Winter Fragrence: Luculia gratissima
The following thread was started by Axel on December 26, 2007 at 7:14 pm PST
Grown by san marcos growers
The above followup was added by Joe on December 26, 2007 at 8:17 pm PST.
are grown at SFBG and distributed in their plant sales. Excellent deals on them, too, and they usually have a lot of them in the May sale. I have gotten L. gratissima, intermedia, and pinceana from them. I have not tried to propagate them myself, but if there is any hope cuttings will strike, I could try cuttings in spring and offer them to you when they root.
I like all of them. They have been flowering in turn since late October. One L. intermedia plant has been blooming for a week or so and another larger one is about to start.
Jason
The above followup was added by JasonT on December 26, 2007 at 8:55 pm PST.
Chamaecytisus proliferans, the Tree Lucerne from the Canary Islands.
Carefully pruned, it becomes a lovely, weeping tree with a broad, though fairly low, canopy (still allows people to walk under), and in the winter, the tree is covered by white flowers that smell like Lemon Joy detergent.
It's also a legume so it nitrifies the soil. If you have horses or cattle (those of you in rural areas), the animals love the foliage (which is nutritious --- it's a close relative of Alfalfa).
When we had the nursery, we regularly pruned the tree and shared the prunings with neighboring horses. The wood, when dry, burns well in fireplaces. And it grows fast --- sometimes 4 feet per year once established.
In New Zealand some people have used it to help establish landscaping (or even re-establish native forest), because it grows fast to provide nurse shade, and also, once chopped down (after the nursed landscape is established and ready to take the sun), it does not coppice. It does seed a lot, but the germination rate is low enough that I've never had to struggle to stay ahead of seedlings. A half hour once or twice a year takes care of it, at most.
The above followup was added by Dave in Vallejo on December 27, 2007 at 5:45 am PST.
Just be aware that this will need your most protected spot in the garden, as all of the various Luculia species are pretty cold tender. I lost all 3 in the 1990 freeze at only 25F, and they start to get leaf damage usually right at 29/30F if more than an hour or two. I love the shrubs, and mine are in full bloom right now. They can also get to be quite large shrubs, over 10 feet tall by across. The one down side to this genus, at least here in Berkeley, is that they are very prone to getting thrips, which tends to mar the appearance of the foliage. The fragrance is very nice, but doesn't tend to carry any distance, (to my nose at least), in our typical winter temps.
The above followup was added by bahia on December 27, 2007 at 8:30 am PST.
I've heard conflicting comments about Luculia hardiness. Some sources have stated hardiness down to 15-20 deg. F. I found that a bit hard to believe, but it's not completely unreasonable, at least in the case of L. intermedia, which is from around 7000' in western Yunnan.
Did you lose L. intermedia as well as the others at 25 F? I didn't see any damage on any of the plants from last Jan., but I didn't get below 28 F even in the fully exposed areas. Not sure what would happen below that.
Oh, and I think it's safe to say that thrips are a problem throughout the bay area, since I had serious thrip damage on L. intermedia this year in Menlo Park.
Jason
The above followup was added by JasonT on December 27, 2007 at 4:57 pm PST.