Re: Gardens & Weather

On Sep 04, Gene Bush wrote:
> Hummm,
> 	I may have to consider a couple of Dirca for my garden. Will go well
> with my spice bush. Perhaps once they are in the garden, seeds can be
> collected and sown fresh in outside raised beds. Think that would cure the
> hard to propagate problem?

It's definitely worth a try!  I think my favorite thing about this plant
is the visual softness of the leaves coupled with the tightness of the
habit.  It's a plant that you can use to create a semi-formal atmosphere
in a shadier nook of the garden, and that's often hard because the 
deciduous shade-lovers tend to feel more unkempt.

I'm going to try layering it.

Another favorite for deep shade is Orixa japonica.  It's more gangly
and is only grown for foliage, but it performs magnificently in deep,
deep shade.  The horticulturist at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
said that they were having problems finding live plants that would work
in the dark corners around exhibits, but happened upon Orixa and found
that it performed beautifully.  I have one in my yard where nothing else
would grow and it's doing very well (although it hasn't really started
taking off until this year).  I've seen it listed as a zone 6 plant,
but I'm in zone 5b and haven't had any dieback.  I saw a small clump
at the Chicago Botanic Garden that had been there for at least a
decade as well.

I wonder if I should crosspost this to the woodyplants list too...  Why
not?  :)

Chris

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