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Six on Saturday: ‘Variegata’

‘Variegata’ is a common designation for the first variegated cultivar of a species. Fancier or later distinct cultivars get fancier cultivar designations. The first three of these six are variegated, but lack a cultivar designation as if variegation is normal for the species. The fourth seems to have a few cultivars with the same designation. The last two could be the only variegated cultivars of their respective species. I can not remember ever seeing any of the first four without variegation. The fifth is still rare. The sixth is now more popular than unvariegated.

1. Hypoestes phyllostachya, polka dot plant lacks cultivar designation. This was labeled merely as white. Variation of foliar variegation indicate that they were grown from seed.

2. Hypoestes phyllostachya, polka dot plant is also pink, which is exactly how this other half of them was labeled, likewise without cultivar designation. ‘Variegata’ would suit it.

3. Hypoestes phyllostachya, polka dot plant variegation is variable. Some specimens are more green than others. At least two of the pink sort are variegated with red such as this.

4. Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’, gold dust plant is about as variable as polka dot plant is, but is known by the same cultivar name. Of course, modern cultivars have other names.

5. Tupidanthus calyptratus ‘Variegata’, mallet flower was not planned. I have wanted to grow the typical unvariegated type since I met it in 1986. Brent sent me this raggedy old but rare variegated specimen so that I would grow more for him. I am learning to like it.

6. Solandra maxima ‘Variegata’, cup of gold vine was also unplanned. I grew the typical unvariegated type to the left first. Then, Brent got me the variegated cultivar to the right. I am getting to like it because it is more docile. The unvariegated sort grows like a weed!

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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Godetia

All but one species of Clarkia are native somewhere in California.

Like California poppy, sky lupine and various other native wildflowers, godetia, Clarkia amoena, seems to prefer its own space. However, it is somewhat more adaptable than some other natives are to regular irrigation and coexisting with exotic (non-native) wildflowers that are not too overpowering. It is a common component in wildflower mixes, and is more likely than most to naturalize after the other wildflowers have died out. 

It is best to sow godetia seed in autumn, directly where the flowers are wanted, so that the seed get watered in by rain and begin to grow through winter and early spring. Bloom begins later in spring or early summer. In areas that do not get watered regularly, occasional watering prolongs bloom. Fertilizer can actually interfere with bloom though. As bloom finishes, deteriorating plants should be left to disperse seed for the following year.

The two inch wide flowers are typically pink or purplish with red blotches or veining. Some are very pale pink or nearly white with deeper pink blotches at their centers. Most godetia are only about a foot or two tall. ‘Dwarf Gem’ stays less than a foot tall. Taller types get nearly three feet tall. The lanky stems are adorned with narrow light bluish green leaves that are about half an inch to one and a half inches long.   

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Seemingly Complicated Latin Names Simplify Nomenclature.

Tecoma stans has only one Latin name, but a few common names; esperanza, yellow bells, yellow elder, yellow bignonia and trumpet bush.

If I remember correctly, it was Wednesday evenings when my three college roommates and I would gather in the parlor of our apartment on Boysen Street in San Luis Obispo to watch Star Trek: the Next Generation. One of my roommates, who has since returned to Cal Poly as a professor of rangeland resource management, traditionally made cornbread for the occasion . . .  with butter and honey . . . mmm. So, for half an hour each week, we learned more about the remotely futuristic cultures of planets many light years away than about our studies.

Thanks to a contraption referred to only on rare occasion as the ‘universal translator’, nearly everyone in this quadrant of the galaxy will be able to understand each other within the next four centuries. No matter what language is spoken, it will all be perceived as the same universal language. Unfortunately, the ‘universal translator’ has not yet been invented. The many languages used on this single planet will consequently continue to interfere with accurate communication.

This is why horticulturists, biologists, and many other professionals who may interact with colleagues who speak other languages or even slightly different regional dialects use Latin to identify, among other things, biological organisms. Latin names may be cumbersome to pronounce and daunting to spell, but are universal to those of us who use them. This is important because the ‘common names’ are so regionally variable. 

For example, some of the European maples that we know as maples here are known as sycamores in England, but are known everywhere by their Latin name of Acer. (Latin is traditionally italicized.) Similarly, North American sycamores that are known as maples, planes or plane trees in various regions are all likewise known everywhere by their Latin name of Platanus. With few exceptions, the universality of Latin names facilitates accurate identification.

Latin names are therefore very helpful when researching plants. A tree known simply as a ‘cedar’ might be a calocedrus, arborvitae, juniper, cypress, chamaecyparis or a true cedar just to name a few. Knowing that this particular tree is more specifically a ‘red cedar’ perhaps limits the possibilities to arborvitae or juniper. (Differentiation between ‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’ red cedars is often neglected in the East and West where the respective cedar is predominant.) Identifying the tree as a Juniperus virginiana will help us find the most accurate information about it, even though it is not really a cedar at all, but a juniper.   

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North & South

pink jasmine, Jasminum polyanthum

Brent and I studied horticulture through the second half of the 1980s at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, which is known more simply as Cal Poly. San Luis Obispo is exactly halfway between where each of us came from. He came from the region west of Los Angeles, two hundred miles to the southeast, which is considered to be south by the standards of California. I came from the region west of San Jose, two hundred miles to the northwest, which is considered to be north by the standards of California. He considered San Luis Obispo to be within Northern California. I considered it to be within Southern California. Consequently, when either of us encountered a species with which we lacked prior experience, we assumed it to be regionally popular within the respectively unfamiliar half of California. Such assumptions were accurate for some species. For example, Brent was as fascinated with redwoods as I was with desert fan palms. He knew that redwoods are more popular here than in Southern California, and eventually went to experience them growing wild within their native range near Santa Cruz. I knew that desert fan palms are more popular in Southern California than here, and eventually went to experience them growing wild within their native range near Palm Springs. Pink jasmine, Jasminum polyanthum, was an odd one. Because Brent had never encountered it before, he assumed that it had been popular in Northern California. Because I had never encountered it before, I assumed that it had been popular in Southern California. In actuality, it only became commonly available throughout California at about the time that we encountered it, so had previously been popular neither here nor there. Nonetheless, to Brent, it is still as northern as it is southern to me.

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Perennial Pea

Perennial pea is a naturalized wildflower.

Now that the weather is getting hot, perennial pea, Lathyrus latifolius, is finishing bloom. It needs warmth to bloom, so can begin between the middle or end of spring. However, it shrivels in heat, so can finish between the beginning and middle of summer. Sometimes, it can bloom for almost three months. Sometimes, it finishes almost as soon as it starts.

Perennial pea is more popular as a naturalized wildflower than within home gardens. Its seed is rarely available from nurseries. Young seedlings might not grow very big initially. Mature specimens can vigorously climb and creep more than seven feet in any direction. Their fibrous perennial roots are very difficult to kill. Propagation by root division is easy.

Almost all perennial pea blooms with an abundance of bright pinkish magenta flowers. A rare few bloom with slightly striated light pink flowers. A bit fewer bloom with bright white flowers. Bloom resembles that of annual sweet pea, but is less frilly and lacks fragrance. Slightly bluish foliage and stems have a soft texture, and recover slowly from disruptions. Any parts can be toxic if ingested.

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Insect Pathogens Prefer Less Biodiversity

Wildflowers and even weeds promote biodiversity.

Weeds grow, bloom, disperse seed and die a natural death without much trouble. This is especially frustrating while insect pathogens destroy desirable vegetation. Weeds seem to be more resilient to insect infestation and damage. Many actually are. They use nature to their advantage. Cultivation of desirable vegetation interferes with natural biodiversity.

Those who enjoy gardening do not want to consider it to be unnatural. Nonetheless, it is. It involves many exotic species that are not natural components of regional ecosystems. Breeding to improve their performance unnaturally compromises their vigor. They rely on unnatural irrigation and perhaps fertilization. They sustain many exotic insect pathogens.

Most species within home gardens could not survive for long without cultivation. Several that can unfortunately become invasively naturalized. In the process, most that benefited from breeding revert to a feral status. Some eventually enjoy more biodiversity in the wild than in cultivation. They rely on naturally beneficial insects to mitigate insect pathogens.

Insect pathogens are quite often more problematic than weeds. However, generally, they are less problematic than they were years ago. This is partly a result of improvements of modern horticulture. Strangely though, it is also partly a result of sloppier gardening. Old fashioned monoculture for big areas is passe. Biodiversity became an incidental benefit.

More species of vegetation sustain more insect species. This might not have qualified as an advantage years ago. Now, garden enthusiasts are more aware that some insects are predatory of others. Predators may not eliminate all insect pathogens, but they often limit infestations. With adequate limitation, damage is likely to be tolerable or inconspicuous.

This is one of two primary reasons that insecticides are less common now. Besides their potentially hazardous toxicity, they are simply less necessary. When they are necessary, modern insecticides target more specific insects. They can kill pathogens without hurting beneficial insects. Vegetation that too frequently needs insecticides becomes unpopular.

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What Is This IV?!

Rotheca myricoides / Clerodendrum myricoides ?

It is not a species of ivy. ‘IV’ is merely its Roman numeric designation as the fourth species that I am unable to identify since I started assigning numeric designations to them. So then, what is it? I suspect that it is likely Rotheca myricoides, which is alternatively known as Clerodendrum myricoides. ‘Ugandense’ is a cultivar name that, in typical modern tradition of botanic nomenclature that violates the simple standards of botanic nomenclature, now seems to be an acceptable species name in conjunction with either genus name. Its common names include butterfly flower, blue butterfly plant and blue butterfly bush, although the latter sounds more like a cultivar of Buddleia. I have not actually confirmed its identity, and I have no idea how it got into one of our landscapes. It grew under the carcass of a Brunfelsia pauciflora, yesterday, today and tomorrow, which did not survive my meager attempt to salvage it from compost. I can only assume that it arrived, most likely as an ungerminated seed, with the now deceased yesterday, today and tomorrow. It initially grew quickly with only two straight canes about four feet tall. I would have pulled it as a weed, but was intrigued by it. It did not grow much this year, but instead took time to branch, and is now taking time to bloom with these few intricate flowers on top. I am now pleased that I did not pull it as a weed. If it really is butterfly flower, it can get a bit taller than it already is. So, because it grew in front of an exemplary sasanqua camellia, I will likely relocate it to a more appropriate situation during its winter dormancy. I am fond enough of its sky blue flowers to propagate a few more copies of it.

The delicate pastel blue flowers are prettier up close.

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Second White

How did this get in here?!

Lily of the Nile had previously been exclusively blue at work. Many from undoubtedly several different sources had been added to the landscapes for the past century or so, but, until recently, none were white. Even within a large and likely original colony, where genetic variability is evident among specimens that were added from different sources, or that grew from seed over the years, all bloomed monochromatically blue. I added the first white lily of the Nile only a few years ago. They are a significant herd of the same cultivar that I grew from only seven original pups that I acquired in the early 1990s. They are separate from the other lily of the Nile, in a neat row in front of the White Garden of el Catedral de Santa Clara de Los Gatos. They are not as fancy as they sound of course, and bloom with only a few flowers in the partial shade there, but they were supposedly the only white lily of the Nile. However, I recently found this other white lily of the Nile within the large and very established colony that provided many lily of the Nile for other landscapes. It could have grown from seed, and finally matured enough to bloom. I suspect that it merely reverted, as lily of the Nile sometimes does. I suppose that I should be pleased with it, but I am not so certain. It is almost intrusive, both to the exclusivity of the single white cultivar, and also to the exclusivity of the monochromatically blue colony. I have noticed within other old landscapes that, once one pup blooms white, others can follow its example. The same applies to a pup that blooms blue within a white colony. I may tag this particular pup for removal after bloom.

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Six on Saturday: Homey

Almost nothing is purchased for my garden. Not much more is purchased for work. Just about everything is recycled from somewhere else, along with its history. Consequently, the landscapes are as homey as my home garden is. It is often difficult to not brag about it a bit too much. It is gratifying that others can enjoy so much of what I have enjoyed in my garden. For Six on Saturday, though, I will be brief with my descriptions of these few flowers that bloomed last week. Half are angel’s trumpets. Half are white. Of course, it is no coincidence that white is my favorite color. I requested pruning scraps of single white angel’s trumpet and white orchid cactus. Even if recycling, I may be somewhat selective. It all works out well.

1. Gladiolus papilio, butterfly gladiolus that was budded last week bloomed this week. It makes its landscape feel delightfully homey for me. I should have gotten a better picture.

2. Hydrangea macrophylla, bigleaf hydrangea, like so much of what blooms here, came from another garden, then bloomed too well in recovery to not move out to a landscape.

3. Brugmansia, angel’s trumpet of an unidentified cultivar remains unidentified, but is a bit more obviously pink than any other color. Perhaps its cultivar name is not important.

4. Brugmansia candida, angel’s trumpet with fluffy double white flowers is what started all this fuss about angel’s trumpet. Yellow ‘Charles Grimaldi’ was the second acquisition.

5. Brugmansia, angel’s trumpet with single white flowers is an unidentified cultivar that I got merely because I like its single white flowers, but is not so great for the landscapes.

6. Epiphyllum, orchid cactus with clear white flowers remains as unidentified as most of these Six. Like all of these six, it also has important history that makes its garden homey.

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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Shore Juniper

Shore juniper is a ground cover that can cascade splendidly.

Like so many other junipers, the old fashioned shore juniper, Juniperus conferta, is recovering from decades of a bad reputation. Through the 1950’s and 60’s, junipers had been so overly common and were so commonly planted where space was insufficient for their mature size that just about anyone who enjoys gardening now likely knows how irritating prickly juniper foliage can be, or how to remove overgrown junipers. I prefer to blame the icky tam junipers for this.

Now that they are actually regaining popularity, junipers seem to be commanding more respect; perhaps with the exception of tam junipers, which are just as useless now as they ever were. Junipers that grow into small trees are getting planted where they can be appreciated for their sculptural forms. Shrubby junipers are being employed as informal barriers where they do not need to be pruned for confinement. The shore juniper, like other low growing or creeping junipers, is a practical ground cover. Mature shore junipers spread about six feet wide without getting deeper than a foot. The finely textured bluish green foliage is actually a bit more bristly than it first appears, with small pine needle shaped leaves. The soft berries are lighter grayish blue to purplish black. ‘Emerald Sea’ has greener foliage that seems to be a bit more lax. ‘Blue Pacific’ has denser and more bluish foliage.