Re: Dodonea viscosa 'Purpurea' or 'Saratoga'

I'm a fan of seedling variation myself. There is a 50
yr old very dark purple Dodonea in my garden in
Oakland. I get 3 or 4 seedlings a year from it which i
have been planting out along our rear fenceline to
screen us from the house just above us on our hill.
The forms of these seedlings vary-some are more
pyramidal in habit with a strong central leader and
some are stouter with multiple leaders. Leaf color in
the warmer weather also varies but all of them turn
purple nicely for the winter. The papery seed clusters
also vary in color from very pale pink to quite dark
pink. I'm mixing the dodoneas in with some lovely old
"overgrown" boxwoods (Buxus) that I have pruned to be
small open trees and moved from a different part of
the yard.

I wonder if the heavy seeding is related to the warmer
summers in SoCal?

Deborah Lindsay
Oakland
--- "Sean A. O'Hara" <sean@gimcw.org> wrote:

> Interesting to see such diverse discussion over what
> some would consider a
> very common, even overused plant.
> 
> My observations are similar to Barry's - in the
> decades that I've seen Dodonea
> viscosa growing in the SF Bay Area, I have not noted
> that it was prone to
> self-seeding, moderately or vigorously.  This does
> not mean that it is not a
> problem in some area - it is always curious why this
> would be the case.  I was
> reminded of Rhamnus alaternus self-seeding fairly
> rampantly in some of our
> areas (something I have witnessed first hand) yet in
> my own Berkeley
> neighborhood, in which there are very old specimens
> that fruit copiously, this
> does not seem to be the case!
> 
> I like Dodonea for it's unique character - sort of
> an 'up-swept' habit. 
> Personally, having grown tired of hedges planted in
> a single clone (usually
> the dark plum foliage form being discussed), I have
> found older plantings of
> seedling grown specimens much more to my liking. 
> Those I am thinking of have
> various foliar tones from drab green to more plummy,
> and the fruits also range
> from soft green through mauve or dusky pink, into
> darker plum.  Their heights
> can also vary, which might be undesirable, but then
> I have never been a big
> fan of carefully clipped hedging, preferring a one
> of a more informal
> character and even of mixed species.
> 
> Seán A. O'Hara
> sean(at)gimcw.org
> www.hortulusaptus.com
> (ask about mediterranean climate gardening forum)
> 
> On Feb 19, 2008 11:17 AM, B. Garcia
> <paroxytone@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Feb 18, 2008 10:45 PM, N Sterman
> <TalkingPoints@plantsoup.com> wrote:
> >> Hi Linda
> >>
> >> IN addition to the comments others have made on
> size, you might want to know
> >> that this is a vicious reseeder.  I have a client
> whose next door neighbors
> >> planted several Dodonea (don't know what variety
> though) along their common
> >> fence and we are forever picking seedlings out of
> the vegetable garden,
> >> shrub borders, etc.  I'd never plant it after
> this experience.
> >
> > Around Monterey, they hardly spread. I've got a
> few seedlings in my
> > (dry) garden, and I've only seen them come up in
> public spaces here
> > and there, even where there are a lot of Dodonaea
> viscosa around. So,
> > I'd hardly call them vicious reseeders in my
> experience (although it
> > now sounds like the plants will be way too tall
> for the purpose
> > intended.)
> >
> > I'm now intent on buying several of these to
> screen off our rather
> > annoying neighbors, and a 15 to 20 foot tall shrub
> like D. viscosa
> > 'Purpurea' will make a fine screen.
> >
> >
> 
> 



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