PURPLE REIGN
SOMETIMES GARDENING IS A WAITING GAME... BUT THEN THE WAIT REALLY PAYS OFF IN THE FORM OF A RIOT OF SUMMER COLOUR
I’VE been waiting patiently for around seven years, and this week it finally happened. The foxglove tree, Paulownia tomentosa, has blossomed for the first time with beautiful panicles of lavender-lilac flowers, similar in shape to foxgloves.
While it is a fast-growing deciduous tree, it does take this length of time to start producing flowers. Even then it’s no sure bet as the flower buds formed in autumn need to come through winter and escape a late hard frost.
Some gardeners grow this tree solely for its foliage – if you prune hard every year, it produces enormous leaves, sometimes nearly two feet in diameter.
This can suit jungle-type or architectural planting schemes but will result in no flowers.
The timber it produces is highly valued, being both light and strong. In Japan, there is a tradition of planting one when a daughter is born. When the daughter is ready to marry, the mature tree is cut down to make a dowry chest, furniture and other items.
Another unusual flowering tree is the Indian bean tree, Catalpa bignonioides. Come late July and August this will be covered in very showy panicles of orchid-like white flowers flecked with pink and yellow.
It’s quite a sight and then the fertilised flowers develop into long distinctive bean-shaped pods. It also has beautifully heart-shaped leaves – like the foxglove tree, this is sometimes coppiced to enhance this gorgeous foliage. There’s also a lovely cultivar ‘Aurea’ with greenish-gold leaves.
Styrax japonicus or the Snowbell tree, is often overlooked but has much to recommend. In June, when all the pink frothiness of cherry
trees is but a memory and the crab apple blossoms are fading, pure white bell-shaped flowers hang from the spreading fan-like branches. I’ve just planted a weeping pink version in my garden. Styrax prefers a moist, lime-free soil and is an elegant and dainty choice for a small garden.
Looking towards the end of summer, Eucryphia trees step forward and in a good year they are smothered in white blooms that look a bit like wild rose flowers. It makes a big impact as it is not competing with lots of spring flowering trees and the bees are magnetically drawn to its sweetly aromatic nectar.
Generally, eucyrphias prefer an acidic soil, but E. cordifolia is some
what lime tolerant. Native to the coastal rainforests of Chile and Argentina, it is endangered due to logging but this small evergreen tree can flourish in our gardens. Plant with its roots in the shade and the crown in sunlight for best flowering.
The handkerchief tree (Davidia involucrata) will test the patience of even Zen-like gardeners as this can take 10 to 20 years to get flowering. However when it does, what a beautiful sight to see those pairs of white bracts fluttering like handkerchiefs in the breeze. Such is the spectacle, newspaper advertisements used to announce when the wonderful specimen at Kew Garden was in bloom.
In the meantime I’ll just enjoy its beautiful heart-shaped purple-tinged foliage and keep it well watered through dry periods. Readers, you’ll be the first to know when it flowers!