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Trees Should Fit Their Gardens

Some trees eventually grow very large.

A tree is a woody perennial plant with a single tall trunk and branches. However, several tree types can not conform with this overly simplistic definition. Palm trees and tree ferns are neither woody nor branched. Although branching, arboriform yuccas and dracaenas are no woodier than palms. Banana trees develop a few unbranched herbaceous trunks.

Actually, several types of trees do not conform with their own definition. Many Japanese maples, crape myrtles and olive trees develop multiple trunks. Many citrus are not as tall as big shrubbery. Papayas are merely large perennials that survive for only a few years. Banyans support their canopies with multiple aerial roots instead of conventional trunks.

Generally, though, trees are the most significant living components within their gardens. Not much else within home gardens is as big or as permanent as its trees are. Some old oaks inhabited their gardens centuries before their gardens. Some old redwoods contain more lumber than their associated homes. Many trees influence adjacent home gardens.

This is why proper selection is so important. Trees must be appropriate to their particular applications. They should remain proportionate to their particular situations, even if they live for centuries. They should not generate more mess than those living with them want to contend with. Also, they should not require more maintenance than they will likely get.

Shade trees near houses should be deciduous to allow sunshine through during winter. Evergreens at a distance can obscure unwanted scenery throughout the year. Evergreen vegetation is generally a bit messier than deciduous vegetation, though. It sheds through the year instead of only in autumn. Utility cables and easements limit placement of trees.

Many municipalities have adopted strict tree preservation ordinances. Such ordinances protect heritage trees or trees that exceed a particular size. They often make it difficult or impossible to remove unwanted and problematic trees. Preemptive selection of the most appropriate tree varieties helps avoid such situations. Prevention is better than the cure.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 15 Comments

Six on Saturday: Nursery Projects

The nursery at work should not be as much work as it is. It produces more than we use.

1. Musa ingens, oem, or giant highland banana, is pupping, with three new pups poking through the jade plant that covers the medium around the base of the original specimen.

2. Pulmonaria officinalis, lungwort covers the medium around the base of a specimen of ‘Mekong Giant’ banana. This plant blooms pink, and is from Tangly Cottage Gardening.

3. Salvia greggii, autumn sage grew in a vacant pot of otherwise empty medium. It may be useful within one of our landscapes. Its parent is ‘Hot Lips’. It is very likely the same.

4. Cydonia oblonga, quince is one of a few small rooted cuttings of an understock sucker of a pear tree. It is useful for grafting certain pears, but I will retain one to produce fruit.

5. Hesperaloe parviflora, red yucca is growing from seed that I brought from Arizona. It is considerably more abundant than expected. What can I do with eighty-six red yuccas?

6. Saccharum officinarum ‘Purple Ribbon’ sugarcane grew fast enough from bits of cane last year to produce a short length of new cane. It recently shed old leaves to expose this.

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/

Posted on by tonytomeo

Coleus

Coleus can be a delightful houseplant.

The colorful foliage of coleus, Coleus scutellarioides, is exquisite. It is comparable to the floral display of other more popular warm season annuals. With rich soil and systematic watering, it grows efficiently through the warmth of spring. Removal of floral spikes of tiny blue flowers through summer promotes more foliar growth. Foliage can last until autumn.

Coleus foliage is elaborately variegated with many distinct color combinations. The color range includes green, chartreuse, yellow, orange, red, burgundy, pink, white and brown. Variegation is typically in symmetrical patterns, but can be random blotches and streaks. Leaves can be intricately lobed or merely serrate. Growth can be two feet high and wide.

Although a warm season annual within home gardens, coleus is a perennial houseplant. It tries to bloom more as it matures, though. Vegetative stems root efficiently as cuttings, even in water. New cuttings can replace deteriorating old plants. As a houseplant, coleus needs a relatively sunny situation. Within home gardens, it tolerates some partial shade. Aphid can be a problem.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 7 Comments

Colorful Foliage Regardless Of Bloom

Dusty miller has silvery gray foliage.

Home gardens display more floral color now than at any other time of year. So much is in bloom. So much more is generating fresh new foliage. Most, but not all, of such foliage is green. Some is splendidly colorful. Although foliar color is generally not as vivid as floral color, it lasts longer. Some evergreen colorful foliage retains its color throughout the year.

Colorful foliage is not the same as foliage that turns color for autumn, although it can be. Most is evergreen. Generally, it is most colorful as it grows fresh through warming spring weather. Some fades somewhat through summer. Some deciduous colorful foliage also turns color for autumn. Also, some foliarly colorful species provide fruit or showy flowers.

A few cultivars of European elderberry with bronze or variegated foliage produce berries. Variegated pink lemon is, as its name implies, both variegated and fruitful. Smoke tree is fruitless, but is colorful twice. It is either dark bronze or bright chartreuse yellow for spring and summer. Then, it turns color for autumn. It lacks color only while bare through winter.

Colorful foliage can be bronze, silver, gold or variegated. Bronze is the most varied since it can be bronzy shades of purple, red, orange or brown. Purple leaf plum is probably the most familiar tree with bronzy purple foliage. A few cultivars of New Zealand flax produce foliage that is either bronze or variegated. Their variegations can be bronze, gold or pink.

Silver foliage occurs mostly among plants that are endemic to high elevations or deserts. Such color reflects some of the harshly intense sunlight to protect the foliage from scald. Both Colorado blue spruce and Arizona cypress are naturally endemic to high elevation. Blue agave is endemic to deserts. Silvery foliage can be gray, pale blue or almost white.

Colorful foliage is not otherwise an advantage, though. Gold and variegated foliage has less chlorophyll than green foliage, so grows slower. New Zealand flax, smoke tree and elderberry can be either gold or bronze. Gold cultivars of each are innately less vigorous than the bronze. Coleus and caladium are among the most variegated of colorful foliage.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 14 Comments

Six on Saturday: Rhody’s Rhodies 2026

Rhody’s rhodies have been blooming spectacularly. It is not easy to limit their picture to only six. There are so many cultivars.

1. White is generally my favorite color. However, most white rhododendrons are blushed with another color, so are not pure white. This one usually exhibits a bit of a pink blush.

2. Pink is the most common color among rhododendron cultivars. That certainly can not discredit any of them. They all are pretty. This cultivar eventually fades almost to white.

3. Lavender is one of the lesser common colors among rhododendron cultivars. Purple is more common. I may get a picture of a purple rhododendron for Sunday Best tomorrow.

4. Fuchsia is one of the many colors that many guys can not perceive. This looks pink to me. I guess it is slightly richer pink than the other pink rhododendron, but only slightly.

5. Magenta is another color that many guys have difficulty perceiving. I can merely guess that this is magenta because it resembles the rich color of ‘Barbara Karst’ bougainvillea.

6. Red is an easier color, although Rhody can perceive it no better than pink, magenta or fuchsia. As a canine, he sees just blue and yellow. Regardless, these are Rhody’s rhodies.

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/

Posted on by tonytomeo

Mexican Snowball

Mexican snowball is easy to propagate.

Some might know Mexican snowball, Echeveria elegans, as hen and chicks. However, a few species of Echeveria and related Sempervivum have the same name. Foliar rosettes produce smaller rosettes that resemble chicks around their mother hen. Smaller rosettes, or pups, are easy to separate and grow into new plants. Some might already have roots.

Individual rosettes seem to be nearly spherical, but are a bit wider than high. The biggest are only about four inches wide. The evergreen foliage is very pale bluish green. Leaves are plumply succulent. Their arrangement is neatly symmetrical like scales of pinecones. Rosettes form colonies, which resemble stashes of snowballs more than hen and chicks.

Mexican snowball prefers sunny exposures with regular irrigation. It can tolerate a slight bit of shade and lapses of irrigation, though. It is popular as a component of mixed small perennials in large pots or urns. For low stone retaining walls or berms, it can grow from crevices. Its small pink flowers with yellow tips usually bloom as winter becomes spring. Although small, the color contrasts nicely with such pale foliage.

Posted on by tonytomeo

Succulents Within Average Home Gardens

Succulents contribute form, color and texture.

All cacti are succulents. So are all agaves. Technically, yuccas are too, even though they are no more succulent than palm trees. Perhaps that is why succulents have a reputation as xerophytic plants. In other words, succulents are supposedly drought tolerant. Most of these examples are. However, there are more succulents than cacti, agaves and yuccas.

Cacti, agaves and yuccas, as well as some of the euphorbias, are the spiny succulents. It is how they defend themselves from hungry herbivores within their natural ecosystems. Although they have a reputation as xerophytic, some uncommon sorts are quite tropical. Some can grow quite big, and because of their spines, can become difficult to work with.

Fortunately, many other succulents are neither as spiny nor as potentially cumbersome. However, contrary to popular conception, many of them are also not as xerophytic. Many that can survive with minimal irrigation perform better with occasional irrigation. Several require regular irrigation. Succulents should not be synonymous with drought tolerance.

Aeoniums, or houseleeks, can easily survive with minimal irrigation for a significant time. However, their otherwise luxuriant foliar rosettes partially defoliate to conserve moisture. With regular irrigation, they are lush, sculptural and colorful. Some are rich bronze while others exhibit delightful variegation. Aeoniums are among the more popular succulents.

Almost all small scale succulents, and a few larger ones, are easy to grow from cuttings. Clumping sorts, such as echeveria, are about as easy to propagate by division. Cuttings or pups of most sorts can be plugged directly where new plants are desirable. They only require frequent watering as they disperse roots. Then, they need only regular irrigation.

Also, almost all succulents can grow in pots. Cacti merely require very efficient drainage. Some big and spiny succulents, though, are not as portable as other potted plants. Large cacti can break if jarred. Agaves can get too heavy and broad to move safely. Otherwise, confinement of roots within pots is no problem. Some potted plants can be houseplants.