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mikebotann

Need shrub ID

mikebotann
9 years ago

A friend brought this over the other day for trade. I've never seen it before.
What is it?
Mike

Comments (15)

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    9 years ago

    It's a silverberry, Elaeagnus pungens (thorny elaeagnus). There are a number of variegated cultivars - 'Aurea', 'Maculata', 'Variegata'. A useful shrub for a dryish shaded area. Fall flowers are fragrant but not very showy. Can get to be a pretty good sized shrub.

  • mikebotann
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks Pam!
    Here's where my son and his buddy placed it. Way too sunny and exposed. I can see Mt. Baker from here on a very clear day. It just now has some new snow.
    From a distance I first thought it was a variegated Camellia until I saw the blossom. I wonder why I haven't seen it before? I know I'm a bit of a hermit, but not THAT much.
    There's plenty of dry shade around here that needs a little light.

    He brought me 5 of these concrete pots, one of them larger than the rest with a Portuguese Laurel in it. That's coming out for firewood and mulch. The pots are worth more than the plants.
    This area is 'under construction'. What area isn't? ;-)
    Mike

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    9 years ago

    The pots are great! Look a tad heavy, tho.

    The elaeagnus will take sun as well....put it wherever you want :-) Some folks are not too fond of this shrub and you don't see it widely planted and not all that easily located in area nurseries, either. So not all that odd you are not familiar with it. To be honest, it can look a little rangey in much shade. But I like it.

    You can see Mt. Baker from Maple Valley? Really??

  • mikebotann
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Grant and Grant in their book, Trees and Shrubs for Northwest Gardens, says it can take full sun, but looks a bit garish to some. I can see that. It's an old book, but I liked it when I first got seriously interested in plants. It was first printed the year I was born. Sorta dates me. ;-)

    I'm directly south of Issaquah on the edge of a high bluff. I can look over the King county dump and through the gap between Squak and Tiger Mountain all the way to Mt Baker. For a long time I thought it was Glacier Peak, but then Googled my way all the way to it until it was labeled, by using the tilt feature available on the satellite view.
    Mike

  • sam_wa
    9 years ago

    Looks like Elaeagnus x ebbingei 'Gilt Edge'.. It's a good one!

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    9 years ago

    who is pam .... ????

    lol ...

    i am writing this day down ... the day mike asked for an ID ... a little part of me shattered.. that one of my gurus.. let me down .. lol ...

    anyway ... with big wonkin' pots like that.. which i would personally never be able to move .. [of course.. you probably have a bobcat or something... or a son who will move them for you ... lol ...]

    i would go pot in pot ... that way.. i always have the option of moving the plant.. rather than dead weight cement ...

    and if that is news to you ... i will put another check mark on this day ... perhaps an idea for others ...

    ken

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    9 years ago

    Mike, I somehow got the impression you were further south - just south of Issaquah would certainly explain your views. And being up on a bluff must help as well :-))

    And yes, 'Gilt Edge' is very likely and an even more common cultivar than the ones I mentioned. Forgot about that one..........:-)

    Ken, the irritation you know as "gal" or maybe "gg" is Pam.....me.

    This post was edited by gardengal48 on Tue, Oct 14, 14 at 14:19

  • Embothrium
    9 years ago

    Evergreen Elaeagnus were one of many kinds of broad-leaved evergreens that were burned by the 1990 winter, which surprised me as I thought these were hardier. So, out where you are, in a pot there could be trouble sometime (as I remember it, damage to the collection of these in the Seattle arboretum was substantial).

    Meanwhile, I guess a Pacific winter is expected this time.

  • mikebotann
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for the warning, Ron. It's going in the ground in a protected spot. I think the plant came from somewhere in Seattle at a demolition construction site.
    GG, yes, I'm directly south of Issaquah but not 'just' south. I'm as far south as the southern end of Sea-Tac airport and over 200 blocks east of it.

    Ken, you're always fun. I purposely posted this in the NW Forum so you wouldn't see it and make fun of me. lol.....What are you doing here in the first place? ((g)) You're a long way from Adrian, Mi. ....Escaping your impending Zone 5 winter? Hope you have a raincoat.
    Knowing your fear of trees close to the house, I went out and took this picture,.... just for you. ;-)
    Mike

  • Embothrium
    9 years ago

    Don't turn your back to them!

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    9 years ago

    I purposely posted this in the NW Forum so you wouldn't see it and make fun of me. lol.....

    ==>>> oh carp.. you made me spray coffee all over the screen ...

    raincoat???? .. winter ???? ... thats a nonsequetor for MI ... it would crack after a few minutes outside in january ... lol ...

    as to too close to the house ... yours dont bother me ... as you would have no disinclination... to bull doze.. chainsaw.. or bobcat and chain them out.. if they were any detriment to the house ... its the newb.. who gets a pine tree from earthday .. or some such.. and plants it 6 inches from the house.. because its a baby .. that is the problem.. and you know that ... lol ...

    i sorta abandoned the garden this summer... some real avoidance issues ... the only thing that keeps me going.. is arguing with pam ... lol ... and the only reason i mention it.. is because no one knows me in this forum.. lol ...

    gotta get out there.. and start winding up my hoses... because even flexogens.. will crack below zero ... or so i presume.. its an expensive question i really dont want to experience the answer ...

    i had something else.. oh.. i spotted the post ... in on the right margin of any forum.. most recent posts ... thats how i zoomed in here ...

    what about the pot in pot idea????

    have a great day ... pam too ... lol ....

    ken

  • mikebotann
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Re: Pot in a pot. I have a lot of pots left over from my landscaping days. I put the smaller pots with plants in them in an empty larger pot in the summer. It keeps the smaller pot a lot cooler.
    In the winter if i haven't repotted some plants I usually just fill in around them with woodchips and then either plant them during the winter or put them in larger pots. We can do that here in all but the coldest days.
    I took that picture looking north. Our prevailing winds come from the SW and our strongest winds where I'm located come from the SE. All those large Pseudotsugas are to the north of my house. The winds from that direction are usually just a gentle breeze coming up the bluff rather than straight at it. I did have a Calocedrus decurrans (Incense Cedar) cut down behind the house that was leaning toward the light and house. A crack was developing on the backside of the rootball this summer and I knew it wouldn't last the winter with our wet snows and occasional ice storms.
    Despite what the picture looks like, I can see out just fine. That's all that matters to me. I'm not trying to advertise my mfg house that came on wheels from Oregon in 1978. Nothing special there. It keeps my taxes low on 10 acres.
    Here's a picture of the leaning Incense Cedar and how steep it is behind my house. When cutting it up it smelled just like the smell when you sharpen a pencil. Same wood! :-)
    The tree behind it went also. It's a bi-generic sterile cross, like a mule, also known as a Leyland Cypress. It was a gold form called 'Castlewellan'.
    I know I got a little off topic, but this forum has been slow lately.
    Thanks Ken for putting a little life in to it. ;-)
    Mike

  • Embothrium
    9 years ago

    Current inclination to return Nootka cypress to Cupressus makes Leylands no longer hybrids. And they do sometimes produce cones.

  • mikebotann
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    For a Nootka cypress to produce cones would be like a mule having a colt. If, sometimes they do have cones, that makes a good argument for them being a Cupressus.
    My old mind has a hard time keeping up with the changes. Good to know them though and the reason for the changes. Thanks, Ron.
    I'm still in the Biota world, but beyond Pyramids. ;-)
    Here's a picture of that Incense Cedar leaning towards the house. I cut what firewood I could get from the twisted branches but it was real difficult feeding what was left in to the chipper. The chipper ate them just fine, but the curl of the branches made it hard to keep out of the way from being tripped and drawn in to the chipper and ending up in the truck looking like Pringles.

  • Embothrium
    9 years ago

    Maybe it was trying to flip you off for cutting it down.