Frost is not a problem here. The several species here that are not resilient to frost are the problem. The first of my Six actually has no problem with frost, but does have a problem with starting too late to finish prior to frost next winter. The second also has no problem with frost, but does not want to bloom as weather cools into autumn. The other four are from a frostless region of Los Angeles. I neglected to protect them from the earliest frost last winter because I did not expect it. Their recovery was slow through mild spring and summer weather. They are now growing vigorously rather than decelerating for autumn. This increases their vulnerability to frost next winter.

1. Dahlia X pinnata, mixed dinnerplate dahlias are starting to grow, with only a third of their season left. I described the delay last week. Only three of two dozen survived so far.

2. Gardenia jasminoides, gardenia seems to be healthy, and generated a typical number of floral buds, but is now shedding such floral buds, likely in response to cooling nights.

3. Solandra maxima, cup of gold vine was new here when it got frosted last winter, then grew slowly through atypically cool weather last spring, and is now growing like a weed!

4. Platycerium bifurcatum, staghorn fern also waited a bit too long to start growing like this. It could eventually enjoy rain and humidity through winter, but not even mild frost.

5. Heliconia psittacorum, parakeet flower has done well since last winter. I brought nine rhizomes from Los Angeles. They are still a bit too small to survive average frost though.

6. Dichorisandra thyrsiflora, blue ginger is likely even more vulnerable to frost. Most of its cuttings did not survive last winter. I am impressed and pleased with the six that did.

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/

21 thoughts on “Six on Saturday: Frosty Forecast”

    1. Cup of gold vine is uncommon because it is so vigorous and rampant. It is more uncommon here than in Southern California because it is vulnerable to minor frost. I have been wanting to grow it for a long time though. I just could not think of a good excuse to do so. I am no longer waiting for an excuse. I took some pieces back from Brent’s garden, and will figure out what to do with them after winter.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  2. Didn’t know the Dichorisandra thyrsiflora but it will give you very nice flowers !! Same thing about the heliconia psittacorum. Here I grow for the first time Heliconia shiediana, it’s saying it’s the most hardy heliconia for us in Northern Europe

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Dichorisandra thyrsiflora has been an elusive species since we were kids. Brent saw it in Hawaii when he was a kid, but could never find it in California. Once he did, he purchased two, one for his garden, and one for me to grow copies from. Well, because Brent is such an idiot, he installed one at one of his job sites. I got the copies that are here from scraps from the specimen in his garden, which has grown quite nicely. Now that they are here, I can grow more later. It is not actually related to ginger, and is less resilient to frost, but wants the same environmental conditions as various gingers. The Heliconia psittacorum was not planned. Brent just wanted it gone from his garden, so I took it here. I do not know what cultivar it is, but I enjoy it anyway. Heliconia shiediana is a bigger and more striking species, with weirdly impressive bloom.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. That is what I should have avoided. I should have been satisfied with species that perform well within this climate zone, and require no protection from frost. Much of what I brought here should have stayed in Southern California. The staghorn fern pups came from a massive specimen that is nearly as old as I am. I believe that it was put where it is now in 1968, and was a few years old at that time.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. They are exotic here also. None are native. Dahlias and gardenias perform well here with irrigation. Staghorn fern performs reasonably well where not exposed to frost. The others are more vulnerable to frost. I should have left them down South.

      Like

      Reply

  5. Ahh Gardenia! Growing up in San Diego, we had a neighbor down the block who had a swimming pool. All neighborhood children lived in his pool all summer. I was not fascinated by plants back then, but he had an amazing array of fruit trees in the back and to get to the pool, you had to pass a gardenia hedge. The smell or even the memory of it takes me back.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Gardenia is not as reliable here. Some perform reliably well in situations that I would not expect them to be so happy with. I am confident that this one will be happy where it will go, but getting it to retain bloom is a bit more challenging. Even healthy plants can abscise their bloom unexpectedly.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Although the blue ginger was frosted back to the ground last winter, I am encouraged that it survived. It was the worst frost since 1990! If they survived this frost, they would survive an average frost, and would do so even better if in the ground rather than canned. I did not expect the foliage and stems to survive anyway. I intend to grow more cuttings of it in the future, even though I know that I should not cut stems prior to winter. I expect the few surviving dahlias to ‘survive’ through winter, but they are quite dinky.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      2. That was the intention. I know that it is too late to grow them now, but I thought that if they could grow enough foliage before frost, their tubers would be recharged enough to overwinter, and bloom next year. Unfortunately, the tubers are mostly necrotic, and the few that are viable are so dinky that they will still be dinky next year.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. What is the sixth? Blue ginger is rare, even in Southern California. It was common in Hawaii a long time ago, and might still be. I do not know how popular it is in Florida.

      Like

      Reply

      1. I don’t have a cup of gold vine 🙂 I suspect it’s a little too heavy duty, with all the climbing, to make a good houseplant. As for the blue ginger, yes, I just checked with the German tropicals specialist I use and it looks like one of those plants that will take a bit of time to come back in stock. It’s quite pretty, though, so hopefully it’ll be worth the wait!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Oh, so four out of six? Cup of gold vine is a bit too aggressive for civilized gardening, and provides more foliage than bloom. I only want to grow it because I remember it from school. I think that it was more popular in Southern California back then. I never met blue ginger until a few years ago, but wanted to grow it also because I had heard about it at about the same time that I met cup of gold vine. It is easy to propagate, but not so easy to overwinter outside here.

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment