On 2009-05-15 13:05:58 +0100, beccabunga
said:


'Steve Turner[_2_ Wrote:
;844321']

I bought a whitebeam a couple of months ago from a supermarket. The
main
reason I went for a whitebeam over the other choice they had (cherry)
was
for the berries in the Autumn that the birds will eat. I'm not much of
a
gardener and have only just realised something.

The whitebeam was grafted onto rowan root stock (if that's the right
was to
say it) and tonight was when I realised, as I have two sets of leaves
growing. One main stem has whitebeam leaves but several from below the
graft
have rowan leaves. These were all there when I bought it but nothing
occurred to me. As it happens rowans also produce berries that are
loved by
birds.


--
Steve

Get rid of it and look for a whitebeam on its own roots. I cannot think
why anyone would want to graft them. They are natives. None of the
whitebeams in Magdalen College gardens in Oxford are like that, and
they are terrific trees.

Put in a more interesting rowan if you want to feed the birds - Joseph
Rock has yellow berries that are taken in January/February.

I wonder if it's definitely a whitebeam or something more 'exotic'
that's got into a whitebeam batch by mistake, hence the graft. It can
happen.
--
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials
South Devon