Picking Leading Horticulturist's brain
leading horticulturalist
"la n." <nmo...@idmail.com> wrote in message
news:J3xe7.6690$752.3...@brie.direct.ca...
> Hey L.H.!
hey, la.
>
> You've been so helpful in the past with gardening type
> queries. Here's another one.
>
> I've just moved into my new house; and, when a
> neighbour toured the yard with me, she pointed out a
> huge shrub at the front corner of my house. She told
> me, "Just wait 'til this beauty blossoms. It's a
> japonica."
>
> L.H., do you know what a japonica is? Do you know
> of it's care and feeding and what to expect of it?
>
> TIA
>
> la n.
>
>
'japonica' is latin, or rather pig latin, for 'japanese'. obviously japan
wasn't around when the romans were, or they'd have had to change the name
for the mediterranean.
it basically exists as a species name for a number of plants and animals
whose origins are in japan.
it coexists with a number of different genera, including Lonicera (L.
japonica is the japanese honeysuckle), Fatsia (Fatsia japonica, a popular
shade plant with big fingery leaves and white flowers i already mentioned in
my last article for the month) Blyxa, (B. japonica is an aquatic grassy
plant very difficult to maintain outside of the wild), Nuphar (N. japonica
is commonly known as spatterdock, a small yellow waterlily for the larger
aquarium or paludinarium), then there's Astilbe japonica, which is a herb,
and Cayratia japonica, a small shrub which does not have very exciting
flowers. there's Aucuba japonica, the spotted laurel, which is toxic if
eaten, but still quite popular in gardens but again not noted for its
blooms, which are modest. Another toxic japonica is Pieris japonica, the
lily-of-the valley bush (not to be confused with Convallaria majalis).
there's the japanese cedar tree which this won't be but if i remember right
that would be Cryptomeria japonica, and the japanese pagoda tree, Sophora
japonica, which come to think of it is another poisonous one, which just
goes to show how dangerous the japanese flora can be. Another small tree
bearing the christian name japonica is the loquat, and it can't make up it's
mind if its surname is Photinia or Eryobotrya (if i've spelt that right).
but at least it won't kill you. and penultimately, unless i've forgotten
any, is kerria japonica, the korean rose. but it doesn't come from korea, it
only pretends to. the specific name gives the game away.
finally, to go to the most likely solution to your problem, the most pretty
flower amongst them is Camelia japonica, see
http://www.linketto.it/camellia/japo.html for an example.
in the animal kingdom Caridina japonica quite literally springs to mind.
this is the yamamoto shrimp and can be kept and bred in a small tank of cold
fresh water, as long as you have good oxygenation and a lot of patience. it
produces up to 2000 young per brood.
more animals have the masculine form japonicus, such as Actinocyclus
japonicus, the japanese sea slug, a great delicacy if you have a strong
stomach, and Favorinus japonicus, another sea invertebrate that looks like a
sort of walking prawn cocktail. Strombus japonicus is another shrimp. Some
plants also have the masculine japonicus, there's a lotus, a euonymus and a
styrax, but if these were what she meant she wouldn't have said japonicA.
as a general rule, when you move into somebody's house it's not a bad idea
to give the garden a full year before tinkering with it more than the
obvious pruning and weeding, as some things show their best at different
times of the year, and outside those times look pretty nondescript.
anyway, i've also cross posted this to a couple of other groups that contain
experts on this subject so they might be able to give you better information
than i have.
regards
lh.
la n.
leading horticulturalist <l...@cps.de> wrote in message
news:tnll9o1...@corp.supernews.co.uk...
Thank you, and yes! More advice appreciated. I am just renting this
property and don't want to kill off the flora, even if it's with "kindness".
la n.
Kay Easton
horticulturalist <l...@cps.de> writes
>
>"la n." <nmo...@idmail.com> wrote in message
>news:J3xe7.6690$752.3...@brie.direct.ca...
>> Hey L.H.!
>hey, la.
>
>>
>> You've been so helpful in the past with gardening type
>> queries. Here's another one.
>>
>> I've just moved into my new house; and, when a
>> neighbour toured the yard with me, she pointed out a
>> huge shrub at the front corner of my house. She told
>> me, "Just wait 'til this beauty blossoms. It's a
>> japonica."
>>
>> L.H., do you know what a japonica is? Do you know
>> of it's care and feeding and what to expect of it?
>>
>> TIA
>>
>> la n.
>>
>>
>'japonica' is latin, or rather pig latin, for 'japanese'. obviously japan
>wasn't around when the romans were, or they'd have had to change the name
>for the mediterranean.
>
>it basically exists as a species name for a number of plants and animals
>whose origins are in japan.
Japonica used to be the name given to so called Japanese quince,
Chaenomeles. Thorny shrub which can be trained up walls, flowers in
early spring in creamy, pink, orange and red colours, followed by hard
edible yellow to orange fruits - these have a similar flavour to the
true quince Cydonia, hence the common name.
I grow it in a north facing garden with no problem - it seems to be a
robust shrub with no particular special needs.
--
Kay Easton
Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/garden/
leading horticulturalist
"Kay Easton" <k...@scarboro.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:DBJ619B+...@scarboro.demon.co.uk...
doesn't it go to show! i listed about ten japonicas and thought i had them
all and then didn't include this one.
doh!
lh.