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Lazy S'S Farm Nursery
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Chinese Plants.
Around
1996, we became very interested in Chinese Plants and have been
steadily adding to our collection of Parent Plants which now numbers
well over 400 species and subspecies. Chinese
plants have been slowly making their way into Western Horticulture,
mostly via Europe or by various International Seed companies but some
have arrived here from our own US Plantsmen/Explorer's who have had
the opportunity to Botanize in China. We ordered some parent
plants directly from China but quickly realized that they are
notoriously misidentified (Irises that turned out to be Carex)
often, not even matching their photo from vendors, and, even for a nurseryman of 35 years,
often very difficult to pull out of deep dormancy from being stored
in warehouses, shipped long distances and opened for inspection by
the USDA. We lost over 50% of
the parent stock even with impeccable care after they arrived. More
about plants direct from China. But, from our various sources
and endeavors, we've still managed to put together quite a
collection of Chinese Plants.
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China holds a huge
percentage of the world's species - more than the US, which is of a
similar size, and Canada combined. Many of these plants grow
in nature nowhere else on earth. (About 15% of the species
for our entire planet grow only in China.) For the preservation of rare
species, we think it important to introduce worthy species to the
Western World.
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Chinese Plants are being studied
for their medicinal
qualities and by the USDA
in search of plants to solve conservation problems so many people
are interested in them.
We have been steadily
propagating these plants and many will be ready in 2004! Others
have already been for sale for several years because they are more
common in the trade. They are in our regular lists with a little Panda
Bear symbol beside their listing. We have been very careful to
choose plants that are not invasive, or even aggressive (and
literally discard and BURN any that appear too aggressive).
Eomecon chionanthus, for example, was acquired almost 6 years ago
from a great nursery in North Carolina, but it quickly displayed a nature too
stoloniferously aggressive in our opinion, so we had a tasteful
Cremation Ceremony for the rampant fellow. This was long
before we allowed it to be sold. Many Chinese plants
have a Native counterpart in this country and we've looked for
Chinese plants with similar growth habits but maybe with just more
flamboyant color!
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At our
2003 display at
Maymont Flower show in Richmond, a passerby noticed our display of
Chinese Plants and said he wouldn't be interested because his
daughter was a staunch supporter of ' only Natives'. I'll bet
that somewhere along the way, she probably eats oranges, cucumbers,
lemons, peaches or apricots -- all originally from China! For
women electing to control menopausal symptoms with soy products
rather than drugs, it would be a shame if we didn't grow soybeans in
this country. Many Chinese plants are
already well-established, beloved favorites in this country and have
proven themselves worthy plants and 'good neighbors' to others:
Astilbe chinensis var. pumila
and it's cultivars including the gorgeous 'Visions'
Bletilla striata (Hardy Orchind)
Belamcanda
chinensis (Blackberry Lily)
Corydalis flexuosa 'China Blue'
(Temperamental in some gardens but so gorgeous it's worth a try!)
Epimediums (some species) -
Popular for years in Europe but just now catching on here -
invaluable
for delicate spring beauty, often evergreen foliage as well as it's
'Tough as Nails, Plant Me under a
Maple and I'll Prove it' demeanor!
Lilium henryi
and other great Lillies
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"Several
thousand species of Chinese plants are now cultivated throughout the
world, including short-grain rice, tea, soybeans, oranges, cucumber,
lemons, peaches, apricots, ginger, anise, and ginseng. Hundreds of
Chinese species (e.g., rhododendrons, magnolias, camellias,
viburnums, gardenias, jasmines, forsythias and primroses) are
cultivated as ornamentals worldwide."
From the Importance
of Chinese Plants, Harvard University Education Department
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We
are and will always be strong proponents of Native Plants and
propagate and sell Many but feel that there can also be a place in
the garden for 'Valuable, Worthy Immigrants' AND ironically, by
bringing Chinese Plants into US horticulture, we may be
re-introducing Natives from the Northern Hemisphere that were wiped
out during the Ice Age:
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"Many
plant species that were once widespread throughout the entire
northern hemisphere were wiped out by glaciation in North America
but survived in China."
From the Importance
of Chinese Plants, Harvard University Education Department
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Us Native 
Chinese Native
So
take a look, as you're browsing thru our lists. Our beloved US
native are clearly marked with the US symbol but you may also find some gorgeous and worthy plants marked
with the little Panda . It means that that plant is native to
China.
Happy
gardening!
Pete
& Debby Sheuchenko
PS
The plant at the beginning of the page is Paeonia obovata -- a
stunning, rare species Peony from China.
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