Winter plants of interest

Winter plants of interest

• 83 - Cedrus libani/Cedar of Lebanon

  Introduced to the UK as long ago as 1670, this magnificent Cedar of Lebanon has become a prominent feature in many of our oldest estates and parks in the UK. It is a majestic, evergreen conifer native to Turkey, Syria and Lebanon and can grow up to 40 metres tall.

  It has a distinctive shape, with several trunks and clear horizontal layers in its structure. The bark is blackish-brown with closely spaced ridges and cracks and its needles are deep dark green. It has barrel shaped cones which form singly and stand upright on the branches.

  One of the most celebrated trees in the world, the Egyptians, Persians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks and Romans have all used the tree for purposes that range from ship building to mummification and cures for leprosy!

• 84 - Pinus sylvestris/ Cloud Tree, Scots Pine

  Pinus sylvestris, the Scots Pine, is usually a large evergreen tree to 25m, with the upper trunk and branches orange-brown, developing a picturesque, irregular outline with maturity.

  However, our tree at Furzey Gardens has been shaped as a cloud tree. Cloud pruning is a Japanese method of training trees and shrubs into shapes resembling clouds. It is known as ‘Niwaki’, the translation of which is ‘garden tree’. This type of pruning does not have to be used in solely Japanese-style gardens; it can be used as a feature in gardens of many different styles and this tree is certainly an eye catching addition to our top lawn!

  It also has a fascinating story attached to its introduction to Furzey Gardens, as Peter White, our Head Gardener, recalls: ‘In 2009/10, we were offered the tree from a show garden at Chelsea at very short notice by the garden designer Chris Beardshaw. Gardens at Chelsea are only given a few days to take away what they have spent months preparing and building. As far as I can remember, we had a phone call one day asking if we wanted it and it arrived the next evening on a low loader trailer with a crane in attendance! They could only get it as far as the social club in the village as it wouldn’t get under the trees in the lane leading to the garden. I got our old tractor from Minstead Lodge (1960’s Massey Ferguson 135, a classic machine!) and it was craned onto our trailer. With foot to the floor in first gear, I took a run at it and only just made it up the hill! We then put out a call for loan of a crane, dug a hole with an excavator and craned it in. The root ball was the size of a small car and the whole thing weighed several tons. It was all very stressful!’

• 85 - Parrotia Persica/Persian ironwood

  Parrotia persica is a spectacular specimen tree named after the German naturalist Friedrich Parrot. Commonly called Persian Ironwood, this tree originates from Iran and is related to Hamamelis (Witch Hazel). It can grow up to 8m with almost horizontal branches and has attractive flaking bark, revealing shades of pink, green and yellow new bark beneath. It produces clusters of witch hazel-like ruby-red flowers on bare branches in late winter – the flowers are actually petal-less and what you see are actually the red stamens. It also displays great autumnal colour, with the large glossy foliage turning vibrant shades of yellow, orange, red and purple. This colour is best with an acid soil.

• 86 - Acer griseum / Paperbark maple

  This lovely small acer, with all year round interest, will reach a height and spread of 5 x 4 metres in 20 years, making it a great choice for smaller gardens. The main feature you can see in the winter months is the tactile, cinnamon coloured, peeling bark, hence the common name of Paper Bark Maple. Sections of the paper-thin, peeling bark curl ornately whilst still attached to the tree. Flowers are small, but are followed by winged seeds often referred to as ‘helicopters’ due to the way they spin when falling. The green foliage provides a firework display of colours from pink to bright red before falling in the autumn.

• 87 - Michelia doltsopa / Himalayan Evergreen Magnolia

  The Michaelia family is named after Pietro Antonio Micheli, an Italian botanist from the 17th century. Most Michelia come from the Himalayas, hence the common name of Himalayan Evergreen Magnolia. This Michelia doltsopa is a small evergreen tree or shrub that develops a lovely spreading habit with age. Lush, dark green, long-oval shaped leaves with silvery undersides adorn the tree and beautifully scented white/yellow flowers are borne on the tree from early spring to early summer. It makes a excellent garden specimen, try to plant it where you can most enjoy the beautiful glossy leaves and the delicious scent of the waxy flowers.

• 88 - Erica x darleyensis "Furzey"

  The extensive collection of heathers at Furzey is well known, having been originally planted here in the 1920s, providing colour all year and ranging from ground cover to giant tree heathers. Erica x darleyensis “Furzey”, which originated at Furzey Gardens, is now accepted worldwide as one of the best winter flowering hybrids, with clusters of lilac pink urn shaped flowers that smother the plant from December to May.

• 89 - Narcissus cyclamineus

  Now naturalised in some of the grass areas at Furzey Gardens, Narcissus cyclamineus is a miniature daffodil growing up to 15cm in height. Its bright yellow flowers have long flower tubes and swept back petals resembling a cyclamen flower, after which it is named. Originating from NW Spain and NW Portugal, Narcissus cyclamineus is a parent of the group of hybrid daffodil cultivars which includes popular varieties “February Gold” and “Tete a Tete”. Narcissus cyclamineus is recorded as having being first planted in the gardens in 1927.

• 90 - Acer forrestii / Snakebark maple, Forrest's maple

  Native to West China, this pretty acer is commonly known as Forrrest’s Maple, as it was brought back to the UK by the famous plant hunter George Forrest, or the Snakebark Maple, due to its striated bark. This spreading, deciduous tree has striking red branches when young, becoming striped green and white as they age. Vibrant racemes of striking red spindles are produced in late summer and the long three lobed dark green leaves turn a deep orange-red in autumn, making it a great all year round specimen tree for the garden.

• 91 - Pseudolarix "Amabelis" / Golden larch

  This Golden Larch is a deciduous conifer, native to China where it is important to Chinese herbalism and considered to be one of the 50 fundamental herbs. It is a slow growing, medium sized tree, usually growing up to around 12 m, although it can grow to over 30 m in its native habitat. Its main branches are horizontally arranged and the young twigs are pale yellow and later turn purplish brown. The mature bark is reddish brown to grey-brown and grooved. Its soft needles are bright green and turn brilliant, rich golden-yellow in autumn before they fall. The cones grow to about 5cm in length, green ripening red brown.

• 92 - Camellia Bartley number 5

  We believe that Camellia Bartley number 5 was originally bred at the nearby Bartley Nurseries in the 1930s and was probably picked from a range of numbered seedlings, number 5 being the best! This camellia was recently reintroduced into the gardens from MacPennys Nursery in Bransgore – apparently in the 1950s, staff from this nursery collected plant matter from Furzey Gardens to grow on, so this plant is likely to be an ancestor of the original Bartley number 5 camellia first planted here at Furzey. It is a pretty specimen with glossy dark green leaves and small, single, medium pink flowers with yellow stamens in late winter.

• 93 - Acer triflorum / Three flowered maple, rough bark maple

  An original specimen of Furzey Gardens, this Three Flowered Maple is noted for its beautiful exfoliating bark and showy autumn colour. The light ash brown bark on both its trunk and branches peels in vertical stripes, revealing a copper brown colour beneath. Its leaves are green, with a grey green underside, turning brilliant shades of red and yellow before falling in autumn. It is relatively rare and underused in gardens, but undeservedly so, as is slow growing to 8 metres and will grow in most soils, providing a great display throughout the year, especially in winter, when the bark is most visible.

• 94 - Hamamelis vernalis / Ozark witch hazel

  First recorded as being planted at Furzey Gardens in 1933, this stunning witch hazel Hamamelis vernalis is valued in cultivation for its strongly scented flowers appearing in late winter, when little else is in bloom. It originates from the Ozark Plateau in Central North America, hence its common name of Ozark witch hazel. One of the earliest flowering shrubs, it is a large deciduous shrub growing up to 4 metres tall with a upright to rounded habit. It displays dense clusters of extremely fragrant frost proof, bright yellow to dull orange to red-orange flowers in mid to late winter. Borne on bare branches, each flower consists of four narrow crinkled, strap shaped petals with red calyces. On very cold days, the strap like petals curl up and then unfurl as the weather warms. It is a great plant for shrub borders, hedges or naturalising.

• 95 - Metasequoia glyptostroboides / Dawn Redwood

  This Dawn Redwood has the familiar conical coniferous shape, with sparse upward sweeping branches giving the tree a narrow form. The leaves are short, broad needles, similar to those of the yew, except that they are deciduous needles that turn a reddish brown before falling off in the autumn. In this respect it is also similar to the Swamp Cypress, but can be easily identified by its leaf formation – the Dawn Redwood has “opposite” leaves and the Swamp Cypress has “alternately” arranged leaves. Both like wet or boggy ground. M. glyptostroboides is the only living member of its genus. It was first described as a fossil from the Mesozoic era (65 to 200 million years ago) but in 1943 a tree was discovered in China that was confirmed as a new living species in 1948!

• 96 - Taxodium distichum AGM / Swamp cypress

  The deciduous Swamp Cypress was introduced into the UK in the early 1640s by John Tradescant. Taxodium in Greek means “resembling yews” (Taxus) in reference to its flat needle foliage. Its common name reflects its natural habitat in Eastern USA, such as the Florida everglades, where it grows in swamps, its roots coming up from the ground to absorb oxygen from the air. A good specimen tree for wet conditions, such as our pond area, it can reach 40 metres or more in height. It has a conical crown, fibrous red brown bark and soft feathery light green foliage, turning rich yellow brown in autumn. The female tree bears small ovoid cones in autumn while the male tree bears pendant red cones in winter.

• 97 - Rhododendron sinogrande / Great Chinese Rhododendron (Large leaved rhodo)

  R. sinogrande is a large evergreen shrub or small tree, to 10m tall, grown for its architectural magnificent dark green, oblong leaves which can be up to 75cm long, with a shiny silvery to fawn underside. The leaves are the largest in their genus. In addition, bell-shaped, maroon-blotched, creamy-yellow flowers 5cm in width, are held in very large trusses in late spring. It is best grown in mild sheltered gardens, as the lovely large leaves need protection from the wind.

• 98 - Magnolia stellata / Star magnolia

  This specimen was originally identified as M. stellata because it bears the classic star shaped white flowers that emerge from furry buds in late winter/early spring before the leaf buds open. However it is much taller than you would normally expect from the species; its size suggests that it could be the result of hybridisation between M. stellata and M. kobus. This tree was planted in the 1930s and so is more than 85 years old and while our records show that a M. stellata was planted at this time, we are working to confirm its exact lineage and those of several other similar mature magnolias that you will see as you walk round the garden.

• 99 - Betula utilis jacquemontii / Himalayan birch

  Betula utilis jacquemontii, the Himalayan birch, is a medium sized deciduous tree native to the Western Himalayas, growing at elevations up to 4,500 m. The Latin utilis means “useful”, and refers to the many uses of the different parts of the tree. It is grown primarily for its stunning brilliant white, almost shimmering, silky smooth bark, providing a fantastic feature in winter. This peels back each year to reveal a fresh layer of white underneath. It also provides good colour at other times of the year, with yellow brown catkins in early spring and its oval, dark green leaves turning gold in autumn before falling.

• 100 - Corylopsis pauciflora / Buttercup witch hazel

  Commonly known as the Buttercup witch hazel, this is one of the most beautiful of late winter/early spring flowering shrubs, with pendent clusters of delicately scented pale yellow flowers borne in profusion on bare stems. These are followed by bronze hazel-like leaves which unfurl to bright green, turning yellow before falling in autumn. A medium sized shrub growing to 150cm tall x 250cm wide, this witch hazel is suitable for planting in partial shade, preferably where the sweetly scented flowers can be appreciated.