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A Visit to Cistus Nursery

I rarely go to nurseries anymore since I work part-time at one and another reason being that I don't have much room for additional plants. When a garden fanatic runs out of room, the brain goes into overdrive, dreaming up ingenious ways to incorporate more plants. And another thing happens - a burning desire to obtain rare and unique plants. I've been moving plants around, a tricky process that has a domino effect. A plant is unhappy - it is getting too much shade or perhaps too much sun. There is a plant that did not get as large as you thought it would or it is just a slow grower and now it is hopelessly hidden behind a taller plant. Sometimes a plant is just a dud for reasons unknown (Rhododendron 'Golden Gate' anyone?). I find the plant in question a better home, but it means that another plant will have to be moved. And the merry-go-round continues to turn... However, for those plants that are to be discarded, a space opens up for a new one! I decided to move a Mou...
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The Plant That Took 6 Years To Bloom



That would be Embothrium coccineum, also known as "Chilean Flame Tree" or "Chilean Fire Bush". A very persnickety plant, it was planted in February 2017 and is now about 4 feet tall and has finally bloomed. The Gossler's, in their excellent book "The Gossler Guide to the Best Hardy Shrubs" says that it will grow anywhere from 4 feet shrub to a 50 feet tree. In Rueben Hatch's garden (he sadly passed away last year), a specimen there is about 15 feet tall. It is the largest one I've ever seen.

This plant will only grow in western Washington, Oregon and northern California. I love the Gossler's description:  "People wanting to grow E. coccineum in the eastern part of the country will find that it dies as soon as it gets in the box and knows where it is going."

Unfortunately, I planted it behind the enormous shrub rose 'Buff Beauty' which totally obscures it and it also resides close to the Parrotia (Ironwood) which is beginning to shade it but I do not intend to move it as it would mean certain death. 



Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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  1. AnonymousMay 17, 2023 at 7:34 AM

    Hilarious comment by Gossler.
    As it happened, I photographed Embothrium coccineum yesterday at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden. It is difficult for me to judge that it's hight, maybe 10'-15', just outside the greenhouse. Those blooms are hard to resist.
    Chavli

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  2. Kris PetersonMay 17, 2023 at 11:01 AM

    Kudos to you for hanging in there! There are a couple of these plants in my local botanic garden but they were probably planted 50-60 years ago when the garden was first developed.

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  3. AnonymousMay 18, 2023 at 7:09 PM

    Fascinating. How does such a plant exist in nature, if it is so difficult to grow, and blooms so reluctantly? Reminds me of Franklinia, which only exists in cultivation now.
    You’ve piqued my interest in the Gosslers. I ordered the book.

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  4. Lisa at GreenbowMay 19, 2023 at 11:21 AM

    We had a lilac tree that took forever to bloom. I finally told it it better bloom or I was taking it out. I think it got the message and decided to bloom that spring. Ha...

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