花壇の植栽３- 低木 / Flowerbed planting 3
既に植わっている桜と梅の邪魔にならない低木を植えるにあたり、候補にあがったのは次の植物でした。
ハマナスは、初夏にピンクの花が咲き、秋には赤い実がなって食用にもなるとのことで、いいなと思ったのですが、庭師さんに相談してみたところ、かなり痛い棘があるため、手の届きにくい場所に植えた方がいいとのことでした。花壇の真ん中に植えようと思っていたので、残念ながらハマナスはやめました。
クチナシは、これも初夏に大変いい香りの白い花が咲くとのことでいいと思いました。が、虫がつきやすいらしく、週末しかお手入れできない私たちにはちょっと難しいため諦めました。
ニワウメは、５月にピンクの花が咲いた後、赤い実がなり、さらに秋には紅葉するようで、長期間楽しめ、かつ、丈夫で育てやすそうなため、植え付けることにしました。
紫陽花は、私の好きな花で、６月の梅雨の中ひっそりと咲く姿に魅了されているのですが、残念ながらうちの庭は南西に開けており、日中ずっと直射日光が当たるため、日陰が好きな紫陽花には環境が厳しそうなので諦めました。
沈丁花は、常緑で、２－３月に香りのいい花を咲かせ、育てやすそうだったので植えてみることにしました。
ハナミズキは、春にピンクの花が咲き、秋には紅葉し、矮性の品種では樹形もコンパクトにまとまるようだったため、植えてみることにしました。
ヤマブキは、山吹色の語源になった黄金色の花を春に咲かせ、ピンク系の花が多い中、異なった色の花が咲くのがいいなと思ったのと、万葉集の時代にもよく詠まれていることから、植えてみることにしました。
以上、植えることにしたのは、ニワウメ、沈丁花、ハナミズキ、ヤマブキです。
The following plants were candidates for our flowerbed, which would not interfere with the cherry blossoms and Japanese apricots that had already been planted.
- Rosa rugosa (Hamanasu)
- Gardenia
- Prunus japonica (Japanese bush cherry)
- Hydrangea
- Daphne odra
- Cornus florida (Hanamizuki)
- Kerria Japonica (Yamabuki)
For Rosa rugosa, pink flowers bloom in early summer and red fruits become edible in autumn, so I thought we can have flower not in spring but in summer and enjoy the fruits in autumn. However, when I consulted with the gardener, he said there were quite painful thorns and it is better to plant it in a place that is hard to reach.
As such, I decided not having this shrub in our garden as I wanted to plant it in the middle of the flowerbed.
Gardenia has white flowers with a very nice scent, which will bloom in early summer. However, this plant will easily be liked by pest insects, that is a bit difficult for us to take care as we can only spend our time in garden on weekends.
Japanese bush cherry has red fruits after the pink flowers bloom in May, and the leaves turn red in autumn. We can enjoy this plant for long time. Also, it is strong and easy to grow. We decided to plant this.
Hydrangea is my favorite flower, and I am fascinated by its quiet blooming in the rainy season in June, but unfortunately our garden is open to the southwest and is exposed to direct sunlight throughout the day. I gave up because the environment seems to be harsh for hydrangea, which likes shade.
Daphne odra is evergreen, and it blooms fragrant flowers in February-March. It also easy to grow. We decided to plant this.
For Cornus florida, pink flowers bloom in spring, colored leaves in autumn, and the dwarf varieties have a compact tree shape, so we decided to plant this.
Kerria Japonica has golden flowers in spring, which was the origin of the color called “Yamabuki”. I thought it would be good to have flowers of different colors while there are many pink flowers in our garden. Also, this plant is often appeared in the poems created in ancient time, that means ancient people also loved this. We decided to plant this.
As above, we decided to employ Japanese bush cherry, Daphne odra, Cornus florida and Kerria Japonica.
