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Container Gardening

These containers are almost completely obscured by their contents.

Container gardening is one of those trends that I could do without in my own garden. Even though I know that it is actually very practical for several reasons, I prefer to grow as much as I can directly in the ground because I do not want to take care of contained plants. However, even with only minimal potted plants around my garden, the steep embankment above my driveway has reminded me of one of the many reasons why people like to grow plants in large or hanging pots, elevated planters or window boxes. There are just so many plants that look so good cascading out of containers.

The lily-of-the-Nile that I planted on top of part of the embankment to hold the soil together actually look really cool leaning over the top edge, and would look just as good in large planters. The smaller ‘Peter Pan’ lily-of-the-Nile is more proportionate to smaller urns. Since these do not hang over the edges too far, they look even better mixed with more pendulous plants like trailing rosemary, verbena, ivy geranium and dwarf periwinkle. Upright plants like fuchsia and smaller types of New Zealand flax in the middle of mixed plants add good contrasting form. Dracaenas (Cordyline spp.) were traditional vertical accent plants of Victorian gardening.

Low planters and pots, as well as many hanging pots, are very often best outfitted with traditional cascading annuals like lobelia, sweet alyssum, petunia, portulaca and my favorite, nasturtium. Even if annuals that do not cascade are the central features of mixed planters, cascading plants around the edges really maximize the show by spreading even more flower color over the exteriors of the containers. Colorful perennials like fibrous begonias, busy Lizzie, campanula, fleabane, scaevola and dusty miller may not cascade as well as the annuals, but add width, and probably cascade adequately for ‘artfully’ designed pots that are too appealing to obscure completely.

In sheltered lanais and porches, spider plant, burro tail and wandering Jew are classic solitary perennials for hanging pots. What orchid cactus lacks in form and foliage, it makes up for with bold flowers.

The largest pots and planters can benefit from simple ground covers like shore juniper and English ivy, perhaps dressed up with flowering annuals. Gazanias can provide their own flowers, so can instead be dressed up with the colorful and textural foliage of blue fescue or another grassy perennial. Asparagus densilforus has such bold texture and form alone that it does not necessarily need the color of annuals.

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P II

Hibbertia scandens

P was for pea last Sunday. Although the spelling has not changed since then, this is a different topic now, so is not actually a sequel. P just happens to also be for the floral fragrance of Hibbertia scandens, which, to some, resembles that of what tomcats do to designate their territory. Its several common names are no more appealing. It is known as golden guinea vine, climbing guinea flower and twining guinea flower. Rather than possibly offending others of Italian descent, I refer to it simply as snake vine. Contrary to its several other common names, it is not actually from the Guinea Region of Western Africa, but is instead from Eastern Australia and New Guinea. Incidentally, New Guinea is no more affiliated with Western Africa than it is with descendents of Italian Immigrants in America, or plump rodents who identify as pigs of the Andes Mountains on the West Coast of South America. I got a few cuttings of snake vine at the end of last September. One cutting is growing quite nicely. Another took time to bloom with this single flower that looks like Carl Junior did not quite beat the train. Its floral fragrance is almost disappointingly unobjectionable. I suspect that more are necessary to be perceptibly fragrant. From my limited experience with the species, I remember than only a profusion of bloom produced merely a slightly objectionable fragrance. Like so much of what I grow here, I have no idea of what to do with these new snake vines. Fortunately, they are more docile than the white perennial pea that I mentioned last Sunday, or the cup of gold vine that I mentioned earlier. Eventually, I should be able to accommodate some within at least one of the many refined landscapes at work. If so, I will not put enough of it within the same situation to generate annoyingly objectionable floral fragrance. Nor should any individual specimen be allowed to grow large enough to do so. I would be more tolerant of a slight bit of such fragrance within my home garden only because I happen to be fond of this species now that I have reacquainted with it.

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Sawara Cypress

Sawara cypress cultivars are relatively compact.

It is difficult to imagine Sawara cypress, Chamaecyparis pisifera, as a timber tree. Within its native range in Japan, it can grow as tall as one hundred and fifty feet. Its trunk can be six feet wide. It is no surprise that it grows slowly though. Its more familiar types rarely grow taller than ground floor eaves. Only the oldest and biggest are nearly thirty feet tall.

Sawara cypress cultivars are uncommon, and some are rare. Among them, ‘Boulevard’ is less uncommon. It has feathery bluish foliage, and can grow eight feet tall. Supposedly, it can eventually grow nearly three times as tall. ‘Filifera Aurea’ has bright yellowish foliage on limber cord like stems. It supposedly gets taller, but it is typically lower and mounding.

Although its cultivars are more diverse, Sawara cypress resembles compact arborvitaes. Its densely evergreen foliage has a similarly soft texture. Its bark is similarly ruddy with a similarly fibrous texture. Individual scale leaves are less than a sixteenth of an inch long. Sawara cypress classifies as the false cypress because it is not of the genus Cupressus.

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Electrical Cables Necessitate Arboricultural Atrocities

Trees can not mix with electricity.

Electrical cables are hazardous! There is no need to elaborate. That is why high voltage electrical cables are either subterranean or aerial. Subterranean electrical cables remain safely out of reach underground. Aerial electrical cables remain safely out of reach about thirty feet above ground. However, electricity is always dangerous regardless of location.

Excavation can inadvertently expose subterranean electrical cables. Pruning large trees can similarly involve minimal proximity to aerial electrical cables. Home gardening rarely involves such deep excavation. However, it commonly involves arboriculture, or pruning, of big trees. When it does, the most eager of garden enthusiasts must know their limits.

Clearance pruning eliminates obstructive vegetation. Ideally, it prevents it from becoming obstructive before it does so. It is useful for roadways, walkways and chimneys, and also protects roofs from damage. Yet, it sometimes necessitates the service of professionals. For example, pruning trees over major roadways is likely too hazardous for anyone else.

Pruning trees over high voltage electrical cables is even more hazardous. However, it is also necessary. That is why electrical service providers employ professionals to perform such tasks. Unfortunately, proper arboricultural technique is not a priority. Reliability and safety of electrical service are. It is efficient, but can severely damage any involved trees.

What is worse is that such damage is also dangerously close to utility cables. Corrective procedures also require the services of specialized arborists. Utility service providers do not assume any associated expenses. Removal might be more practical than salvage for the most severely mutilated trees. Salvage of decapitated palm tree trunks is impossible.

Selection of appropriate trees can limit such problems in the future. With few exceptions, palms are inappropriate within aerial utility easements. Almost all grow only upward with solitary terminal buds. Conversely, some large shrubbery is conducive to pruning to stay lower than cables. So are a few compact trees. Several stay lower than cables naturally.

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P

This dinky floral spike was all I needed to identify this as white Lathyrus latifolius.

P is for pea, or more specifically, perennial pea, or Lathyrus latifolius, which does not begin with P, but that is not the point. Perennial pea is a naturalized exotic species here. Within our landscapes, it is difficult to kill. I suspect that it is just as difficult to kill outside of the landscapes, although I have not tried. After all, it is quite pretty, and does not seem to be too invasive beyond situations that it finds to be favorable. Trying to kill what grows beyond the landscapes here would be futile anyway, since there is so much more of it beyond the boundaries of what we have access to. However, I would not want to add any to areas where it is not already established and interfering with local ecosystems. That leaves me with a dilemma. I just acquired a perennial pea that I want to grow more of, but there is no place to grow it. Almost all of the perennial pea here blooms obnoxiously bright purplish pink. Very few bloom lighter pink with a swirly pattern. About as few bloom white. I am told that perennial pea can bloom red, but I am getting to suspect that such red is what I consider to be obnoxiously bright purplish pink. Anyway, I found a perennial pea that blooms white a several years ago, and grew several copies of it. I shared all the copies until none were left. I thought that I could always return to the original source for more. Unfortunately, the source was buried under debris that was removed from a mudslide two winters ago. What a bummer! I had been watching for white perennial pea since then. Then, last Wednesday, I saw it! It was not much, since only one floral stalk was beginning to bloom, but it was enough for identification. I got a good bit of its upper taproot and stems for many cuttings. The base of the taproot remains as a more permanent source if I need it, and if nothing happens to it. I am so pleased with this acquisition, even though I have no idea of what to do with it, like so much of what grows out there.

This is a better picture of the original stock from three years ago.

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Sweet Spot

Saccharum officinarum ‘Pele’s Smoke’ sugarcane

‘Pele’s Smoke’ sugarcane has grown enough for installation into the landscapes. I am not certain how happy they will be here through winter, but we will find out. Frost is mild here, but is supposedly enough to kill them to the ground. I expect that. Even if they do not die to the ground, I would prefer to cut them down by the end of winter regardless. Survival of their basal growth is more of a concern. I want them to regenerate next spring. It is difficult to imagine a species as vigorous as this being so vulnerable to the locally mild frost, but all the information that I find about it insists that it is marginal here. There are so many canned specimens that it would be no problem to shelter some through winter to replace any that do not survive in the landscapes. Later, if they get depleted, it would be no problem to take cuttings from those in the landscapes in autumn, and shelter them through winter to put back into the landscapes in spring. However, that is just too much unnatural intervention for me. If they are not happy here, they I do not want to force them. I enjoyed growing them while I did. I got the cuttings from grooming a specimen in Brent’s garden. I was not very careful with them, and did not process them very efficiently because I knew that I would get more than I could accommodate. Ultimately, after sharing a few with friends and neighbors who are aware of the risks, thirty new specimens remain here. Fifteen are in #1 can, including the first three that were just installed into the landscapes. Another fifteen are in four inch pots, which is annoying one less than a full flat of sixteen.

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Six on Saturday: Glad

Butterfly gladiolus will not bloom for a while. Abyssinian gladiolus may not bloom at all. Hybrid gladiolus, though, are already finishing. I got these few pictures while I can, and will likely get pictures of butterfly gladiolus as they bloom later. I am glad to do so. They are my favorite gladiolus. They are more like wildflowers than overly bred hybrids. Also, they are very reliably perennial. I hope that the Abyssinian gladiolus perform also. They are also supposedly reliably perennial, but are not in a very good situation here. I should relocate them, perhaps closer to where the butterfly gladiolus are so happy. The hybrids are earning my appreciation too. I was not aware that they had potential to be perennial.

1. Gladiolus papilio, butterfly gladiolus is my favorite, because it is from Tangly Cottage Gardening, is approved by Skooter, is reliably perennial, and it blooms like a wildflower.

2. Its foliage is rather grassy, which is more compatible with other wildflowers than wide leaves of more garish hybrid gladiolus. The corms multiply and migrate quite efficiently.

3. Gladiolus murielae, Abyssinian gladiolus is my second favorite, even while it is not so much to see. It is a gift from a neighbor. It should bloom for autumn, but I have doubts.

4. Hybrid gladiolus are the most colorful, but are not reliably perennial. However, these and two others have been blooming well here for several years, and actually multiplying.

5. This orange with yellow hybrid gladiolus was one of the first two to bloom again after a few years of producing only foliage. The yellow gladiolus joined them a few years later.

6. This purple hybrid gladiolus is the other of the first pair to resume bloom, although it does not multiply as much as the yellow gladiolus that resumed bloom a few years later.

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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Thrift

Thrift performs well in coastal climates.

When I see common thrift, Armeria maritima, in nurseries now, I wonder what such a diminutive perennial would be useful for. Their densely compact mounds of narrow evergreen leaves rarely get more than four inches deep, and take their time spreading to less than a foot wide. Then I remember how thrift visually softened the straight edges of my father’s brick patio and retaining walls, and fit so nicely into the tight spots. If allowed to do so, thrift creeps slowly over edges of pavement and stepping stones, but is not too eager to overwhelm them.

If it eventually gets overgrown, thrift is easily cut back to the edge of pavement at the end of winter, and will green over its raw edge by spring. The bits and pieces that are left over from cutting back the edges can be plugged back into other areas and will eventually develop roots if initially watered regularly. Once established, thrift stays healthier if allowed to dry somewhat between watering. Bald spots that may naturally come and go as mature plants die out in the center and then regenerate fill in faster if outer edges get cut back.

The dense round clusters of tiny flowers stand above the foliage on bare stems about four to eight inches high. The flowers are almost always bright pink, but are sometimes white or reddish pink. Bloom is most profuse in spring and may continue sporadically all year. 

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Many Pruning Techniques

Proper pruning enhances performance rather than compromise it.

If gardeners can reach it, they will most likely shear it. They do not mind if it was intended to be a shade tree, a flowering shrub or even a sculptural succulent. Few will take the time to prune and groom properly. Ironically, formal hedges that actually need to be shorn are rarely shorn properly! 

Most of us fortunately are not gardeners, but merely enjoy our gardens. We know the importance of proper pruning, and that various plants need different pruning techniques. The main difficulty is determining which techniques are best for each type of plant in our gardens.

Shearing is primarily for hedges; which by the way, should be slightly narrower up high, and slightly wider down low in order to optimize sun exposure to all parts. Generally, plants that are grown for their flowers, fruit or natural form should not be shorn regularly.

Fruit trees and modern roses need the most specialized pruning while dormant in winter, so are not recommended for ‘low maintenance’ gardening. Their specialized pruning thins out superfluous growth, concentrating resources for fruit and flower production. Pruning also removes suckers (from below graft unions) and the ‘four Ds’; which are Diseased, Damaged, Dying and Dead stems. 

Most trees eventually need some sort of pruning to direct their growth. Limbs that are too low need to be pruned away to maintain adequate clearance from roadways, sidewalks, chimneys, roofs and anything else that they should keep their distance from. Lighting, road signs and views from cars coming out of driveways should not be obstructed. As larger trees mature, they eventually need the attention of professional arborists to maintain their health, stability and structural integrity.

Small trees like Japanese maple, Hollywood juniper and pineapple guava look much better with selective pruning and thinning to expose their natural forms. If they become obtrusive, such trees are very often pruned back for confinement. They should instead be pruned to direct their growth up and out of the way, so that lower obtrusive stems get removed, and upper growth can develop naturally.

Nandina, abelia, various bamboos, old fashioned lilac and other plants that produce new stems from the ground benefit from another type of thinning known as ‘alternating canes’. This involves cutting older canes to the ground as they begin to deteriorate or become overgrown. Alternating canes without any other pruning allows nandina to keep its distinctive foliar texture, and abelia to develop its distinctive arching branch structure.  

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Not Ocotillo

Echinocereus engelmannii, hedgehog cactus?

Ocotillo, Fouquieria splendens, was the species that I intended to procure as Rhody and I walked out and into the desert that surrounded the home we lodged at northwest of Phoenix at the end of last April. I had seen it from the roads on the way there. I should have stopped to procure cuttings or small specimens while I had the chance. Furthermore, I should have stopped for cuttings or small specimens as we left without procuring any earlier. It is a fascinating species that I am completely unfamiliar with.

Hedgehog cactus, Echinocereus engelmannii, is all I procured instead. At least I believe that it is this particular species. I really do not know for sure. A few species of the genus are native to the area. This species just happens to be the most common among them, and its description seems to conform to my observations of this specimen. Other species bloom with floral color that is different from that which I observed with a few remaining shriveled floral carcasses. Most other species exhibit different foliar patterns or textures with their spines. This particular species is distinctly more unappealing than the others, but I got it.

Now, I have no idea of what to do with it. First, I should probably wait to see if it survives. The bits that I got might have been a bit too fresh to root before they rot. I suppose that I should remove the developing fruit to divert resources to vegetative growth and root development. I thought that they would abscise naturally after bloom, in response to the distress of separation from the original specimen. I would prefer natural abscission to unnatural intervention. Pruning wounds from such intervention might promote rot while the cuttings are already vulnerable to rot from below.