I grew up in Darley Abbey and can confirm the den tree is a thing of joy. There are so many unusual specimens in Darley Park, as well as a large collection of rhododendrons.
I’m so pleased you know the tree Naomi, I felt sure it must have been admired by many people over the years. Although it appears to be quite a small thing, I guess it may have been there for quite some time, I wonder how many generations have enjoyed it. I was most impressed by many of the trees in Darley Park, some lovely old oaks too!
Thanks Paul. I’ve been to that park but failed to notice it. It looks nothing like a “standard” ash from the pic and the single-leaf description. I guess its identity as an ash is established because it’s a documented cultivar of two other ashes... but would a good tree spotter be able to deduce this just from visual inspection? And how? (Seeds? Flower?...)
My description of it being ‘two cultivars in one’ was a slightly misleading figure of speech, it is actually a cultivar of the regular ash, but one that exhibits two distinct characteristics: weeping branches and single, non-compound or pinnate leaves, both of which are, singly, the defining characteristics of other ash cultivars. If you happen to be in Derby tomorrow, or any other time this winter, you would see it has black leaf buds like the regular species, and in the pic of leaves, you can spot a few flowers which are the same as the species. If it produces seeds, those too would be like this of the species, and if you planted one, chances are you would get a ‘normal’ ash seedlings. If that makes sense…
I grew up in Darley Abbey and can confirm the den tree is a thing of joy. There are so many unusual specimens in Darley Park, as well as a large collection of rhododendrons.
I’m so pleased you know the tree Naomi, I felt sure it must have been admired by many people over the years. Although it appears to be quite a small thing, I guess it may have been there for quite some time, I wonder how many generations have enjoyed it. I was most impressed by many of the trees in Darley Park, some lovely old oaks too!
Thanks Paul. I’ve been to that park but failed to notice it. It looks nothing like a “standard” ash from the pic and the single-leaf description. I guess its identity as an ash is established because it’s a documented cultivar of two other ashes... but would a good tree spotter be able to deduce this just from visual inspection? And how? (Seeds? Flower?...)
My description of it being ‘two cultivars in one’ was a slightly misleading figure of speech, it is actually a cultivar of the regular ash, but one that exhibits two distinct characteristics: weeping branches and single, non-compound or pinnate leaves, both of which are, singly, the defining characteristics of other ash cultivars. If you happen to be in Derby tomorrow, or any other time this winter, you would see it has black leaf buds like the regular species, and in the pic of leaves, you can spot a few flowers which are the same as the species. If it produces seeds, those too would be like this of the species, and if you planted one, chances are you would get a ‘normal’ ash seedlings. If that makes sense…
Very interesting, Paul, thanks. I’ve never seen a Fraxinus excelsior ‘Diversifolia’ never mind a weeping cultivar!
Well, nor had I until I visited Derby!
*I mean ‘Diversifolia Pendula’, ‘Diversifolia’ is actually rather common, but is so unlike a regular ash, it probably goes unnoticed by many.