If I remember right, the blossoms were a dark pink in the late winter. Now it looks like this. Any ideas? If so, how far back can I safely prune this? ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden )
Yes, I thought it was burning bush = Euonymus alatus. or something like that. It is green and in the Fall it turns red. It is easily rooted by stem cuttings using rooting hormone, and planted in good soil. I had 3 in my yard when I moved here. They were overgrown, allot. I gave them the chop chop one fall and they shaped up greatly after that. Now every time I feel like it throughout the summer, I just trim the top so they don't get to tall. Worked fine even though I didn't know what I was doing. Barb in Pa.
Noob, is this an evergreen or deciduous shrub. The "modified petioles", or that little circle of leaf at the base of the leaf is different than what a burning bush would have...Did the former owner leave you any kind of list at all?
Nope, nothin. Which means IDing everything is going to be a pain! I don't think it's evergreen...I seem to remember actually being able to see through it when we were first shown the house...so deciduous?
IF no one responds my guess is to take some of it to a nursery and ask if any one knows what it is there. Barb thought maybe burning bush, if it is it should have corky wing like growth on the stems, in a line down the stems, opposite on four sides of the stem, as if it is a square stem (does that make sense to you? I know what I want to say, but am not exactly sure how to get it across) I can't see any due to the foliage. In regards to pruning it I would say you are not going to hurt it to cut it back by 1/3 or even 1/2. Or 1/3 now and a little more again in a few more weeks. Either prune with a pair of pruners or a hedge trimmer to get it back to the size you want and then trim back with the hand pruners so it is not a "ball" when you are finished. It will look much better in a natural shape rather than a rigid sphere. In the picture at the bottom in the left hand corner...is that part of the shrub or a weed growing underneath it? I was guessing Oregon Grape due to those few leaves and I think it was throwing my ID way off. oops. ( I am guessing it is a weed).
Yeah that is a weed down there sorry! I'll take some of it to a nursery and see what they say. I don't think it is burning bush...The flowers weren't that dark, more of a pink.
The leaves look a bit like the small shrub that I just planted (by accident) in our back yard. The tag says it's a "red leaf photintia" and it gets small clusters of white flowers but maybe some get pink ones. The leaves come on in spring red and turn green in a few weeks. It does get fairly large and is sometimes used as a hedge. It recommends pruning it back every spring to the size you want it or it will take over. It was mixed in with a lot of azelea's we bought. We planted it anyway instead of taking it back. I don't know that it's the same as yours but it looks a lot like it with the red leaves. dooley
Burning Bushes dont have leaves growing around the stem attached to each other anyways. If no one has an answer by tomorrow Ill see if I can get my shrub ID book from my mom and try to find it in there
I have learned so very much from each and every one of you. I have about 4 of these but they are small. I really didn't know what they were till now. Texas Scarlet Flowering Quince Chaenomeles speciosa 'Texas Scarlet' Now I know the real name. I actually went out and found the original label on one of these. I am sure for it was tied to it and the squirrels couldn't run away with it. thenoobgardener, You have a beautiful plant there now that I know what it is. It makes the nicest red flower before any leaves appear in the Spring. I just can't believe how big your plant is for my label says it gets 2-3' tall. Seems like yours is bigger. Mine may be a shorter version. Thanks for you all for sharing all your knowledge with all of us. Barb in Pa.
My dad has quince, but it must be an old fashioned variety because it doesn't look anything at all like this. Yours is a beautiful plant. Maybe I will go get one or two. I really try to put things in as an edible landscape since I run out of room quite quickly in the garden. there is no sense in wasting space on something that has no edible value when I or the chickens or birds could be eating it I also want a black lace elderberry..... I might go shopping later today if I don't run out of time getting yard work done. now it is time to go mow, bye!
carolyn keiper, I don't think that my, Texas Scarlet Flowering Quince Chaenomeles speciosa 'Texas Scarlet' makes edible fruit for people.I have never seen anything but flowers. If it makes any kind of fruit they may be good for birds. Barb in Pa.
Barb, My dads does make fruit. He is very possessive of it...he doesn't allow any of us to have it So, I get mine from a friend whom I do farmers markets with who gets it from someone who has a friend who works in a nursery, where they drop from the plants in the Fall and he collects them and passes them on...eventually they get to me and I have made quince jelly out of the fruit. It is a very different flavor. I think the fruit smells much better than the jelly tastes. But it is old fashioned and brings back memories for the older folks who remember their mothers' making it... There may not have been much other fruit to choose from at the time.
