Summer Sights

2022...another long hot summer. This tired old nurseryman has toiled for four decades making sure the plants are adequately irrigated, and before my own I took care of other growers' plants. Summer is the season for production, but plant survival trumps that, and in my case I worry about it constantly, certainly more than any other employee does.

Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Van den Akker'

The dog-days are challenging for sure, but the ordeal is not total hell, and a lot of enjoyment can be had at the nursery. We are rewarded with plump conifer cones, flowering trees and shrubs and colorful foliage. At Flora Farm I have admired two Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Van den Akker' which have faced each other for years, and this summer they have finally kissed. Or, I guess that's what they're doing. I don't go out at night and spy on them, and though I am a bit curious about what else they might do when the sun goes down, I'm not a pervert so I let the love birds be.

Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Van den Akker'

Another happy tree is a ballerina “Alaska cedar.” My daughter H. excels and lives for dance, and when I referred to another 'Van den Akker' as my “ballerina tree” she grew delighted – my daughter that is...and well, it looks like the tree also.

Let's take a brief look at some July-August summer fun:

Acer palmatum 'Sweet Lorraine'

Cornus florida 'Ragin Red'

Nothopanax delavayi

Picea glauca 'Daisy's White' (center)

Acer circinatum 'Monroe'

Acer campestre 'Postalense'

Acer palmatum 'Lily L'

Acer palmatum 'Snow Peak'

Platycarya strobilacea

Acer macrophyllum 'Mocha Rose'

Acer palmatum 'Cosmos'

Sorbus 'Eastern Promise'

Acer macrophyllum 'Mieke'

Persea thunbergii

Rhododendron 'Scintillation'

Camassia leichtlinii 'Alba'

Rhododendron boothii

Acer palmatum 'Starry Skies'

Tilia cordata 'Akira Gold'

Abies koreana 'Nigrans'

Beschorneria septentrionalis

Paeonia species

Ginkgo biloba 'Peve Maribo'

Stewartia malacodendron

Zenobia pulverulenta 'Raspberry'

Acer palmatum 'Hana matoi'

Davidia involucrata 'White Dust'

Acer palmatum 'Mon zukushi'

Cornus alternifolia 'Moonlight'

Cornus kousa 'Summer Fun'

Acer palmatum 'Squitty'

Pinus parviflora 'Gimborn's Ideal'

Acer caudatum 'Variegatum'

Abies forrestii var. georgei

Quercus rubra 'Greg's Variegated'

Daucus carota

Abies procera 'La Graciosa' (center)

Hibiscus syriacus 'Meehanii'

Holodiscus discolor

Kniphofia pauciflora

Cercis canadensis 'Flame Thrower'

Stachyurus salicifolia

Stachyurus salicifolia and Betula nigra

Sorbus 'Eastern Promise'

Ginkgo biloba 'Snow Cloud'

Acer calcaratum

Pinus densiflora 'Golden Ghost'

Scilla peruviana 'Sapphire Blue'

Sequoiadendron giganteum 'Governor Withycombe Heritage Tree'

Abies beshanzuensis, the very rare Chinese species. Our tree is the first to cone in America, and perhaps in the entire world outside of China.

Today (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday) we'll again be in the 90s F, and I worry not only for the plants but also the crew that puts in long hours, even on the weekends. Hopefully they find a degree of plant pleasure as I do, and I'm grateful that they show up to support my company.

Picea breweriana with Mr. Skinny Jeans Buchholz