Sunday Best – First Forsythia Flowers
Six on Saturday: First Six of 2026
Even if there were plenty of flowers to take pictures of, I have not been in the landscapes much while it is so rainy. These are from the nursery.
1. Opuntia ficus-indica, prickly pear pads were found at the dump while other landscape debris was being dumped. I was not involved. However, I will be pleased to install them.
2. Buxus japonica, Japanese boxwood turns so yellowish during winter, that it seems to have died this year. We have been trying to find a use for this specimen for quite a while.
3. Canna indica ‘Alaska’ canna is obviously not ‘Alaska’, which has simple green foliage. I suspect that this is ‘Tropicana’. I hope that its spotty foliar discolorations are not virus.
4. Canna indica ‘Australia’ canna got plucked where it migrated a bit too far. These pups will be canned and grown for other landscapes. Surplus might be shared with neighbors.
5. Sarcococca ruscifolia, sweet box produces black berries. Apparently, such berries are red before they ripen to black. I was not aware. There are typically not enough to notice.
6. Sarcococca ruscifolia, sweet box berries are unfortunately poisonous. Otherwise, they look like they might have culinary application. They are unusually abundant this season.
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/
Sunday Best – Daffodil
Six on Saturday: Stormy Weather
Several days of stormy weather were predicted, and came with a flash flood warning and a tornado warning for Christmas, but it really was not that bad. No floods. No tornados.
1. Sandbags were readily available for those who might have needed them for the storms that were expected. The wind was strong, but the rain was not as torrential as predicted.
2. Hedera helix, English ivy and a rotten stump of Lithocarpus densiflorus, tanoak were among the vegetation debris that needed to be removed from roadways after the storms.
3. Pseudotsuga menziesii, Douglas fir contributed to the mess as well. This small bit did not reach the ground, though. Larger branches interrupted electrical service to the area.
4. Cyclamen persicum, florist’s cyclamen looks rather shabby after so much windy, cold and rainy weather without interruption. The weather should be a bit drier for next week.
5. Iris unguicularis, Algerian iris has been more resilient to the weather; and it has been blooming for a long time. This might be its third appearance here in my Six on Saturday.
6. Leucojum vernum, snowflake is what we know as snowdrop. Now that snowdrop is so commonly available online, there could eventually be some confusion with their names.
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/
Major Cutback
After several years of posting daily to this blog, I must cut back drastically. My posts for Thursdays and Fridays had been recycled articles from my gardening column, going back for as many years as this blog has gone forward. So, since this blog began eight years ago in September of 2017, the posts for Thursdays and Fridays have gone back for eight years from 2017, which was 2009. (However, I believe that I posted articles for 2010 twice inadvertently.) These recycled articles will no longer continue to be posted here. Furthermore, the elaborations that I post for Wednesdays and the pictures that I post for Sundays will no longer continue to post regularly. I may post them occasionally, but more likely will not. I hope to continue to post for ‘Six on Saturday’, but I am not even certain about that. Ultimately, I will only commit to posting my gardening articles on Mondays and Tuesdays, since I write those articles for the gardening column anyway. Blogging has been fun, but it is also a time consuming commitment. I may enjoy it more when it is less of a burden, and without the sometimes redundant and sometimes outdated recycled articles.
Sunday Best – Laurustinus
Six on Saturday: More Unseasonal Azaleas
Half of these blooms are right on time. The other half are azaleas that really should wait until spring to bloom. I hope that some refrain from blooming now to bloom in season.
1. Osmanthus fragrans, sweet osmanthus may not be much to look at, but is exquisitely fragrant. I believe that the current cool and humid weather enhances its floral fragrance.
2. Viburnum tinus, laurustinus, which is not typically very fragrant, likewise seems to be more fragrant with cool and humid weather. This one blooms white without pink blush.
3. Osteospermum ecklonis, African daisy blooms significantly less while weather is cool, but seems to never be completely without bloom. This one blooms with a billowy center.
4. Rhododendron spp., azalea should not be blooming now. Flowers that bloom now will be finished and unavailable to bloom in spring. I believe that this cultivar is ‘Coral Bells’.
5. Rhododendron spp., azalea, which is likely ‘Fielder’s White’, is blooming prematurely also. If I remember correctly, it typically does this, but somehow blooms for spring also.
6. Rhododendron spp., azalea with double bloom is probably a recycled florist specimen. I have no idea what cultivar it is. It certainly is colorful. I hope it saves bloom for spring.
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/
Pollinator
A pollinator is a vector of pollen, besides wind. Most are insects. Some are animals. Their only qualification is that they collect and deliver pollen between flowers. Almost all are unaware that they do it as they visit flowers for nectar, which the flowers produce to attract pollinators. Bees, which are probably the most common pollinators, visit flowers to collect pollen with which to make their honey, and pollinate in the process.
So, what about the flowers that provide pollen for pollination, particularly for dioecious species such as hollies, date palms and kiwi vines? (Dioecious plants are either male or female.) ‘Bing’ cherry is not dioecious, but is not self pollinating either, so needs another cultivar of sweet cherry for cross pollination. Such a cultivar is known as a pollinator.
My female kiwi vine just recently acquired a male pollinator. It does not look like much yet, but will grow up to bloom with male flowers to provide pollen for the female flowers of the vemale vine. Because kiwi vines are dioecious, the female vine would be fruitless without pollination from the male vine. Perhaps the male pollinator will need a pollinator to deliver its pollen to the female vine.
Sunday Best – Premature Pigsqueak
Six on Saturday: Ferns
After the warm and arid summers here, ferns enjoy the beginning of the rainy season in late autumn or early winter, which is about now.
1. Adiantum capillus–veneris, Southern maidenhair fern replaces all its tired old foliage for autumn. It resembles native species of maidenhair fern, but with distinct foliar form.
2. Nephrolepis cordifolia, sword fern remains within a big pot because it can be invasive in the ground. It is directly related to Boston fern, but is not quite as soft and pendulous.
3. Dryopteris erythrosora, autumn fern is the only fern here that exhibits autumn foliar color. It is pretty, but quite diminutive. It is no bigger now than it was several years ago.
4. Polystichum munitum, Western sword fern and the next two ferns are native here. All three grow wild within some of our landscapes; and all are remarkably tolerant of shade.
5. Athyrium filix–femina, lady fern is also known locally as ostrich plume fern, but is not related. It has tender leaves with almost succulent rachises that break easily if disturbed.
6. Woodwardia fimbriata, giant chain fern has a similar foliar texture, but is bigger and more resilient than lady fern. We sometimes need to remove big superfluous specimens.
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/
Tony Tomeo 