Poor Man’s Tea

Sweet Plum

Chinese Sweet Plum

Chinese Bird Plum

Hedge Sageretia

Pauper’s Tea

Mock Buckthorn

Sageretia theezans

Sageretia thea

sa-jer-ET-ee-a

Chinese Bird Plum

Sageretia theezans

Sageretias are tender shrubs with small green leaves and leathery exfoliating bark that leaves a multicolored patchwork. In summer tiny flowers appear in the leaf axils of new shoots and produce large clusters of white followed by small blue stone fruit. If a Chinese Sweet Plum is pruned too often, the flower buds will be removed and it will not flower.

field grown
Chinese sweet plum
 Sageretia theezans

Sageretias are evergreen in milder climates but become deciduous in temperate zones when exposed to the cold of winter. Sageretia are very rarely seen for sale in Garden Centers. Chinese sweet plum has a tendency to climb and is difficult to control as an ornamental plant. The growth is similar to Pyracantha. There was one growing in Daffin Park, but it was removed a few years ago. Branches have spines, sharp thorn tips.

Small white flowers in spring

Chinese sweet plum is widely used for creating bonsai and is often sold as a bonsai for indoors. Sageretia theezans shoots from old wood and is trained using the “Clip and Grow" technique. Many bonsai Chinese sweet plum are imported from China where they are field grown. Sageretias are tender shrubs and will survive temperatures just below freezing but will drop all leaves. They must be protected from hard freezes where the roots could freeze. Sageretia are considered to be a cool house bonsai. If kept indoors, Sageretias need a position that is reasonably humid and should be cool at night as in an unheated room. The tree should be held at 55-60 F for 6-8 weeks around the winter solstice. Once nighttime temperatures are consistently over 55 degrees, move tree outside. Can take full sun all day but watering requirements increase dramatically. Beware of leaf burn when moving from shade to full sun. Keep the soil slightly moist, never let dry completely. Sweet Plum is usually trained with the clip and growth method. Sageretias back-bud readily and has a nice angular growth pattern.

exfoliating bark

In Savannah the Sageretia can be grown outdoors all year round with some protection on the few nights that dip below 25 F. Small flowers and fruit will develop if the tree is left unpruned.

Nicodemia is one of the old time house plants

Nicodemia
Parlor Oak
Indoor Oak

Nicodemia
Room Oak
Parlor Oak
Indoor Oak

Buddleia indica (BUD-lee-uh)

Nicodemia diversifolia

Buddleia indica:
Loganiaceae

Family: Loganiaceae

After the American botanist James Logan

Butterfly Bush......

This native to Madagascar is an evergreen shrub with alternate leaves that are reminiscent of oak leaves. Parlor Oak has light to dark brown bark laced with bright stripes. The simple yellow flowers are small and sit together in small clusters on old wood. The fruit of B. indica is a yellow-white, fleshy berry. Nicodemia is one of the old time house plants that was used extensively from the 1920's to 1940's and is receiving serious interest by tropical bonsai enthusiasts. In the summer it should be kept outdoors. In winter, the plant can stay in a cool unheated room.

The fruit of B. indica is a yellow-white, fleshy berry

Once the surface of the soil is slightly dry, the soil should be watered. When the plant is in the winter cold, it should be watered less. Keep the soil barely moist and if you use rainwater, be careful as it could be acidic. Use warm water. Avoid using cold water! It can shock tender roots. Fill watering can with tepid water or allow cold water to sit for a while to come to room temperature before watering. Roots need oxygen to breathe: do not allow plants to sit in a tray filled with water. This will only promote disease. Broom shape and the upright forms can be obtained by selective pruning. The cascade form can be created by wiring or clamps. Parlor Oak can be propagated by cuttings.

simple yellow flowers are small and sit together

in small clusters on old wood.

Good Luck Pine

Podocarpus macrophyllus
Yew Pine
Southern Yew
Kusamaki
Inumaki
Luo Han Song

Foliage with mature seed cones

The oval-shaped fruit which seated on thick fleshy receptacle turns reddish/purplish when ripened, which looks like a little Buddha meditating with a reddish/purplish rope on. The ripe purple-red fruit on female plants are edible, though the seed is not.

If you're buying a Buddhist pine tree bonsai, it's best to purchase a plant with the size trunk you want. Podocarpus trunks develop very slowly, especially in a container.

  Podocarpus macrophyllus bonsai

If you're buying a collected tree, be sure it has been in its current container for at least a year (preferably two)

Podocarpus macrophyllus.

Bonsai is often used in the life improvement system of feng shui and are known to be grown on temple grounds of China.

Podocarpus macrophyllus of Odawara Castle Ruins

Buddhist Pine is highly regarded as a feng shui tree

"Podocarpus macrophyllus,katori-city,japan"

The Buddhist Pine, which is not a true pine but a podocarp, is thought to be the harbinger of good fortune. Along with the Bodhi Tree, the Buddhist Pine plays at important inspirational role in Buddhist religion. The fleshy red seeds represent 'disciples' of the Buddha, assuring its owner of never being impoverished

Many believe Luck the pine actually produces attracts good health, that wealth is a by-product of being healthy

USDA Hardiness Zone: 7 to 10

When grown outdoors, the evergreen Podocarpus can grow to thirty feet with a spread of about twenty.

Yew Pine, Southern Yew,

Buddhist Pine Bonsai in Phipps Conservatory

Talinum paniculatum

Commonly known as:

• Old Ladies' Hatpin
• Pink baby-breath
• Jewels of Opar

Jewels of Opar do very well in containers indoors in a sunny window

Small pinkish-red flowers on wiry stems

 

• Easy care succulent from the Southwest   
• Well suited for indoors with adequate bright light.
• A tender perennial with wiry flower stalks topped by a spray of bright pink flowers and ruby-like seedpods. 
• Has a tuberous Ginseng-like root, 
• Drought tolerant. Likes a well drained soil. No soggy or flooded soils.
• Chronic over watering can kill the plant, let the soil dry.
•  Fertilize at one-third strength during the growing season.

In this novel Tarzan returns to Opar, a lost colony of fabled Atlantis

Ginkgo biloba

The Ginkgo Tree is also called the "Maidenhair tree" and nicknamed "The Stink Bomb Tree." An erratic vertical branching structure is the trees natural form. As a bonsai the strong upright branching creates the 'candle flame' style. Basal and aerial "chi-chi" form on older trees.

Washington ginkgo

432 Telfair St.

Augusta, Georgia

• Height: 67 feet
• DBH: 54 inches
• Crown: 65 feet

Legend has it that the residents of Augusta, Ga planted this ginkgo tree during President George Washington’s visit in 1791. The tree is on the grounds of the Old Government House on Telfair Street.

Height: 67 feet

 The Ginkgo Tree is also called the "Maidenhair tree" and nicknamed "The Stink Bomb Tree."  An erratic vertical branching structure is the trees natural form. As a bonsai the strong upright branching creates the 'candle flame' style. Basal and aerial "chi-chi" form on older trees

 In the fall the leaves
turn a brilliant yellow!

Ginkgo trees are a "living fossil" and the earliest leaf fossils date from 270 million years ago. It was rediscovered in 1691 in China. The Ginkgo is a good urban tree because of its ability to tolerate drought, heat, and poor soils. Ginkgo is dioecious. There are male and female trees. Some complain of the mess and odor created by the fleshy seed covering and recommend planting only the male of the species. It is sad if only male ginkgoes are planted without female counterparts. 

erratic vertical branching

DBH: 54 inches

fruit is a nut with a fleshy covering

Gather the seeds as they fall from the tree (wear good latex gloves). Remove the fleshy coating (wear good gloves!) crush the coat and squeeze the seed out with ones fingers. Then rinse the seeds a few times until they are very clean!) and let them dry well. Store them in a closed container filled with slightly moistened sphagnum moss in the fridge or in a cool, dry place until they are planted in spring. When they are sown, carefully pop the seed shell open.

 

Ginkgo in Forsyth Park

Savannah, Ga

Some people are sensitive to the chemicals in the fleshy outer layer. These people should handle the seeds with care when preparing the seeds, wear disposable gloves. When I cleaned the seed of these trees, I had several 5 gallon buckets full. The cheap rubber gloves developed holes and my entire arm was coated with the juice. fortunately I had no allergic reaction, but the next morning my arms had turned black. Two weeks later the skin pealed a way........

   A 1980 Seedling in 2011

Ginkgo seeds and leaves are used as a medicine throughout the world. In South Carolina at the "medicine tree farm" Ginkgo leaves are harvested and shipped to Europe to be made into a prescription drug.

 In the fall the leaves
turn a brilliant yellow!

The oldest living ginkgo tree in the United States was planted in 1785 by William Bartram at Bartram’s Garden near Philadelphia. Bartram traveled the American South from 1773 to 1776 and in 1791 he published an account of his adventure- Travels.

Buddhist Pine- a lucky charm

Podocarpus macrophyllus

The ripe cone arils are edible and sweet,
BUT the seed should not be eaten.

• Yew Pine
• Southern Yew
• Buddhist Pine
• Kasamaki
• Inumaki
• Luo Han Song
• Good Luck pines
•  Fern Pine

USDA Hardiness Zone: 7 to 10

The oval seed sits on ripened fleshy receptacle

The mature seeds and attached "false fruit cones" look like meditating disciples of the Buddha . It is a popular large shrub or small tree in China, Japan and the southeastern United States. The ripe cone arils are edible and sweet, BUT the seed should not be eaten.

The Buddhist Pine is viewed as a lucky charm, and are often used in the life improvement system of feng shui and are often planted on temple grounds.

Podocarpus macrophyllus
Hyougo-ken Japan

The Buddhist Pine is thought to be the harbinger of good fortune. Along with the Bodhi Tree, the Buddhist Pine plays at important inspirational role in Buddhism.

Good Luck pines
Many believe that the podocarpus attracts good health and that wealth is a by-product of being healthy.

Podocarpus macrophyllus as penjing, penjing garden,
 Shanghai Botanical Garden

When grown outdoors, the evergreen podocarpus can grow to thirty feet with a spread of about twenty feet or can easily be pruned into a nice hedge.

• Evergreen tree with no showy fall color
• Drought Tolerant
• Needs a well-drained soil.
• Best growth and form in full sun, but will tolerate shade. 

Hong Kong Central Library

Good Luck pines
Yew Pine
Southern Yew
Buddhist Pine is highly regarded as a feng shui tree



Good Luck pines
Yew Pine,

Podocarpus macrophyllus at the main gate of Rinzai Buddhist temple.

Podocarpus works well in both informal and sheared hedges
This is planted in the median of Victory Drive...

Jaboticaba- Juicy Fruit Tree

The fresh fruits are delicious
 eaten like a Muscadine grape

Jaboticaba
Eugenia caulifora
Myrciaria cauliflora
Plinia cauliflora

Fruit are ripe now
And they are so good!

Jabuticaba
Brazilian Grape Tree

The Jaboticaba, a native to southern Brazil, is a member of the Myrtle family. The new leaves are pinkish and change to green with a leathery texture.

The botanical name "Cauliflora" means that it bears flowers and fruit on the trunk and mature branches. The trunk and branches become covered with clusters of small white blooms. That eventually develop into dark berries; these fruits are delicious and suitable to make jams, jellies and wine. The thin exfoliating bark creates a mottled appearance on the trunk and branches.

bears flowers and fruit on the trunk

Jaboticaba is frost sensitive and needs some overhead protection during winter months.

Jaboticaba as a bonsai

A bonsai Jaboticaba at the
Sanctuary Bonsai nursery
in East Hartford, CT

Chinese penjing

Fruit! 

Re-pot only in warm weather

The fresh fruits are delicious, eaten like a Muscadine grape by squeezing the fruit between the thumb and forefinger, the skin splits and the pulp slips into the mouth. They are suitable to make jams, jellies and wine.