THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 14, 1995 TAG: 9505120088
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G3 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GARDENING
SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Maybe you can help me decide about purchasing some shade trees for my home in Texas. I am considering a hybrid tree with the botanical name Salix Matsudana x Alba. My part of Texas has average daily highs in the upper 90s from mid-June to early October. Summers are usually dry. Is this some sort of willow tree?
Charles L. Floyd Sr., Annona, Texas
The tree you name is a white willow. If others in your area are growing it, it will live for you. It grows from Wisconsin south, so it should grow in Texas. Donald Wyman in his book ``Trees for American Gardens'' (MacMillan - out of print) says: ``Willows flourish in moist situations and that is where they are best used. Because of their affinity for water, however, their roots can readily seek out openings in drains or sewers and quickly clog them very easily. Salix matsudana is probably not distributed much in America.''
I enjoy making walking sticks from interesting saplings I find in the woods. My favorites are small trees that have been encircled by honeysuckle vines for several years, giving them a spiral shape. My question is that on every tree I've ever found the honeysuckle grows up in a clockwise direction. Why is this?
Curtis J. Badger, Onancock
It's a genetic quality of the plant. Some plants circle clockwise - and always will. Others circle counterclockwise. Some that climb counterclockwise are the kiwi, Japanese honeysuckle, Hall's honeysuckle and Japanese wisteria. Some that grow clockwise are akebia, bittersweet and Chinese wisteria.
Please tell me the scientific name of the shrub ``red-tip'' that so many have planted in Chesapeake. I've never sighted flowers, but the enclosed fruit grew on a plant at a mall.
Robert Brown, Chesapeake
The plant name is photinia. It's in the rose family. An older variety is photinia glabra, and it has flat clusters of flowers in July, followed by the small red fruit you enclosed. All photinia is supposed to bloom, but some does not do a very good job of it. Many who grow photinia keep it pruned tight which prevents blooming. Often the heat or variety are a factor in its not blooming.
The newer varieties with very red leaves have a severe problem with leaf spot, which often defoliates them. Frequent spraying with a fungicide is required, so many people have quit planting it. by CNB