Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca'
I had never
encountered the word glauca in my life until my early 20’s
when I began my career in horticulture. The plant in question was the
“Blue Atlas cedar,” Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca’, so I supposed
that glauca meant “blue.” Then, after reading thousands of
plant descriptions in books such as The Hillier Manual of Trees
and Shrubs, Bean’s Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British
Isles and Krussmann's Manual of Cultivated Conifers I
learned that glauca was more accurately defined as a light
bluish-gray or bluish-white color. With conifers it often referred to
a plant who’s needles have a powdery or waxy coating that gives a
frosted appearance, but a coating that can be rubbed off. I remember
a vicious winter at 0 degrees F with 45 MPH winds because the cold
snap blew the coating off the prevailing windy side of our “Colorado
Blue spruce” cultivars. Yep: they were thus variegated blue and
green until glaucous foliage developed again in spring.
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| Picea pungens 'Iseli Fastigiata' |
The word glauca
(same root for glaucoma) is from Latin glaucus and that from
Greek glaucos meaning “gleaming” or “gray.” The term
was also used to describe a range of pale colors, even yellow-green.
A person with fair hair and blue eyes is known as a glaucope
(if fair hair and brown eyes a cyanope.) There are a plethora
of plant cultivars named ‘Glauca’, but ever since 1959 the
International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) forbids the use
of Latin with plant names. Nevertheless a number of nurserymen are
unaware of the rules, and there are others who don’t give a damn
about some questionable EuroCode anyway. An example would be
Picea pungens ‘Glauca Fastigiata’ where both cultivar words are
derived from Latin. This selection was originally introduced in the
1970’s as ‘Iseli Fastigiate’ or ‘Iseli Fastigiata’. It is
not against the ICBN rules to use one’s name for a cultivar –
such as Iseli – but it is in pompously bad form to do so,
and you would never encounter a name such as ‘Buchholz Purple
Ghost’ for one of my maple introductions.
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| Picea glauca 'Blue Tear Drop' |
I’m far from
being the Noah’s Ark of the floral world, but even at our
relatively small nursery size we have about 90 different varieties
with glauca in the name, with half of them being Picea glauca
(the “White spruce”). Note from the list below that all except
Lindera glauca and Rosa glauca are conifers.
Abies concolor
'Glauca Compacta' Pinus parviflora 'Glauca'
Abies koreana
'Glauca' Pinus pumila 'Glauca'
Abies
lasiocarpa 'Glauca Compacta' Pinus sylvestris 'Glauca Fastigiata'
Abies pinsapo
'Glauca' Pinus sylvestris 'Glauca Nana'
Abies procera
'Glauca Pseudotsuga menziesii 'Glauca'
Abies procera
'Glauca Nana' Pseudotsuga menziesii 'Glauca Hesse'
Abies procera
'Glauca Prostrata Hupp' Pseudotsuga menziesii 'Glauca Pendula'
Abies veitchii
'Glauca Rosa glauca
Cedrus
atlantica 'Glauca' Thuja koreana 'Glauca Prostrata'
Cedrus
atlantica 'Glauca Pendula' Thuja orientalis 'Minima Glauca'
etc...
Rosa glauca
Let’s start
with the two non conifers, and though we currently sell neither, I
still find them interesting members in my collection. Rosa glauca was
not named for bluish flowers as you can see, but rather for
the gray-blue leaves. I would grow it for the foliage alone because
the pinkish-red flowers aren’t much anyway. While the hip (fruit)
is dark red that still doesn’t explain the old synonym of Rosa
rubrifolia, meaning “red leaves,” unless one considers the
new growth’s color. Anyway the hardy (USDA Zone 2-3),
scrappy-looking shrub is deciduous and native to the mountains of
central and southern Europe. I find the species kind of wild-looking,
and not really suitable in a neat, refined garden; maybe planted
against a rough wall or fence in full sun would show it to best
effect. In the Hillier tome it is given a greater thumbs-up and is
declared “Invaluable for coloured foliage schemes.”
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| Lindera glauca |
Lindera glauca
The Lindera
genus – named for the Swedish botanist Johann Linder – has had
representative species in my garden since the beginning. I used to
propagate and sell them but the reality is that they were never
really popular – yet another genus that I would describe as
underused. That’s a shame because the 80-100 species of
evergreen or deciduous trees (or shrubs) are aromatic with small
flowers noticeable en masse, followed by tiny, shiny
black berries and beautiful autumn foliage. L. glauca has long,
narrow green leaves – and I am a fan of the skinny – that are
glaucous beneath, hence the specific epithet. It is native to China,
Korea, and Japan and was first described by Siebold and Zuccarini.
Hillier mentions that in China this and other Lindera species are
“used in the manufacture of incense sticks (joss sticks).”
I have one specimen left which is growing in a “natural”
environment down by the pond, and it receives no attention, including
irrigation. I admire the long-lasting peachy-orange color in autumn;
then with the onset of winter the leaves turn to a delicious mocha
color and actually persist until new growth pushes them off in
spring.
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| Abies veitchii 'Glauca' |
Abies veitchii
was first discovered by J.G. Veitch on Mount Fuji, Japan, in 1860,
then collected for the Veitch firm by Charles Maries in 1879. I had a
specimen in the Display Garden, but over the years it was picked on
and drilled relentlessly by sapsuckers until it grew so unsightly
that I eventually cut it down. I was further into my career before I
discovered a magnificent specimen of Abies veitchii ‘Glauca’ at
the Porter Howse Arboretum of Sandy, Oregon, and owner Don Howse
kindly shared scions with me. The cultivar receives scant notice in
the literature, and Rushforth in Conifers boringly refers to
the needles as “somewhat gray-blue.” A more vibrant description
is provided by Auders/Spicer in the RHS Encyclopedia of Conifers
where it’s called “a selection with steel-blue needles.” I
think that is a more exciting description, but when one looks up at
the foliage it is the vivid silver color of the needles’ undersides
that is powerfully impressive, not the top color. According to
Auders/Spicer it originated in Germany before 1968, but they add that
“This name in Latin form is only acceptable if proved to have been
published before 1959.” Hopefully the namer didn’t run afoul of
the ICBN authorities.
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| Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca Pendula' |
Cedrus atlantica
‘Glauca Pendula’ is validly named, as the weeping version of the
“Blue Atlas cedar” was discovered in France and the name was
coined in about 1900. Or, maybe not validly named since the
Cedrus genus was once thought to include four species but now some
botanists insist there are only two: C. deodara of the Himalaya and
C. libani of the Mediterranean. If that’s correct, one should call
it Cedrus libani subsp. atlantica ‘Glauca Pendula’.
I know – only plant nerds like me would care about those details. I
first encountered it in a corner field at the first nursery where I
worked… where it was sprawling unattractively with no apparent
purpose. Later I learned that you could train it into any form you
wanted, and, when I was finally in business, I had a narrowly-weeping
crop that rose to 15’ tall before I sold them. The selection is
certainly not “dwarf” and it didn’t take long to attain such
height. In another case I trained one sideways, where each year’s
2-3’ of growth humped along in serpent form. One customer was
intrigued with my ten-year (ten hump) creation and couldn’t live
without it; and since I needed money I sold it to market. I used to
graft a couple thousand of ‘Glauca Pendula’ per year back when we
did custom liner production, but demand for it eventually declined
and we haven’t grafted a single one for over a dozen years. I
realize – just now – that I didn’t keep even one specimen on
the property, but thanks for the memories.
Cunninghamia lanceolata 'Glauca'
I want to
champion Cunninghamia lanceolata ‘Glauca’ which I
website-describe as “An evergreen conifer with a broad pyramidal
form. Leaves are bright blue and very sharp. Ornamental reddish brown
bark is deeply furrowed…etc.” It is commonly known as the
“Blue China fir” and is supposedly more hardy (to USDA Zone 6)
than the typical green of the species. The “China fir” can grow
to 150’ in height but my grandmother had a hedge of the green
version that was annually pruned to only six feet tall, and the sharp,
poky foliage definitely kept the neighbor’s children off her
property.
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| Cunninghamia lanceolata 'Glauca' prostrate form |
A form of
Cunninghamia lanceolata ‘Glauca’ that was entirely prostrate was
growing at Arrowhead Alpines in northern Michigan. First of all, I
was surprised that the species could even survive there, but I was
suspicious about the “flat-growing” specimen. I obtained a start
of it – with their enthusiastic encouragement – but my propagules
quickly assumed an upright habit. I suppose that in frigid Michigan
their plant had “learned” to hunker down to survive the winter. I
believe that all plants are unique individually even if they are
members of the same species; in other words: some cultivarious
members are more tough and resilient than others and some shiver in
the cold wind more than their brethren. “China fir” should
not survive in northern Michigan, but since one does it gives other
plantsmen the hopeful idea that we can and should expand our domain.
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| Pinus sylvestris 'Glauca Fastigiata' |
Nurserymen – I
included – used the grow the old cultivar Pinus sylvestris ‘Glauca
Fastigiata’, the narrow blue-green pillar that Hillier describes as
in “the shape of a Lombardy poplar.” I discontinued it due to its
propensity to splay open with just a few inches of wet snow. Even the
old Dutch geezer that I used to work for had the cultivar planted as
a pair at the front end of this propagation house, and every winter
with the threat of snow we barber-poled the specimens with twine to
keep them intact. Really, garden-worthy cultivars shouldn’t need
artificial support to thrive – let alone survive in a
successful landscape. Nevertheless I have encountered “crutches”
in some gardens that help ward off old age and gravity with the
trees, whether they be ornamental cherries, pines or ginkgoes. At a
certain point we all need a helping hand I guess. Anyway, selections
of the “Fastigiate Group,” as Hillier calls them, were promoted
as early as 1856. I haven’t propagated a single ‘Glauca
Fastigiata’ for over 30 years, yet nearly every week I drive past
one in front of the bank at the entrance into nearby Hillsboro,
Oregon.
Picea glauca 'Pendula'
Ah – Picea
glauca ‘Pendula’, the narrow “Weeping White spruce” : one of
the most garden-worthy conifers ever. Perhaps the most bizarre and
unforgivable omission to The Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs
is for Picea glauca ‘Pendula’. How could you ever – in 2014 –
not mention it ahead of the old-Latin-Euro cultivars of
‘Coerulea’, ‘Densata’, ‘Echiniformis’ or ‘Nana’?
Picea glauca ‘Pendula’ is now produced by the many thousands…
as it should be. It supposedly originated in the 1860’s in
Versailles, France as a mutation and was formally described by the
French botanist Carriere in 1867, according to the American Conifer
Society’s website. I don’t know, there are a number of weeping
selections for all of the Picea species, and we grow another weeping
Picea glauca named ‘Canadian Weeper’ from a 1980’s collection
from Nova Scotia. Every morning I stand at the kitchen window and
look out at the landscape, and my pillar Picea glauca ‘Pendula’
dominates the near distance at about 30’ tall. Both doves and
red-tailed hawks have perched on its top, and occasionally snow or
ice frosts its gray-blue branches. Definitely, nature gets an A+ for
this creation and I have kept the family fed from the sales of it.
Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Glaucum' (From Buchholz left and Bedgebury right)
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| Normal Sequoiadendron giganteum cone on left, 'Glaucum' on right |
The tallest
plant in my original Display Garden is Sequoiadendron giganteum
‘Glaucum’ and I look at it now from my office window – yes, I
hogged the desk with the best garden view. The distant sight from the
window wasn’t the close experience I wanted, so I just went outside
to stand next to the trunk. I suppose the specimen is 80-100 feet
tall – and I am pretty good at estimating trees’ heights. It is
exactly 39 years old, grafted onto a three-year green seedling
rootstock. The best feature, from a landscape point of view, is the
narrow form, and I remember the impressive blue pillar at the
Bedgebury Arboretum in southern England which was over twice the size
of mine. Hillier in 2014 relates that their tree “has reached just
over 25m in the SHHG (2013)” and that it was introduced to
cultivation around 1860. If so, I wonder where the champion could be
found? Actually I don’t buy the Hillier story about an 1860
introduction since blue (glaucous) seedlings have arisen by the
hundreds over the years and I have grown many myself. But the narrow
‘Glaucum’ is truly unique regardless of when it was first
cultivated. Another nursery’s description of ‘Glaucum’ suggest
that it grows “slower than the type”… but hmm… I don’t
think so. One difference, however, is that ‘Glaucum’s’ cones
are only half the size of those from the normal green trees. If there
was only one species in the world where I could stick my chest out
and boast I know more about it than anybody else it would be with the
“Giant Redwoods.” Believe me. I grew up in a house with two
massive 1873-planted specimens and my first plant sales ever – I
guess I was about 8 years old – was Giant redwood cones to florists
in Eugene, Oregon, thanks to my grandmother’s assistance with
driving me around town to the shops.
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| Pseudotsuga menziesii 'Glauca' |
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| Pseudotsuga menziesii 'Glauca' |
Nomenclaturally
questionable is Pseudotsuga menziesii ‘Glauca’ which was popular
when I began my career. As with the Giant redwoods there are many
selections of the “Blue Douglas fir,” and so the botanical
designation should probably be Glauca group. Then, keep
in mind that var. glauca refers to the eastern-most
range of the species native to the Rocky Mountains down and into
Mexico, a variety that is more hardy, but more slow-growing than the
green version native to my nearby woods. Besides the beautiful blue
foliage, the var. glauca features cones that can be pinkish in
spring, and they are smaller and more pointed than the far-west’s
larger and more rounded brown cones. As I mentioned earlier, Douglas
fir cultivars were popular at the beginning of my career, but
eventually sales dwindled. I think the problem was that Oregon
nurserymen (including myself) were grafting the blue, the narrowly
blue, or the weeping blue cultivars onto the less hardy green
rootstock, and cold-USA-area garden centers grew tired of returning
refunds for insufficiently hardy trees.
If only one
color was used to describe the earth’s flora, of course it
would be green. Plantsmen, however, have seemingly grown bored
of green and we champion other foliage colors such as yellow, red or
blue. From a business point of view, red maples always outsell the
typically green selections, and blue conifers are horticulturally
more in demand than green. I make a living off the abnormal,
the freaks, the different. That’s kind of weird,
isn’t it?
