Arbutus marina.
GARDENINGWHEN wood sculptor Paul Sivell was looking for a suitable name for his business he was faced with panoply of choice.
Chainsaw artist Paul has come across just about every type of tree you could imagine in his many years of, first, felling and lopping, and then turning largely dead or diseased specimens into works of art and he was determined to use a tree name.
But of all the trees in all the world that he has seen, arbutus unedo (the strawberry tree) is king of the lot and the hybrid marina by far the best of the bunch. So the name?
"Marina was my favourite tree in the whole world and I would have called my business that, had it not been for the fact that the name had already been nabbed for a rubbish British car," said Paul.
So he plumped for the name Arbutus — and has never looked back.
It was my piece a couple of weeks ago about the strawberry tree that prompted Paul to tell me about the much-overlooked hybrid marina that he commends to Island gardeners.
He said: "I read with interest your article on strawberry trees. I love them and even named my carving business Arbutus.
"However, my favourite and, in my view, the most beautiful, arbutus marina, is not very well known in this country and your article overlooked it as well.
"I only know of four plants in three locations on the Island, plus another waiting to be planted out in the garden of the farmhouse at Peter Matthews’s timber yard and, although the locations vary from the shelter of the Undercliff to an exposed north facing hillside above Niton, all are thriving.
"This shrub/tree has copious clusters of pink tinged flowers, from the late summer and through the autumn, accompanied by large fruits, which ripen through yellow to orange/red and contrast with the lush green foliage and bright cinnamon bark.
"My background long ago was in arboriculture and I remember being told by one of the lecturers at college that if he was ever asked for a shrub to plant in any location and he was momentarily stuck for an answer he would always suggest the common strawberry tree, as it was tolerant of all kinds of conditions and soils.
"If anyone asks me to suggest a large shrub to plant anywhere on the Island, my first answer is always arbutus marina."
I would be interested to know of the success of marina across the Island and, next autumn, when it is flowering and fruiting all at the same time, I would love to come and see a mature specimen.
As ever, I can always be contacted at richryde@tiscali.co.uk or at the County Press, Brannon House, 123 Pyle Street, Newport P030 1ST.