Lyonothamnus floribundus 'Aspleniifolius'
This is rarely seen even in its native California but considering its provenance, it seems remarkably tolerant of cold weather and I’ve seen finer specimens growing in Britain than the rather desiccated specimens in Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in their native habitat. I first discovered this extraordinary little tree in Ventnor Botanic Garden in the Isle of Wight around 1985. I thought I’d discovered a giant marijuana plant – it has a distinct similarity. Ventnor’s mild and as the tree comes from Southern California, I assumed it wouldn’t like chilly old Sussex. Always up for a spot of experimentation, I bought a plant from Hillier’s Nursery in Winchester and – even as a small plant, it survived -15°c in the harsh winter of ’86/’87.
When the old leaves drop, they tend to get stuck in the rest of the foliage. Look at a leaf and you’ll see why. They’re perfectly designed to do just that. This is the main reason for suggesting that a windy site can be good – it blows all the old dead stuff out of the way. Not right by the seaside but somewhere quite well ventilated. Go further and cut out all the dead stuff and pull off the peeling bark to reveal the beautiful colours beneath and you begin to understand Creative Maintenance. A truly delicious plant can be revealed merely by removing all the dead stuff. Even giving it a trim with a pair of shears can thicken it up and improve its looks.The flowers are white and frothy and don’t appear on the tree until it’s 10 years old or so. Like many Californian plants, it’s fast growing, doesn’t like having very wet feet and isn’t particularly long lived – probably about 35 years. It’s not particularly good on thin soil over chalk. It goes a bit yellow but if this happens you can cheer it up with a dose of Sequestrene – available from garden centres. Sequestrene is a powder you mix in a watering can and use the solution to drench the roots. It gives the plant the essential mineral elements that the plant can’t get because of the presence of the chalk. This is the reason why some plants can’t manage on chalk – it’s not because the chalk is toxic in any way.
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