Re: Chionanthus and Albizia

Thanks for comments on the above trees.  I'll just have to be patient
with the Albizia - the branches aren't very substantial yet in spite of
its size.  There are some specimens blooming in Victoria so I expect it
should bloom.  Our climate is more 'moderate', being cooler in the
summer and warmer in the winter.

As for the Chionanthus, you could be right, Charles, as I recall not
preparing a really good planting hole for it in the first place and the
roots may not have spread outwards as it grew.  I know now to be quite
ruthless at doing that when necessary.  I'll try the deep watering and
feeding.

I have some beautiful things blooming now.  One of the most pleasing is
an abundance of scarlet 'brushes' on a bottlebrush (Callistemon)
underneath the deep purple inflorescences of a Buddleia 'Black Knight'
and an ancient dome of purple sage spreading underneath with the wavy
silver-blue leaves of Crambe maritima and some blue grasses providing
accents.

My Magnolia grande is blooming like never before.  About 20 feet tall,
it has a creamy candle-shaped bud sitting up on every branch tip with
one or two opening every day into dinner-plate size blooms.  It is an
extremely brittle tree with its huge shiny leaves, the branches shearing
off with only a slight covering of snow.  Jan's comment about "avid
gardeners whos neighbours think them daft" - this tree is blooming like
this now now thanks to this crazy gardener.  We had what is referred to
here as "the big snow" four years ago - it started falling one
afternoon, huge flakes coming straight down, and just wouldn't stop
until the next day when over three feet of it sat on the garden.  I was
out periodically with the broom knocking the snow off during the night
and saved most of the branches.  A friend near here had only the trunk
and a couple of branches left on hers.

Diane Pertson
Otter Point Haven otterpt@macn.bc.ca
Nature Notes from Vancouver Island
http://zapbc.com/nature.htm at
Parksville & Qualicum Beach Online http://zapbc.com
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