Wednesday, October 23, 2013

My favorite plant this week: Arbutus 'Marina'

My favorite plant in the garden this week is a tree, Arbutus 'Marina.'  I inherited 5 of these trees with the house, 2 along the south side, another 2 in the backyard, and the last on the north side.  Given the size variances among the trees, I suspect they may have been planted at different times.

The largest and most well-developed tree is shown in the rear of this picture.  The smaller tree sits next to a "snorkel spa," used as a storage bin for garden furnishings until my husband gets around to converting it into something more useful.

Back view of the largest tree

The other large Arbutus Marina, located on the southwest side of the property 


The trees have beautiful ornamental bark.





They flower throughout the year with the heaviest flower production occurring in the fall and the spring.  Hummingbirds are attracted to the light pink, urn-shaped flowers.




The flowers are followed by fruit that turns orange, then red.  At this time of year, the fruits that fall from the tree look like miniature orange pumpkins.  The birds seem to prefer the fruits when they turn red and become soft.  The squirrels, which eat everything else in the yard, appear to ignore these fruits completely.




Arbutus 'Marina' is drought tolerant once established.  It grows up to 50 feet tall and nearly as wide.  It's hardy in USDA zones 7-9 (Sunset zones 8, 9 and 14-24).  It's said to be susceptible to Sudden Oak Death root rot (phytopthora ramorum), a condition I dread as it killed an Arbutus unedo at our last house seemingly overnight.  One half of a dual-trunked tree on our current property also died off suddenly shortly after we moved in.  I had concerns that it may have been infected; however, as the other half is still hanging in there a year after the dead half was cut away, I'm hopeful that I was wrong as to the source of the problem (although the trunk's cracks and gray coloration make me wonder if I need to consult an arborist).

Half this tree was cut back to the stump after it died suddenly



San Marcos Growers has an excellent write-up on Arbutus 'Marina,' including the history of its arrival in the U.S.  You can find this summary here.

This is my contribution to the weekly meme sponsored by Loree of danger garden.  You can find Loree's favorite plant of the week here, as well as links to other contributors' favorite selections.

11 comments:

  1. Oh, thanks so much for focusing on these trees. I love that peely red bark and their sinuous limbs! I would love to get one for my new border. I hope your other half of that one you had to cut back thrives.

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    1. I hope you can find a place for an Arbutus yourself, Alison - they are wonderful trees. I remain cautiously optimistic about my 1/2 tree.

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  2. Beautiful...love the peeling, flaking bark!

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    1. The bark is spectacular, Scott. Interestingly, the amount of shedding seems to vary significantly from tree-to-tree but that may have something to do with the tree's age.

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  3. A gorgeous tree! Haven't met an arbutus that I didn't like yet!

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    1. I loved my old Arbutus unedo, Peter, but I have to say I'm even more impressed by 'Marina.'

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  4. I am very jealous! These are magnificent trees and I would love to have inherited even just one of them. There is one in the park nearby and I've been watching it's fruit turn from yellow to orange and now red. Lila has a nose for anything vaguely edible and she has never once stopped to sniff the fallen fruit.

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    1. I've never been able to bring myself to taste the fruit myself, Loree. The fact that the squirrels ignore it is very telling...

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  5. Absolutely love this tree Kris, great habit and the bark, wow!

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    1. They're wonderful trees, Mark & Gaz. We got very lucky in the tree department (with the possible exception of the difficult Mimosa).

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  6. That's a new favorite of mine from my two CA visits this year! What gorgeous bark it has.

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