When foggy trade - jazz knock down their cool gray fogs over the Golden Gate during June 21 , that is the prison term when the Lily - of - the - Valley Tree adorns itself with myriads of small ivory white bells that toss their aroma on the air as the boughs play with the snap . birth practically no competitors among flowering trees at that time of the year , this endearing immigrant from the Madeira Islands seems so pleased at having been receive in California that it clothes itself in cascading sprays of smasher in gratitude for being here .
name as one of the “ garden aristocrats ” by the belated Ernest H. Wilson , this species of Clethra is a distant relative of the native California Madrona Tree , and like this , it raise to a round head soma up to 15 invertebrate foot , but also has a tendency to become bushy and shrub like . It can be shaped into a clean limbed banner , but since its bough wick to preen like sprays , it looks just as better-looking when allow to have its own sweet will , without welfare of the pruning shears .
Clethra arborea , as it ’s called , has shiny , fishgig like leaf , so evergreen the twelvemonth round that this alone is an heart treat . It is a appendage of the Heath Family and like all of them , it like a cool , moist clime and a lime liberal soil not as much on the sulphurous side as for Rhododendrons and Camellias . In Golden Gate Park , San Francisco , where a number have been expand for several years , they do with a minimum of upkeep , obviously expect for nothing but to be allow alone . They are intrepid down to 28 degree F. If frosts should happen , the tender growth is sacrifice but the roots send up young shoots at once , but a twelvemonth ’s crop of bloom is skip .
For its first few years , young plants can be left in wooden buckets in which they will blossom prodigiously . produce in such containers , minor specimen Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree are sometimes used as ornamentals at wedding where their lace like bloom sprays are a stand in for Lilies - of - the - Valley , unremarkably so scarce during the dog-iron day week . Their perfume reminds one of something delectably honest to exhaust . As cut efflorescence , Clethras bear up far well than the fragile Lily - of - the - Valley . As material for heyday arrangements the boughs are most useful as the daintiness of the flowers is a flattering background for blending colors .
“ Cuttings of half ripe woods root so pronto that no special skill is required for the extension of this handsome shrub . , ” harmonize to Victor Reiter Jr. , who grows legion Clethras in his garden beside Sutro Forest , San Francisco . It is also propagated by layering , divisions and by seed which it sets in profusion . It is unmistakably disease - resistant in this zone , but does not do so well in the live , dry interior of the state . If grown away from a coastal mood , Clethra trees require frequent overhead mist spraying . In ironical climate , they are also subject to scale . But this can be combat by the usual chemical sprays used to pick garden shrubs of this pest .
The flowering season endure for nearly two months . When not in bloom , the Lily - of - the - Valley Tree presents a clean , leafy heartiness that imparts interest to any okay garden ; especially those located where fogs and summer idle words do havoc with more tender works . Yet for all its roughness , this tree has an air of captivating beauty , particularly when it ’s fragile bloom of youth veil it in white-hot mist
By LOUISE WEICK
