week 5 Flashcards
Cuprocyparis leylandii
Intergeneric hybrid
Creates a screen fast but needs loads of space. Ok for hedging but it is a monoculture. Scaley leaves with seed bearing cones- gymnosperm.
Can’t cut into old growth -conifers dont have regenerative tissues like other trees.
Not appropriate for small gardens.
Araucaria araucana
monkey puzzle tree
Andean mountain tree adapted to cold climate and altitude
Covered in scales which become bigger as plant ages, the geometric shape of the tree is spoiled if pruned.
Seeds are edible but the cone needs to be warm for the seeds to be exposed.
Daphne bholua
4 petalled flowers which bloom through Winter (Jan/ Feb) with an amazing scent
pinks/ whites
Flowers on bare stems- though some are evergreen- foliage is a green leaf, ovate with reddish brown stem
Slow growing, needs a little protection
Ceratophyllum demersum
Common Hornwart
Aquatic plant really good at aerating the water
feathery green underwater foliage
Hamamelis mollis CV
Witch Hazel
Leaves like an asymmetrical version of beech. Strong pale veins on undersiade. Green foliage in Summer turning yellow in Autumn,
An understorey plant to about 6 ft tall. Yellow/ red flowers with tassels are extremely fragrant and grow on bare stems- flower buds are like droopy brown bollocks.
Very expensive to buy. Needs protection form overhead due to it’s understorey nature.
True woodland tree
Hedera helix ‘Aborescens’
Sleeps, creeps, leaps, can become invasive
Glossy evergreen leaf sometimes variegated. Juvenile duck foot shaped leaf becomes learge ovate enire leaf when older so to keep shape keep pruning. Don’t let it spoil bottom of trees. White flowers and berries on a sphere on a stem- pigeons love them.
Helleborus x hybridus ‘Pretty Ellen’
In December the crowns have dropped and the flower buds are starting to emerge from the base, these will flower in Jan/ Feb/ March and provide early bee forage from nodding pendular flowers in all colours.
Seeds ripe in late June
Ranunculaceae so all parts of plant are poisonous. There is a serrated leaf margin which may puncture skin and cause a reaction
Ilex aquifolium
Holly, dioecious both m and f flower and only the F produces berries. Takes a few years to identify M or F plant. Confusing cultivars - king and queen are backwards genders.
Leaves are evergreen but do drop through the year.
Look out for Phytophra blight with leaf drop and black stems- would need cutting out and burning.
Ligustrum ovalifolium
Common privet
Oval leaf adn flowers on 2nd year growth with tiny white flowers and then black berries. Used in hedging and pruned as such. Woody stems can get leggy if unpruned but regenerates well. Prune hard in Spring (late March) so as not to leave pruned ends exposed to frost.
Muscari armeniacum
Grape hyacinth
Frost hardy from the bluebell/ hyacinth family
Monocots from bulbs that can be divided at base, prolific if you dont. Spring flowering
Love free draining, sandy soil- tolerate hard conditions
Blue/ purple/ white
Photinia x fraseri ‘Red Robin’
Glossy evergreen waxy leaf, new growth is red and petiole is red, not much veination, strongly serrated margin, red buds. white flowers if unpruned but generally treat as a hedge to maintain new red growth
Taxus baccata
English yew
Vinca major
Greater Periwinkle
Large round flat flowers in blue, purple nad white
Green leaves on soft long stems
Needs little maintenance, its a tough car park plant, it will persist and layer but it is shallow rooting.
What we dug from under Acer, and Johns VIP car park
