One of the pleasures of my job is learning about new plants, doing some quick research on them and finding a source to get them into the garden center. Several years ago I came across
Stachyurus praecox in a catalog from Nurseries Caroliniana in North Augusta, SC. As I have said in another post, this is one of my favorite nurseries to buy from as they always have really unusual plants. I got maybe 10
Stachyurus to see how they would sell; some were the cultivar
'Issai' and the others were
'Mitsuzaki'. Disappointedly they sat in the nursery all season - that is until they began blooming late the next winter. As they came into flower I would put one in a glazed pot on the counter by the register and every plant brought in sold; one
'Mitsuaki' found its way to my garden.
There are several species of
Stachyurus native to Asia, but
S. praecox is from Japan. The genus name means "spike tail" which is its common name. The buds form in late fall and hang down from the branches on long racemes. As spring nears they swell and begin to open with chartreuse bell-shaped flowers, for me it is late March and they peak in April. The new foliage is a fresh bright spring green but there is no appreciable fall color. Hardy from zones 6 to 8, it gets about 6-10' tall by slightly wider and prefers light shade in normal garden soil. The drought we had in the summer of 07 really stressed it and as a result last year's flowers were minimal. Mine at home is planted right by the pond and I have been pruning it to grow out over the water.
The following pictures were taken last March at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, and this is
S. praecox 'Issai'. It seems to have longer racemes and there are more of them. I may have wished I had gotten this one (typical man, having trouble learning to be happy with what he's got).
One of the pleasures of my job is learning about new plants, doing some quick research on them and finding a source to get them into the garden center. Several years ago I came across Stachyurus praecox in a catalog from Nurseries Caroliniana in North Augusta, SC. As I have said in another post, this is one of my favorite nurseries to buy from as they always have really unusual plants. I got maybe 10 Stachyurus to see how they would sell; some were the cultivar 'Issai' and the others were 'Mitsuzaki'. Disappointedly they sat in the nursery all season - that is until they began blooming late the next winter. As they came into flower I would put one in a glazed pot on the counter by the register and every plant brought in sold; one 'Mitsuaki' found its way to my garden.
There are several species of Stachyurus native to Asia, but S. praecox is from Japan. The genus name means "spike tail" which is its common name. The buds form in late fall and hang down from the branches on long racemes. As spring nears they swell and begin to open with chartreuse bell-shaped flowers, for me it is late March and they peak in April. The new foliage is a fresh bright spring green but there is no appreciable fall color. Hardy from zones 6 to 8, it gets about 6-10' tall by slightly wider and prefers light shade in normal garden soil. The drought we had in the summer of 07 really stressed it and as a result last year's flowers were minimal. Mine at home is planted right by the pond and I have been pruning it to grow out over the water.
The following pictures were taken last March at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, and this is S. praecox 'Issai'. It seems to have longer racemes and there are more of them. I may have wished I had gotten this one (typical man, having trouble learning to be happy with what he's got).
