Hello Valerie,
We were at Langley, Whidbey Island yesterday and we sighted upon this beautiful tree with upside down bunch of white flowers at downtown Langley . It was somewhere inside the little shopping area, beside the Useless Bay Coffee Company. The tree had a lovely bird bath below it. Attached is a picture of the tree.
I have been piqued by this lovely tree and cannot tell what it is. We asked the local garden store lady, the wine shop owner (Nancy) and the sandwich store owner(Sandy) and none of them could help us. I would much appreciate if you can tell me what is the name of this mysterious tree with such lovely riotous June blooms ?
Thanks much,
Uma Raghavan
Dear Uma,
Your mystery tree (photo below) is a Japanese snowbell (Styrax japonica) a graceful little Japanese tree with fragrant flowers in June, just when we're out in our gardens most to enjoy them. It's ideal to grow where you can look up into it to appreciate the flowers that dangle below the branches; above a bench as you describe, or on a hillside (if you can give provide it adequate water on a slope), or in a large raised bed are all ideal. Japanese snowbells need regular summer irrigation, have few or no pests, and grow and flower well in sun or part shade. It's cousin, Styrax obassia, has larger, bolder leaves and is a bigger tree altogether with more presence in the landscape, but less grace than Styrax japonica.
Photo by Uma:
