Nyssa sylvatica cvs. 'Sherry's Coud', 'Wildfire' and 'Zydeco Twist' I think;

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I couldn't find a label on the contorted one. Many years ago when I first came in possession of the Timber Press reprint of Gerd Krussmann's Manual of Cultivated Broad-Leafed Trees and Shrubs, I recall being amazed to discover the variety of selections that existed for...well, almost all tree species. There are variegated, fern-leafed, fastigiate, dwarf...cultivars of most trees. They're just really uncommon; you do see them individually here and there and in catalogs and on plant lists. Usually not so many in one place though!

These curious selections of the native North American Black Gum, along with many others, are in a research nursery at the Arboretum. Nathan has been urging me to walk through these plant for weeks and we finally did it today. Of course our interest is only in Asian trees but I couldn't help but marvel at the variety. It was like being in a boutique nursery only we could get the material for free so long as we plant it on campus. I have to wonder why I haven't been through it before. Actually, I know the answer. It's because for a time I was obsessed with how overplanted with trees the collection is. Well.....thanks to a few timely removals we do have room for new trees!

We picked out Staphylea holocarpa 'Innocence', a nice Maackia, some Osmanthus (shrubs really), a Sophora/Styphnolobium, two cultivars of Acer caudatum, and a few others. We're debating Aesculus turbinata, the Japanese Horsechestnut. Very exciting stuff.

Leptodermis oblonga, butterflies like this northern Chinese sub-shrub and I like it too

The flowers are smallish but they're attractive, fragrant, and once they start mid-summer, they keep on coming. Plus the plant has a structural integrity that adds a bit of calm and order amidst the frenzied summer garden. It's a tight little shrub with parallel ascending stems. Clumped together, multiple plants combine to function a a 2-3 foot tall groundcover. I only know it from this one site so I can't speak to it's tolerance of different situations, but it seems quite content here, completely unpampered in a hot sunny location. I'm going to propagate it and put in a few massed groupings that will help bring order to the

We finally had a good rain this past weekend; plants seem happy for the first time in at least two months. Irrigation is a good thing but it has its limits. We got over 5 inches of rain at home while the Arboretum received ~1.75". I would love to have reversed the amounts but couldn't figure out how to do it. Still we should be good for a while. Summer is coming to a close though it will take four or five weeks to get there. It has certainly been a trying season though mild in comparison to what much of the rest of the country has endured. Now I read that areas of Australia are experiencing unprecedentedly high temperature. Next year will be exciting.