SOME THOUGHTS CONCERNING HARDINESS AND HYBRIDIZATION

HYBRID HORSE CHESTNUT FLOWER

HYBRID ROSE 'KNOCKOUT'

WILD PRAIRIE ROSE

Tuesday, 8:00 AM.  57 degrees at the ferry dock, five degrees cooler on the back porch. Wind N, light with stronger gusts.  The sky is partly cloudy with some high overcast, but is clearing.  We got .2" of rain last night, the humidity is 82% and the barometer is rising, now at 30.0".  We will have several days of nice, if cool, weather.
   We are leaving shortly for tomorrow's meeting of northern Wisconsin city foresters in Wausau.  It will be of particular interest to me because we will be touring the site of a newly developing public garden there.  Buddy, who is still convalescing, will stay at the vet's kennel in Ashland.
   The hybrid buckeyes and horse chestnuts are closely related, and the nomenclature can be confusing. Both are in the Hippocastanaceae family, which translates directly from the Latin to "horse chestnut." The above flower photo is probably of  'Ruby Red' horse chestnut. The tree has been growing in Bayfield for at least twenty years.  It is normally very winter hardy and blooms well; this year the blooms have been few and not as lush as usual, and the tree looks scruffy.  We also have a number of 'Fort McNair' hybrid red buckeyes planted along Bayfield city streets that have been quite dependable, but this year the blooms were few, and the trees suffered winter damage.  Last winter was severe in many ways; extreme cold, heavy snow load, damaging winds, ice and road salt.  If we return to more normal winters these trees will do well again; if extremely harsh winters are the new norm we will have to revise our opinions of these hybrids.
   Speaking of hybrids, the rose has been selectively hybridized for hundreds, if not thousands of years.  Roses are hybridized and selected for many qualities; size and form of  bloom, scent, hardiness, quality and color of leaves, lack of thorns, etc.  Many, if not most, commercially grown roses are not only hybrids, but are grafted onto separately grown root stocks for increased production, hardiness, etc.
The whole rose subject is far too complicated to go into here, and in any case I am not a rose expert, so I shall only make a few comments to emphasize the great differences between the wild rose progenitors and their hybrid relatives.
   The wild rose pictured above is probably the prairie rose, Rosa suffulta,or  perhaps R. caroliniana.  It certainly has beauty and utility in the native landscape, but from the standpoint of the usual human concept of beauty it is a far cry form one of the newer and most successful hybrids, 'Knockout' (hybridized by Bill Radler of Hales Corners, Wisconsin).  Keep in mind that most, if not all, horticultural hybridization and selection is still the result of the ancient art of cross breeding and related horticultural practices.  There is little or nothing concerning "GMO" (genetically modified organisms) going on with roses or most other horticultural crops; just years of hard work and waiting for the results.  In the final analysis, "A rose is a rose is a rose."

A NEW GARDEN PATH, AND TASTING RED ELDERBERRIES

NEW WALK TO THE FRONT YARD GARDEN AND DECK...

...DITTO

RED ELDERBERRY FRUIT

Monday,  8:30 AM.  53 degrees F, wind NW, light.  The sky is mostly cloudy and overcast, the humidity has risen to 89% and it has been raining lightly, with about .05" of rain in the gage. The barometer is on the rise, now at 29.8".  The middle of the week should be nice.
   Buddy is doing well since his mishap but I have to spend a lot of time taking the "lampshade" on and off so he can eat and drink and go for necessary walks, and he seems to need a lot of attention. He is limping some but doesn't seem to be in any pain.  He probably will spend a few more nights in the bedroom and we will have to be careful not to trip over him in the dark.  A good, nurishing recipe for a dog that is under the weather, and needs to be encouraged to eat:  ground beef fried in the pan as you would for spaghetti meat sauce, but mixed (not too runny) with plain yogurt  rather than tomato sauce.
   Since I have been more or less grounded while Buddy is convalescing, I finished the informal walkway to the front garden and deck yesterday.  The brick had been sitting in place for weeks and impeding the mowing of the lawn, but they are now laid and I am pleased with their look and function. It doesn't look like much of a job, but I had to deal with tree roots and it was a lot of work.  It would have been easier to dig a shallow trench and make the pathway all brick but that was not the effect I wanted, as I did not want it to compete with the main  entrance to the house.  When laying brick pavers it is always best to dig deep enough to lay them on a bed of sand to make it easier to level them, and then sand should be worked into the spaces between the bricks to lock them in place.  To complete the setting I will next build a very simple decorative archway across the walk to designate the entrance to the garden, which has largely become a shady Rhododendron collection.
   The native northern red elderberry, Sambucus pubens, that marks the entrance to the herb garden is bearing quite a bit of fruit this year; clusters of tiny red berries.  I had promised at some point to consume some and report on their flavor (they are edible).  They are quite tasty, with a tart, lemony, rather refreshing flavor.  The tiny berries have a single seed, too small to extricate from the pulp, and these add a surprisingly pleasant crunch to the taste.  The berries are small and disappear from the bush rapidly so I doubt they are very useful for jams and jellies.  Eaten in season while hiking they would be a pleasant diversion.

BUDDY IS EXPERIENCING THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS OWN ACTIONS

BUDDY WEARING A "LAMP SHADE"..

...TO KEEP HIM FROM PULLING OUT THE STITCHES

Sunday, 8:30 AM.  61 degrees F at the ferry dock 56 on the back porch.  Wind NW, light to moderate. The sky is clear and blue, the humidity 72%.  The barometer has started to trend downward, now at 29.88", indicating the possibility  of rain tomorrow.  But this morning is beautiful.
   Buddy got himself bunged up pretty badly, but he is moving around pretty well this morning and I think he is on the mend.
   After lunch yesterday I noticed that Buddy wasn't pestering for his mid-day snack (he's spoiled and gets a treat anytime we eat), and as I looked  for him I came to the realization he was not anywhere around.  Buddy is a good dog and doesn't do much straying but every once in a while he kind of sneaks off instead of coming inside with me when we are going from the truck to the house; he is so quick it is hard to keep an eye on him.  So I grabbed the whistle and went to the garage to round him up, and there he was, looking very sheepish.  Then I noticed he wasn't walking correctly.
   Upon closer examination I saw that his right back leg had a huge, deep gash in it, between the knee and the groin.  It was several inches across and wasn't bleeding, which told me it had happened some time before, perhaps an hour or more, and probably some distance away.  Anyway it looked like an emergency trip to the vet in Ashland, and after a phone call and some arrangements we got him in the truck an to the animal hospital.
   It was a nasty wound that took fifteen or twenty stitches to close, but it evidently missed nerves and tendons.  The damage wasn't caused by an automobile as there were no broken bones or contusions.  He must have been running through the woods and gotten caught on an old farm fence or some such object.  It will take about two weeks to heal, and in the meantime he will have to wear a "lampshade" collar to keep him from pulling on the drain or the stitches.  Of course he doesn't understand why he has to wear it and I am sure he thinks he is being punished.  But like the rest of us,  Buddy is simply experiencing the consequences of his own actions.
 

BEACH PEAS AND TREE LILACS

BEACH PEA ...

BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS, BUT NOTE THE LONG, CLIMBING STEMS

JAPANESE TREE LILAC USED AS AN ORNAMENTAL  STREET TREE..

HUGE, GORGEOUS BLOOMS...

...MILKY WHITE AT MATURITY

Saturday, 8:30 AM.  67 degrees F, wind N, light.  The sky is mostly sunny with some high, wispy white clouds and some haze in the east.  The humidity is 78% and the barometer is trending down, now at 29.97".  It will be a nice summer day.
   Beach pea, Lathyrus japonicus, in the pea family (Leguminosae), is beginning to bloom.  It is native locally along the shores of Lake Superior and other Great Lakes, and in the seacoast provinces of Canada and the shores of a few large lakes in the northeastern U.S.  It's Latin species name refers to the fact that it is circumpolar in various maritime locations, including the coast of Japan.  It is a beautiful plant in nature but can be a troublesome weed in cultivation; enjoy them where you find them.  I usually let a few grow along garden rocks, but keep a wary eye upon them.  Use the blog search engine for additional information.
   Japanese tree lilacs, Syringa reticulata, in the olive family (Oleaceae), have just started blooming and will enliven the city with their giant, long-lasting white lilac flowers.  They are hardy here in Bayfield and make a fine ornamental street tree, relatively trouble free and tolerant of a wide range of soil and moisture conditions.  They even have a light lilac scent.  There are a number of cultivars of the species reticulata, as well as a closely related species, S. chinensis.  All are nice ornamental trees of rather similar habit, and at this point I could not recommend any one over another.
  We probably are at the point in Bayfield where we should not put too many more of these "eggs" in our tree basket, as it is never good to over-plant any one genus or species and thus limit the diversity of the urban forest.

SAPSUCKERS AND STRAWBERRIES

WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THIS MOUNTAIN ASH?...

...A YELLOW BELLIED SAPSUCKER ATTACK, THAT'S WHAT!

SELF SERVE, AND PAY AND MAKE CHANGE ON THE HONOR SYSTEM

STRAWBERRIES, SWEET AND FRESH...

...PICKED OR PICK YOUR OWN

Friday, 8:45 AM.  64 degrees F, wind SW, gusty at times.  The sky is filled with low rains clouds and a high overcast, and it is raining and misting lightly.  There is about .25" of rain in the gage.  The humidity is 91% and the barometer is still falling, now at 29.94".  It looks like it will be a damp day.
   We took a little ride to buy strawberries at  Rocky Acres berry farm yesterday evening.  It appears to be a bumper crop this year and the berries are just the best, and at $4.00 a quart a good buy.  On the way we saw a bear and a number of deer, a good evening for wildlife; and a yellow full moon rising to boot.  Life is good.
   Our mountain ash on the south side of the house is under attack.  By a yellow bellied sapsucker family.  They peck holes in the bark and then, as their name suggests, drink the sap flowing from the wounds.  The tree is so badly damaged it will surely die.  The sapsuckers are beautiful birds, but can be relentlessly destructive, and there isn't much to be done about it without harming the birds.

PURPLE MEADOW-RUE AND COREOPSIS

PURPLE MEADOW RUE FLOWER PANICLE...

PINNATELY COMPOUND LEAVES

COREOPSIS IN FIELDS ALONG HWY. J

Thursday, 8:00 AM. 58 degrees F, wind SW, occasional light to moderate gusts. The sky is partly cloudy with high, puffy, cotton-ball clouds.  The humidity is down to 81% and the barometer is rising, currently at 30.08".  It will be a really pleasant day.
   I am trying to keep ahead of the yard and garden work but it is relentless this year.  I did a lot of tree and shrub pruning yesterday and there is still more to do, as woody plants have grown by veritable leaps and bounds this year.  Our gardens would all be shade gardens now without vigorous pruning of overarching branches and leaves, and the time is coming when I will have to reluctantly remove some trees.  Be careful how many trees you plant, what types, and where you plant them.
   The fields along Hwy. J in the orchard country remain very colorful and well worth a drive-through.  The lupines are virtually done blooming and are setting seed, but the tickseed, Coreopsis lanceolata, are even more colorful en mas.  The strawberries have been bearing fruit for the last ten days or so and are absolutely delicious this year.  Picked berries are $4.50 a quart at Rocky Acres on Hwy. J, or take the kids and pick your own (picking strawberries is stoop labor, and well worth paying the price to have them picked as far as I am concerned, and provides some extra income for those willing and able to bend over).
   Every year a purple meadow-rue, Thalictrum dasycarpum, in the crow-foot, AKA buttercup, family (Ranunculaceae) blooms in the front garden.  It is a little late this year.  The species can also have white flowers, which I think I see blooming along the roadside in wet locations now, and I will take some photos of them as well.
   The species grows in wet meadows, swamps and thickets in the upper-Midwest.  I don't know where this plant in the front garden came from, I don't remember plating it.  There are about a dozen species of meadow-rue in North America.

SUMMER WINE NINEBARK

NINEBARK, THE SPECIES

 SUMMER WINE NINEBARK

NINEBARK, THE SPECIES, FLOWER HEADS...

SUMMER WINE NINEBARK FLOWER HEADS

Wednesday, 7:30 AM.  56 degrees F at the ferry dock,  52 on the back porch.  Wind NNW, light to moderate.  The sky is mixed clouds and clear, changing rapidly.  The humidity is 77% and the barometer is still rising, now at 29.93".  We got a trace of rain last night, just enough to wet the decks.  It is a pleasant, quiet morning.

   Ninebark, Physocarpus opulifolius, in the rose family, is a large, spreading shrub native to northeastern Canada and the the northeastern US, and it occurs westerly through the Great Lakes and upper Midwest.  There only a few species in the genus, which is closely related to the genus Spiraea. The Latin genus name refers to the particular appearance of the seeds, and the species name to the simple, palmately lobed leaves.  There are several other North American species, and one in eastern Asia.  The native P. opulifolius  has white flower heads and also has a rather interesting white to cinnamon colored  exfoliating bark, which unfortunately is usually obscured by the leaves during the growing season.  Its native habitat is northern rocky shores, banks and thickets.  It has some landscape uses and can be trimmed into a nice hedge, but generally speaking it is not an outstanding landscape plant.

   There are several fine cultivars, however, that are quite interesting and beautiful as landscape plants.  Summer Wine, the patent name of which is P. opulifolius 'Seward', is a compact shrub with purple-green foliage and very attractive clusters of white-pink flowers, and good fall color.  It is hardy to zone 3.  It is tolerant of a wide range of soil types but prefers well-drained soil conditions.

   The cultivar Summer Wine is a good example of the improvement of a species for landscape purposes through selective breeding.  In case you are getting confused by the nomenclature, horticultural plants can sometimes have different names for the same plant.  'Seward' indicates that the original plant breeder has been granted a plant patent by the USDA and collects royalties in its propagation.  Summer Wine is a trade name adopted by some propagators and nurseries.  When in doubt, look for the Latin genus and species names followed by a name enclosed by a single parenthesis before and after the name.    If there is an X after the latin genus name it is a hybrid between two different species.