October 14th, 2021Glen, About the house
Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs
It may be no fairy story, but it could mean a few garden dreams can come true. There are so many times, especially at this time of bountiful blooms, that you may wish you could find space for yet another flowering tree such as the spectacular snow white flowering cherry, pictured here. Or, perhaps one of the many acacias, rhododendrons, camellias or even a free- flowering magnolia. But you can’t really find the space for yet another large tree.
But thanks to the skills and dedication of dedicated botanists and plant breeders it’s now possible to obtain miniature (or dwarf) versions of almost every popular garden plant known – either discovered or created.
There are also other miniature, mainly fruiting trees available through the technique of grafting the scion (growing wood) of normal fruiting trees onto miniature, size-restricting root stocks.
The Seven Dwarfs
Among the countless varieties of scaled-down trees and shrubs available for your garden, are these seven of my favourites to get you started.
Rhododendrons: These spectacular trees in full bloom right now may be too large for your garden. However, there are quite a few dwarf hybrid rhododendrons available with all the attributes of their larger relatives, only in miniature – usually 1 to 2 metres in height. Like the R. lemon mist pictured here courtesy of Shan Lin.
Magnolias: Who can resist the double charm of those two outstanding magnolias, the evergreen M.grandiflora with its dinner plate-sized fragrant white blooms and glossy green foliage, and the gorgeous vase-like flowers of magnolia soulangeana?
Pity they would probably take up most of the garden. The good news is that there is a mirror image “mini me” for the grandiflora called “little gem” growing to about 3 metres high. The other forms are replicated by various hybrids including M. yunnanensis and M.stellata.
Camellias: There are two major forms of these magnificent plants, japonica, the tree-proportioned, large-leafed group with huge rose-like blooms and the dainty much smaller proportioned and infinitely more versatile sasanquas. Within the sasanqua tribe the ultimate growth size can vary from 1- 5 metres.
Lagerstroemia indica: Crepe myrtle is a group of deciduous shrubs originally from China, with attractively distorted branches and stems with smooth white bark and light green oval foliage that colours in autumn. They are covered throughout summer with masses of crepe paper-like flowers in various colours from white through mauve to soft red. A miniature form, no less appealing is the lagerstroemia nana, growing to around 1 metre high and available in all colours.
Our native flora hasn’t missed out either.
Acacia cognata: Naturally a small narrow-leafed weeping tree with tiny yellow floral balls. These days a.cognata comes in a variety of hybrids in all sizes from metre-sized balls of green and in colours from lime green to gold and bronze.
Agonis Flexuosa: Willow myrtle/ peppermint tree is a handsome tree with graceful willow-like foliage on long slender stems, bronze-coloured new leaves and covered in late spring with small white flowers. A. flexuosa nana, is a delightful metre high miniature replica.
Eucalyptus leucoxylon: A delightful slender medium-sized tree with pendulous trails of white, pink, or red flowers. A hybrid form euky dwarf is now available, still a small tree, growing to just 5 metres.
