{"id":3208,"date":"2018-12-23T23:09:27","date_gmt":"2018-12-23T23:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/?p=3208"},"modified":"2019-03-06T23:21:15","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T23:21:15","slug":"strategic-use-of-specimen-plants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ongardening.com\/?p=3208","title":{"rendered":"Strategic Use of Specimen Plants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Recently, we\nfocused on three basic priorities for landscaping: develop a short list of\nplants, install significant numbers of each kind of plant, and select some\nunfamiliar plants that will fit into your plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A complementary\nstrategy emphasizes the strategic use of specimen plants, which are \u201cunusual or\nimpressive plants grown as a focus of interest in a garden.\u201d A specimen can thought\nof as an example of a category, but <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A plant\ncould function as a specimen plant if it is sufficiently large, especially\nshowy, striking in form, or quite unusual. Note that a plant doesn’t qualify as\na specimen plant simply by being an isolated instance of some plant. In other\nwords, a garden of single examples of various plants does not work as a\nlandscape of specimen plants.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conversely,\na plant that works as a specimen because it is large, showy, striking or\nunusual probably would not work as a component of a mass planting. Instead, a\nspecimen plant complements a mass planting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many plants\ncould qualify as a specimen plant. Garden designers often will choose a tree of\nappropriate size as a specimen plant. Japanese maples, for example, are popular\nselections for this purpose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nplacement of a specimen plant contributes significantly to its effectiveness.\nIn many cases, the specimen will succeed best as a contrast to a fairly large\ngrouping of plants, especially foliage plants, e.g., hedges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A \u201clarge,\nshowy, striking or unusual\u201d plant that is apart from other plants also could function\nas a specimen plant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an\nexample from my garden, we have a Kennedia beckxiana ‘Flamboyant’, which is an\nevergreen climber in the Pea Family (Fabaceae), and one of the UCSC Arboretum\u2019s Koala Blooms Australian Plant Introductions. The plant\u2019s common name, Cape Arid\nClimber, refers to a region in western Australian. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kennedia becksiana ‘Flamboyant’ climbing on a stairway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The plant\u2019s generic name honors a British nurseryman, John Kennedy, and\nits specific name honors Gustav Beckx, a 19th century Belgian consulate\nGeneral in Australia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It earns the variety name\n\u2018Flamboyant\u2019 with its 2-inch long orange-red flowers with a showy large\nlime-green central spot at the base of the reflexed keel petal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kennedia beckxiana blossom (Wikimedia photo by Christer Johannson via Creative Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I acquired a five-gallon plant about a year ago from the Arboretum, and\ninstalled it to climb on a stairway. It has grown vigorously there, and will\nsoon reach its mature height of ten feet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My online research into the cultivation of this robust plant suggests\nthat it should be cut back heavily after flowering to prevent invasive growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given its\nprominent location and showing blossoms, my Cape Arid Climber will hold its own\nas a botanical focal point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look for a\nspot in your garden where a specimen plant could attract the eye and add\ninterest to your landscape. You might have a fine selection already in place,\nor one that could be moved to such a special location. If you have \u201cspotted the\nspot\u201d but don\u2019t have a specimen plant in hand, you can anticipate the pleasure\nof choosing one for your garden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Your Calendar <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Monterey\nBay Area Cactus & Succulent Society will hold its Fall Show & Sale on\nSeptember 29th<\/sup> and 30th<\/sup>, in nearby San Juan Bautista, where\nthere is enough space for Society members to fill some eighty tables with fascinating\nplants for sale or display. We\u2019ll have full details about this event in next\nweek\u2019s Home & Garden section, so be sure to schedule the date for this\nopportunity to acquire succulent plants for your landscape. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently, we focused on three basic priorities for landscaping: develop a short list of plants, install significant numbers of each kind of plant, and select some unfamiliar plants that will fit into your plan. A complementary strategy emphasizes the strategic … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[186],"tags":[197],"class_list":["post-3208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays-2018","tag-plant-selection"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2WCVL-PK","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3208"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3215,"href":"https:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3208\/revisions\/3215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}