Michigan Gardener - Your guide Great Lakes gardening: Garden Event Calendar / Expert Advice / Plant Profiles / Tree Care

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Sowing seeds for next year

November 27, 2009 •

I purchased many flower seeds, most being perennials. Can I sow the seed now and try to get a bit of a head start for next year? Since nature drops its seeds as flowers finish blooming, can I expect a good result? Any tips on how to go about this? If it is too late to sow them now, can they be kept? They are not opened; should I put them in a plastic bag and refrigerate?

It is too late to sow your seeds now. If you purchase perennial seeds in the future but don’t plant them in the spring, then you could try and plant them in the early fall. Plant according to package directions in a lightly mulched bed. In the spring it is important to keep the bed evenly moist before the seeds sprout.

You will likely receive the best results if you plant the seeds in the spring by either starting indoors in February or March, or by planting directly in the bed in May. Store the seeds in an airtight container in your refrigerator. A small jar or a ziplock bag would work fine. If starting indoors to get a jump on nature, you need a good fluorescent light and seed trays. There are many seed-starting kits available that make it an easy and enjoyable task.

Plant Focus: Persian Parrotia

November 25, 2009 •

persian-parrotia www.waysidegardens.com
Persian Parrotia by Eric Grant

As the relaxing breezes of fall’s changing season waft across the land, autumnal tradition is at hand. With flower beds cleaned, and perennials cut back and mulched, the eyes of gardeners lift from the ground and look to the trees in anticipation of the colorful encore of fall. It is tradition. Neither written nor posted on our garden paths, it is the soulful refuge which caps our efforts of another growing season. This culmination of the gardening experience is one of the few for which we need do nothing. It comes to us each year without our prodding, regardless of how well we fertilized, kept up with the weeds, or carefully cultivated our palette of plants.

The predictably late emerging color of one particular tree always catches my attention. The masterful blends of everything autumn are held by the Persian parrotia (Parrotia persica).

persian-parrotia www.whiteflowerfarm.com/
Persian Parrotia Given the vibrant yellow, vivid orange, and nearly screaming scarlet tones of the leaves, I can’t help but wonder why this relatively unknown tree is scarcely planted. With a size and habit inadvertently tailored to suburban landscapes, its rarity is assuredly curious. Usually maturing in the realm of 25 to 30 feet, this is a tree which can truly proclaim being problem-free. It bears strong branching, a multitude of attributes throughout the year, and a grandeur from which insects and diseases run. Whether they know it or not, this is the tree sought by homeowners everywhere, yet found by few. Even in a year of muted tones, the colorful fall performance of Persian parrotia is outstanding.

The harmony of its hues caused me to reflect on its name. I have known this tree for years and have always thought it appropriate that it had the word “parrot” within its title. Research, however, revealed that “Parrot” was actually the name of a naturalist for whom the tree was named, not at all the colorful bird I had assumed. Also ironic is the species name “persica” which aptly refers to its persistence. And persistent it is. While its color is late, it reliably holds well beyond its peers.

When the season’s applause is dropped from its branches, I find myself no less disappointed. The smooth, young, silvery branches are held upright by a maturing trunk cloaked in the most appealing bark. The somewhat peeling, patchy tapestry of brown, green, silver-gray, and off-white offer the most delicate interest. Eye-catching in any season, winter heralds its greatest contrast, as it will again be persistent to not disappoint. Few people consider the winter elements of the things they plant, and even fewer plan for them. Once again, Persian parrotia inadvertently shines through!

So many outstanding attributes leave me nearly aghast to know that there is indeed more. Although some months off, and content with its current presentation, spring will reveal yet another visual delight. Following the small, curious blooms in March (often missed from a distance), the young, unfurling leaves are a purplish shade of burgundy I can’t otherwise describe. The contrast against its spring-green palette seems to enforce the reason that colors themselves exist. Often holding its tones well into spring, these leaves will eventually transform into a rich, deep green. In conjunction with deeply textured leaves, it provides an effect that is both cooling and calming.

Persian parrotia, it seems, knows exactly what we need in every season and then provides it. While native to the Middle East, this tapestry of a plant couldn’t be better suited to our gardens. I can no longer imagine my yard without it.

Eric Grant is from Telly’s Greenhouse in Troy, Michigan.

At a glance: Persian parrotia

Botanical name: Parrotia persica (puh-ROE-tee-uh PER-sik-uh)

Plant type: Deciduous tree

Plant size: 25-35 feet tall and wide

Growth rate: Medium to slow (8 to 14 inches per year)

Habit: Rounded to broad oval

Hardiness: Zone 4-8

Flower color: Scarlet

Flower size: Small (less than 1/2 inch), inconspicuous

Flower time: March

Leaf color: Spring: deep burgundy; Summer: deep green; Autumn: red, orange, and yellow

Leaf size: Length: 2-1/2 to 5 inches; Width: 1 to 2-1/2 inches

Bark: Mature branches and trunks display a mottled tapestry of brown, green, silver-gray, and off-white

Light: Full sun to light shade

Soil: Well-drained, slightly acidic

Uses: Ideal alternative for foundation plantings, or as a small specimen tree for the yard

Remarks: Few other trees can claim the bounty of beauty in four seasons; free of diseases and insects

Working with freshly ground wood chips

November 8, 2009 •

I was thrilled by a recent acquisition of shredded/chipped/mulched trees from a contractor removing storm-damaged neighborhood trees, but now I am second guessing its value. I know some of the trees were healthy; others, I have no idea. Does this material need to be treated? Is it (a treatment) something a homeowner can do? If not, what does one do with 5 or 6 yards?!

There are two negatives that come when you take free wood chips from trees that you are not familiar with, both of which are fairly easily remedied at no cost to you. The first problem is that if the tree had any soilborne disease such as verticillium wilt, which can be found in some maple trees, the wood chips from that tree can spread the disease to your soil as well. The other potential problem is that freshly chipped material, as well as material that includes a lot of leaves in it, takes a lot of nitrogen from your soil to aid in the breaking-down process that all organic mulches go through during a season.

To remedy these problems, treat your new mulch as a pile of compost for part of the year. If you can find an area in your yard to store the 5 yards throughout the winter and early spring, go ahead and place it there. The mulch will continue to break down while it is stored in a pile. This composting process produces quite a bit of heat within the pile. Not only does the process of composting reduce the need for the mulch to consume nitrogen from your soil, the heat from the pile kills off many of the organisms that can cause diseases within your newly mulched garden.

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At a glance: Persian parrotia