Tamarix

Having never met many of them before in real life, Tamarix always seemed rather delicate to me. Turns out they are pretty much indestructible. We have two of them in the garden. One grows with massive roots right out of the steep embankment on the north side of the garden. This spring it had grown so big with its huge pink fronds swaying in the strong winds that we were afraid it might be torn out and come tumbling down into the garden. So we had it cut back quite severely and not even six months later it would be impossible to tell that it had been cut back to stumps.

The other tamarix, growing next to the shed, was covered by yards and yards of wild vine and brambles when we arrived and had almost completely lost its foliage. It too has been trimmed severely and has come back ever more beautiful.

In the theory of gardening books tamarix prefer soft, moist, sandy, well-draining soil. In real life they will grow practically anywhere, whether on acidic or alcaline soil, and even in hard, rocky soil. They grow wild in Mediterranean and North African regions as well as in Asia and Northern China. Mostly in salty deserts, semi-deserts, steppes, and even mountains along rivers or springs. They like to grow near water, but they don’t need to as they will grow very deep roots in search of water.

I have no idea which variety ours are, probably Tamarix parviflora. They flower in the spring and turn a lovely golden color in late fall.