Redvein Enkianthus
Family: Ericaceae (Heath family)
Genus: Enkianthus
Species: campanulatus

One of many reasons to incorporate deciduous shrubs into our Pacific Northwest home landscapes is their ability to change their look--and hence the look of the garden they're in--during each of the four seasons. As a group, these shrubs tend to spend most of the summer garbed in plain green. Between their own spring flower show and the colorful leaf display in the fall, they generally show great consideration for their plant companions and step to the back of the border--in a manner of speaking--during summer. For three months or so, deciduous shrubs don't so much shine on their own as provide a neutral and unobtrusive backdrop for dramatically colored annuals and herbaceous perennials.

Enkianthus campanulatus, commonly known as redvein enkianthus, follows this pattern exactly. By the end of June its hanging clusters of bell-shaped flowers have faded. What's left behind is foliage reminiscent of rhododendrons--the two do belong to the same family, after all, although rhodies get to keep their leaves all year. The alternate leaves of E. campanulatus, clustered at the end of each stem, will turn brilliant yellow, red, and orange before they fall to the ground in late fall, but for now they're green and the plant itself is relatively unadorned. A little later in the season brown fruits will appear on spidery stems where once there were flowers. The seeds themselves are hard to spot, but if you do break open the fruit and find one, you'll recognize it by its tiny wings.

It's the shape of the flowers that gave this genus its name. Enkianthus combines two Greek words meaning swollen--the connotation is the kind of belly characteristic of pregnancy--and flower, respectively. The common name--redvein--describes the creamy white flowers that are marked with red lines. The fact that they look like little bells names the species, as campanulatus is Latin for "bell-shaped." There are only a dozen other species of Enkianthus, and they are all native to the hillsides of north Asia.

The flowers of E. campanulatus will remind you of the ones you've seen on the evergreen Pieris. The two are closely related, both belonging to the Ericaceae family and both native to the same regions. Enkianthus includes no North American natives, but both Pieris and Rhododendron do. The heath family is a well-traveled lot. The members put down roots around the world, wherever they find the cool temperatures and rocky, acid soils they need to thrive.

Your enkianthus will insist on acid soil and a regular supply of moisture plus good drainage. Where rhodies and camellias thrive, enkianthus will too. In our climate, full sun in the morning and a bit of shade in the afternoon during summer is just about perfect. You'll have no pruning chores, because enkianthus has a very nice form on its own: an upright stem with orderly, offshooting branches forming a series of layered planes that are very pleasing, structurally, in the winter garden. The branches can reach out three to four feet from the center of the plant, so give it room--even though you'll find it grows very slowly--and count on a height of as much as ten feet. Too big for your yard? Seek out smaller cultivars. There are several very attractive ones available. E. campanulatus 'Red Bells' has flowers that live up to their name and brilliant fall color, and grows to its mature size of three-by-six feet in perhaps fifteen years.

In addition to its year-round beauty, E. campanulatus is favored by sensible gardeners who choose plants least likely to succumb to the first nasty creature or malady that appears on the scene. Here's what Carl Salsedo, Extension Educator with the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension System has to say about that:

"There really are not any plants that are truly not susceptible to insect and diseases. There are a number of plants that appear less prone to insect and disease damage. For example, shrubs such as smokebush, Bayberry, Highbush blueberry, Chokeberry, enkianthus, fothergilla, oak leaf hydrangea, blue holly, winterberry, spice bush and American cranberry bush are somewhat disease and insect proof. Trees such as Hinoki Cypress, white fringe tree, ginkgo (Gingko biloba), blue atlas cedar, amur maple, concolor fir, cedar of Lebanon, and katsura trees are also somewhat disease and insect proof."

A number of great choices for our gardens, don't you think? If you'd like to read more of what Mr. Salsedo has to say about sustainable landscaping for water quality, just travel to http://www.canr.uconn.edu/sustainability/sustain/sustainfact.html.

Lest you think that what's good for Connecticut might not be good for Washington--and in some cases you'd be right--consider that Enkianthus campanulatus is one of the Great Plant Picks chosen under the auspices of the Elisabeth Carey Miller Botanical Garden in Seattle. You can read more about this organization and the other featured plants at http://www.greatplantpicks.org/index.php.