Wales,
UK.
Zone 8, or thereabouts.

Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index