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Mango Seedlings

There are a few reasons to not grow avocado trees from seed. Such trees take a few years to produce fruit. Then, their fruit may be very different from the fruit that provided the seed. It is therefore better to purchase a grafted tree, or at least to graft a seedling. However, some of the best and most productive avocado trees have grown from seed. I have been acquainted with many such trees, and have never met even one that produced inferior fruit. (The primary problem that I notice with seed grown avocado trees is that they grow so tall while young that most of their fruit is out of reach, but that is another topic for later.) Anyway, this is my justification for growing mango trees from seed. I am told that they are much more likely than seed grown avocado trees to produce inferior fruit. I suppose that I will find out now. I am willing to try grafting them if their fruit is not good. They can at least become good understock. Yet, I am also wondering why I get into these situations. I should have known better than to grow something that I know nothing about.

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Six on Saturday: Coming & Going

Although the weather is predicted to be more typical, it was prematurely autumnish last week. It is a reminder that it really is time for Autumny and wintry flowers to come into season while summery flowers go out of season. This “Six on Saturday” is about some of such coming and going. (To comply with guideline #7 of the participant guide for Six on Saturday, I am limiting verbiage.)

1. Viola wittrockiana, pansy is traditional for winter floral color. It replaces petunia, and should last until petunia becomes seasonable again next spring. It is coming into season.

2. Petunia X hybrida, petunia is traditional for summer floral color. It replaced pansy as pansy finished its season last spring. It is going out of season now. Do you see a pattern?

3. Tagetes patula, marigold is traditional for autumn floral color. It was just installed as a narrow border for a small rose garden. For there, it is one of the more reliable annuals.

4. Pelargonium peltatum, ivy geranium, in eight or so baskets, hung from the eaves of a prominent building at work, but never flourished. They will be recycled somewhere else.

5. Dianthus caryophyllus, carnation does not do much through summer, but now begins to bloom as nights become cooler. I forget that it is here. I also forget how delightful it is.

6. Canna, canna blooms a bit less enthusiastically as the weather begins to cool, but can technically bloom until it gets frosted. If it does not get frosted, it can bloom continually.

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/

Posted on by tonytomeo · 12 Comments

Sea Grape

The Shrub Queen sent me seed for sea grape, Coccoloba uvifera. Naturally, it is now very important to me. I wanted to grow it before obtaining the seed. Now, I am obligated to grow it well! Some of the seed germinated readily. The problem is that slugs promptly ate the tops of the seedlings. Only one seedling survived without damage. It now has its first pair of leaves, and looks like a green butterfly. A second seedling that germinated shortly afterward retains one of its first pair of leaves, so could possibly survive. Hopefully, more seed will germinate later. Sea grape is dioecious; so the primary seedling is either male or female, and therefore unable to produce fruit without a mate of the opposite gender. Most sea grape are female; so even if the secondary seedling survives, there is more than a fifty percent probability that both the primary and secondary seedlings are female. If more seedlings germinate in the future, they will increase the probability that at least one will be a gender that is different from the others. Actually though, I would be pleased with only a single fruitless sea grape. The seed was such a generous gift.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 9 Comments

Six on Saturday: A Few More Surprises

The unseasonably relocated roses that I had been so concerned about for the past month or so continue to surprise with more growth and bloom. So do a few other species. These first three happen to be from Tangly Cottage Gardening. The following two happen to be white. The last happens to not be of horticultural orientation.

1. Canna ‘Stuttgart’, along with a few other fancy potted Canna, unfortunately needed to be relocated from the deck that they inhabited at work. However, it seems to be happier after relocation, and makes larger and more ornate leaves, which is what it is grown for.

2. Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’ bloomed lightly but on time for early summer, and then bloomed again before the original bloom faded completely. The secondary bloom is only now fading, with a backdrop of duckweed and watercress. (This is an older picture.)

3. Hesperantha coccinea, crimson river lily was not expected to bloom because it was so dinky when it arrived late last winter. I thought that its bulbs would need to mature for a year or so before they would be mature enough to bloom. Apparently, it wastes no time.

4. Albizia julibrissin, silk tree blooms white instead of pink, although, because it blooms on top of its high canopy, not much of it is visible from the ground. It finished blooming already, but some minor pruning recently revealed a few of these aberrant white flowers.

5. Rosa spp., rose is another of the few roses that were not expected to bloom after their unseasonable relocation. It seems to be a climbing type, with long and limber stems, and trusses of small flowers. I am impressed that it not only survived, but is growing so well.

6. Heather fails to be as impressed by these developments that I find to be so surprising.

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/

Posted on by tonytomeo

Alaska

Just about everything in my garden has history in someone else’s garden. Almost nothing came from a nursery. I like to say that purchases are against the rules. However, I did purchase ‘Alaska’ Canna from Horn Canna Farm because I want to grow a white canna. I am over the shame already, and am very fond of this first white canna that I have seen since I was very young. As you can see, it is not very white, and is more of a creamy white or vanilla white. Actually, it is very pale yellow. It is presently growing as a houseplant in one of the buildings at work, which might have enhanced the pale yellow color of its bloom. I believe that it would have been whiter out in the weather. It is already growing quite nicely, so will need to move out into a landscape with all the other Canna for next year. I doubt that it will be as popular as the other brightly colored Canna, but a few who see it in bloom might recognize how rare creamy white Canna are now. I think that ‘Alaska’ would contrast splendidly with the dark bronze foliage of ‘Australia’.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 6 Comments

Six on Saturday: Bud to Bloom

As mentioned last week, I got pictures of the roses that were in bud at the time, in bloom now. It will be autumn on Monday, though, and cool season annuals are replacing warm season annuals.

1. Unidentified Salvia was added to one of the landscapes by someone who was here for the summer, just prior to his departure. Now, I have no idea what it is. I could ask, but I feel that I should recognize it, or at least be able to identify it. I like its pure white bloom.

2. Viola is now in season, whether or not it seems as if it should be. We must rely on the date as much as the weather. While the weather suggests that it is still summer, the date insists that Monday will be autumn. These viola will be safe with several days of warmth.

3. Lobularia maritima, alyssum makes the transition from warm season annuals to cool season annuals difficult. It is still too pretty to remove. Technically, it could perform as a short term perennial until individual plants get too old. By that time, it can reseed itself.

4. Rosa spp. of an unidentified cultivar produced a few notably plump rose hips like this to remind me that I have been negligent with deadheading. Now that subsequent bloom is unlikely, I could leave them to ripen. However, the new roses are continuing to bloom.

5. Rosa ‘Sheer Magic’ rose is one of the new roses that surprisingly bloomed after brutal and unseasonable relocation. This is the same flower that I posted a picture of while still in bud last week. A few more floral buds continue to develop but will lack time to bloom.

6. Rosa spp. of an unidentified cultivar is another of the new roses. This is also the same flower that I posted a picture of while still in bud last week. I have reason to believe that this rose is ‘Chrysler Imperial’, which should be red, but very often blooms reddish pink.

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/

Posted on by tonytomeo · 2 Comments

New View

It may not look like much, but it gets annoying, especially at night.

The industrial shop buildings at work are not exactly visually appealing. Fortunately, they are partially obscured from the roads outside by wild forest trees within the adjacent Zayante Creek and a roadside ditch. One road is on the opposite side of Zayante Creek. The other is on the opposite side of the roadside ditch that is perpendicular to Zayante Creek. Their intersection with associated traffic signals is therefore right outside. I added five Arizona cypress trees to the forested area of the roadside ditch, and three Monterey cypress to the forested area of Zayante Creek, to obscure the buildings more in the future. Unfortunately, though, some of the trees beyond needed to be removed for renovations of a major water main for Santa Cruz. One was a mature Monterey cypress between one of the shop buildings and the intersection of the two roads outside. Not only did this reveal the view of the backside of the building from the roads and intersection, but it revealed the view of the intersection from the few windows of the building. Now, from where I do much of my writing, I can see this traffic signal monotonously change from green to yellow to red.