A few days ago, I was standing on the back porch and noticed a glint of orange in the golden sunset light. Could it be?
To those of you who are familiar with my garden, it will come as no surprise that it's a bit of an overgrown jungle. where things can get a little lost. Can you see the little bit of orange in the center of the picture?
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Let me back up a bit (not photographically but in the story.) About five years ago, Loree Danger Garden Bohl and I made arrangements to have lunch at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in February. At that first lunch, I had with me a bag containing a four-inch pot of a plant that I'd killed twice before in my garden. With this particular small tree, it's best to start with seedlings. This one got planted in a larger pot and grew quickly enough to go into the ground that year. Each year, the plant put on growth even though plants around it started to crowd around to reach for the sun. It's now a spindly twelve feet tall. This last winter was particularly bad and the, usually evergreen, tree lost a lot of foliage and I thought it might perish. These little orange tubular buds came as a thrilling surprise. Maybe a special gift from my little lost Chocolate girl? Maybe it was the magic of having lunch with Danger that made the plant thrive.
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To those of you who are familiar with my garden, it will come as no surprise that it's a bit of an overgrown jungle. where things can get a little lost. Can you see the little bit of orange in the center of the picture?
Getting a little closer.
Let me back up a bit (not photographically but in the story.) About five years ago, Loree Danger Garden Bohl and I made arrangements to have lunch at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in February. At that first lunch, I had with me a bag containing a four-inch pot of a plant that I'd killed twice before in my garden. With this particular small tree, it's best to start with seedlings. This one got planted in a larger pot and grew quickly enough to go into the ground that year. Each year, the plant put on growth even though plants around it started to crowd around to reach for the sun. It's now a spindly twelve feet tall. This last winter was particularly bad and the, usually evergreen, tree lost a lot of foliage and I thought it might perish. These little orange tubular buds came as a thrilling surprise. Maybe a special gift from my little lost Chocolate girl? Maybe it was the magic of having lunch with Danger that made the plant thrive.
Have you guessed what it is?
Perhaps a few pictures from last night with the buds starting to open will help. I had to dig up my seldom-used telephoto lens to get this close.
Have you guessed yet?
How about now?
The non-gardener wasn't impressed - just another flowering thing. If you guessed that it's an Embothrium coccineum or Chilean Fire Tree you'd be correct.
Here's Kelly's (Far Reaches Farm) description: One of the most dramatic plants for our area. This requires our cool and moderate climate where it can become a 20' + narrow deciduous tree that is usually multi-trunked. In late May and June, this is a tower of blazing red-orange tubular flowers and you will get little else done other than answering questions from the neighbors about just what is that tree and eventually there will be strangers knocking on your door inquiring and if you plant a grove then there is the inevitable issue of tour buses with which to contend. Best protected from freezing winds, ours is fully exposed to such but we wrapped the trunk the first few years when we dropped into the teens but now we just give it tough love and do nothing. These are very nice plants and will grow rapidly. Being in the Proteaceae, they don't enjoy phosphorous so be careful what you fertilize them with - it is the P in the NPK ratio to which they are allergic. Rather than think too hard on it, we just ladle some dairy manure around our plants in early spring.
I seldom name plants in my garden, but because I associate this plant with that first NWFGS with Loree, this tree now bears her name. (By the way, I know the Latin names of every plant in my garden - until someone asks. When that happens, I babble something like, you know it's in the family with that plant with the flowers...The group from that big land mass over by New Zealand or South of Mexico with some members in Africa.)
I don't think there will be knocking at the door or tour buses but I'm happy to have Loree blooming in my garden and hope she continues to be happy here for years to come.