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Six on Saturday: More Memories

Nearly everything in my garden has history of some sort.

1. Aloe arborescens, candelabra aloe came from the home of a friend in the East Hills of San Jose about twenty years ago. It is the only one of these six that was not just planted.

2. Aloe barbadensis, aloe vera came from my former neighborhood in town. I relocated decades ago, but got pups from a former neighbor who also took some to her new home.

3. Hesperaloe parviflora, red yucca came from Surprise, to the northwest of Phoenix in Arizona, near the new home of my former neighbor who gave me the few aloe vera pups.

4. Yucca desmetiana ‘Blue Boy’ yucca was a Christmas gift several years ago. It had been confined to its can within partial shade for too long. It already has stout but bare trunks.

5. Yucca glauca, soapweed grew from seed that I collected at a gas station somewhere in New Mexico on the way to Oklahoma in late 2012. It must be happy to be in the ground.

6. Yucca arkansana, Arkansas yucca, contrary to its name, came from Newalla, just east of Oklahoma City in Oklahoma, not long after I acquired the soapweed seed in late 2012.

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/

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English Ivy

English Ivy often climbs into trees.

With containment, English ivy, Hedera helix, is a dense and evergreen groundcover. As it matures, it eventually excludes weeds. Containment is very important, though. It grows fast into trees and shrubbery, and clings to buildings. On buildings, it promotes decay of wood siding and ruins paint. As a vine, it is safe only on concrete and cinder block walls.

Juvenile growth of English ivy is mostly rather compact. Ideally, it is less than six inches deep. It gets a bit deeper where shaded. Leaves are as wide as three and a half inches. Stems develop roots where they touch the soil. Adult growth is shrubby, though, and can protrude several feet higher than its support. It blooms and produces small black berries.

‘Hahn’s’ is probably the most popular cultivar of English ivy because it branches so well. ‘Needlepoint’ has elegantly narrow foliar lobes. Cultivars with yellow or white variegation grow notably slower. They are popular as foliar components in big pots of mixed annuals and perennials. Some of the hundreds of cultivars are more popular as houseplants than outside.

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Vines Are Naturally Very Competitive

Some vines climb with clinging roots.

Nature is competitive. Competition is natural. In the wild, vegetation competes for limited resources. Where sunlight is a limited resource within forest ecosystems, competition for it is fierce. Understory vegetation does what it can in the shade of taller trees. Taller trees strive to be the tallest for more sunlight. Vines are the most aggressive competitors of all.

Vines are blatantly exploitative. They rely on trees to do the work of growing to the top of the forest canopy. Then, they climb into and over such trees to grow even higher than the trees do. Some can overwhelm and even shade out and kill the trees that they rely on for support. Strangler fig literally strangles its hosts as it develops its own supportive trunks.

Vines climb with clinging roots, twining stems, tendrils, twining leaves or hooked thorns. Some are perennials or even annuals. Some sprawl over the ground while juvenile, and then climb as they encounter support. As they reach the top of their supports, such vines generate shrubbier adult growth. Then, such adult growth can bloom and generate seed.

English ivy, for example, is a practical groundcover plant in its juvenile form. However, it becomes a clinging vine when it finds support. It quite often climbs shrubbery, trees and buildings. If left unattended, it develops into shrubbier growth that blooms and produces seed. Such shrubby growth shades desirable vegetation, and on buildings, promotes rot.

Carolina jessamine, lilac vine, mandevilla and wisteria climb by twining stems. They are generally not as potentially destructive as clinging vines. However, they can crush lattice or small trellises. Wisteria can crush substantial trellises. Like English ivy, star jasmine is likely more popular as a ground cover. It performs double duty, though, as a twining vine.

Bougainvillea neither clings nor twines. It merely produces vigorously tall canes that flop over on top of their support. Long thorns help to anchor them into place. Therefore, such canes need a bit of help to climb trellises or other support. They must be tied in place or woven into their trellises. Various other vines exhibit various and distinct characteristics.

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Six on Saturday: TIMBER!

Several large trees needed to be removed at work.

1. The steeple of the Mount Hermon Memorial Chapel (el Catedral de Santa Clara de Los Gatos) is now visible. It had been mostly obscured by a big Douglas fir and a big tan oak.

2. This new view of stately redwoods is also visible behind the Mount Hermon Memorial Chapel. It had previously been cluttered with tan oaks, bays and another big Douglas fir.

3. Logs were still strewn about when I took these pictures on Wednesday. Unfortunately, a few redwoods needed to be removed also. The largest trunks will be milled for lumber.

4. The stump to the lower right was cut last Monday or Tuesday. The stump to the upper left was cut when the redwoods were harvested, prior to 1906, more than 120 years ago.

5. Alyssum, wax begonia and zonal geranium should perform much better with so much more sunshine. (Stock will be removed for summer.) They had always been in the shade.

6. This rose, although irrelevant to the topic, is the token flower of my Six for this week. It is too colorful to omit. I have no idea what cultivar it is. It was red, then faded to pink.

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/

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Zinnia

Zinnias are excellent as cut flowers.

Extensive breeding complicates the identity of modern garden zinnias. Although they are products of several species, most identify simply as Zinnia elegans. They exhibit a broad range of floral color and form. Short varieties grow only a few inches tall. Large varieties grow as tall as two and a half feet. They are warm season annuals that bloom until frost.

The two to four inch wide flowers bloom in phases as long as the weather is warm. Their floral color can be yellow, orange, red, purple, pink, salmon, chartreuse or bronze. Some varieties have striped or freckled flowers. Some resemble daisies, with big petals around prominent centers. Pom-pom types produce puffier flowers with nearly obscured centers.

Zinnias enjoy good exposure and rich soil. The paired and very slightly raspy leaves can be susceptible to powdery mildew. Removal of deteriorating flowers promotes continual bloom. However, a few can remain to produce seed for the following season. Their seed should be sown as soon as possible after the last frost. Zinnias are excellent cut flowers, and can last for a week or even two.

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Catalog Shopping Affords More Options

Exline Iris Garden sells only iris.

Local retail nurseries can sell more varieties of more types of plants than anyone needs. That which is unavailable from one nursery is likely available from another. That which is unavailable from any local nursery might not perform well locally. There really should be no need for catalog or online shopping. Of course, many garden enthusiasts would differ.

Catalog shopping, whether from a printed catalog or online, affords many more options. Such catalogs are from specialty nurseries that specialize in particular plants. They lack in selection of different types of plants, but excel at their particular specialties. Therefore, they can sell more varieties of their type of plant. They do not need to stay open all year.

Exline Iris Garden, for example, grows and sells only iris. Their catalog features nothing else. However, it does feature 1,231 cultivars of iris! Most retail nurseries that market iris can not provide one percent of that. Exline Iris Garden accepts orders only from January to early September. Such orders go out for delivery only from July until early September.

This delivery date range conforms to the dormancy cycles of the iris rhizomes. Similarly, delivery of bare root fruit trees and roses occurs only during bare root season. Delivery of bulbs also happens while such bulbs are dormant. Some plants, particularly evergreens, can be ready for delivery at any time of year. Their roots may be contained in potting soil.

Other restrictions may apply. Some plants are unavailable for import into California from other states. They may have potential to become invasive or transmit disease. Citrus, for example, can transmit disease. Therefore, it is unavailable for import. Some plants might be dissatisfied with local climates. Peonies are not recommended locally for that reason.

Seed has fewer, if any restrictions. Most is cleaned so that it should not transmit disease. Seed for the most invasive plants is mostly unavailable. Seed are much less perishable than other plant items, which facilitates delivery. Each seed catalog features more variety than any garden can accommodate. Nowadays, almost every print catalog is also online.

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Six on Saturday: Surprise! III

Gardening is full of surprises. These are a few that I noticed last Thursday. I could have found more surprises, but that would have been more than six.

1. Jasminum humile, yellow jasmine is a real dud. It does not bloom nearly as profusely as I expected it to. Upon closer inspection, though, the flowers are surprisingly fragrant.

2. Lobelia erinus, lobelia self sowed and grew amongst weeds. However, no lobelia grew in the surrounding landscapes. The source of the seed is a mystery. What a nice surprise.

3. Digitalis purpurea, foxglove blooms either white or bright pink. Occasionally, lighter pink blooms are observed. This feral specimen, though, is surprisingly light peachy pink.

4. Aquilegia canadensis, columbine refuses to grow well where we plant it, but manages to bloom enough to toss seed to grow where it wants to. It should be no surprise but it is.

5. Dianthus caryophyllus, carnation was planted as a cool season annual a few years ago but has been retained, and surprisingly lives as a perennial as annuals change around it.

6. Camellia japonica, camellia bloomed well through winter, and then seemed to finish, just before surprising us with this last errant bloom. This is my favorite of the camellias.

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/

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Coast Live Oak

Coast live oak grows quite large.

Coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia, is more adaptable in the wild than in home gardens. It can grow in groves or mix with other tree species, particularly at the coast. Alternatively, it can grow solitarily in open grassland, particularly inland. Solitary specimens can be a few centuries old. They can grow as tall and wide as seventy-five feet, with a few trunks.

Within irrigated home gardens, though, coast live oak likely does not survive for as long. It is impossible to know because no home garden here is a few centuries old. With water, young specimens mature faster than they would in the wild. Once established though, no irrigation is needed. Mature wild specimens often succumb to root rot with new irrigation.

Coast live oak is more appealing in the wild than within home gardens anyway. It sheds foliar debris continually, particularly as new foliage emerges during spring. Although it is technically evergreen, it replaces its foliage annually. Its foliar debris is mildly herbicidal to delicate plants below, and stains pavement. Every few years, acorns are very prolific. Seedlings can appear in the oddest of situations.