December 17, 2004

Live evergreens provide Christmas cheer throughout the year

By Shari Kaplan
Staff Writer

At first I planned to write about oddities of the plant kingdom this month, figuring everyone’s had enough of topics like Christmas tree farms, how to keep cut trees “alive” and full of needles through New Year’s and, of course, the popularity contest between Douglas fir and Scotch pine.

Then I thought of live evergreens—not the big kind you cut yourself at the aforementioned farms, but the small kind you buy for yourself (or give as a gift) in a pot. In exchange for wearing miniature decorations or festive ribbons and sitting on your desk for four weeks, all the trees ask in return is the same TLC any houseplant deserves, and perhaps being transplanted into a bigger pot, since many are sold in unnaturally small containers for the sake of convenience and “cuteness.”

None remain small and cute forever, though, so it’s good to learn ahead of time what they’ll be like when they grow up, especially if you ultimately plant them in the ground (the dream of all “potted” trees!). Carefully following the care direction tag is a good way to start.

A popular choice this time of year are young Italian stone pines (Pinus pinea), which have a soft bushy form and juvenile foliage consisting of beautiful blue-gray needles. As they mature, the needles become a more standard “pine green.” When the trees grow up, they also grow out. Most Italian stone pines I’ve seen eventually start to lean, as if trying to hear a secret conversation.

Many also develop lanky branches underneath the canopy, which in time resembles a giant umbrella, so they’re a bit overpowering for small yards. Like all pines, they require exceptionally good drainage. The best specimens I know are a pair of nearly 90-year-olds in downtown Saratoga’s Blaney Plaza, one of which was saved from toppling years ago by the quick thinking—and thick support planks—of Blair Glenn, a longtime Santa Clara Valley arborist.

More Norfolk Island pines (Araucaria heterophylla) are appearing for the holidays lately. These needle-leafed conifers are not pines, but rather part of a primitive-looking family that includes the infamous Monkey Puzzle Tree and Bunya-Bunya. Norfolks can grow taller than 100 feet in the wild, but are content to live in containers for many years. They simply stop growing after a certain point and wait for transplantation. They’re extremely symmetrical, somewhat pyramidal and in their youth have curved, soft green needles that even grow along the trunk.

For something a little different, how about a little rosemary? While most folks pluck the aromatic herb (Rosmarinus officinalis) from windowsill gardens to cook with, it’s actually a hardy and versatile evergreen that can grow as a hedge, ground cover or small tree, depending on its cultivar. I recently saw some beautiful potted rosemary trees, awash in tiny purplish-blue flowers, for sale in a natural foods store—right next to a Norfolk Island pine!

I’m always glad to see mistletoe sprigs for sale, because it means someone cut it out of its host tree, where it often looks like a hanging Chia Pet. Mistletoe isn’t a complete parasite, because it uses photosynthesis to make food—hence its green color. However, it also sends tenacious roots into host trees’ branches (especially hardwoods like oaks) and helps itself to water and nutrients. It’s contagious, too, spreading by sticky berries that “hitch-hike” on hungry birds and squirrels. One or two clusters won’t harm the host, but heavily infested trees will decline. Mistletoe has several genuses and many species worldwide. The one commonly seen in America belongs to the genus Phoradendron, which appropriately means “tree thief” in Greek.