Obstacles and Perseverance

Great works are performed not by strength,
but by perseverance.
~Samuel Johnson

I recently looked at some photos of some impressive trees in downtown Boston that I had taken last winter.  I hadn't taken the photos because the trees were impressive in size or in beauty.  They were, however, notable in their tenacity to keep growing despite their harsh environment.

Being next to a busy street and sidewalk was not the ideal situation for the trees.  Litter piled around the roots, something or someone had broken half of its branches, and the trees were stuck in a tiny strip between the sidewalk and a chain link fence.  The fence was obviously an impediment for the trees, as they struggled to stretch towards the sunlight.

But the trees, in their monumental effort to grow towards the sun, actually grew through the fence, enveloping the metal links in their very wood.

Honestly, looking at how all of the branches had been broken off on this side of the fence, the tree was probably safer growing into the other side of the fence.  The other side of the fence promised more sun and safety. This is one case where the grass was actually greener on the other side of the fence, and the tree knew it.

To overcome their obstacle and achieve their goal, the trees must have had to start out slowly.

Each day they needed to reach for the sunlight, growing just a little bit closer, melding and inching slowly into the fence, 

persevering over the days and weeks and even years...

...until finally making it to the other side.

Looks almost like Nature is demonstrating some sort of lesson, doesn't it?

Four Seasons of Sassafras

I've written before about the fascinating history of the North American native Sassafras Tree, how it became a medicinal fad for Europeans who thought it a cure for STD's, and how it's used as a flavoring for homemade root beer, tea, and gumbo.  But beyond its cool history, I love my Sassafras albidum just because they are some of the prettiest trees in my yard, all year-round.

In Spring they are one of the first plants to flower, making it a food source for early pollinators.

Spring

Their Summer leaves serve as food for the caterpillars of several different moths and butterflies, including the Spicebush Swallowtail and Tiger Swallowtail.  

Summer

Sassafras has several really awesome nicknames.  A couple nicknames are based on its uses as a flavoring, such as 'the Tea Tree' and 'Cinnamonwood'.  My favorite nickname for Sassafras, however, is 'the Mitten Tree'.  Sassafras has three differently shaped leaves, one of which is shaped like a mitten, which makes the tree easy to identify!

Sassafras leaves

Like Hollies, Sassafras are dioecious, which means they have separate male and female trees.  The female trees produce berries in late summer, which the birds enjoy.

Late Summer

It's hard to pick which season Sassafras Trees look most beautiful in, but it might be Fall.

The colors are simply gorgeous.

Fall

But I think the time I appreciate the Sassafras Trees in my yard the most is during Winter.  There's not a whole lot going on in my yard in Winter, but the bare branches of the Sassafras in my back yard have an amazing structural beauty.

Winter

The branches twist and curve, crookedly drawn lines that form a beautiful silhouette.

Winter

Sassafras trees do not transplant very well due to its taproot, but you can get smaller-sized saplings from native nurseries and online.   They do sucker into a grove, but can be grown as a single tree if the suckers are removed for the first few years.  They often grow in open woods, but they are also a pioneer species, one of the first to grow after a fire or in abandoned fields.

Some more stats on Sassafras

Native Range: Eastern North America

Planting Zones: 4 - 9

Height: 30 - 60 ft. (10 - 20 m.)

Spread: 25 - 40 ft. (7 - 12 m.)

Sun: Full sun - Part shade

Soil: prefers moist, acidic, loamy soil

Tolerates: poor, dry, sandy, or clay soil

I love my 'Mitten Trees' in all their forms.  I must admit, however, that as beautiful as the bare branches are now, I am looking forward to seeing the Sassafras Tree branches heralding in Spring with their yellow flowers.

Aren't they pretty?

The Battle Over the Pine Trees

When it comes to our family, I am the head gardener.  Since Mr. Red House is not much of an outdoor person and is actually allergic to a fair number of plants/trees/grasses, etc., I pretty much have free rein in the yard.  While Mr. Red House always appreciates the gardening I do, he doesn't usually have many opinions about the yard...

except when it comes to TREES.

a pine tree seedling in our backyard

Mr. Red House has never met a tree he didn't like.  If we ended up planting all the trees he wanted, I would have nothing but a shady woodland garden, and all of the trees would soon end up crowding out the house!  The only critique Mr. Red House has ever made of my garden is to point out where another tree might fit.  

He also doesn't like to cut down any trees - he's even dubious about me pruning.

But this Christmas I wanted to cut some pine boughs to make a fresh wreath for the door.  And with all the many pine seedlings we had in our yard, I was determined to cut some of them for their lush, densely-packed branches.

Mr. Red House was not happy.

young pine trees in our yard

We have lots of small pines in our woods, but Mr. Red House wanted all of them, no matter how tiny.  I wanted my wreath.  The battle was on!

more young pine trees in our yard

He wiled, he pleaded.  At one point he even connived the kids into standing in front of the targeted seedlings, using them as living barricades against my pruner and hampering my efforts..

...but I emerged victorious!  The pine branches made a beautiful wreath, don't you think?

Sorry, Mr. Red House, I think I'm going to have to cut fresh pine branches every Christmas!

*Mr. Red House regrets to inform you that several young pine trees were hurt in the making of this blog.*

All the Dirt on Sassafras

In 1603 the first Europeans sailed up the Piscataqua River, exploring what is now the border between New Hampshire and Maine.  This was a commercial venture, as they were specifically searching for something they knew they could sell for a lot of money...

Sassafras trees.

Sassafras leaves turning color for fall

Back when, Sassafras root extract was considered to have great medicinal value as a cure for fevers, rheumatism, and STD's such as gonorrhea and syphilis (you don't often think of people back in the 1600's having these problems, do you?).  Several Native American tribes used Sassafras medicinally, and when colonial Americans brought this knowledge back to Europe, it became quite the medicinal fad.  For a short time Sassafras was the second largest export from colonial America, behind tobacco.

I have several of these native Sassafras trees in my backyard.  Anyone want to pay some big bucks for them?

Sassafras has been found to have some analgesic and antiseptic properties.  Some people still drink sassafras tea for such things as gastrointestinal problems and for use as a diuretic, and some also use it topically to sooth skin irritation.  However, the research from the 1960's found that very large amounts of safrole, which sassafras oil is largely made up of, caused cancer and permanent liver damage in laboratory rats.   So don't ever be a laboratory rat.  (Oh, and you might want to drink that tea in moderate amounts..)

The Sassafras tree is also interesting in that it has three different shaped leaves on the same tree!
(photo source - Augusta, GA government website)

High doses of safrole are also hallucinogenic, which is probably why it is used in the making of the drug MDMA, more widely known as 'Ecstasy' and 'molly' (thank you, Miley Cyrus, for bringing that to my attention).  Thus the transportation of safrole is closely monitored internationally.

The Sassafras trees in my yard are just for ornamental use, really!

Sassafras root used to also be the main flavoring for root beer before its ban by the FDA.  Root beer affectionados still make it themselves from natural Sassafras extract that has all dreaded safrole removed.  Or they make it from scratch from Sassafras roots.  (You can find a recipe here.) Sassafras is also used in Creole cooking.  Filé powder, which is made up from the dried, ground up Sassafras leaves and doesn't contain very much safrole, is used as a thickening seasoning for gumbo.  

Makes you want to go out and smell some Sassafras, doesn't it?

While I admire the Sassafras for its rich history, its varied uses, and its fragrant leaves and wood, I have to admit that as a gardener I really love these native trees for a totally different reason.

They're just really pretty trees.

the interestingly contorted branches of a Sassafras tree

Designing a Northeastern Garden

When we finally moved into our new house in Massachusetts three months ago, it didn't seem much like a home at all.  One of the problems was that the yard was completely bare in the front.  No foundation plantings, no grass, nothing.  On the positive side, I got to design my garden from scratch!

Ack, my house is naked!!  Quick, throw a few shrubs over its foundation!

Step 1:  Trees, Shrubs, and Hardscaping

The first step in designing a garden is to put in what is called the 'bones' of the garden - the main structures that really anchor all the other smaller plantings.  That usually means trees, shrubs, and hardscaping.  

In addition to trees and shrubs, I have two light posts and a few boulders in my garden.  One great thing about the Northeast - boulders are plentiful!  (Farmers would probably disagree about this being a great thing.)

I designed this garden with the winter season in mind.  It's easy to make a garden look good in the summer up here in the Northeast when everything is blooming, not so easy to make a winter garden look good - and all I hear from people up here is how long the winter is going to be!  So I focused on plantings that would look good all year long, such as... 

Evergreens:

On one side of our yard we put a Blue spruce.  The silvery blue of the needles match our house perfectly, and the birds love it!

A Vanderwolf's Pyramid Limber Pine and a Blue Atlas Cedar are planted on the other side of my house.  I love how these two evergreens have totally different looks.

...and Foundation Plants with Winter Interest:

Deciduous trees and shrubs going in my yard needed to have either interesting bark or winter berries that would look good in winter!

Winterberry Hollies were planted on either side of my porch, and a River Birch tree with its fabulous light-colored, peeling bark was planted at the corner.

I also planted some Variegated Red Twig Dogwood shrubs.  In summer they have variegated, gray-green colored leaves that look quite pretty with our house color.  The leaves then turn a fabulous pink in autumn before dropping off to reveal bright red stems for winter!

Step 2:  Deciding on Color and Gardening Style

After putting in the main landscaping, it was time to take advantage of the end-of-the-season sales and get some smaller shrubs and perennials for the garden.  But what color scheme should I go with?  My previous Red House perfectly set the stage for a cheerful front garden filled with lots of yellow blooms accented by oranges, reds, whites, and purples.  

But my new house is a subdued grayish green with a hint of blue (yeah, I have no idea what color to describe it as).   However, it really lends itself to a.... pastel-colored English-cottage theme!

We're going pink and pastel here, very different for my garden!

For this theme I had to have roses, of course, though being the lazy gardener that I am, they had to be very hardy and non-fussy.   I found several 'The Fairy' Roses on sale, which are impressively still blooming despite our recent cold snap!  I also picked up several 'Magnus' Purple Coneflowers, several different shades of Salvia (I'm a sucker for salvia), Gaura, and some Great Blue Lobelia, among others.

The Great Blue Lobelia is perfect for a wet spot in the yard.

Step 3:  Plant what you love!

I know I had a pastel theme decided on, but I just couldn't resist putting some cheerful, bright yellow flowers somewhere in the garden.  Next to the garage side door I planted a little clump of Willow Leaf Sunflowers, which are fabulously supposed to get around 6 to 8 feet tall.  I can't wait.

I have big dreams for you, baby clump!

Step 4:  The fun has only just begun!

I still have a lot to fill in.  Bulb planting has started, and I'm already thinking about what plants to start from seed for next year.  Ah, such planning!  Hopefully it will carry me through the long, cold winter that everyone keeps warning me about!

But I must say, with the new beds and the landscaping 'bones' of the garden put in, my new house looks much more like a home!

The Variegated Weeping Redbud

Several weeks ago I posted about the new stone bench we got for my shade garden, and how I was searching for a plant for behind the seat to give the area some height.

The requirements were rather daunting - the plant had to be skinny enough to fit behind the bench, and it had to tolerate a fair amount of shade and some not-so great-draining clay soil.  Oh, and something with flowers would be preferred..

I spent awhile trying to find a plant that would work.  After blogging about this difficult corner some gardeners gave me some great suggestions to think about; however, soon afterwards we unexpectedly happened upon a plant that amazingly fit all the requirements for the site.

Meet our new variegated weeping Redbud tree - Cercis canadensis ‘Whitewater’:

Cercis canadensis 'Whitewater' behind garden bench

We found this unusual Redbud cultivar while perusing our local nursery, which was having a great sale on trees and shrubs.  Mr. Red House (who can never resist a tree) fell in love with it, and it happened to be perfect for this corner.  The 'Whitewater' Redbud tree grows to around 7 feet tall and only 3 feet wide, and, according to the nursery, can tolerate quite a bit of shade. 

variegated leaves of the 'Whitewater' Redbud tree

A recent cultivar of our native deciduous Redbud tree, the 'Whitewater' Redbud sends out white-splashed leaves that become greener as the summer progresses.  A bonus - like the common Eastern Redbud, this tree will sport magenta-rose colored flowers in early spring.  (I can't wait!)

Redbuds are known to tolerate clay soils quite well, though not necessarily heavy waterlogged ones.  The amount of compost I've incorporated into my shade bed should hopefully be sufficient - thankfully this site doesn't get truly sodden like some other parts of the garden!

I was pleasantly surprised to find out this this cultivar was locally developed right here at North Carolina State University by Dr. Dennis Werner.  I'm hoping that means that it will do exceptionally well in this area!

Of course now I need some medium height plants to bridge the height gap between the tree and the rest of the garden...and I'm going to have to move those hostas that don't really match well...

Is there any such thing as a completed garden?

On Comforting a Yoshino Cherry Tree

What is the matter, little Yoshino Cherry tree?  Why so sad?  Your blooms are so pretty.

Oh, you are sad because you have so few flowers..

You want to be full of blooms like the big trees?

 

Do not worry.  One day, you too will bear branches full of blooms in the springtime.

You are still so young.  Was it only last year we called you our 'twig'? 

When we bought you, you were such a slender sapling, on sale for a pittance at the home and garden center, leaves riddled with a disease.

You have grown so much bigger and stronger already.

Give it a few more years.  Before you know it, you will be the spring star of the Red House Garden.

And other, younger trees will be looking up to you.