Thank you for your helpful planting tips, @robairdmacraignil. We don't have any stone walls on our 40 acre rural property unfortunately, other than a 1' high circular stone firepit. LOL. But that's a great suggestion and your rationale about cold air moviny away or down is flawless. We get most of our cold wind from the north, and as that's the back side and shadiest side of our cabin as well, I would never plant them where they get that much north wind. The wood cabin and storage building are elevated on piers, so cold wind blows right underneath them to some degree, but less than out in the open pasture areas. All but the front of the cabin is in shade most of the day with 7-8 hickory nut and several old oak trees around it. I thought about planting both at front of cabin veranda, flanking the stairs (photo right). This faces the southeast (photo right). At least there, perhaps the cabin itself would afford some cold and wind protection.
I also thought about putting one in a fairly open place on another "gentle rise" in the pasture off to the right of the cabin veranda (in front of the barn in photo below) where the yellow Texas Groundsel can be seen just past the fence in this photo. I don't know if planting on a slight hill would help enough, but those are the only places on our poroperty I would want to plant them. All other locations I would like are out in the open, subject to the winter elements pretty much everywhere on this property unless you plant around the perimeter. I also thought I might plant one at the corner of the intersecting wire fences in the last photo, visually between the two patches of pink oxalis, but that is totally in the open. It would get lots of sun there during the day. The blackberries in that corner are happy with the sun there, at least.
Much thought is going to have to be given to the planting location for both trees if I am to meet the trees' needs and satisfy my viewing pleasure of these lovely plants, which is, after all, why I bought them.
Thanks so much for all your thoughts and suggestions. I would love to have one of them here in the city, but just don't have room for anything else. The former owner here was a Master Gardener and she overplanted this entire property......period. so the Ceanothus will have to go to our cabin place. I'll find a good spot there eventually, I'm sure.
Peggy I have a multi-stemmed bush form in the ground, about 3 years. It’s survived heavy snow and prolonged frosts here, down to minus 7.8c. Our winters can be cold as I am at a 413m altitude in the mountains, but those freezing nighttime temperatures can often combine with warm sunny days. It is sheltered to the North, planted at the bottom of a terraced garden. Good luck with yours!
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
@PeggyTX .. you wanted to know about Ceanothus in our gardens Peggy... well, I've got one to show you - it's not a pretty sight.. ...first off though, yours as you say is a Tree Ceanothus... arboreus type.. the usual one we grow here is Ceanothus arboreus 'Trewithen Blue' which is similar to Ray Hartman but with slightly larger panicles of bloom... it's not hardy in my area, a local one got killed this winter.. it's best in sheltered gardens in coastal and southern areas of this country... I've grown it twice in other gardens, it's a rapid grower where happy and survives the winter.. USDA zone 8 would be a minimum, zone 9 and up is better.. I've only grown it in equiv. zone 9 here.. [Cornwall]...
..the one I have in this garden is a different type, with one parent being a Mexican variety, which means it can suffer in my winters, like the one I've just had.. I'm more of a zone 8a/8b at best..
..as you can see it got cut back, I've had to remove lots of branches but it's reshooting.. ..it could not stand -8C [17F], as it's normally semi evergreen in most years..
.the bottom part.. good to see new shoots coming up from below ground too..
..I know you've had some severe weather on the southern Plains... you won't be wanting another one for your Ray Hartman, that's for sure..
@Nollie , your post is so helpful and most encouraging! I think perhaps planting them flanking the front cabin steps then. At least the building (highest "windbreak" on the property) will afford some winter protection as well. And as Malorena said, I'm not wanting a repeat performance of February's near blizzard conditions. Like you where you are, our freezeing temps can be followed by very warm daytime temps. Texas weather is such a rollercoaster, they say "If you don't like TX weather, just wait 15 minutes and it'll change". I've seen it vary 50º in 12 hours myself. LOL Thanks so much for your reply.
@Marlorena, I so appreciate your input. I admire all your lovelyl rose photos every single day. You're an amazing gardner, my dear. And I can relate to your excitement that your Ceanothus is shooting back out. Knowing that encourages me that once established mine, too might pull through an occasional hard freeze and survive after pruning off dead material. Very encouraging information.
I had a similar experience to yours with my 25' Loquat tree. It looked like this after our February frigid temps. All leaves were crispy critters. Tree is STILL not letting those drop off after 60 days. Can you believe that? Scratching bark also showed no green for the past 2 months. Just last week these shoots showed up. Yesterday, even more shoots and small branches appeared, finally, as far as 6-7' high on two main trunks. I'm so very happy I won't have to remove this lovely evergreen in my front garden. And higher up: I love it when in my plant world, life marches on.
@PeggyTX ..thank you, that's kind... and I'm delighted to see your Loquat recovering like that.. presumably you will have to deal with quite a bit of dieback on that tree at some point..
.. you have a very large country garden by our standards, I would get wonderfully lost in that, wandering about, but it's a beautiful sight to see all those trees and space...
Yes, @Marlorena, I imagine I will have to trim most branches back 3'-5', as the tree has nearly a 20' spread. And it's too tall to do ourselves (I'm 72; hubs is 75). So we'll have to hire it done under close personal supervision. I will reshape it to be similar to a Joshua Tree (below) at first, once I determine how far out each branch it is trying send out shoots. Then the tree should pretty much shape itself over time.
I'd like to achieve the general ovoid shape of a Bradford Pear tree. Hopefully this loquat will once again fill out nicely.
Oh gosh Peggy yes, you won't be wanting to do that work yourselves.. I'm pretty active but I couldn't manage that..
... that Joshua Tree is amazing isn't it?.. and I love Bradford Pear trees, the one they grow mostly here is called 'Chanticleer'... would love to have one, it's the shape I like..
I love Bradford Pears, too. Planted one at my last house. It struggled the first couple years but took off and was about 12' tall, blooming nicely by the time we sold that house. This house is only 8 blocks away, which is a both good and bad. It allows one to see the old place, whether that's for good or naught. Current owner has removed my Bradford Pear. Many people think them invasive, but I never in 8 years saw it put out a runner or sapling in my garden or any neighbors gardens. She cut down the Royal Empress Pawlonia tree I planted, too. The 4" seedling had grown to a 30' tree in just 10 years. That tree, too, is said to be invasive, but I just never saw any seedlings or ground/foundation damage. It shaded that entire side of my yard in just 10 years. Shade is greatly valued in our scorching, hot summers. I don't know where some trees get this "invasive" label, truly I don't. I get soo sad when I drive by that place now.
Posts
I thought about planting both at front of cabin veranda, flanking the stairs (photo right). This faces the southeast (photo right). At least there, perhaps the cabin itself would afford some cold and wind protection.
I also thought about putting one in a fairly open place on another "gentle rise" in the pasture off to the right of the cabin veranda (in front of the barn in photo below) where the yellow Texas Groundsel can be seen just past the fence in this photo.
I don't know if planting on a slight hill would help enough, but those are the only places on our poroperty I would want to plant them. All other locations I would like are out in the open, subject to the winter elements pretty much everywhere on this property unless you plant around the perimeter. I also thought I might plant one at the corner of the intersecting wire fences in the last photo, visually between the two patches of pink oxalis, but that is totally in the open. It would get lots of sun there during the day. The blackberries in that corner are happy with the sun there, at least.
Much thought is going to have to be given to the planting location for both trees if I am to meet the trees' needs and satisfy my viewing pleasure of these lovely plants, which is, after all, why I bought them.
Thanks so much for all your thoughts and suggestions. I would love to have one of them here in the city, but just don't have room for anything else. The former owner here was a Master Gardener and she overplanted this entire property......period. so the Ceanothus will have to go to our cabin place. I'll find a good spot there eventually, I'm sure.
.. you wanted to know about Ceanothus in our gardens Peggy... well, I've got one to show you - it's not a pretty sight..
...first off though, yours as you say is a Tree Ceanothus... arboreus type.. the usual one we grow here is Ceanothus arboreus 'Trewithen Blue' which is similar to Ray Hartman but with slightly larger panicles of bloom... it's not hardy in my area, a local one got killed this winter.. it's best in sheltered gardens in coastal and southern areas of this country... I've grown it twice in other gardens, it's a rapid grower where happy and survives the winter.. USDA zone 8 would be a minimum, zone 9 and up is better.. I've only grown it in equiv. zone 9 here.. [Cornwall]...
..the one I have in this garden is a different type, with one parent being a Mexican variety, which means it can suffer in my winters, like the one I've just had.. I'm more of a zone 8a/8b at best..
..as you can see it got cut back, I've had to remove lots of branches but it's reshooting..
..it could not stand -8C [17F], as it's normally semi evergreen in most years..
.the bottom part.. good to see new shoots coming up from below ground too..
..I know you've had some severe weather on the southern Plains... you won't be wanting another one for your Ray Hartman, that's for sure..
@Marlorena, I so appreciate your input. I admire all your lovelyl rose photos every single day. You're an amazing gardner, my dear. And I can relate to your excitement that your Ceanothus is shooting back out. Knowing that encourages me that once established mine, too might pull through an occasional hard freeze and survive after pruning off dead material. Very encouraging information.
I had a similar experience to yours with my 25' Loquat tree. It looked like this after our February frigid temps. All leaves were crispy critters. Tree is STILL not letting those drop off after 60 days. Can you believe that? Scratching bark also showed no green for the past 2 months.
Just last week these shoots showed up. Yesterday, even more shoots and small branches appeared, finally, as far as 6-7' high on two main trunks. I'm so very happy I won't have to remove this lovely evergreen in my front garden.
And higher up:
I love it when in my plant world, life marches on.
..thank you, that's kind... and I'm delighted to see your Loquat recovering like that.. presumably you will have to deal with quite a bit of dieback on that tree at some point..
.. you have a very large country garden by our standards, I would get wonderfully lost in that, wandering about, but it's a beautiful sight to see all those trees and space...
I'd like to achieve the general ovoid shape of a Bradford Pear tree. Hopefully this loquat will once again fill out nicely.
... that Joshua Tree is amazing isn't it?.. and I love Bradford Pear trees, the one they grow mostly here is called 'Chanticleer'... would love to have one, it's the shape I like..