Thursday, September 24, 2009

Euonymus carnosus.. there's Euonymus and damned Euonymus

There are so many horticulturally useful Euonymous, it's too bad they have collectively so many drawbacks. Euonymous carnosus is a small tree; we have a grove of them at the first "U" bend in the China Valley path. Their graceful branches overhang the trail; in the fall, that is now, these lovely little fruits punctuate that large space.

Larry brought these back from China and I planted about 20 of them. We have winnowed the numbers down somewhat over the years and may go a bit farther. I have to admit though, that it is a pleasantly graceful tree that could function well in a smaller garden. Stefan selected a variegated seedling and we're growing that on to see what comes of it. Our sexually active planting produces a lot of seed, but we seem to manage to remove the seedlings every year. At least Euonymous Scale doesn't seem to be an issue on it, though ours are all growing in shade, and it doesn't spread by rhizomes!

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