Mugo pine

Tree # 103 Mugo pine

On Halloween last year I began construction of a 10x12 foot Japanese garden surrounded by a moat. The moat has is 15 inches deep with twin waterfalls on each side. We just finished construction and planting this past weekend (June 12, 2016). One requirement in a Japanese garden is a pine, but since this is a small space we needed a small pine.  Mugo pine (Pinus mugo, strain Big Tuna) was our choice. This one came from Dabney Nursery on Hacks Cross Rd.

Japanese garden with dry creek, lantern, gravel pond, maple and pine.

The dry creek is formed from beach pebbles and lined with mondo grass. The lantern is bracketed with three false cypress. Other ground covers are creeping jenny (light green) and ajuga (front right below the pine). The rock next to the gravel pond has moss on it. When we brought this home the moss was stiff and black. It looked dead. But see below.

Note the moss on the rock is now green and soft.

Once the garden was watered the moss on the rock magically transformed into lush soft green moss. We timed this and it takes less than one minute for the moss to revive. 

This is my second mugo pine. The first one was added to our yard at Satinwood Dr. back in 1995. Unfortunately, we planted it near a chipmunk burrow. The chipmunk was a connoisseur of mugo pine roots and he killed the tree rather quickly. We have no chipmunks now. Hoping for a better outcome. 

The PVC pipe is connected to a 1600 gallon per hour pump to power the waterfalls. The moat is now empty since I am trying to fix a leak. The water rapidly leaks out and since the tile is porcelain, it must be leaking out through the grout. I have sealed the grout three times with a solvent based sealer and this did not work. I am switching to a water based stone sealer to try to stop the mysterious leak. No obvious cracks or holes are visible so I must assume the grout is acting like a porous material and the water is just filtering through it. 

The next step in this process is to make a wooden planter of rough cypress boards to cover the PVC pipe and the pump. Yellow irises will be placed in the planter. I wanted yellow flag, but I was not able to get that in town. Louisiana irises will have to do until I might find a source of yellow flag. The University of Washington pharmacy gardens in Seattle has yellow flag in their pond and it is fantastic (Entrance to the UW Pharmacy garden). I am trying to reproduce that look. In King Co. Washington yellow flag iris is listed as a class C noxious weed. What a pity. I guess Washingtonians are more interested in another kind of weed.

Candle bush (Senna alata or Acacia alata)

Tree # 102 Candle bush

In July my wife Susan and I moved to midtown to Tutwiler Ave. a few blocks west of Snowden School. Late in the year we went on a walk to Jackson Ave. and turned East toward Rhodes College. This led us past a surprising find, not seen before or since in Memphis. The plant is a candle bush. The native home for this legume is Mexico.

Large pinnate leaves wet after a rain, also called a candelabra bush for reasons you can see.

 The genus Senna is very close to my daughter's name Sienna, a happy coincidence.

A little closer view Dec. 8, 2015

Spikes of yellow flowers (racemes), surprising in early December.

The flowers seem to be opening still with many more blooms to come. Odd since this looks like a tropical plant, but it is in Memphis, just northwest of Jackson and Barksdale.

Some views of the foliage

 This is a medicinal plant also called ringworm bush because it has anti-fungal properties and has been used to treat ringworm. Another member of this genus Senna quinquangulata was an early source of the compound resveratrol. This is now well known as a component of red wine that got an early reputation as an anti-ageing drug, but sadly this has no credible support. For a short while it was a great excuse for drinking red wine.

Reaching up to the light. Note these are not leaves on the stem, but seedpods.

I went back to find the plant again in June 2016 but I could not find it. I am wondering if it died or was replaced.