Hello Everyone,
On Monday I will be speaking about American landscapes, focusing on turfgrass and the lawn. To begin thinking about our landscapes I am focusing this week on landscape plants. So, imagine that in the future you have a home or some land. Describe a plant that you would like to have in your landscape, and why. This is very open - it can be a tree, shrub, herb, foodplant, etc. And the reasons can vary as well: aesthetics, medicinal, or maybe you have memories of certain plants.
I would like to have a Japanese Maple. I find these beautiful. Their architecture is graceful, often many trunks emerge from the base, creating a hemisphere of shade. There are many varieties, but often the leaves turn dramatic red and burgundy in the fall.
I look forward to seeing your responses, and don't forget to pick a plant for the Ethnobotanical Garden project (if you haven't already).
-Sam
If I was doing landscaping I would like to have lavender plants. I think they are really pretty, with their silvery-green leaves and slender flowering stems, and when they bloom the purple is beautiful, especially if you have multiple plants. Apart from that, I'm actually just kind of obsessed with lavender, I love the smell, and I like to use it in cooking (lavender praline ice cream may be my favorite dessert to make in the summer). There are multiple varieties of lavender, I really like the leaves on French lavender, which look like little green feathers, and English lavender is good to cook with. Since I'm generally indecisive, I would probably just get a mix of varieties and have a lavender garden :)
ReplyDeleteMy ideal house would have a mango tree outside, although I would have to live somewhere tropical for that to be possible. When I was little, in Colombia, we had a mango tree in our backyard, which I still remember fondly. The mango tree was great not only because it regularly produced large, delicious fruit, but because its branches were perfect for climbing. The trunk wasn't so high that we couldn't clamber up, and once in the branches, it was the perfect place to be. The mango tree provided shade below and within its branches, so it was the perfect place to escape the heat of the day. I used to take books up in the mango tree to read, or just find a comfortable place to sit and lazily pass an afternoon. The mango tree served as a refuge from the hyperactive dogs in our neighborhood, who we would wait out until someone took them away. It was also the site where We buried some of our unconventional pets when they died, for whom we held little ceremonies. The principal reason for having a mango tree would be to remember that mango tree, and to create new memories with a new one.
ReplyDeleteI love tropical plants, primarily for aesthetic reasons. Since middle school I have been growing my own banana trees and occasionally palm trees/bushes in my house. I move them outside in the summer, but have always had to pull them back in when the Midwestern temperatures plunge. I want to be able to live in an environment where I can have tropical plants naturally growing year-round in my yard. My first addition would be the Hala tree (Pandanus tectorius). It is incredibly unique in shape (check out a photo- http://fineartamerica.com/featured/lauhala-tree-mary-deal.html) It is native to the Pacific islands and has a very rich cultural significance in Hawaii, where it has been historically used to weave nearly everything. The dioecious tree produces edible fruit, but I've never tried it. The flowers are said to smell good, though, so that would be a nice addition to the back yard.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is a crazy awesome looking tree
DeleteI would like to have a Mimosa tree(Albizia julibrissin) planted outside of my house. It is a member of the legume family, Fabaceae. It has a lovely shape, and would provide some nice shade once well established. The powder puff looking flowers are quite fragrant, especially at night, and are pollinated by bees, humming birds, moths, and butterflies. It isn't really recommended as an ornamental, because it is considered invasive; however, breeders are working on a variety that doesn't set seeds. I've always loved this tree though, so ripping up seedlings might not be a dissuade me from planting one in my yard.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to have a couple of rosemary plants in my yard. Many people don't prefer them because they're difficult to control, but that's only because they're fast and tolerant growers. Rosemary is my favorite herb and I like to use it in cooking and in cocktails. I also love the little purple flowers that grow. The fragrance of rosemary is strong and welcoming and it attracts many pollinators. There's a house on milledge that has 2 rosemary plants the have grown enormous in size at the entrance. I love walking past it because of all of the butterflies and the awesome smell.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be neat to have golden chain trees (Laburnum × watereri) in a yard . They are quite elegant looking. It is a deciduous flowering tree in the legume family. They are grown for only one reason really, the gold racemes they produce in May or June that give them their name. Unfortunately, the flowers are relatively short-lived. In moderately cool weather, blooms may last 2-3 weeks. In warm weather, the blooms last less than that, and even if they don't drop off, their bright gold color will fade to yellow. So this specimen holds little visual interest during the rest of the year, but I think the beauty that they finally reveal is well worth the wait. It probably wouldn't do too well in Georgia though. The blooms are uniquely charming, appearing to drip among the leaves. The interweb says it is poisonous too, so their value is primarily aesthetic. They look really nice set among other contrasting colorful shrubs and such.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know this tree, so I looked it up. The racemes are beautiful and unique. This picture looks like a painting or a dr.suess picture - http://www.client-expressions.com/sphereCards/card_selections/spring/lg_images/goldenChainTree.jpg
DeleteI would like to have a Boxwood,(Buxus sinica I think this is the variety I'm thinking of) in my yard. I like the way they look but also there is a more personal story behind why. My Grandparents planted a boxwood in his yard, using heirloom seeds from the Mount Vernon gardens. When my parents built their house my dad took a clipping of the plant and we now have one in our yard. I would like to have one in my yard as well. I always found the plant interesting because it grows so slowly. My grandparents are very large but they have been growing for over 30 years. One of the reasons it was planted at both my grandparent's house and my parent's house are in a very wooded area and it is often hard to find ornamental plants that grow in that environment, with limited sun. The Boxwood is one that thrived in the environment. The boxwood doesn't really have any other uses than aesthetic and is used mostly as a hedge plant.
ReplyDeleteI'd like an old American sycamore. Not one that I'd plant, because by the time it grew to the size and shape I'd like, I'd be dead. I like the way the boughs of old sycamores have grown up and then swept out and down from trunks that lean and twist with age, with successively higher branches separated like levels of a canopy in the summer. I like living near woods with plenty of creeks and ravines, and a sycamore would be well-suited to wet, acidic soil on the fringes of a forest. It's the kind of tree you can get to know by climbing.
ReplyDeleteI would love to have a magnolia tree growing in my yard. I had one in my yard at the house I grew up in, and I have many good memories based around it. I think its a beautiful tree, I like that it is easy to climb, and they grow to be pretty large. I would want the tree for aesthetic and nostalgic reasons. Magnolia trees grow great around here, so as long as I stay in the southeast, I shouldn't have any problems.
ReplyDeleteI would love to have a yard with a ginkgo tree in it. I love the way they branch and how the leaves look, especially right now in spring when the leaves are still small and you can see the branches through them. In the fall the turn a beautiful golden color and are one if the prettiest and most vibrant trees. The fruit can be be used medicinally, and in the summer they create a nice shade.
ReplyDeleteI think I would like to have a cherry tree. When I was a kid, we had a cherry tree in the front yard that was the epicenter of many adventures. This tree was so easy to climb and lounge in, but small enough that they weren't too dangerous to fall out of. I love the bright pink flowers in the Spring, but my family's old tree never fruited - I'm not sure if this was a fertilization problem or a climatic problem.
ReplyDeleteI would like to have mulberry trees (Morus). We had them growing in the yard of the house I grew up in. When we moved my mom always said she how much she wanted one again. A year ago when she started converting the yard into a "food forest" I surprised her by getting her two Mulberry trees to get her started. They are a lot bigger today and she now has tons of different fruit trees but those are still my favorite because of the great memories they bring. I also think they are beautiful and produce very tasty fruit. The red ones are native to eastern North America.
ReplyDeleteI have always thought that weeping willows were unique. I think it would make the perfect tree to have next to a little fishpond or some kind of water feature. I could have a little bench or a place I could put a hammock and the shade of the tree would offer the perfect place to rest or read. I like how willows look with their drooping limbs and leaves. Willows have always offered me a calm feeling.
ReplyDeleteI have always been in love with Daphne odora also called Winter Daphne because they flower in the winter. They are evergreen shrubs that have the most fragrant blooms I've ever smelt. They are also slow growing small shrubs that appreciate a woodland setting with dappled shade. They are native to China and Japan. I also have this appreciation for things that take awhile to develop so the fact that they are slow growing and tucked away in the woodland setting has this illusive draw about it. There are variegated ones as well which are quite handsome. They are best propagated by cuttings in the summer.
ReplyDeleteI would want a magnolia tree. I love trees for their shade and beauty. At my childhood home we had a magnolia tree km our front yard. I used to climb on it or read under it, so there is also a nostalgic reason. The magnolia flower is also one of my favorite flowers becauseof its fragrance.
ReplyDeleteLol! I didn't read the other comments before I wrote mine...oh well, I suppose we can both have magnolia trees in our make-believe yards :-)
DeleteIn my hypothetical future yard, I would like to have a magnolia tree. I think magnolia flowers are stunningly beautiful and smell fantastic as well! I would love to sit under my tree in the spring reading a book and relaxing. Also, my mom has a magnolia tree in her yard so it would remind me of her.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to grow common bamboo, Bambusa vulgaris. It produces tasty bamboo shoots, makes great fences (which make great neighbors), and possesses a fantastic strength-to-weight ratio, making it handy for whatever temporary architectural jerryrigging needs to be done around a farm. (My dream yard is a horse farm for horses, edible plants, and ornamental flowers, just sayin) Common bamboo is a part of Poaceae and has the characteristic rhizomatic root systems, and as such, it's super hardy and is one of the fastest-growing plants in the world. That's nuts. BAMBOO, Y'ALL
ReplyDelete