Posted on by tonytomeo

Six on Saturday: Rhododendrons Must Wait

Rhodies are in bloom now, but will need to wait while I show off five other blooms.

1. Sambucus nigra ‘Purpurea’ elderberry is already blooming. Is this early? It did not get pruned while dormant in winter. I must see if the native blue elderberries are blooming.

2. Disocactus flagelliformis, rat tail cactus is more out of focus than the elderberry. It is one of only a few potted plants that gets moved into the landscapes only while blooming.

3. Rosa spp., rose was not blooming for last Saturday when six roses were featured here. This particular rose was removed from its landscape a few years ago, but not reassigned.

4. Iris X germanica, bearded iris came back with me from one of the lodges that I spent a night at on one of my several trips to the Pacific Northwest. All our irises have history.

5. Epiphyllum spp., orchid cactus, like the rat tail cactus, was relocated into a landscape as it began to bloom. It has been here for several years, but has not bloomed like this yet.

6. Rhody has been absent from Six on Saturday for quite a while. He makes it difficult to get a good picture of him. Perhaps I will take some pictures of his rhodies for next week.

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 · 4 Comments

Pygmy Date Palm

Pygmy date palm is quite diminutive.

Canary Island date palm is the grandest of palm trees locally. Pygmy date palm, Phoenix roebelenii, is of the same genus, but conversely diminutive. Only a few very old trees are more than ten feet tall. Its pinnately compound leaves are less than four feet long. Its thin leaflets are less than ten inches long. The evergreen foliage is billowy with a fine texture.

However, inner foliage is somewhat spiny. Like all date palms, pygmy date palm defends its single terminal buds. The spines are actually specialized proximal leaflets. Unlike all other date palms, mature pygmy date palms are not conducive to relocation. Fortunately, they are compact enough to remain in large pots indefinitely. Many have multiple trunks.

Pygmy date palm, with enough sunlight, is a splendid houseplant. It is also proportionate to compact atriums and enclosed patios. It is ideal for those who enjoy the aesthetics but not the scale of big palm trees. Visually, pygmy date palm resembles common date palm more than Canary Island date palm. It appreciates regular irrigation, particularly if potted.

Posted on by tonytomeo

Palm Trees Within Home Gardens

Palm trees make a bold statement.

Trees conform to an overly vague definition. Most simply, they are substantial and woody perennial plants with tall trunks and branches. Yet, several Japanese maple trees are no more substantial than big shrubbery. Tree ferns and banana trees are neither woody nor branched. Arboriform yucca trees and palm trees are technically herbaceous, not woody.

Doum palms, which are the only palms that develop branches, are extremely rare locally. Any other palm which develops a branch is an extremely rare aberration. Therefore, with very few and extremely rare exceptions, palm trees develop no branches. A few, such as the Mediterranean fan palm, develop a few trunks though. All trunks develop at the base.

Palm trees are either fan palms or feather palms. Fan palms have round palmate leaves on sturdy petioles. Feather palms have elongated pinnately compound leaves on sturdy rachises. Most fan palms have nasty teeth on their petioles. Several feather palms have dangerously sharp spines on the bases of their rachises. All palms trees are evergreen.

Once palm trunks begin to grow upward, they do not widen. Nor do their foliar canopies. They grow only vertically. Those that encroach into high voltage cables require removal. Unfortunately, most palm trees grow high enough to necessitate the services of arborists. Although trunks do not expand, some large palms develop widely distended basal roots.

Mexican fan palms are the most prominent of palm trees locally because they are so tall. California fan palms, or desert fan palms, are shorter and stouter but much less common. Canary Island date palms are big and bold feather palms with wide and dense canopies. Common date palms, which only became common recently, are not as broad and dense.

Queen palms develop billowy and feathery canopies on tall and elegant trunks. They are among the most popular of palm trees nowadays. Windmill palms are relatively small fan palms with very shaggy trunks, but can grow tall. Mediterranean fan palms stay lower but with a few curving trunks. These are merely a few examples of many different palm trees. A few more are available. Bismarck palm and hesper palm are becoming more popular.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 14 Comments

Six on Saturday: Rose Parade 2026

Roses are in season and blooming now.

1. Color seems to be somewhat deficient with this first and the last of these Six. This rose is actually more butterscotch colored than pale yellow. It is probably the best performer.

2. This rose might be ‘Double Delight’. It looks like it at times, and is nicely fragrant. It is unfortunately the least florific, though. It may not bloom for the second half of summer.

3. Deer have access to these next four roses, so occasionally eat the buds before they can bloom. We appreciate what we can get when we get it. This one seems to be a floribunda.

4. Yellow is not a common color within our landscapes. This is the only rose that is plain yellow, and is not in a prominent situation. It is still recovering from relocation last year.

5. Does this one resemble ‘Seashell’? With so many cultivars available, it is impossible to know. I like to think that it is. I can remember when ‘Seashell’ was popular in 1976 or so.

6. Again, it is impossible to identify the unidentified roses that were recycled from other landscapes or home gardens. I like to assume that this one might be ‘Chrysler Imperial’.

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

Japanese Boxwood

Japanese boxwood makes splendid compact hedges.

Formal boxwood hedges are traditional components of old rose gardens. They are short enough to not obscure the bloom of the roses. Yet, they are dense enough to obscure the less appealing bases of rose shrubs. English boxwood is more common where winter is cooler. Locally, Japanese boxwood, Buxus microphylla, has always been more popular.

Mature specimens generally stay less than three feet tall and wide. They can grow twice as large without pruning. Their glossy evergreen leaves are only about half an inch to an inch long. The foliar texture is quite dense, so is very conducive to formal shearing. Bark is light brown or gray, but is not often visible within such dense foliage. Roots are docile.

Old fashioned Japanese boxwood has somewhat yellowish green foliar color. It remains the most common cultivar within old gardens. Modern cultivars are notably darker green. At least one modern cultivar is even more compact and globular than the simple species. Another is fastigiate. ‘Borderline’ foliage is variegated with light yellow or white margins.

Posted on by tonytomeo

Pruning At The Proper Time

Timely pruning can allow for bloom.

Motorized hedge shears are the most overused home garden power tools. They are very useful for hedges and similarly shorn shrubbery. The problem is that they too often shear vegetation that needs different types of pruning. Also, they often perform proper shearing at improper times. The efficiency is a distraction from seasonality and proper horticulture.

Dormant pruning happens during winter while subjects are most dormant. It is the proper technique for deciduous fruit trees, roses and many deciduous species. However, winter may not be the best time to prune certain evergreen species. Dormancy may not be such an advantage for them. It limits the ability to outgrow the evidence of pruning or shearing.

For example, an English laurel hedge appears quite tattered immediately after shearing. As it resumes growth at this time of year, it recovers very efficiently. Therefore, it does not appear to be tattered for very long. However, recovery would have been quite slow while growth was slower during winter. Autumn and winter are not good times for such pruning.

Actually, this is a good time to prune or shear all sorts of evergreen hedges. Pittosporum, privet, xylosma and boxwood all recover efficiently from such techniques. They will likely need pruning again, and perhaps a few times, through summer. Then, their growth slows sometime during autumn. Hopefully, they will not need pruning until the following spring.

Some evergreen shrubbery blooms for spring, though. Premature pruning would deprive them of such bloom. Laurustinus is likely already finished blooming, so may be ready for pruning now. Lemon bottlebrush, though, blooms somewhat later. If possible, its pruning should occur after its primary late spring bloom. It will hopefully not grow too big by then.

Photinia is now generating appealingly coppery red new foliage. Pruning would remove much of such foliage, so should be a bit later if possible. Then, shearing as foliage turns green would promote another phase of red new foliage. Of course, photinia trees are too large for such shearing. Also, trees bloom more than regularly pruned hedges or shrubs. Some find the floral fragrance of photinia bloom to be objectionable.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 14 Comments

Six on Saturday: Return Home

These are some of the flowers that I observed in bloom when Rhody and I returned from vacation in Washington. (Most bloomed last week.)

1. Rubus parviflorus, thimbleberry is actually not much to brag about. It just looks more impressive in a closeup picture. This flower is not much bigger than a blackberry flower.

2. Prunus serrulata ‘Kwanzan’ flowering cherry is sort of still blooming. Well, the bloom is really beginning to deteriorate. It is the last of all flowering cherry trees here to bloom.

3. Iris series Californicae, Pacific Coast iris blooms in various shades of blue, purple, red and yellow, and of course, white. A variety of this iris series might bloom apricot orange.

4. Clivia miniata, Kaffir lily got to bloom this year. The same specimen produced a floral stalk which got broken off last year. This particular cultivar has yellow foliar variegation.

5. Cymbidium spp., orchid is blooming even after some aggressive division. At least one of its seven pups also bloomed well. Prior to division, it bloomed with eight floral stalks!

6. Rosa spp. ‘Double Delight’ rose bloomed before the other roses in its garden, although other roses are blooming concurrently in another of our gardens about half a mile away.

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

Western Sword Fern

Western sword fern is a native.

Of the native ferns, Western sword fern, Polystichum munitum, is the most common. Yet, it can be difficult to cultivate outside of its native range. Regional symbiotic soil microbes might be what limit its adaptability beyond its range. Locally in the wild, it prefers riparian situations. Within home gardens, established specimens are impressively undemanding.

As an understory species, Western sword fern should probably prefer partial shade. Yet, it can perform as well with full sun exposure. Although it appreciates organically rich soil, it can be satisfied with soil of inferior quality. New or relocated specimens need frequent irrigation as they disperse roots. Monthly irrigation can suffice for established specimens.

Western sword fern grows about two or three feet tall, but can get taller in partial shade. It might be twice as wide. The evergreen foliage is dark forest green. Individual leaves are pinnately compound and arching. New leaves mostly obscure old leaves that deteriorate after their first or second year. Shabby specimens regenerate well after getting cut back.