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Prunus laurocerassus 'Zabeliana'



28th November 2008 14th December 2008 3rd January 2009 3rd February 2009 14th April 2023
A low growing form with long willowy stems and thin leaves. Shorter spikes of flowers come earlier in the winter than the usual form. I still can't make up my mind if I like it or not. I planted them in a fit of nostalgia for a bed of them that I used to know but they have never quite filled me with joy. From time to time I have to remove one and I never seem to miss it.
Quietly cheering when it flowers in winter, without making a song-and-dance about it. It may set fruits but I have never noticed them and I don't find seedlings.

Trees and Shrubs Online says of it:

"Of the same type as ‘Schipkaensis’ and equally hardy. Leaves also entire, narrow, and almost willow-like, the branches growing rather stiffly and obliquely upwards. Put into commerce by Späth in 1898. It is very free flowering and valuable as a specimen or for ground-cover, retaining its low habit even in shade. It attains a width of 12 ft or even more, but is usually under 3 ft in height. At Aldenham it reached 5 ft in height and 25 ft in spread.

Milan Havlis Garden Centre (Czech Republic) notes:

"Zabeliana is an old variety whose birth dates back to the end of 19th century as it was introduced in Germany in 1898. There are no extent notes or articles about it, but it is believed to have been found by accident by a German botanist Hermann Zabel (1832-1912) who was already in his late 60’s when he spotted a natural mutation in the midst of trial fields of spireas. Those were the plants he studied thoroughly but obviously as a plant lover he could not have let go of an entirely different plant he’d not seen until then and preserving it for future generations made him immortal as the plant received his name."






References:

  • International Dendrology Society, Trees and Shrubs Online, https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/prunus/prunus-laurocerasus/ (accessed 28.10.2023).
  • Havlis nursery (Czech Republic), https://www.havlis.cz/karta_en.php?kytkaid=5008 (accessed 28.10.2023).