Nope, it's much worse than that.
It's another conifer!
Ta-dah!
I say that in jest of course. It's just that the box reminded me of a rose I bought almost a year ago now. How time flies!A bit box bent but hey...
...it should be fine and straighten up in a few days now it's out of the box.
But this is no ordinary conifer. It is a gorgeous one (to me anyway) that I fell in love with the moment I laid eyes on the two newly planted specimens at RHS Wisley.Pinus montezumae 'Sheffield Park', that's the one. It is a form of the Montezuma Pine (a conifer native to Mexico and parts of Central America) and this form was propagated from a specimen of Pinus montezumae found in Sheffield Park in East Sussex (not Sheffield City in South Yorkshire, confusingly enough), hence the name of this form. The specimen there was apparently planted way back 1910, so it is an old specimen in own right. And more encouragingly, by virtue of its age it has endured its several remarkably harsh British winters in the past, an indication of its hardiness.
Pinus montezumae 'Sheffield Park' (Specimen 1)
Pinus montezumae 'Sheffield Park' (Specimen 2)
The moment I saw the young specimens in Wisley I was instantly in awe of the beauty of this conifer, which is rather unlike in apperance all other conifers I've seen before. With its extra long and glaucous needles forming what seemingly like large pom-poms on the tips of branches, the needles hang down gracefully and sway gently with the breeze. The entire habit of the small specimens looks very graceful too, overall a very striking plant.Me for scale...
Fellow garden blogger Victoria of Victoria's Backyard has experience of the species, with one planted out in her garden and she has given us an indication of the growth rate of her specimen. From memory she has a second one permanently kept in a pot too which effectively bonsai the plant. Supposedly the growth rate is rather quick indeed but can be kept under control (i.e. slow down to keep it small) by restricting it to a small pot and regular pruning to keep it in shape and encourage bushy rather than vertical growth. I think I will keep and maintain our specimen just like that.Such tactile and long needles!
Actually I prefer it as a small plant, rather than aspiring for a huge one (which is impossible in our garden, by virtue of a lack of space). Not all plants have to get big and attain its full size to look beautiful, some look better if kept small, this one included. But for anyone with the space, let it get big in your garden by all means, if that's what you so wish.But I see mine in a modestly sized glazed pot. Nice!
Mark