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.
Flowering crabapple is more colorful than crabapples that are grown more for fruit.
This picture resembles flowering cherry, but is actually a flowering crabapple, Malus spp.. Both provide impressively abundant spring bloom before foliation in spring. Both may have single, semidouble or double flowers in various shades ranging from white to rich pink. Some flowering crabapples though have nearly red flowers. Flowering crabapples get slightly larger, more than twenty feet tall and broad; but some stay as short as five feet, and others get taller than thirty feet! Some have bronzy or purplish foliage through summer. The half inch to nearly two inch wide yellow, orange or red fruit can be colorful into autumn, and some makes good jelly; but it can also be messy. The main advantage of flowering crabapples is that they are somewhat less susceptible to rot than flowering cherries are in dense slowly draining soil.
(This article is from 2010, so contains irrelevantly outdated information.)
Now that the world renowned San Francisco Flower and Garden Show is over, it is time for an even more important horticultural event; Spring in Guadalupe Gardens, on April 24, between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.. This celebration of Guadalupe Gardens, Earth Day and the Great Outdoors may not be as big and as fancy as some of those ‘other’ shows, but it is so much more important because it is local, centered around the Guadalupe Gardens Visitor and Education Center, which is located at 438 Coleman Avenue in San Jose.
My favorite part of Spring in Guadalupe Gardens is all the vendors of unusual plants. In past years, I found several fuchsias, aloes, cacti and weird tomato plants at Spring in Guadalupe Gardens. I never know what to expect until I get there. I hope to find unusual fig trees this year.
Spring in Guadalupe Gardens is also a great opportunity to meet with representatives of all sorts of gardening clubs. Gardening questions can be brought by the Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County’s Gardening Advice booth, where I will be working throughout the day. There will be workshops and lectures, music and entertainment, as well as fun activities for children.
Spring in Guadalupe Gardens happens to be at the same time as the peak of bloom in the Heritage Rose Garden, which is the largest public garden in the United States of America dedicated to the preservation of old roses. There will be tours in other gardens and trail walks too. If I did not need to work at the Gardening Advice booth, I would want to tour the Historic Orchard, which is literally a tree museum of the many fruit trees that once filled the vast orchards of the Santa Clara Valley.
Earth Care Recycling will host a free electronic waste drop off at the Visitor and Education Center to collect all sorts of computers, keyboards, monitors, televisions, stereos, radios, printers, fax machines, telephones, cell phones, DVD players and VCRs. (I thought mine was the last of the VCRs!) Proceeds benefit the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy.
Admission and parking are free. Just follow the signs from Coleman Avenue or West Taylor Street. More information about Spring in Guadalupe Gardens can be found at www.grpg.org or by telephoning 298 7657.
The unfortunate news about the Wildflower Show organized by the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society and the Mission College Biological Sciences Department is that it will be at the same time (with another hour until 4:00 p.m.). The fortunate news is that it will continue the following day on April 25, so we all can attend both events! The Wildflower Show will be at Mission College in Santa Clara. Parking in lot C and admission are free.
More than four hundred specie of wildflowers and native plants will be displayed and accurately labeled. There will be free classes for native plant identification and wildflower gardening, and nature activities for children. Books, posters, seeds and note cards will be available for purchase. More information can be found at www.cnps-scv.org, or by telephoning 650 – 260 3450.
This is no simple hack job. Someone or a few someones put a great deal of effort into this very thorough hack job. This took significantly more effort than would have been needed to do it properly. Seriously, proper pruning would have been much easier, and much healthier to this victimized vegetation. In the future, this vegetation would have needed much less maintenance. Furthermore, this is more than visually unappealing. It is downright unsightly. Removal of such disfigured shrubbery would be an improvement, even without replacement. As the illustration below demonstrates, this is not merely a single specimen. It is an entire herd of brutally disfigured shrubs. How did someone determine that this was the right thing to do?!
This mangled shrubbery is vine maple, Acer circinatum, which is native to the Pacific Northwest where I got these pictures. I actually like this particular species because it can perform similarly to Japanese maple, but is not Japanese maple, which I am not at all keen on. Part of my dislike of Japanese maple is the result of working with so many that were ruined like these vine maples were. Vine maple is more tolerable to me because it is too rare here at home for me to encounter any that are ruined like these. This is a first for me. Perhaps that is why it was more difficult to ignore than the countless similarly ruined Japanese maples that I do not need to work with, but see around town.
I can not help but wonder what these vine maples would look like if they had developed somewhat natural form with only significant pruning for clearance above the adjacent pavement, perhaps with minor pruning to limit congestion within their canopies.. Would they resemble mature Japanese maples with extra trunks by now?
Andromeda might be more familiar by its Latin name of Pieris. A few of its seven species, and a few of their hybrids, are popular for home gardens. All are evergreen shrubs. A few do not grow much taller and wider than three feet. Few can grow a bit more than ten feet tall and wide. In the wild, some might grow as small trees that are almost twenty feet tall.
Andromeda has glossy evergreen foliage. Individual leaves are lanceolate, perhaps with serrated margins. They are between one and three inches long, and half to an inch wide. New growth of most cultivars is as rich cinnamony red as that of photinia. A few cultivars have more pinkish or simple green new growth. A few cultivars are variegated with white.
Andromeda blooms with somewhat pendulous racemes of tiny pendulous flowers. Floral racemes are between two and four inches long. Individual flowers are between a quarter and half an inch long. Most are white. Some are pink. Most have green rachi. Some have pink rachi. Bloom is abundant for the middle of spring. Andromeda prefers partial shade.
Home gardens are getting shadier as bigger modern homes occupy smaller modern lots. Bigger homes make bigger shadows. So do their bigger fences that compensate for their minimal proximity to each other. Less space within their smaller gardens extends beyond their shade. Consequently, shade tolerant species have become more popular than ever.
Also, small trees have become more popular than large trees for small modern gardens. However, more of them are evergreen to partially obscure obtrusively close homes. Their shade lasts throughout the year, and is likely darker than that of deciduous trees. It could be too dark in some situations even for shade tolerant species. Even they need sunlight.
Realistically, shade tolerant species merely require a bit less sunlight than most species. No real vegetation can survive without any sunlight. Like it or not, artificial turf can be the most practical option for the shadiest of lawns. Some potted plants can cycle around the garden, to take turns in shade and sunlight. If so, they may not need to be shade tolerant.
Most shade tolerant species perform differently with shade than with better exposure. For example, some rhododendrons that tolerate shade bloom better with more sunlight. Most species with colorful or variegated foliage are more colorful with more sunlight. Likewise, sunlight enhances autumn color for some deciduous species. Shade is merely tolerable.
Also, some shade may be dynamic. Garden space below deciduous trees can be shady for summer, but sunny for winter. Below high evergreen trees, sunlight might get through at a lower angle through winter. Major pruning or removal of vegetation can improve sun exposure if necessary. Many shade tolerant species are adaptable to such modifications.
Most shade tolerant species are understory species. They naturally live below canopies of higher vegetation. Some have big leaves and dark foliar color to maximize absorption of sunlight. Ferns are famously tolerant of shade, although tree ferns can reach above it. Kaffir lily, cast iron plant and hosta tolerate shade also. Rhododendron, azalea, camellia, andromeda and hydrangea tolerate shade as well, but need a bit of sunlight to bloom.
Hippeastrum papilio, butterfly amaryllis is an uncommon and weirdly epiphytic amaryllis. It may not be as pretty as the countless more colorful hybrids of the genus, but it is more reliably perennial. All of the few specimens that I have observed within home gardens are potted or in the ground, either because they are easier to grow that way, or because those who grow them are not aware that they are epiphytic. After all, that is quite weird.
This specimen, from my Six on Saturday post earlier this morning, is blooming in Brent’s garden. As I mentioned earlier, Brent did not know what it was when he acquired it from a neighbor who left it with him when she relocated. I know that it does not look like much in this picture, but that is only because Brent is an idiot, and takes bad pictures. I intend to get a copy of this butterfly amaryllis for my garden, and may try to grow it epiphytically.
I find this species to be more appealing than prettier hybrids, both because it is reliably perennial, and because it is a simple species rather than a hybrid. This is also why I dug a few naturalized Crinum bulbispermum, Orange River lily bulbs for my garden. They are none too pretty, but will last forever. The same applies to Amaryllis belladonna, naked lady, but they are a bit too prolific and common to not potentially qualify as a weed. Their bright pink floral color can be a bit obnoxious anyway. But of course, that is why I was so very pleased to find a bulb that bloomed white, which is my favorite color. It is multiplying nicely here now, just like I know the butterfly amaryllis will once I get a fresh copy of it.
Even annual bloom can be surprising after a few or many months without it. Perhaps an unexpected bloom is more surprising. Familiar wildlife might be surprising when it does something unexpected. Unexpected or unplanned ‘wildlife’, even if domesticated, is a bit of a surprise. Ultimately though, the major surprise is the fifth of these Six. The first two pictures are from Brent’s garden, not here.
1. Persea americana, avocado fruit ripens in the tree above Brent’s office for quite a few months. The tree rarely lacks fruit completely. These spiral stairs are from the roof deck. This squirrel saw Brent taking a picture of it taking its avocado down, so took it back up.
2. Hippeastrum papilio, butterfly amaryllis was left at Brent’s garden by a neighbor who relocated. It is as perennial here as it is there; so I want a copy. Brent did not know what it was until, after two years or so, it surprised him with bloom. Brent takes bad pictures.
3. Malus X (floribunda?) ‘Prairie Fire’ flowering crabapple bloomed spectacularly. It is a relatively modern cultivar from 1982, but is surprisingly old fashioned. I grew up with a tree that was a decade or so older than I am, but it bloomed with a similar reddish pink.
4. Cymbidium orchid of an unidentified cultivar was left by a colleague who only wanted it off his porch. It gets only watering, but blooms annually, and surprisingly abundantly. I should eventually divide it, but I am hesitant to interfere with such a reliable specimen.
5. Koi met an unfortunate demise two winters ago as someone who was unaware of their presence drained their pond. However, a neighbor inquired about two small fish that he saw in the pond soon afterwards. More recently, the same neighbor inquired about this. It seemed to be about a foot and a half long, with a slightly smaller and darker associate.
6. Koi are supposedly schooling fish. Two do not qualify as a school. So, now they have a few more friends to go to school with. These tiny koi should be able to evade their larger classmates, who might otherwise eat them. Actually, I doubt that the larger koi are large enough to eat them anyway. This is not something that I expected to be contending with.
Flowering cherry is the fruitless counterpart of fruiting cherry.
Like camellias and chrysanthemums, the many different varieties of flowering cherries, Prunus spp., have been developed by horticulturists in Japan for centuries. There are now almost too many to choose from. Most stay less than about twenty feet tall and broad, so are proportionate to compact gardens. A few stay even smaller. The classic Yoshino flowering cherry can get somewhat larger. Weeping cherries have pendulous branches. Columnar types are noticeably taller than wide, at least while young. Some flowering cherries have remarkable fall color.
Despite my preference for cherry trees that produce cherries, I can not deny that the spring bloom of the innately non-fruiting flowering cherries is spectacular! Most bloom before any foliage develops. Their flowers can be single, semidouble or double, in various shades of white or pink, including rich rosy pink. They can not be very messy without fruit. Unfortunately though, flowering cherry trees are susceptible to rot in the endemically dense soil, so should not be watered too much.
Green waste from the Arizona Garden is fair game for volunteers.
(This article is from 2010, so contains irrelevantly outdated information.)
Some gardens are native gardens. Some are wildflower gardens. Others are vegetable gardens, white gardens or rose gardens. There are really all sorts of gardens. Mine though is the only garden that I am aware that is described by some as a ‘felony garden’.
This less than appealing distinction originates from my habit of ‘recycling’ green waste from other gardens. From the bits and pieces of debris generated by normal maintenance, I like to propagate copies of plants that I like for my own garden. Sometimes, I get large volumes of material, such as clumps of New Zealand flax or African iris. Sometimes, I just get small bits of pelargonium or English ivy. Sometimes, the small bits are not exactly generated by maintenance.
On March 20, I really scored big! I procured a pick up full of large canes of a somewhat uncommon species of yucca, along with more than a wheelbarrow full of pieces of various cacti, agaves, aloes and succulents! I suppose that I should feel guilty; but I was helping to dispose of the green waste generated by the volunteers at the Arizona Garden at Stanford University.
The historic Arizona Garden could actually use the help of more volunteers during their Volunteer Days every third Saturday of each month. Most of us were pulling weeds last month, and will likely be pulling more this month. Although there is not always booty to be had, (and no one scores like I did!) volunteers are welcome to the debris they generate from any needed grooming and pruning.
The next Volunteer Days will be on April 17, May 15 and June 19. Volunteers can arrive at any time after 9:00 a.m., and should bring heavy gloves since almost everything in the Arizona Garden is equipped with nasty thorns or spines. Some who stay through noon like to bring bag lunches. New volunteers should contact Arizona Garden Coordinator, Christy Smith at 650 – 723 7459 or christy.smith@stanford.edu before attending a Volunteer Day to get any other necessary information and specific directions to access the Garden.
On April 18, the day after the next Volunteer Day at the Arizona Garden, the Going Native Garden Tour will be visiting more than 65 gardens throughout the Santa Clara Valley and the Peninsula from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.. The gardens range from newly planted to established, from townhome lots to acre parcels, but all feature native plants. Some gardens feature talks about native plant gardening. A few gardens will have native plants available for purchase.
It is not possible to see all the gardens within this self guided tour, so guests can choose which gardens to visit. Admission is free, but limited; so early registration is recommended. Registration is required prior to noon on the day of the Tour. Registration can be arranged, and more information about the Going Native Garden Tour and about volunteering can be found at www.gngt.org.
Tony Tomeo 