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Thursday, September 05, 2013

My Favourite Pansy

Thursday, September 05, 2013   Mark and Gaz   18 comments
My favourite pansy isn't actually a pansy (Viola tricolor subsp. hortensis) but rather the tree Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy'.

The dark and rich purple foliage of this plant is beautiful isn't it?

And the one we have is looking so good now, squeezed in between and growing through two bamboos - Fargesia angustissima to the left and Borinda macclureana to the right. And speaking of bamboos, these two that we planted out three years ago have gained considerable size since then and are now covering the fences behind them nicely. Technically these two bamboos are the clumping types (pachymorph rhizomes) and will not send out rhizomes well away from the original clump or pop up where you don't want them to be. However, as is the case of the B. macclureana, the 'necks' of the 'clumping' rhizomes of some of these bamboos are rather long and a small clump can potentially become a large one through the passage the time. In such cases, shoots will not appear well away from the main plant but the plant itself can potentially expand on to a footprint spanning several feet, even metres.

F. angustissima however is one of the nice and true clumpers. It has almost quadrupled in size and height since it was planted, with it now standing over 10 feet tall and yet the footprint of the base is just slightly over a foot. Amazing isn't it? So if space is a premium and you want a tall, clumping bamboo that has a small footprint then this is one to consider. Now back to the forest pansy, this tree always seems to be quite late in the spring to leaf out but once it kicks into growth the leaves turn a purple tone especially if it's in full sun. The leaves get bigger too and its heart shape just adds to its beauty. A lovely tree than can be accommodated even in relatively small gardens.

I think this border is looking great at the moment it's almost a shame that most of it will be covered up eventually once the quarantine shed has been built. Oh well, all three will just have to get taller and tower over the shed so we can still continue to admire them.

Mark :-) Blogs we Read
 

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