Silk-Tassel Bush

Introduced from Oregon by plant hunter David Douglas in 1828 Garrya eliptica has become quite popular in recent years, especially with the flower arranging fraternity. The female form is the most generally grown for its long grey-green catkins, the female form has catkins but is rather less showy, though it does produce purple brown fruits in long clusters that are also quite attractive. The plant was awarded an AGM (award of Garden Merit) by the RHS in 1984, though this applied to male plants only. There is a form called 'James Roof' which has extra long (supposedly) catkins, but I can see little in it if I am honest, it originated as a seedling in a Californian nursery during the 1950s.

I am often asked why Garrya's sometimes have brown-purple spots on the leaves, or brown edges, or how to prune them.

The spots are what is known as 'Fungal Leaf Spot' and can sometimes be controlled by a twice yearly (May & August) spray with a good fungicide, but remember to add a couple of drops of washing up liquid to the mix as a wetting agent. If you do not the spray will ball up and roll off the leaves, a wetter helps it stick to the leaf surface. This is essential on evergreens.

The brown edges are simply wind-burn, there is little you can do as it is a situation problem. If the plant is still young enough to move and you have somewhere less exposed then move it, however it may cease to occur as the plant matures further, or it may happen one year and not the next. There is hardly ever any lasting damage and the plant grows through the problem during the course of summer. Some of our staff suffer from wind-burn, I am not giving any names out but Helen, Robert, Roy, and even my partner Gordon have constant wind issues and it is not pleasant I can tell you.

PRUNING; This should be minimal, consisting mainly of trimming the shoots back a few inches after flowering, you can prune some a little further to avoid spoiling the symmetry but I would not do too much pruning. Garrya is a large shrub and should be appreciated as such, so if your garden is small then don't grow it, if your a flower arranger do what you normally do and pinch someone else's. You should expect a Garrya to grow eventually about twelve foot either way, and if a nurseryman tells you it can be kept pruned to size he is being thrifty with the truth or at least deliberately ambiguous.....we all do it......"tell 'em what they want to hear", or as my old dad says...."Just feed Nelly the buns".....Of course assuming your not a complete tit I would be honest with you...........probably!