Myrica californica

Einion,
Not many California native shrubs to small trees have the clean, rich,
deep green foliage of Myrica californica. I remember seeing some 8 ft.
tall hedges of Myrica 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.
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