I read a lot. It is a nasty habit and it gets me into trouble all the time. For instance, yesterday, I was reading a press release from Spring Meadows Nursery of Grand Haven, Michigan. Some gardeners may know of Spring Meadows. Even more are familiar with their trademarked line of flowering shrubs, Proven Winners™, components of which are sold just about everywhere, from small garden centers to big box mega-merchandisers. The Spring Meadows/Proven Winners release included a link to an interview with Patrick Pineau, Head of Research and Development for Minier Nurseries, a French company based in Anjou, the home of a delicious pear variety.
I read the interview and found out that Minier has been around since 1856, but, according to Pineau, came into its own after World War II. The company got a lot of attention in 2003, when they introduced the pink-flowered ‘Josee,’ the first reblooming lilac or Syringa variety. They have since launched a number of other eye-catching shrubs and small trees, many of which are marketed in the United States under the Proven Winners banner. Among them are three varieties of Ceanothus, also known as California lilac. After I finished with the Pineau interview, I clicked on a handy link and read about the Minier/Proven Winners ceanothus. This is where I ran into trouble, or at least temptation. All are hardy in my zone. Come spring, I may feel compelled to go out and buy them.
The roots of this desire for beautiful, blue-flowered ceanothus are grounded, once again, in reading, specifically reading about them in The 3,000 Mile Garden,
a wonderful 1992 book by Roger Phillips and Leslie Land. Roger Phillips is a renowned plantsman and horticultural photographer with a boatload of books to his credit, many of which Phillips co-authored with even more renowned plantsman, Martyn Rix. Leslie Land is a well-respected garden writer and former home and garden editor of Yankee magazine. The 3,000 Mile Garden consists of letters between Phillips and Land on a variety of subjects, most of which concern horticulture. In the course of the letters, Phillips repeatedly extols the virtues of California lilac and the extensive collection of them that he has installed in Eccleston Square Garden, near his London apartment building.
I would have gone out and bought at least a few California lilacs when I first read the book, except for one thing – they were not hardy in my USDA zone 6b garden. They would not be hardy now in my newly rezoned USDA zone 7a garden. Thanks to Miniver, however, all that is changed and I know about it courtesy of the Spring Meadows press release, the Pineau interview and the attached slide show.
There are many, many species and varieties of California lilac. It grows wild out west in either shrub or tree form. Most, but not all, are evergreen, with characteristically leathery leaves. The brilliant blue flowers grow in dense, lilac-like clusters in late spring and early summer. In Gold Rush Country, north of San Francisco, you can see the blue flowerheads of wild ceanothus painting impressionistic swathes across the landscape.
In this part of the world only one ceanothus species is native, Ceanothus americanus, otherwise known as New Jersey tea. It grows three to four feet tall and just slightly wider; with spring flower clusters that are white and fragrant, though not nearly as showy as those of its western relatives. New growth is an eye-catching yellow. The dark green leaves are aromatic and were brewed into tea by Native Americans and early settlers looking for a black tea substitute. New Jersey tea has no caffeine, but during the American Revolution any hot drink was better than none and black tea was not available for obvious reasons.
The plant breeders at Minier made complicated plant crosses involving hybrids of New Jersey tea and other ceanothus and emerged with several compact, floriferous plants, including the blue-flowered ‘Marie Bleu’. ‘Marie’ is deciduous and grows up to three feet high and wide. The blue flowerheads appear in late spring and are eventually succeeded by showy red seedheads. Best of all, it is hardy down to Zone 6, which puts it well within the survival range for my area.
Admittedly, ‘Marie Bleu’s’ flowerheads are not as showy as those of its western cousins. Still, for gardeners who have been panting after ceanothus for years, it is a great victory.
‘Marie Bleu’ should be available in the spring at larger nurseries and garden centers, but you can also get it directly from Proven Winners at http://www.provenwinners.com/plants/ceanothus/marie-bleu-new-jersey-tea-ceanothus-x-pallidus
For me, ceanothus fact gathering will ultimately result in expenditure, which is what I get for reading press releases – and everything else relating to horticulture. Someday I may even read something that doesn’t end up costing me money.