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Myrtle Beech Seed
Nothofagus cunninghamii£1.99 – £14.85 inc. VATMyrtle Beech is an evergreen tree from Tasmania that needs to grow in areas with relatively mild winters but it can stand coastal areas well. It has tiny leaves which are bright, mid green and triangular. The fruits are tiny nutlets which take several months to mature.
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New Zealand Flax Seed
Phormium tenax£7.50 – £16.00 inc. VATNew Zealand Flax, Phormium, is a very striking evergreen shrub with foliage that forms clumps of rigid sword like leaves between 1 and 3m long. Bronze red flowers on panicles up to 4m long in summer. Highly resistant to sea winds and forms an excellent windbreak. The seed looks as if it is covered in black foil, very shiney but papery too.
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New Zealand Purple Flax Seed
Phormium tenax atropurpureum£6.50 – £28.00 inc. VATPurple New Zealand Flax is a very striking evergreen shrub with purple – bronze foliage that forms clumps of rigid sword like leaves between 1 and 3m long. It has bronze red flowers on panicles up to 4m long in summer. It is highly resistant to sea winds and forms an excellent windbreak.
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Nichol’s Eucalyptus Seed
Eucalyptus nicholii£20.00 inc. VATNichol’s Eucalyptus or Nichol’s Peppermint Leaved Eucalyptus has attractive fine blue-green, willow-like, weeping evergreen foliage, which can be quite dense. The bark is deeply fissured on mature trees but red and shaggy on younger branches. It forms a small tree but can be pruned and even coppiced successfully. Like most Eucalyptus, it has white flowers in late summer and aromatic leaves. It prefers a sheltered position and is suitable for Bonsai.
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Nikko Fir Seed
Abies homolepis£8.50 inc. VATAn uncommon, well shaped ornamental fir, not too wide-spreading when young. It has pinkish pale grey flakey, bark, dense, dark green shiny needles, white underneath, and dark blue cones. Winter buds are usually coated in sticky resin. The cones occur all over the tree rather than just at the top, like other Firs, which makes them particularly decorative. A small number are produced for Christmas trees and for Christmas foliage. In the wild in Japan, it grows naturally with flowering cherries and Magnolia. Tolerant of pollution and exposed conditions.
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Noble Fir Seed
Abies nobilis / procera£5.00 – £10.00 inc. VATNoble Fir is a beautiful coniferous tree noted for its blue-green needles. They grow densely packed, often hiding the brown new shoots and buds. It is used in floristry as well as for Christmas trees. It grows on the western side of America, but further south than the Red Fir, to which it is closely related.
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Nordmann/Caucasian Fir Seed
Abies nordmanniana£6.00 inc. VATThe Nordmann is a fir of great ornamental value and much valued in ‘non-drop’Christmas tree production for its dense foliage. Wonderful, even, conical shapes develop and the foliage is soft-looking, not spikey. Blue cones
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Northern Japanese Magnolia Seed
Magnolia kobus£5.00 – £18.00 inc. VATThe Northern Japanese Magnolia is a hardy deciduous shrub or small tree that produces its star like white flowers from about 12 years old. They are produced just before leaf break in the spring and are a welcome addition to the spring garden. Late frosts may damage the flowers, so it needs to be planted in a sheltered spot and given space to develop. No pruning should be required.
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Norway Maple Seed
Acer platanoides£5.00 inc. VATNorway Maple is a large fast growing tree with large 5 lobed leaves which turn bright yellow and occasionally red in autumn. Yellow flowers are borne on the bare stems in spring.
Not for forestry purposes.
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Norway Spruce Seed
Picea abies£5.00 – £12.00 inc. VATNorway Spruce is the traditional and most widely grown Christmas tree and makes a good stand-alone tree. It is used as a prickly security hedge in many alpine villages. It makes a virtually impenetrable barrier and doesn’t need much pruning or trimming once the tops have been taken out.
Not for forestry purposes.
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Oak-leaved Hydrangea Seed
Hydrangea quercifolia£16.00 inc. VATOak Leaved Hydrangea is medium sized deciduous shrub that should be planted more often! Large, fresh green, oak-shaped leaves turn spectacular colour in autumn. Conical panicles of cream flowers appear in mid to late summer. Not a tidy grower, but can be trimmed. Best at the back of borders or in wilder areas of the garden, in light shade.
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Oleaster or Russian Olive Seed
Elaeagnus angustifolia£5.00 inc. VATA large spiny deciduous shrub or small tree. It has silvery grey willow-like leaves with sweetly fragrant flowers in the summer which are attractive to bees. The fruits are silvery amber 12mm ovals. Attractive, useful and tough.
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Oregon Grape Seed
Mahonia aquifolium£5.00 inc. VATOregon Grape is a small evergreen shrub with spikey pinnate leaves with 5 to 13 leaflets which often turn red in winter. Its rich yellow flowers open in early spring borne on racemes which are in clusters. The autumn berries are a black-blue colour. Can be grown successfully as a low informal but protective hedge, prune after flowering
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Oregon Maple Seed
Acer macrophylla£5.00 inc. VATOregon Maple is a large, stately tree with domed head. The deciduous leaves are huge, up to 30cm across, incised and lobed, with gold autumn colour. Flowers are lime green in long hanging catkins mid spring. This tree pollards well and makes good smokeless firewood. The sap can be used as a sweetener.
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Oriental Plane Seed
Platanus orientalis£3.50 inc. VATThe Oriental Plane is a large deciduous tree with peeling bark. Young leaves are hairy, but smooth when older, deeply lobed and casts quite a deep shade. The autumn colour is pale bronze-purple. Round finely spined fruit that hang on into winter, look like mini hedgehogs. It is one of the parents of the London Plane. In southern Europe it is a common street tree.
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Oriental Spruce Seed
Picea orientalis£5.00 – £10.00 inc. VATOriental Spruce is a large densely branched tree with branches and dark green leaves down to ground level. The needles are short and tightly packed too, giving a neat and tidy effect. The young cones are 10cm long and purple, maturing to brown, curved. A seedling was selected, golden needled, which has been vegetatively propagated to give a named cultivar ‘Skylands’
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Pacific Madrona Seed
Arbutus menziesii£6.00 inc. VATPacific madrona is an evergreen tree. It is often multi-stemmed, with rich rust-coloured peeling bark which can be used to make a tea. Silvery green persistent leaves and cream ericaceous-type spring flowers followed by red berries. Grows on coastal sites in Northern California and towards Vancouver, but not far south.
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Pacific Silver Fir Seed
Abies amabilis£5.00 – £22.00 inc. VATPacific Silver Fir is a native of north-west America In Europe it is grown as an ornamental tree. It is quite often found growing with Douglas Fir. Amabilis means beautiful and it can resemble Abies nordmanniana, with dark green soft needles, white undersides. The timber is not very useful for construction, just for pulp. Sometimes grown for the Christmas market.
pic courtesy of Orjen at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
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Paper Birch Seed
Betula papyrifera£5.00 – £11.00 inc. VATPaper Birch is a striking medium to large tree with a mahogany papery bark when young, developing into white when the tree matures. Grows into an elegant pyramidal shape, given space. Attractive yellow foliage in the autumn. It was introduced from North America in 1750, the native Americans used the bark, which is very waterproof, for canoes and teepee covers and is sometimes called ‘Canoe Birch’
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Paperbark Maple Seed
Acer griseum£5.00 – £20.00 inc. VATPaperbark Maple is a beautiful small tree with three lobed, dark green leaves in summer, turning crimson and scarlet in autumn. The bark peels to appear orange in the sunlight revealing the new cinnamon coloured bark beneath. A perfect tree for a small garden, slow growing and no pruning necessary.
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Peach Seed
Prunus persica£8.00 – £18.00 inc. VATThe peach is a small bushy tree with pale pink single flowers that appear before the leaves in spring. In good years, it gives a spectacular early show of blossom, and is good for very early insects. The flowers can, however be destroyed by late frosts so it is most often planted next to a warm, sheltered wall. The leaves are lanceolate up to 15cm long and 3cm wide. It may produce fruit in autumn but generally a warm long summer is required for them to ripen.
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Pear Seed
Pyrus communis£7.00 inc. VATPear grows into a medium sized tree with quite upright narrow form. It has oval glossy leaves which are often attractive in autumn. In early spring the tree is drowned in white blossom and in autumn it produces sweetish pears. The blossom is great for early insects. Pruning can be carried out if necessary in the winter, but an old unpruned pear tree has a lot of character in a hedgerow or garden.
Main pic courtesy of David Hawgood / Pear tree (Pyrus) in blossom, Kew Gardens CC BY-SA 2.0
Small pic courtesy of Opioła Jerzy (Poland) / CC BY-SA
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Pere David’s Maple Seed
Acer davidii£5.00 inc. VATPere David’s Maple is one of the Snakebark Maples. It grows to be a small deciduous tree or large shrub, often multi-stemmed. Leaves are pointed and have three barely noticeable lobes. Autumn colours can be spectacular orange and yellow. The bark is green with obvious cream and white stripes, better on younger trees. It looks a bit like snake-skin. This tree is a worthwhile addition to a small garden.
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Persian Silk Tree Seed
Albizia julibrissin£8.00 inc. VATPersian Silk Tree is a highly decorative deciduous tree with fine leaves made up of fern-like leaflets. It is often mistaken for Mimosa when not in flower. Exotic pink flowers late summer have long silky stamens, followed by flattened brown/yellow seed pods. Only just hardy outside in the UK, in the south west and on south coast, otherwise it grows best in a conservatory or greenhouse. In Oriental medicine it is used to alleviate depression and as a sedative.
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