In winter, any sign of life or growth is comforting, however understated. It is the season of the evergreen and of those that flower or berry even more so.
Few are as subtle as the silk tassel bush which bears an abundance of pale silvery green catkins, usually from December onwards into January and February. The shrubs are dioecious, that is bearing male and female flowers on different plants. The lesser seen female, at least in UK gardens, is known by its clusters of dark berries in summer. As a student, the only Garrya of interest was the cultivar ‘James Roof’ whose catkins can reach 15″/30cm in length. Its other common name, feverbush refers to its use as a quinine replacement and general febrifuge.
Although is is native to the coastal mountains of California and southern Oregon, it has thrived in British gardens, being relatively hardy (can stand a frost of -10), pest and disease free, and of little interest to deer and rabbits. It has the typically litoral leaf, glossy and hard, which makes it well-suited to coastal or exposed sites.
If desired as a shrub, it is best planted in a sunny or partially shady position where it can grow untroubled by secateurs or hedge cutters to its natural extent of 13’/4m tall by the same wide. It can be a useful hedge, and being evergreen provides a reasonable windbreak and sound dampener all year round. Obviously, the necessity of keeping it as a hedge will limit its ability to flower. As we are not the only species to enjoy a garden, it is worth noting that its dense habit makes it an attractive nesting proposition for birds. If the open season for pruning begins after flowering, it must end with the nesting of birds.
It is often planted as a wall-shrub and pruned into a straight-edged block or left to form an unattractive blob. These can be renovated over a couple of seasons by pruning a percentage of stems to ground level. It is a pity it is treated with so little ambition as it lends itself to being trained as an espalier or fan. And, although I have never seen it so used, if it can be an espalier or fan then it could be trained to form an evergreen tunnel into which the silvery tassels would hang. Or perhaps trained like the hornbeams which line the allees at Versailles – tall hedges no more than 1’/30cm wide. In gardens we are limited by the nature of things, our resources, and our imaginations. The first we must accept as there is no point arguing with the world. The second we can work to increase as opportunities permit. But let our imaginations be free.
thephilosophergardener 