I’ve been contemplating what to plant when the privet comes out next spring, you know, to have a bit of a plan to work from so I don’t go all crazy and impulse buy (haha). However there was one specific tree I knew needed to be included; the Cutleaf Emperor Oak, or Quercus dentata 'Pinnatifida.’ I’ve been hunting for one but was finding only gallon sized plants, since it’s a slow grower I really hoped to start out with something larger. Online search results kept turning up a local wholesaler, Buchholz & Buchholz, and it just so happens my friend Heather has an “in” there, so last Friday she borrowed her guy Greg’s truck and off we went…
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We checked in at the office and asked about the oak. Sure enough, they had several and they were HUGE, well 6 ft tall, which counts as huge for this tree.
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Beautiful fall color? Not so much.
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Still I was very excited and selected my tree, then of course we had a look around. I don’t recall which sequoia this is (we looked at a few, Heather might have been contemplating a purchase) but that’s some nice fall color!
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And cute cones too…
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The white sky and silver needles on this Korean Fir combine to give me a winter chill.
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Wait! There goes my tree!...
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I'm sure everyone has those moments in their life, when for whatever reason, they feel just a little more adult than they did the second before. This was one of those for me, holy cow! I'm buying a tree that's being moved by forklift! Never-mind that Heather and I were able to lift it out of the truck just fine and I moved it around at home with a hand truck, here a forklift was used and that makes it a special purchase.
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Look at that mahonia! It's huge...
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Schizostylis coccinea
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These were quite the shock of color and so delicate among all the trees and shrubs.
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It was so chilly that morning for a moment we were tricked into thinking that might be ice on the pond, thank god it wasn't.
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I looked at the name on this beauty, but forgot it before I could share it with you.
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Heather pointed out the flat conifer in the front looked a little like a sombrero....
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While I admired this handsome fellow who just happens to go by the name Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Wissel's Saguaro' damn, I might need one.
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So we've made our selections and they're both tucked in the truck, Heather's is Thuja orientalis 'Franky Boy' who's having about the cutest bad hair day ever.
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Leaves are dropping from my oak like crazy, I grabbed a couple to show Andrew later as I assumed it would just be a stick by the time we made the drive back to Portland.
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But no! A few leaves remained. Look at that cute, silly, little thing, dwarfed by the doomed privet.
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I also grabbed a not yet brown leaf from a group of smaller plants in a greenhouse, perhaps there is hope for a bit of fall color next year? Oh and I found something else interesting. If you look up this plant on the Buchholz & Buchholz website (here) and click through to the 7th image you'll see something resembling catkins, could it be? Has anyone seen them in "real life?" (*update, duh...evidently that's how all oaks bloom, thanks Peter!)
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New tree safely at home I thought I'd take a moment to admire my first tree purchase and think about how much he has grown, oh Clifford. That's when it occurred to me, I think of my garden as having just this one tree the Magnolia macrophylla. Lots of shrubs, but just the one tree.
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When in fact there's a Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica, against the house), and for that matter an Embothrium coccineum (front and center) which has grown from about 15" tall to over 8 ft tall just this year...
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Wait, in fact there are two Loquats, this one hiding under the privet, waiting to grow strong and tall.
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And of course the Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate'...
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Oh and need I mention all of these are in my back garden and just feet away from each other? I'm going to turn into that crazy tree lady after all!!!
All material © 2009-2013 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
We checked in at the office and asked about the oak. Sure enough, they had several and they were HUGE, well 6 ft tall, which counts as huge for this tree.
Beautiful fall color? Not so much.
Still I was very excited and selected my tree, then of course we had a look around. I don’t recall which sequoia this is (we looked at a few, Heather might have been contemplating a purchase) but that’s some nice fall color!
And cute cones too…
The white sky and silver needles on this Korean Fir combine to give me a winter chill.
Wait! There goes my tree!...
I'm sure everyone has those moments in their life, when for whatever reason, they feel just a little more adult than they did the second before. This was one of those for me, holy cow! I'm buying a tree that's being moved by forklift! Never-mind that Heather and I were able to lift it out of the truck just fine and I moved it around at home with a hand truck, here a forklift was used and that makes it a special purchase.
Look at that mahonia! It's huge...
Schizostylis coccinea
These were quite the shock of color and so delicate among all the trees and shrubs.
It was so chilly that morning for a moment we were tricked into thinking that might be ice on the pond, thank god it wasn't.
I looked at the name on this beauty, but forgot it before I could share it with you.
Heather pointed out the flat conifer in the front looked a little like a sombrero....
While I admired this handsome fellow who just happens to go by the name Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Wissel's Saguaro' damn, I might need one.
So we've made our selections and they're both tucked in the truck, Heather's is Thuja orientalis 'Franky Boy' who's having about the cutest bad hair day ever.
Leaves are dropping from my oak like crazy, I grabbed a couple to show Andrew later as I assumed it would just be a stick by the time we made the drive back to Portland.
But no! A few leaves remained. Look at that cute, silly, little thing, dwarfed by the doomed privet.
I also grabbed a not yet brown leaf from a group of smaller plants in a greenhouse, perhaps there is hope for a bit of fall color next year? Oh and I found something else interesting. If you look up this plant on the Buchholz & Buchholz website (here) and click through to the 7th image you'll see something resembling catkins, could it be? Has anyone seen them in "real life?" (*update, duh...evidently that's how all oaks bloom, thanks Peter!)
New tree safely at home I thought I'd take a moment to admire my first tree purchase and think about how much he has grown, oh Clifford. That's when it occurred to me, I think of my garden as having just this one tree the Magnolia macrophylla. Lots of shrubs, but just the one tree.
When in fact there's a Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica, against the house), and for that matter an Embothrium coccineum (front and center) which has grown from about 15" tall to over 8 ft tall just this year...
Wait, in fact there are two Loquats, this one hiding under the privet, waiting to grow strong and tall.
And of course the Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate'...
Oh and need I mention all of these are in my back garden and just feet away from each other? I'm going to turn into that crazy tree lady after all!!!
All material © 2009-2013 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.