Gracefully sweeping limbs of mountain hemlock , Tsuga mertensiana . ( Photo by Janine Anderson )
10 years , it will reach about four feet tall and five feet wide . At this point , you can lightly shear it to keep it more compact .
Ornamental grasses are among the most evocative of plants , and Carex testacea is among the most evocative of ornamental grasses . Evocative of what ? The image that comes to my mind is of wading barefoot through a bed of seagrass . It has a mounding , arching form with finely textured foliage . The common name is orange sedge , and it ’ s easy to see why : The leaves have highlights of golden brown , copper and olive green . Growing up to two feet tall , it works well edging a walkway or massed under trees and shrubs , provided the planting site is not too shady .
Truth be told , I ’ ve never met a variety of Pittosporum tenuifolium ( kohuhu ) that I haven ’ t been nuts about — and the New Zealand Entry Garden has lots of these black-stemmed
You could learn almost everything you need to know about color , form and texture by studying this grouping in the Arboretum ’ s New Zealand Entry Garden . From left to right : Phormium , Veronica ochracea ‘ James Stirling ’, Veronica topiaria and Corokia cotoneaster . ( Photo by Janine Anderson )
Finely textured Carex testacea . ( Photo courtesy Megan Hansen / Wikimedia Commons )
Culture clash ? The variegated Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘ Marjorie Channon ’ ( on left ) from New Zealand with
Hydrangea aspera ssp . sargentiana from China . ( Photo by Janine Anderson )
beauties . I love the small , semi-gloss evergreen foliage , which looks good year-round . Also , these shrubs take shearing , so if crowding becomes an issue , give them a buzz cut . Varieties I grow include ‘ Tasman Ruffles ’, ‘ Marjorie Channon ’, ‘ Golfball ’ and the diminutive ‘ Tom Thumb ’, which has shiny , purple-black foliage . Although somewhat more tender than other varieties , in its six years in my garden ‘ Tom Thumb ’ might be the easiest-care plant I have grown . I just added ‘ Wrinkled Blue ’ and am hopeful it will prove to be as well behaved as its cousins . Kohuhu performs best in full sun to light shade with moist , welldrained soils . m
Janine Anderson , CPH , is an award-winning Pacific Northwest-based landscape designer ( www . northbeachlandscapes . com ), garden writer , speaker , and member of the “ Bulletin ” Editorial Board .
Summer 2021 v 15