I remember the premise of a classic science fiction movie that if an object moves fast enough, it moves backward in time. During a recent brief trip to Saint Helen’s, Oregon, I have found this to be true. Of the fifty four rushed hours devoted to this trip, at least twenty four were spent driving.

While driving back through the Willamette Valley, I noticed that Spring is only beginning! Dogwoods, cherries, apples and redbuds were in full bloom. It was rather cold and even snowing in the Klamath and Siskyou Mountains. Fortunately, I drove slower on the return trip and somehow arrived back here on April 15.

It seems that much of the nursery stock that comes from Oregon arrives here in such a hurry that it too is only beginning active growth associated with very early spring. (Now this whole space - time continuum is getting confusing.) It also arrives in clay growing medium that has been irrigated with slightly acidic water. Consequently, adaptation to the Santa Clara Valley can be somewhat stressful.

Since the horticultural and agricultural industries in the Santa Clara Valley have been replaced by less appealing industries, almost all nursery stock is grown elsewhere. Some species are grown in more favorable climates to produce an optimum product which will not necessarily perform as reliably in a different climate.

For example, rhododendrons imported from Oregon and Washington may be very impressive in the nurseries because of their compact structure and profusion of bloom. However, adaptation to a new climate, soil and water (alkalinity) may be so stressful that such specimens will not likely perform similarly the following year. Most eventually recover, but never look quite like they did when new.

Most of the basic garden species are fortunately grown in Southern California or other areas of the west with similar climate and water quality. Minor differences are easily tolerated by the more resilient species. The more esoteric species are more of a concern. They are more likely to have been grown in very different conditions or ‘forced’ into bloom. Adaptation and recovery among these is more difficult.

Likewise, species that require considerably more attention than the large ‘factory’ growers can justify are usually of inferior quality if not acquired from a specialized grower. For example, citrus should not be rushed. If grown simply to be marketed as quickly as possible without sufficient time for the root systems to mature, inferior trees are produced.

Items that have been imported bare-root while dormant do not experience such problems because all new growth originates after installation into endemic soil and climate. Therefore, nursery stock in cans that had previously been imported bare-root does not experience the same stress that actively growing stock is subjected to. (Freshly canned bare-root stock should not be acquired now, but may be available later in summer.)