In the experience of members of urg, which is the Alder with the longest
catkins? We want to plant a small number but I do most particularly want
the nice, long, catkin type.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)

Sacha wrote:
In the experience of members of urg, which is the Alder with the longest
catkins? We want to plant a small number but I do most particularly want
the nice, long, catkin type.

Garrya elliptica. 8in long.

On 2/3/06 22:59, in article
,
" wrote:


Sacha wrote:
In the experience of members of urg, which is the Alder with the longest
catkins? We want to plant a small number but I do most particularly want
the nice, long, catkin type.

Garrya elliptica. 8in long.

Are you trying to tell me that Garrya 'James Root' (Garryaceae) is an
Alnus? (Betulaceae)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)

Sacha wrote:
On 2/3/06 22:59, in article
,
" wrote:


Sacha wrote:
In the experience of members of urg, which is the Alder with the
longest catkins? We want to plant a small number but I do most
particularly want the nice, long, catkin type.

Garrya elliptica. 8in long.

Are you trying to tell me that Garrya 'James Root' (Garryaceae) is an
Alnus? (Betulaceae)

It's got long catkins which is what you wanted, what difference does it
make?

In message , Janet Baraclough
writes
The message
from Sacha contains these words:

In the experience of members of urg, which is the Alder with the longest
catkins? We want to plant a small number but I do most particularly want
the nice, long, catkin type.

My favourite is red alder, alnus rubra. The male catkins are about 5"
long when fully extended and very prolific. Just before reaching full
stretch they are very rosy red, the whole tree glows and is a wonderful
sight in late winter. The cones are a good size too. I used to pick
twigs of both for the house.

Plant them bare -root and cheap at 2 or 3 ft and juvenile trees will
grow at least that much again per year, making a good sized flowering
trees very fast. At the last garden I had two little copses of 7 or so
and loved them. The ones with yellowy/green catkins are less attractive
imo.

Garrya elliptica isn't an Alder.

But it is a 'nice, long catkin type', so surely it would suit?
--
June Hughes

"Phil L" wrote in message
. uk...
Sacha wrote:
On 2/3/06 22:59, in article
,
" wrote:


Sacha wrote:
In the experience of members of urg, which is the Alder with the
longest catkins? We want to plant a small number but I do most
particularly want the nice, long, catkin type.

Garrya elliptica. 8in long.

Are you trying to tell me that Garrya 'James Root' (Garryaceae) is an
Alnus? (Betulaceae)

It's got long catkins which is what you wanted, what difference does it
make?

..
That's like saying a red peony is near enough a red rose, and what
difference does it make.

"June Hughes" wrote in message
...
In message , Janet Baraclough
writes
The message
from Sacha contains these words:

In the experience of members of urg, which is the Alder with the longest
catkins? We want to plant a small number but I do most particularly
want
the nice, long, catkin type.

My favourite is red alder, alnus rubra. The male catkins are about 5"
long when fully extended and very prolific. Just before reaching full
stretch they are very rosy red, the whole tree glows and is a wonderful
sight in late winter. The cones are a good size too. I used to pick
twigs of both for the house.

Plant them bare -root and cheap at 2 or 3 ft and juvenile trees will
grow at least that much again per year, making a good sized flowering
trees very fast. At the last garden I had two little copses of 7 or so
and loved them. The ones with yellowy/green catkins are less attractive
imo.

Garrya elliptica isn't an Alder.

But it is a 'nice, long catkin type', so surely it would suit?
--
June Hughes

Granted it has catkins but that's where the similarity finishes. Garrya
elliptica and Alder are totally different in habit , colour, growth rate and
cultural requirements.

In article ,
"Phil L" writes:
|
| Are you trying to tell me that Garrya 'James Root' (Garryaceae) is an
| Alnus? (Betulaceae)
|
| It's got long catkins which is what you wanted, what difference does it
| make?

Quite a lot - to a gardener. I won't bother to explain, as Janet
Baraclough already has.

Responding with the name of a willow would be FAR more plausible,
as alders and willows have a lot of similarities in horticultural
terms.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Phil L wrote:
It's got long catkins which is what you wanted, what difference does it
make?

There's the Corylus avellana 'Contorta' (corkscrew tree). My friend
moved to a house last year in the spring and has this huge tree in her
back garden. I had never seen such long catkins on it before, 15cm at
least. I suspect it very much depends on the situation of the tree,
sun, shade, soil etc. I always wanted one of those. So beautiful atm,
all bear with twisted branches. If only I had a bigger garden ...

Rupert wrote:
That's like saying a red peony is near enough a red rose, and what
difference does it make.

The smell and size are different )

Sacha wrote:
Doesn't know her alnus from her elbow, IMO.

LOL!! Very good.

On 2/3/06 23:53, in article , "Janet
Baraclough" wrote:

The message
from Sacha contains these words:

In the experience of members of urg, which is the Alder with the longest
catkins? We want to plant a small number but I do most particularly want
the nice, long, catkin type.

My favourite is red alder, alnus rubra. The male catkins are about 5"
long when fully extended and very prolific. Just before reaching full
stretch they are very rosy red, the whole tree glows and is a wonderful
sight in late winter. The cones are a good size too. I used to pick
twigs of both for the house.

Plant them bare -root and cheap at 2 or 3 ft and juvenile trees will
grow at least that much again per year, making a good sized flowering
trees very fast. At the last garden I had two little copses of 7 or so
and loved them. The ones with yellowy/green catkins are less attractive
imo.

Thanks, Janet. This is precisely the sort of helpful information I'd hoped
for! Having cleared a largeish area at the bottom of our garden, where it
borders a lane, we want to plant part of it with a little group of alders. I
particularly want to find the long tasseled type of catkins and the colour
you describe sounds wonderful. There is another I've read about called
A. incana 'Ramulis coccineis', which also sounds very attractive but I don't
think I've ever seen it. Is it one you know? I'll start looking around for
the one you mention and for that one, too.

Garrya elliptica isn't an Alder.

No! ;-)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)

In message , Janet Baraclough
writes
The message
from June Hughes contains these words:

In message , Janet Baraclough
writes
The message
from Sacha contains these words:

In the experience of members of urg, which is the Alder with the longest
catkins? We want to plant a small number but I do most particularly want
the nice, long, catkin type.

My favourite is red alder, alnus rubra. The male catkins are about 5"
long when fully extended and very prolific. Just before reaching full
stretch they are very rosy red, the whole tree glows and is a wonderful
sight in late winter. The cones are a good size too. I used to pick
twigs of both for the house.

Plant them bare -root and cheap at 2 or 3 ft and juvenile trees will
grow at least that much again per year, making a good sized flowering
trees very fast. At the last garden I had two little copses of 7 or so
and loved them. The ones with yellowy/green catkins are less attractive
imo.

Garrya elliptica isn't an Alder.

But it is a 'nice, long catkin type', so surely it would suit?

Not for the same purpose or location as one would plant alders.
Garrya doesn't like the damp or exposed, open areas where alders thrive.
It is more of a shrub than a tree, doesn't have a particularly
attractive structure or outline, and its foliage is evergreen and dull..
A bit of a blob, so it doesn't really look good as a freestanding
specimen in a landscape, or as a group of its own kind.. Garrya isn't as
hardy as alder.

It's not a shrub you would plant a number of, as Sacha intends with the
alders, though one garrya looks good against a wall ( almost essential
in cold northern areas) or towards the back of a shrubbery. Finally,
Sacha is keen on wildlife and birds; alder is a good food source
(insects and seeds) for birds, which is probably one of the reasons they
want it. Garrya is not.

I see. So we are back with your alnus rubra. I must say, from your
description, it sounds lovely.
--
June Hughes

In article . com,
writes:
| Phil L wrote:
|
| It's got long catkins which is what you wanted, what difference does it
| make?
|
| There's the Corylus avellana 'Contorta' (corkscrew tree). My friend
| moved to a house last year in the spring and has this huge tree in her
| back garden. I had never seen such long catkins on it before, 15cm at
| least. I suspect it very much depends on the situation of the tree,
| sun, shade, soil etc. I always wanted one of those. So beautiful atm,
| all bear with twisted branches. If only I had a bigger garden ...

Hazels do not like waterlogging, exposed situations etc., and
will die in many locations where alders will thrive. That
doesn't mean that they are delicate, but they aren't in the
same league as birches, alders and sallows, which were the first
trees to invade Britain as the glaciers receded and still are
pretty well the only ones for really hostile UK conditions.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 3/3/06 10:17, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote:


In article . com,
writes:
| Phil L wrote:
|
| It's got long catkins which is what you wanted, what difference does it
| make?
|
| There's the Corylus avellana 'Contorta' (corkscrew tree). My friend
| moved to a house last year in the spring and has this huge tree in her
| back garden. I had never seen such long catkins on it before, 15cm at
| least. I suspect it very much depends on the situation of the tree,
| sun, shade, soil etc. I always wanted one of those. So beautiful atm,
| all bear with twisted branches. If only I had a bigger garden ...

Hazels do not like waterlogging, exposed situations etc., and
will die in many locations where alders will thrive. That
doesn't mean that they are delicate, but they aren't in the
same league as birches, alders and sallows, which were the first
trees to invade Britain as the glaciers receded and still are
pretty well the only ones for really hostile UK conditions.

We have hazels here and there in hedges round the nursery and a couple on
the edges of the garden. We have ash, we have oak, beech, copper beech,
cedars, pines (one is the rather unusual Pinus montezuma) we have yew. I'm
looking out of my window at a Cordyline or two and a treefern! But we do
not have alders.
I think Garrya eliptica James Root is a fantastic plant - for a couple of
months - then I think it's one of the most boring things ever created so to
suggest it instead of an alder is mind-boggling, given the entirely
different sorts of plant that they are! I suspect that Puce saw the word
'catkins', Googled on that and came up with Garrya, frankly. Nobody could
otherwise confuse the wish to plant alders with the suggestion that one
plants Garrya. That's like me asking for opinions on daffodils and someone
suggesting I plant Cassea corymbosa instead because they're all yellow!
The Corylus avellana is indeed, a lovely things but it is not something I
would plant in a group. And as Kay has pointed out, while it looks
marvellous when bare of leaves, the rest of the year it has rather dreary
looking limp green leaves. And while still on the subject of
"Garrya-which-is-not-alnus", I would agree with Janet that planting it
against a wall probably shows it to best advantage. I've tried planting one
in a lawn and it just looked very, very boring.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)