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Giant Reed

Giant reed is a horrid weed within many ecosystems.

The earliest infestations of giant reed, Arundo donax, that clogged tributaries of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers supposedly grew from pieces used as packing materiel for cargo from China. It was simply dumped into the rivers as cargo was unloaded in port cities like Stockton and Sacramento. How it got to China from its native range in the Mediterranean is unclear.

Because it is so aggressive and invasive, giant reed is almost never found in nurseries. In many rural areas, particularly near waterways, it is listed on the ‘DO NOT PLANT’ list. However, giant reed can sometimes be found in old landscapes where it was planted before it became so unpopular. It can also grow from seed in unexpected places.

Once established, giant reed can be difficult to eradicate or even divide. It spreads by thick rhizomes that resemble the stolons of bamboo, but not quite as tough. It is often mistaken for bamboo. Where it gets enough water, it can get nearly thirty feet tall, with leaves about two feet long.

Where it can be contained and will not become an invasive weed by seeding into surrounding areas, giant reed can provide bold foliage that blows softly in the breeze. ‘Versicolor’ (or ‘Variegata’) has pale yellow or white variegation, and does not get much more than half as tall as the more common green (unvariegated) giant reed. Incidentally, the canes of giant reed are used to make reeds for musical instruments.

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Grasses

There is more to grasses than turf.

The most familiar lawn grasses can not do what the many other grasses and grass like plants do in a garden. Lawns are mown into submission so that they can function like carpet in outdoor rooms. They certainly have their appeal and practicality, although they require very regular maintenance and generous watering.

Other ornamental grasses are grown like more common perennials, to provide appealing foliage, flowers, forms, textures and ‘motion’ as they move in even slight breezes. Most require significantly less water and maintenance than lawns do. Sedges, rushes and papyrus, although not grasses, function like grasses around ponds and in areas that are too damp for grasses to be happy.

Giant reed, pampas grass and bamboo are all notorious as invasive weeds. Giant reed and pampas grass appear and grow voraciously in some of the worst places that their seeds can get into. (Giant reed should not be planted anywhere near waterways or riparian environments.) Bamboo is not nearly as prolific, but spreads aggressively by stolons (subterranean stems) that grow very fast and potentially reach several feet.

However, where they can be contained, these three are the boldest of their kind. Giant reed grows like large types of bamboo, but fluffier, with broader undivided leaves. Pampas grass develops into big mounds of graceful foliage with billowy white or pinkish flower plumes. (Pampas grass leaves can cause nasty paper cuts, though.) The many different types of bamboo provide a variety of graceful foliage; and many provide striking form with their rigid canes. Some bamboo are low and compact. Most are tall and elegant.

Dwarf blue fescue is among the smaller ornamental grasses, forming round tufts of soft but seemingly bristly blue foliage that resembles dense bundles of pine needles. Fountain grass is considerably larger, with green or purplish foliage, and flower plumes that look like kitten tails. Hair grass is so softly textured that it barely supports its own weight, and often lays gently on the ground or leans onto other plants.

Except for giant reed, pampas grass and the various bamboos, most ornamental grasses do not need much attention. Some look better if they get cut back before they start to grow at the end of winter. Others should get their fading flowers removed. A few are deciduous, so die back over the winter. Grasses are otherwise easier to care for than any lawn and many other perennials.

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Cast Iron Patio

Tangly Cottage Gardening made good use of obsolete water meter lids as stepping stones. Now that I procured quite a bunch from where I work part time, I can try something similar. Because they are rectangular and of standardized dimensions, they can alternatively function as contiguous pavers. I intend to eventually pave a small patio with them. Forty-three are identical, 20.75 inches long by 10.5 inches wide, which is approximately 1.5 square feet. One is slightly different, but of the same dimensions. Two are smaller. Because they are not exactly twice as long as wide, all must be set in the same orientation, but that will not be a problem. They can be arranged in five rows of nine, or nine rows of five, as an almost square patio of approximately 68 square feet, with approximately eight foot long sides. Only one lid will be different, and one lid, likely in a corner, will be lacking. If necessary, I can add the two smaller lids to awkwardly fill the otherwise lacking corner, or simply find another lid somewhere. More will be available later. Although it is not yet constructed, I am already pleased with this recycled cast iron patio.

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Angel’s Trumpet

Angel’s trumpet impresses with huge flowers.

Lineage can be difficult to identify. Most popular cultivars of angel’s trumpet, Brugmansia are hybrids. Many are hybrids of hybrids. Almost all are consequently identifiable by only their genus and cultivar names. They usually lack species names. Their original species were likely native from Venezuela to Chile or southern Brazil. No one knows definitively.

Angel’s trumpet is a big bushy perennial. Its trunks may be as substantial and persistent as those of small trees. Most popular cultivars can grow higher than eight feet. A few rare cultivars should grow larger. Leaves are about six inches long and half as wide, or larger on vigorous stems. Some cultivars have slightly tomentous foliage. A few are variegated.

Bloom is sporadic while the weather is warm, and can be profuse in phases. Flowers are commonly longer than six inches and wider than three. Most are very pendulous. Double flowers are quite frilly. The floral color range includes pastel hues of yellow, orange, pink and white. Several cultivars are nicely fragrant. All parts of angel’s trumpet are toxic.

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Fragrant Bloom Appeals To Pollinators

Fragrant bloom needs no bright color.

Aroma and fragrance in a garden have two very different natural purposes. Aroma, which is foliar, repels insects or animals who may otherwise eat such foliage. Fragrance, which is floral, attracts insects and animals to pollinate such flowers. Aromatic foliage ironically appeals to people, particularly as herbs. The appeal of fragrant bloom is not so contrary.

With few exceptions, fragrant bloom is an asset to a garden. Although its primary function is to attract pollinators, people enjoy it also. The few exceptions are flowers that produce fragrances that are unappealing to people. For example, several species of Arum attract flies for pollination. Therefore, they exude foul fragrances that appeal specifically to flies.

Fortunately, most pollinators prefer fragrances that people also enjoy. Many of the richest and strongest fragrances appeal to a broad range of pollinators. Some more refined and distinctive fragrances attract specific pollinators. Fragrant bloom is most fragrant when its preferable pollinators are most active. A few bloom at night for their nocturnal pollinators.

Fragrant bloom is generally not as colorful as bloom that is less fragrant. It does not need to be. Color is merely another visual means with which to attract pollinators. Flowers that are both fragrant and colorful are mostly from competitive ecosystems. Angel’s trumpet is both spectacular in bloom and splendidly fragrant. Yet, its floral color is limited to pastels.

Some of the most fragrant bloom is that of bulbs that bloomed early last spring. Hyacinth, narcissus, freesia, lily and some bearded iris are both fragrant and colorful. Wisteria and pink jasmine are vines that were also fragrant and colorful last spring. Star jasmine is not quite as colorful, but is as fragrant, and still continues to bloom. So does angel’s trumpet.

Warming summer weather will now promote more fragrant bloom, even if it is not colorful. Pittosporum undulatum exudes an almost citrusy fragrance. Pittosporum tobira is slightly buttery. Sweet osmanthus and sweet box are proportionately more fragrant while young. Night blooming jasmine might be the sweetest of all, but more so during warm evenings.

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Six on Saturday: Unexpected

Horticultural dysfunction can be, from one to six, annoying, frustrating, very infuriating, entertaining, confusing and pleasantly surprising. Much of this is more natural than it is dysfunctional.

1. Arundo donax, giant reed is not as giant as expected. Four potted specimens look like big grassy weeds amongst these lily of the Nile. They will be removed if they do not grow as fast as they famously should. They are here only temporarily for this summer anyway.

2. Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Prostratus’ creeping rosemary is not as prostrate as expected. I thought that it would cascade more limbry from the top of the wall rather than become fluffy but barely pendulous shrubs on top of the wall. In a row, they look like Soul Train.

3. Agapanthus orientalis, lily of the Nile are expected to bloom for summer. Here on the edge of a trafficked walkway, they are too tempting to kids with sticks. Fortunately, their evergreen foliage is a nice border even without bloom. We try not to be too discouraged.

4. Agapanthus orientalis, lily of the Nile is trying to bloom a bit more than expected, by fasciation. Perhaps it is trying to compensate for the destruction of so much other bloom nearby. Ultimately, a fascinated bloom will be no more substantial than a normal bloom.

5. Echinops sphaerocephalus, globe thistle is unexpectedly solitary. This is the first that I have grown since my second summer after high school, so I do not remember how they typically bloom. Yet, I expected a branched bloom stem. Maybe that is what it does next.

6. Helenium autumnale, sneezeweed was expected to bloom later in summer. This is the first for me, so I can neither complain nor question its timing. Two other varieties bloom red and orange. They, the globe thistle and others came from Tangly Cottage Gardening.

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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Lavender Cotton

Neither lavender nor cotton, but a member of the Compositae Family.

The name is somewhat of a mystery. It is related to neither lavender nor cotton, but Santolina chamaecyparissus is known as lavender cotton nonetheless. The small, silvery gray leaves have a finely wrinkly texture, and are remarkably aromatic, like lavender. Though, the small and round bright yellow flowers look like daisies with the outer petals plucked off.

Unlike lavender and most other similar evergreen semiherbaceous shrubs, lavender cotton is adaptable to shearing, and is actually a classic component of traditional ‘knot gardens’, usually with another species of Santolina with green foliage to provide contrasting color. (Knot gardens feature small hedges with various foliar colors shorn into geometric and sometimes intricate patterns.) If regularly shorn, it is appreciated for its strikingly gray evergreen foliage, since it will not bloom.

Unshorn plants get about two feet tall and a bit broader, and will eventually need seasonal light shearing to remove fading flowers after bloom. Annual pruning at the end of winter keeps plants compact and neat without depriving them of their bloom. They otherwise eventually get bald in the middle and sloppy around the edges. (Some of us know about that.)

Good warm exposure and well drained soil is best. After their first year, lavender cotton does not need much water.

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Compositae (Asteraceae)

Feverfew is a member of the Compositae Family.

Kansas may not have the most unusual state flower, but it has the most, in the form of a sunflower. Only black eyed Susan of Maryland, sagebrush of Nevada, and Goldenrod of Kentucky and Nebraska have similar composite flowers, which are actually composed of many minute flowers known as ‘florets’. Yet, none are as large, and therefore not as abundant as the sunflower of Kansas.

Bluebonnet, yucca, lilac and red clover, the state flowers of Texas, New Mexico, New Hampshire and Vermont respectively all bloom with flower trusses that support many individual flowers. Composite flowers of the family Compositae are somewhat more efficient, with their individual florets so tightly arranged that they seem to be individual flowers. Sagebrush and goldenrod actually take this technique a step further, by producing trusses that support many composite flowers; an abundance of abundance!

Composite flowers are so efficient that they actually assign specific tasks to their various members. The outer florets around the margins of larger composite flowers are the ‘ray’ florets that function as petals. They are big, flashy and colorful, to attract bees and other pollinators, but are typically sterile, so can not produce seeds.

The smaller central ‘disc’ florets actually do the work of getting pollinated and producing seed. Because of the efficiency of the ray florets, they do not need to attract attention. They are low and dense, ideal landing pads for bees delivering and collecting pollen. They literally get pollinated as they get trampled.

The showiest composite flowers have disproportionately large ray florets, like chrysanthemums, dahlias, daisies, cosmos, black eyed Susans and  echinacea. Some of the bulkiest and boldest chrysanthemums actually lack disc florets, and produce only colorful but sterile ray florets. The smaller and more colorful sunflowers have more prominent ray florets than the humungous and mostly yellow sunflowers that have more prominent and abundant disc florets.

Other composite flowers impress their pollinators in a more subdued style, by instead producing more appealing disc florets. Lavender cotton and some marigolds actually lack ray florets. Most composite flowers that use this technique are yellow or orange, and quite compact.

There are not many composite flowers that lack aromatic foliage. Daisies and chrysanthemums are actually objectionable to some. It is a wonder than there are insects that eat them! Feverfew and chamomile are instead appreciated for their aroma and flavor.

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Chameleon

What color is this? It looks pink to me. A day earlier, though, it looked peachy orange. At various times last year and the year earlier, this same angel’s trumped bloomed more orangish orange, yellow and even white. I can not remember its schedule now, but I know that it has been weirdly variable. It is one of four cultivars of angel’s trumpet here, but the only one that will not decide on a color for its bloom.

One of the other four angel’s trumpets here blooms with double white flowers. My favorite, although relatively diminutive, blooms with single white flowers. The most vigorous is ‘Charles Grimaldi’, which blooms with single yellow flowers. A formerly fifth cultivar with big single pink flowers unfortunately rotted without replacements over winter a few years ago.

This particular angel’s trumpet grew from scrap that I took from a green waste pile at the curb of a job site in eastern San Jose several years ago. I took it because I found the pastel orange foliar color of the specimen that it was likely pruned from to be appealing. I had no idea that it would bloom with so many other comparably appealing floral colors.