Horticulturists are by nature, nonconforming. I happen to find it difficult to conform to what makes us nonconforming. Trends are fleeting. Old technology that has worked for decades or centuries is still best. Although I am not totally against chemicals, I find that almost all are unnecessary for responsible home gardening. Pruning is underappreciated, and fixes many problems.
The once traditional Aeonium arboreum, with round, dense rosettes of slightly serrate, olive green leaves has become less popular than its more colorful varieties that have become more available over the years. ‘Atropurpureum’ has rich purplish brown foliage. ‘Zwartkop’ is even darker and stays more compact. Long and sometimes unkempt clusters of tiny yellow flowers that bloom in spring or summer are not much to look at against green foliage, but contrast nicely against dark foliage. Larger plants can get to three feet tall and wide, with foliar rosettes wider than six inches.
Like many succulents, Aeonium arboreum is so easy to propagate from cuttings, that small pieces that need to be pruned from established plants can be plugged into the garden wherever more of the same plants are desired. New cuttings like to be watered until they develop roots. Established plants are a bit happier with occasional watering, but can survive neglect just fine. After all, they are native to similar climates in the Mediterranean and northern Africa.
Ecological balance should be an asset to the garden. Good insects eat bad insects. Certain birds eat more bad insects. The problem is that some visitors to the garden are not so beneficial.
Besides the bad insects that can damage various plants in the garden, there are several types of birds and squirrels that compete for nuts and fruit. Birds and squirrels are much more aggressive in their tactics than insects are, and are often more difficult to control.
Some people like to provide alternate sources of food for hungry birds. However, birds that crave fresh berries are not so likely to be distracted by dry birdseed in a bird feeder.
Flash tape (which is strips of silver Mylar) or unwanted CDs hung prominently in fruit trees repels birds for a while, but eventually fail to impress. Such bling should be put out in the garden only as fruit starts to become attractive to birds. If hung out too early, birds become accustomed to them and will not be deterred by the time the fruit ripens.
Flash tape or CDs should be placed where they will flutter in the breeze and can be seen from most perspectives, and may be more effective if moved every few days. Scarecrows are much more work to move about, but are no more effective. Besides, they can be unpopular with neighbors.
Bird netting is more effective to keep birds away. It can be installed over fruit trees a week or more before the fruit ripens. It should be tied around the trunk below lower branches or extend to the ground if birds are persistent enough to look for access through it. Netting should be removed when the fruit is harvested, so that stems to not grow through it.
Squirrels are more of a challenge. They have no problem getting through netting, and do not mind flashy bling. Squirrels may temporarily avoid dummy owls that repel pigeons and rats, but eventually realize that they are not a threat. Poison baits are dangerous to cats or dogs or anyone else that may be interested in poisoned squirrels, particularly since squirrels are so easy to catch as they succumb to poison!
Plastic rodent guards (or even sheet metal) wrapped around the trunks of fruit trees block access to squirrels because they are too smooth for rodents to get a grip into. Some types flare out too far for rodents to reach around. Others are too wide (from top to bottom) for squirrels to reach over. They should be located at least six feet above the ground so that squirrels do not simply jump past them from the ground.
However, rodent guards are only effective if all other access is also blocked. Lower limbs should be pruned about six feet above the ground, as well as six feet from roofs, fences, other trees or anything else that squirrels can jump from. This can be somewhat of a hassle when it is time to harvest ripe fruit that is out of reach.
This is not a new problem, but it is infuriating nonetheless. ‘Cleopatra’ canna expressed symptoms of at least one virus about two years ago. A few other nearby cannas expressed similar symptoms shortly afterward. ‘Australia’ canna is particularly expressive of foliar streaking caused by virus. Isolation and disposal of obviously infected specimens seems to have prevented dispersion of the virus or viruses; but I really am uncertain. Three cultivars of Canna musifolia have suspiciously avoided any infection from adjacent infected cultivars. I can not help but wonder if they are actually infected but merely asymptomatic, and possibly able to transmit viruses to cultivars that are more expressive of symptoms. The canna in this picture is an important cultivar because it is one of only two remaining original cultivars that could have inhabited the landscapes here since about 1968. Because of gophers, very little of it remain, and some of what remains succumbed to virus already. I am quite protective of these few specimens that have not been infected, but would also like them to be able to inhabit the landscapes with the questionable Canna musifolia cultivars. For now, I must wait until they proliferate enough for some to be expendable.
Contrary to its silly name, sneezeweed, Helenium autumnale, does not cause sneezing. Its flowers produce heavy pollen that relies more on pollinators for dispersion than wind. Its vibrant yellow, orange or red floral color attracts all sorts of bees, butterflies and such. Bloom may begin as early as the middle of summer, or continue as late as early autumn.
Sneezeweed is a perennial like black eyed Susan, but with a somewhat shrubbier form. It can grow three or four feet tall without growing any wider than two or three feet. Foliage has a rather fine texture with lanceolate and somewhat serrate leaves. Individual flowers are about two or three inches wide, and delightfully abundant. They are nice cut flowers.
Sneezeweed may self sow, but some cultivars are not true to type. For them, division is a more reliable method of propagation. ‘Pumilum Magnificum’ provides vivid yellow bloom. ‘Chippersfield Orange’ provides vivid orange and yellow flowers. ‘Kupfersprudel’ blooms with a bit more yellow than orange. ‘Bruno’ blooms with deeply rich ruddy brown flowers. ‘Butterpat’ provides rich golden bloom. Several cultivars are compact.
Spring is the season with the most flowers. Winter is generally the season with the least. That is, of course, a generalization. There are plenty of flowers that bloom exclusively for winter color. Plenty more bloom randomly throughout the year, regardless of season. For now, late summer flowers are the most prominently colorful. Autumn flowers will be next.
Realistically, no bloom is random. Even flowers that bloom randomly throughout the year do so only because they can. Such flowers are mostly from mild climates where they can disperse seed at any time. Any pollinators that they rely on are also active throughout the year. Many randomly blooming flowers can effectively conform to more distinct seasons.
Most flowers bloom within a distinct season because it is most convenient for them. Most bloom for spring to maximize the time for their seed to develop before winter. Many of the earliest are tiny but abundant because they rely on wind for pollination. Later flowers can be bigger and more colorful to attract pollinators. Late summer flowers are no exception.
Different flowers have different priorities. Some of the earliest spring bloom needs time to produce seed after bloom. Several late summer flowers conversely need time to develop their blooms. Then, they produce seed relatively quickly before winter. This is why some late summer flowers are bolder but less abundant than spring flowers. They require time.
For example, sunflowers with relatively small blooms may bloom as early as late spring. However, those with bigger and bolder blooms are more familiar as late summer flowers. Such big blooms do not grow quickly, but are ready for their late pollinators nonetheless. They compensate for their lack of abundance with spectacularly grand individual bloom.
Many late summer flowers happen to be related to sunflowers. They include coneflower, dahlia, zinnia, sneezeweed, aster, and cosmos. Dahlias with larger flowers are later than those with smaller flowers. Marigold and chrysanthemum will become more seasonable later and into autumn. Unrelated canna and various sages are blooming well about now.
Squirrels have been chewing some of our foliar plants since spring. Now that they found our banana trees, I am more concerned. Their damage is more severe and impossible to ignore.
1. Musa acuminata ‘Golden Rhino Horn’ banana got chomped by a squirrel, right where its new leaf is unfurling. A Musa acuminata ‘Ever Red’ banana got chomped at its base! Squirrels are also chomping other cultivars of banana and two species of Chamaedorea.
2. Musa ingens, oem, or giant highland banana demonstrates what a young banana tree should look like without squirrels chomping on them like little arboreal demon beavers. I will be furious if I see any more damage on any of these more prominent banana trees.
3. Crassula ovata, jade plant is not often considered to be a ‘foliar’ plant, but happens to function splendidly as such by obscuring the otherwise bare bases of several of the small banana trees. It all grew from pruning scraps from one big, old and sculptural specimen.
4. Hedychium coronarium ‘Vanilla Ice’ ginger was chomped by squirrels as soon as new growth began to develop last spring. Fortunately, it recovered. Although it appears to be ‘Vanilla Ice’, and likely is, I was told that its flowers are white rather than vanilla yellow.
5. Alocasia gigantea, elephant ear was also chomped by squirrels as soon as it started to regenerate foliage last spring, and also recovered. It is quite large now. If its foliage were not so simple, it would be as striking as that of the old fashioned Philodendron selloum.
6. Philodendron selloum ‘Lickety Split’ philodendron produces the striking foliage of the species, but not the form. Its multiple trunks are so stout that I have not seen them yet. I suspect that individual leaves do not get very big either. Squirrels have ignored it so far.
Our Lord’s candle blooms with very tall floral stalks.
The one or two foot long and nearly inch wide leaves of our Lord’s candle, Yucca whipplei, certainly do not look as painful as they really are. The ridiculously sharp terminal spines can penetrate boot leather and administer a whole new experience of lingering pain! It is no wonder that, although native south of Big Sur, they are uncommon in home gardens.
Their three foot tall and six foot wide stemless clumps of dense foliage would be a very efficient barrier that does not obstruct view, but is not always permanent. Within only a few years, mature plants die after summer bloom. Their big flower stalks emerge like asparagus and grow nearly twelve feet tall, with the upper half of their height branching into hefty spikes of pale white bell shaped flowers one or two inches wide.
Do not underestimate the destructive potential of gophers!
Many of the yuccas that naturally live in deserts where forage may be scarce are equipped with an efficient defense system. Each leaf terminates with a nasty spine. Leaves are so abundant that the spines are impossible to avoid. It is amazing that these yuccas are as vulnerable as they are to gophers, who simple burrow below all the advanced defense technology to eat the starchy roots and any subterranean portions of stems.
Some of the techniques sometimes used to get rid of gophers are too dangerous to even discuss. Rodent poison (for rats and mice for example) is not only dangerous to other animals that may dig it up, but not often effective since gophers prefer to eat fleshy roots and stems. The only practical poisons can only be applied by licensed pesticide applicators.
New plants can be installed within ‘gopher cages’ that should exclude gophers from the root system at least long enough for the plants to get established. Gopher cages can be purchased ready-made, or can be constructed easily from chicken wire. They only need to be as deep as the planting hole, but can be wider for perennials that spread.
Gopher cages do not protect all roots, since some extend through the cage to disperse; but should protect enough roots to keep plants alive if outer roots get damaged. By the time the cages deteriorate, the plants within should be established enough to survive gopher infestation for a while; although even large plants can be killed by unrestrained gophers.
Properly used traps are the most practical means of controlling gophers. Traps should be installed in pairs, even though each pair typically catches only a single gopher. If possible, traps should be installed away from any gopher cages that may be present, since cages are difficult to work around, and nearly impossible to release from a sprung trap.
Once the entrance to a gopher run is found under a mound of freshly excavated soil, the entrance, which is typically filled with loose soil, should be excavated back as far as the main run, which extends perpendicularly to the right and left. The main run should be cleared of loose soil.
Each of the two traps can then be set and gently placed within the main run in each direction. A trap should be held by the spring end so that the claws and lever extend into the run. Wires attached to the spring end of the traps are easier and safer to pull the traps out with later, instead of digging the traps out. These wires can be attached to a stake to make them easy to find later.
The entrance hole should then be buried. Air circulation from outside will prompt the gopher to collect loose soil to plug the hole, and push the loose soil ahead, springing the trap prematurely.
The gopher within may not be interested in using the same entrance to expel soil, but will likely use the same run. Two traps are used because there is no way of knowing which direction the gopher will approach from. The unfortunate gopher can be removed in a day or so; so that the traps can be set into another run where fresh excavation has been observed.
Life was very different where I lived in town in the 1990s. I miss that neighborhood and my garden there very much. However, it was an urban neighborhood, only a few blocks from the interchange of Highway 17 and Highway 85. My neighbors had me build a small solar powered fountain adjacent to a patio of our apartment building to obscure the ambient urban noise. I thought it was a silly component of the landscape, but everyone else was fond of it. Well, sadly, I left that home and garden many years ago, and relocated to a quieter neighborhood a few miles away. Except for a few lights at night on distant hillsides, I can see no other households. I do not hear much more from them than I can see. Air traffic to and from Mineta is the most traffic that I notice, if I notice. In fact, the noisiest noise in my garden is from this creek that flows through it. I flows all day at night, so does not stop when the sun goes down. I can not unplug it. It gets louder during winter. Perhaps I should build another solar powered fountain to obscure the noise.
Tony Tomeo 