ABC Wednesday - E is for ...


Euonymus fortuneiEmerald Gaiety’

This is a popular evergreen shrub in many gardens round here as it likes limy soils and is drought tolerant. It’s also tough as old boots, so often forms part of municipal planting schemes. It comes in a wide variety of other forms and colours, such as this ‘Emerald n Gold’. Just because it’s common as muck, doesn’t mean it should be sniffed at. I like to use it as a structural shrub that comes into its own over the winter months, cheering up the garden. It can also be clipped into bold shapes or trained up walls or trellis to give some height.

In the photograph, it looks like the colour of the Pyracantha coccinea (firethorn) berries have ‘bled’ into the leaves of the Euonymus. This isn’t so - many of the varieties with white variegated leaves take on a rosy tint during the winter cold.

The Euonymus family also has deciduous varieties, such as Euonymus planipes, the spindle tree. These are spectacular in the Autumn, with fiery leaf tints and eye-popping red pods that split to reveal bright orange seeds, attractive to the wild bird population.
Check out Mrs Nesbitt's Place for other ABC Wednesday postings.

Comments

  1. Boody Hell!
    You are a fast moover!
    LL

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  2. Hee hee hee!

    I had the odd half hour to wait before midnight, so did the writing bit in Word first ;)

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  3. I have a bit of a mucky back garden so I'll have to see if I can get this plant here.

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  4. Please re-vist my blog............all is OK!

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  5. You sound like a wonderful gardener! This plant sounds like one that might be hearty enough that I wouldn't kill off quickly...

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  6. Sooooooooooooooooooooooon it will be spring and I can play in the dirt...garden that is

    Great information and I like the plant

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  7. Red berries look great in the garden. I think I still have a few hanging on.

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  8. I took a look at the Euonymus
    planipes. Really pretty.

    Have a Blessed Happy Fun
    Creative Healthy Year!!!

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  9. Nice red berries. I did not know this was what it was called though. Learn something new every day.

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  10. That is a very pretty plant! I like reading your blog. Thanks.

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  11. Hmm, the berries really stand out amongst the leaves in your photo!

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  12. I like the look of Euonymus fortunei.The berries are attractive. I smiled when I read your 'tough as old boots' - it made me think of your Brummie post.

    I'm glad Lytton's post was entertaining. That dog keeps me laughing all the time - he's full of beans.

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  13. Hey, I have in my garden what I always thought was a Euonymous Gaiety, but yours has redder berries than mine. The berries on mine are more orange, at least they were in the fall when I last checked. Hahaha

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  14. I love those berries on the bush

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  15. Great looking plant I wish i had a green thumb

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  16. I learn something new every (ABC) Wednesday! Thank you!!!

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  17. Very good choise for the E. :)
    I have different sort of Euonymus in my garden. They are decorative.
    Happy ABC! :)

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  18. Hi, very colourful E post and a colourful blog too.

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  19. Nice to see something colorful growing during the winter. Those red berries would be a welcome sight during any season.

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  20. don't think I've seen much of that round here - what we get is bindweed!

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  21. Was attracted to your blog as I got married in Chippenham quite a long time ago.I haven't been back for years. Like this plant don'tknow whether it grows here.

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  22. A colourful shrub; I now know who to ask for gardening advice! (Not one of my fortes)

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  23. I had no idea it had such a nice name, we always call it holly!

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  24. A Beautiful plant for E post!
    Nice!!

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  25. Beautiful photo....and I learned something, too!

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  26. I don't think we has this plant in Norway, i have never seen it.

    But it looks lovely.

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  27. Hi VP. I like the spindle, there's lots of it in the hedges around here and its autumn colour's wonderful. I planted some in my allotment hedge but I've since learnt that it harbours the broad-bean aphid, but but the broad beans will just have to cope. The european spindle is Euonymus europaeus, I think your spindle is Asian.

    Simon

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  28. A spot of red is always a good thing.

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  29. Ooh, that's pretty. I like the colors in the leaves. Thanks for sharing.

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  30. Very pretty plant. I like the variety of colors and this is a great choice for the letter E.

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  31. I thought of Euonymus, but mine's rather bedraggled. We have a fairly acid soil here! Your's looks really healthy.

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  32. The evergrreen plant with the red berries is so very pretty.

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  33. Hi everyone - thanks for stopping by and leaving comments. I'll get back to your ABC posts over the next couple of days if I haven't already. A lousy migraine yesterday means I'm now playing Blog catchup!

    Kissa - that's quite a coincidence! I'll be writing more about Chippenham, so you'll see how it's changed and changing!

    Simon - you're right. E. planipes is from Korea/Japan. I tried to get a good link for E europea, but the pictures I found were lousy and it does need a good one to show just how spectacular it gets in the Autumn. Perhaps I'll need to go out on a photo shoot late on in the year...

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  34. The red berries are nice but I like the leaves best -- maybe the berries show the leaves off?

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  35. it must be spectaclular if it snows!

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  36. The leaves are really pretty on this plant!

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  37. Hi Paulie, Miss*r and KML - glad you liked the picture!

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