In article , "Vox Humana"
wrote:
"paghat" wrote in message
link to a pictu
http://groups.msn.com/laurelridgegar...oto&PhotoID=17
Nice photo. And here's mine:
http://www.paghat.com/quince.html
Chaenomeles japonica cultivars are not especially thorny (on some
varieties the thorns are so blunt they barely qualify as thorns, & on
others the thorns are entirely missing). Chaenomeles speciosa is much
thornier, though it too has some thornless cultivars. I suspect yours is a
hybrid of both those species (marketed as C. superba), as the hybrids seem
to be the ones with double-flowers & no thorns & stay short in stature.
I find quinces beautiful year-round, but I usually prefer a wild-woods
look over something formal. I don't like them when they are often-pruned
in an attempt to make them look tidy & more compact, as they become
instead like tight but messy little birdnests made of stumpy twigs, but
allowed to spread out into a loose tangle of thickening limbs they're
lovely.
-paghat the ratgirl
I went outside and checked mine. Not even a hint of a thorn. It has
remained rather short, unlike the pictures that I have seen in web searches.
It has no fragrance and I haven't seen any obvious fruit.
I made the mistake of pruning it when I moved it. The plant was growing a
few feet from a red maple and the roots were commingled. Removing it was a
big job and it suffered in the process - with significant die-back. My
attempts to prune it left it looking worse that if I had done nothing. Oh
well, live and learn. I have grown to appreciate plants for their natural
form and am a lot less likely to prune solely for aesthetic reasons.
I have often gone to your website for information. I really appreciate it.
Do you have any "long shots" of your garden? All I recall seeing are
wonderful close-ups and always which that I could get an idea of what your
garden looks like. It must be wonderful.
There are long shots scattered through the website, here are a few:
snow-covered cedar in back yard:
http://www.paghat.com/libani.html
Alaska cedar at other end of back yard:
http://www.paghat.com/alaskacedar.html
Same back yard path from opposite direction, between Alaska Cedar &
abutilon, third photo down:
http://www.paghat.com/abutilon.html
View from deck into back yard:
http://www.paghat.com/vinemaple.html
Second photo down, paperbark maple in front yard, autumn colors:
http://www.paghat.com/autumntrees3.html
Photo last on page, Japanese maple viewed from sidewalk, autumn colors:
http://www.paghat.com/autumntrees1.html
That same chokecherry viewed in winter covered with snow, viewed from
inside the tree-enclosed front yard:
http://www.paghat.com/snowyday.html
Another view of that Japanese maple from sidewalk, together with an
enormous chokecherry in full bloom:
http://www.paghat.com/chokecherry.html
Third photo down, another Japanese maple, side of house, autumn:
http://www.paghat.com/autumntrees1a.html
Path with 'Hino Crimson' & muscaris in full bloom, 'Lee's Best Purple'
rhody around the corner captured at corner of photo:
http://www.paghat.com/images/hinopath_ap.jpg
Same path from opposite direction & around the corner by the 'Lee's Best':
http://www.paghat.com/images/pathpicnicarea_may.jpg
Another view of the picnic area (lawn) by path by 'Lee's Best' seen from
sidewalk, somewhat "framed" by the two Japanese maples red left, purple
right:
http://www.paghat.com/images/picnicspot.jpg
Path through shade corridor, lots of blooms:
pathshadecorridor_may.jpg
A scruffy path at corner of back yard, passing deciduous azalea not in bloom:
http://www.paghat.com/images/path_august.jpg
Lion's head maple near back door, second-to-last photo:
http://www.paghat.com/autumntrees2.html
-paghat the ratgirl
--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl:
http://www.paghat.com