Mid-winter garden status report

So far the winter of 2014-2015 has been fairly mild.  Some unseasonal cold during the late fall to winter transition. Some snow, but nothing unusual. A night or two of deep cold, around 0 F, but not prolonged or severe cold. And now following some a couple of modest snow events, a mid-winter thaw. This provided an opportunity to have a look around at the gardens, an inspection of sorts. There be lots of limbs and twigs to pick up, the result of having had a couple of fairly wet, heavy snows. It'll take a couple of hours to gather all that dead wood, but fortunately nothing got smashed in the process. The Rhododendron-hating oak missed; probably didn't factor the wind correctly. Evergreens in general look OK including a new Cephalotaxus, plum yew. Nothing looks dry or brown, or both. Hard to tell if a Helleborus foetidus is going to flower or not, even zero degrees, which is way below freezing in F, is pretty cold for it. No obvious bunny damage although a couple of bunny barriers has to be repaired. Bunny population is not quite so high as last year, but as soon as it gets dark they appear and will visit the area around our bird/squirrel feeders to see if they find any food. Evidence indicates that the Cooper's hawks have been foraging OK and that the Phactors have a couple less cardinals than they used to have. Must be their protective coloration. Tiny sprouts can be seen where the Scilla is poking up promising a blue lawn (here and here) will follow. A few other early spring bulbs are also showing up, and yes, those have been nibbled. Bunnies got to eat. So the general status report is good for this time of year. Hard to know as variable as the weather has been what the next 4-5 weeks will be like. But what the heck, TPP planted some parsley seed in some Jiffy-7s just to get things going.

Today's laboratory - Conifer identification

Oh, this is so much fun!  Most people, and my students are no exception, except for a couple of the horticulture students, commonly think several incorrect things about conifers.  1. All conifers are evergreen and that evergreen and conifer are synonyms.  2. All evergreen conifers are "pine" trees.  3. All evergreen conifers basically look alike.  4. "Furs" are Christmas trees and animal pelts.  So today TPP will endeavor to correct at least one of these misconceptions.  If you set your goals too high, you get disappointed.
In a few moments, once this cup of coffee and this blog are finished, TPP will grab his clippers and wander around our arboretum to obtain some nice specimens.  After you spend a few decades at this you get pretty good at it and you recognize most common genera by sight.  On one of our Botanical Geek Tours (locale Swathmore's campus arboretum) this one almost had TPP stumped, but then from somewhere, probably a mental process of elimination based on what it could not be, and this genus popped to the fore.  So here you go school kids.  Identify this conifer.
Unfortunately this genus doesn't grow here in the upper midwest, so my ID key to common conifers (including one  uncommon genus, which is in my garden so what the heck) won't be any help.  Don't say TPP has never given you anything.  It's an indented key, so hope the formatting works here (hmm, not quite).

IDENTIFICATION KEY TO LOCALLY-GROWN GENERA OF CONIFERS AND RELATED GYMNOSPERMS

 

1. Leaves small, scale-like, hugging the stem in pairs or threes. 

  2.  Scale leaves with glandular dot in center; leafy stems more or less flattened, leaves on two sides flat and on two sides folded or keeled. 

3.  Leafy branches flattened into 2-dimensional sprays, leaf keel convexly rounded such that apex points inward toward stem; cones oblong...............................Arbor-vitae (Thuja)

3'. Leafy branches not flattened into sprays, or only slightly so, leaf keel straight or concavely curved such that apex points upward along stem axis; cones globose  ……………… ………………………….………………………….. White cedar (Chamaecyparis)

  2'. Scale leaves without glandular dots; leafy stems rounded or 4 sided.

 

               3.  Leaves in pairs or threes, vestigial, fused into papery sheath around green stems with widely spaced nodes...........................................................Mormon Tea (Ephedra)

 

                             3’. Scale leaves small, but not vestigial, some leaves may be needle-like in whorls of 3 around

                                                stem; nodes closely spaced………………………...Red Cedar, Juniper (Juniperus)

  1'. Leaves linear, long and narrow, or broad and flat, borne on stems singly, in clusters or whorls.

4. Leaves borne in bundles of 2s, 3s, or 5s, needle-like, stout to long and flexible,..........Pine (Pinus)

4’. Leaves borne in helical whorls on short side shoots and at the ends of twigs.

5.  Whorls of flat strap-like leaves (greater than 3 inches long) borne at ends of elongate shoots, each leaf subtended by a bract ……………………………………Japanese Umbrella Pine (Scaidopitys)

5’.  Whorls of leaves borne on short, stubby, lateral branches (spur shoots); broad leaves or needle leaves (3-sided or flat and less than 3 inches long). 

6. Leaves stiff, sharp, 3-sided; cones erect on branches, 2-3” long, evergreen; not hardy in our  region ...............................................................................Cedar (Cedrus)

6'. Leaves soft, flat needles or broad, flat, fan-shaped; deciduous.

7. Spur shoots  less than 5 mm diam., leaf scars tiny, hard to see; Leaves long, flat, linear, soft and flexible; cones persistent, pendant or surrounding branch, oval, 1-1.5”; tree branches more or less at right angles to trunk …………….......…Larch (Larix)

7'. Spur shoots greater than 5 mm diam., leaf scars >2 mm wide; leaves broad and fan-shaped, no cones; tree branches angle upwards ………………….Ginkgo (Ginkgo)

                4”.  Leaves borne individually along stems (spur shoots absent), sometimes arranged or arrayed in 2 ranks.

8. Leaves on side shoots arranged in 2 ranks producing  feather-like lateral shoots; leaves all soft and flexible; leafy shoots deciduous.

9.  Leaves usually less than 1 cm long; leafy shoots (or scars) alternate on main stem …………………...........................................................................Bald Cypress (Taxodium)

9’. Leaves mostly greater than 1.5 cm long; leafy shoots (or scars) opposite on main stem.............................. ……………………………………….Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia)

8'. Leaves mostly spirally arranged (sometimes reoriented to present flattened array of leaves); leaves thick, leathery or stiff and needle-like; leafy shoots evergreen.

                                                10. Leaves 4-sided needles, very stiff..............................................Spruce (Picea)

                                                10'. Leaves flattened (cannot roll between fingers), linear.

                                                                11. Leaves narrow abruptly to short discrete stalks; foliage not aromatic.

12. Leaves with 2 white bands on lower surface; needles on top of twigs upside down, pointing to twig apex; small seed cones (1 cm long) …. ....................... ………………………………....Hemlock (Tsuga)

12'. Leaves all green on both sides (lighter below), stems showing segments at base of leaf stalks; ovules terminal on short shoots, seeds  with red aril at maturity…………...............................................Yew (Taxus)

                                                                11'. Leaves not on short stalks, but taper narrowing to base; foliage aromatic

13. Leaves narrowing to an elliptical base, raised from twig at lower edge; buds dry, conical .................................................Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga)

13'. Leaves narrowing to a flat, circular base; buds coated in resin, dome shaped …………………......................….....................Fir (Abies)

 

Firs, Pines, and Douglas-firs, oh my!

'Tis the season when many people purchase decorative conifer trees; otherwise they own some ersatz version thereof. No option exists in our household because Mrs. Phactor is of the most firm opinion that only a natural tree will do. On an ecological basis cut conifers are grown as a crop and can be fully recycled. So here is your holiday conifer primer. 1. Evergreen is not synonymous with "pine tree" or "conifer". 2. The vast majority of trees sold this time of year are firs, douglas-firs, or pines, and these are three different genera (Abies, Pseudotsuga, and Pinus respectively). 3. Douglas-fir is not a true fir, but most confusingly it's also called Oregon pine and Douglas spruce. See the problem with common names?
Here's how you tell these three genera apart. One pines needles are in clusters or bundles of 2, 3, or 5. The other genera have needles borne singly upon the twigs. The common pine species sold as cut trees have two (Scotch) or 5 needles (white pine). Firs and Douglas-firs have different buds at the end of twigs. Firs have resinous buds, that is coated in resin, and rounded in shape. Douglas-firs are smooth, dry, and conical. Distinguishing among the various species of firs is too tricky for verbal descriptions.