Posted on by tonytomeo

Monocarpic?

Agaves refuse to die.

Monocarpic species bloom only once. They die afterward. Many annuals are monocarpic by default. After bloom and production of seed, they have served their purpose of perpetuating the next generation. Some may bloom more than once within their respective season, but realistically, do not expect to live for long after doing so.

Agaves are monocarpic. Unlike annuals, some grow for many years before maturing enough to bloom. In fact, the century plant is known as such because, in the wild, it supposedly takes a century to mature enough to bloom and finally die. Of course, they do not take nearly so long to bloom within cultivation.

That could be either an advantage or a disadvantage. Their bloom is awesome, but their death is ugly. Removal of their deteriorating but wickedly thorny foliage is a horrid chore. The sap from their foliage causes a rash that can be comparable to the allergic reaction from poison oak. What is worse is that they are not really monocarpic!

Again, that can be either an advantage or a disadvantage. They provide more than enough pups to replace their deteriorating carcass. However, these prolific pups must be divided from each other and the deteriorating carcass of their parent. They are too numerous to accommodate within the same garden or share with neighbors who likely do not want them. Furthermore, they continue to generate pups long after the parent and first litter of pups is gone. Without intervention, they seem to never die completely. Even with diligent intervention, they can linger for many years.

This particular agave should have remained vegetative for many years, but bloomed after only two or three years. The first litter of pups bloomed immediately afterward, as this picture demonstrates. Ultimately, we would like only a single pup to replace the parent.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 11 Comments

Six on Saturday: No Hunting

Wildlife is fortunately not too much of a problem within the landscapes here. Deer have complete access but strangely avoid refined landscapes, which includes roses. We would be unable to defend the landscapes otherwise. With so many people in the area, hunting is not possible. Even if it were, I do not like the local options much. Turkeys must know, which is why they are so blatant with their minor but annoying transgressions. Ducks at least try to be helpful by eating snails and the overwhelmingly prolific duckweed in their pond. Actually, I would not mind if they invited some of their friends over to help, since the pond looks more like a lush green lawn than water. Increasingly cooler weather may change that somewhat soon.

1. Single white angel’s trumpet is irrelevant to wildlife, but is blooming too splendidly to ignore. It was #6 last week, while beginning to bloom. It grew from a cutting last spring.

2. Ducks enjoy the pond without becoming too annoyingly numerous. Only this nice pair seems to be permanent residents. Another pair occasionally stops by but lives elsewhere.

3. Duckweed might otherwise be less bothersome if only they invited their friends over a bit more often. Even in this small pond, a single pair of ducks can not control duckweed.

4. Turkeys are the opposite. They are annoyingly numerous, but do not help much. They glean insects, but also thrash colorful flowers and berries, whether they eat them or not.

5. Pyracantha berries should remain colorful while small birds eat them through winter. Instead, turkeys shake most of them from their branches, and leave them on the ground.

6. Rhody is a terrier of some sort. His ancestors pursued burrowing animals who lived in the ground, or ‘terra’. Fortunately, he is uninterested, and is even less interested in fowl.

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 · 8 Comments

Horridculture – Long Stem Rose

I grew a nearly exemplary long stem rose!

Well, I did not exactly do it myself. One of three specimens of ‘Proud Land’ hybrid tea rose that I installed into the rose garden in about 1984 did all the work. I was quite pompous when I found it though. After all, I maintain this particular specimen in a can here until it relocates into another rose garden.

I certainly did not expect such a bloom only a week before November. Although roses can bloom until winter dormancy, the latest are generally on short stems. Increasingly cool weather decelerates formerly vigorous growth.

This particular rose bloomed on a stem that was more than three feet long! It would have been ideal for Miss Piggy of the Muppet Show! Goodness, it could have been too good for Miss Piggy!

‘Proud Land’ hybrid tea rose

The flower might have lacked perfect form, and the foliage might have been slightly blemished, but with such an awesome stem, they were inconsequential. Perhaps I should have stripped the foliage and cut the flower off, in order to most effectively display the near perfection of this most astounding stem!

After cutting it, I removed the thorns and lower foliage, and put it in water outside the lounge at work. According to tradition, unless someone else is presently experiencing marital tension of some sort, the first of the gentlemen with whom I work to find roses there takes them to his wife. This was only a single rose, but was very special. It was gratifying to know that someone with whom I work was about to experience a very special evening, although I gave it no more thought than that.

Then, the gentleman who claimed it mentioned that it was too long, and before I could protest, he cut the stem in half.

the discarded half
Posted on by tonytomeo · 2 Comments

a Tale of Two Jacarandas

Jacaranda seedlings from this year will be ready to grow next year.

Los Angeles is about three hundred and fifty miles to the southeast of Los Gatos. Relative to the number of different climates between here and there, the climates of the two specific locations are surprisingly similar. Nonetheless, they are not completely similar. Winter weather is somewhat milder within the Los Angeles region, with only minimal frost. Some coastal climates there lack frost. Also, spring weather there is a bit warmer than here.

Jacaranda mimosifolia perform spectacularly with such mild winter weather and warm spring weather. Without frost, or even with minimal frost, they can grow taller than thirty feet, and eventually grow broader than tall. After defoliating for the end of winter or beginning of spring, they bloom for late spring, immediately prior to refoliation. Their awesomely vivid blue bloom is almost as profuse as their subsequent foliage. No other tree of comparable size compares to their floral color or floral profusion. That is why jacaranda are so much more popular within the region of Los Angeles.

Here, occasional moderate frost inhibits comparable performance. Trees are generally smaller and more compact, with more globular form. Vigorous growth that develops after frost damage can be structurally deficient, but heavy with lush foliage. Bloom is more sporadic amongst such vigorously vegetative growth. Although very pretty by local standards, jacaranda is not quite as exquisite as it is within the region of Los Angeles.

Nonetheless, I am growing some. A colleague brought me a seed pod from which I extracted seed. Fortunately, only a few more than two dozens seedlings survived a late frost last winter. Otherwise, many more would eventually be in need of homes. A few will likely inhabit our landscapes. A neighbor wants a few. Any extra jacaranda trees can be shared with other neighbors, like so much other surplus.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 2 Comments

Perennial Annual Dahlias

Annual dahlias are expected to be, as their designation implies, annual. In other words, they grow in the spring, perhaps from seed, bloom through summer, and then succumb to frost during their first winter. Some are likely grown from cuttings or division of nursery stock tubers, in order to be ready for spring earlier than seedlings. Regardless, they are not expected to survive for more than one year.

Most other dahlias are expected to be perennial. That is how their expense is justified. Most are sold while they are merely dormant tubers, and are generally more expensive than annual dahlias. Some, especially the trendy sorts, are significantly more expensive.

‘Cafe au Lait’ was a trendy dahlia a few years ago, and is still trendy. We procured one at work. It performed somewhat well for the first season, and was then dug and stored for winter. It did not perform well for the second season, and was then dug and stored again, but did not survive through winter.

Four smaller annual dahlias were procured in conjunction with the single ‘Cafe au Lait’ dahlia. They were relatively inexpensive, but delightfully colorful. They bloomed nicely around the larger ‘Cafe au Lait’ dahlia. They were also dug and stored for winter after their first season, although we knew that we should likely merely discard them. One had actually divided into two. These annual dahlias bloomed better than ‘Cafe au Lait’ for their second season, and then again, were dug and stored for winter. Unfortunately, three, including one that divided during the previous winter, did not grow for long after last spring. However, two of the original four annual dahlias continue to bloom, and will be dug and stored as they succumb to frost this winter. These annuals have been more perennial than the perennials.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 10 Comments

Six on Saturday: Good News

Horticulture occasionally involves some degree of disappointment. However, more than occasionally, it is surprisingly gratifying. After the mysterious disappearance of a colony of Louisiana iris, I remembered how much I enjoyed growing them. Unplanned bananas will be fun to grow in the future. Unseasonable bloom is at least as gratifying as seasonal bloom.

1. ‘Black Gamecock’ Louisiana iris was a gift from Tangly Cottage Gardening. Therefore, they were VERY important to me. I split and plugged them into a thirty foot long row on the edge of a pond at work. Sadly, after growing happily through summer, they suddenly and inexplicably disappeared. I am determined to not be unrealistically saddened about this, though. They were intended to be enjoyed, and I enjoyed growing them all summer. The good news is that Tangly Cottage Gardening offered replacement when I return this winter. Also, I found these four surviving plugs! I canned them here for their protection.

2. Iris unguicularis, Algerian iris was another of several prized gifts from Tangly Cottage Gardening. I split and plugged them into a row that is about twenty feet long last winter.

3. Musa acuminata, banana ‘trees’ are getting to be rather excessive. With these pairs of four new cultivars, there are now fourteen cultivars! There are no plans for any of them.

4. Brugmansia candida, double white angel’s trumpet failed to impress this year. Bloom was limited. Now that summer is over, it decided to bloom! I suppose this is good news.

5. Brugmansia X cubensis, ‘Charles Grimaldi’ continues to bloom late, and with this odd peachy color. Although I know that it should be simple yellow, I rather prefer this color.

6. Brugmansia, angel’s trumpet of an unidentified cultivar with single white flowers also decided to bloom late. This is impressive because it grew from a cutting from last 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/

Posted on by tonytomeo · 9 Comments

Horridculture – Gophers!(?)

Who took the Louisiana iris?!

This is more infuriating than the rat or rats who ate the tops off of my rare young banana trees. I do not actually know who the culprit is, but can only guess that it is a gopher or a few gophers. Initially, I thought that it was someone who intended to pull weeds, but instead pulled the beloved Louisiana iris. All I know is that the iris were growing well, and are now completely gone!

These Louisiana iris were a gift from Tangly Cottage Gardening in Ilwaco, so were extremely important to me. After bringing them here at the end of last winter, I split and groomed them, and plugged them into a single row that was about thirty feet long. This row was on the edge of a pond, where I hoped they would form a network of rhizomes to help contain the shifting mud. It was an ideal situation. I watched them grow through the year, and expected them to bloom next season. They were totally awesome!

There is no indication that they were pulled or dug. Nor is there any indication that they were pulled downward from below. Although I found a few gopher tunnels, such tunnels were not sufficiently extensive to reach all of the rhizomes of the Louisiana iris.

Only four very small plugs remained. I dug and canned them to protect them from whomever or whatever took the rest of them. Although they can grow and multiply very efficiently, they will not replace the thirty foot long row for several years. Besides, even when they do proliferate, I do not know if I can safely install them back onto the edge of the pond. Without knowing what happened to the last colony, I can not protect a subsequent colony from the same fate.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 4 Comments

PruneYard

No more prunes.

Ulmus parvifolia, Chinese elm extends most prominently into the picture from the right, with another bit from the left of the upper margin. Platanus X acerifolia, London plane extends into the picture from the right of the lower margin, with another minimal bit from the upper left. Otherwise, no other vegetation is visible. This is not exactly a horticultural topic.

The PruneYard Tower 1 is the big and dark skyscraper above the elms and planes. For a few years, it was the tallest skyscraper between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Like many major urban developments, it and its associated complex of buildings is named for what it displaced.

The PruneYard really was what its name describes, a large yard for drying prunes, as well as apricots, from the formerly vast orchards that surrounded it. Because the primary PruneYard complex of buildings is almost as old as I am, I can not remember it not being there. However, I can remember the ruins of some of the associated facilities nearby, as well as abandoned remnants of orchards. The stouter PruneYard Tower II was added in about 1976. The PruneYard Place was added in the early 1990s.

Nowadays, the name of the PruneYard must seem silly to those who are unaware of its history. Few are aware of the difference between prune and plum. Even those of us who can remember the last scraps of orchards find it difficult to believe that, not only were orchards here, but that they were formerly much more vast, and occupied most of the Santa Clara Valley. Just as tourists go to see the fall color of New England, tourists formerly came here to see the spring bloom. It is no wonder that the Santa Clara Valley was also known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight.

Posted on by tonytomeo

From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah

Well, . . . it is not exactly on the muddy banks.

Kurt Cobain was here. So was I. That is how I got this picture of this English holly in this awkward situation within Kurt Cobain Memorial Park, on the muddy banks of the Wishkah River. I wrote about other pictures from there at my other presently discontinued blog, ‘Felton League’, a bit more than a year and a half ago. This particular picture was omitted because it was irrelevant to that particular post. It is more relevant to this horticultural blog.

‘From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah’ is, incidentally, the second album that the band Nirvana recorded without Kurt Cobain.

English holly is more naturalized on the muddy banks of the Wishkah River and throughout coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest than it is here. There are not many ecosystems that it can not migrate into there. Here, it can infest only ecosystems that retain sufficient moisture through summer to sustain it, such as riparian or coastal ecosystems. Even within such ecosystems, it would not likely survive on top of a piling such as this specimen.

Some of the most prominent vegetation of the coastal ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest is surprisingly similar to vegetation here. Douglas fir, which is sporadically native here, is the most prominent species within the forests there. Bigleaf maple is likewise more common there than here. Naturalized Himalayan blackberry is even more common and more wicked there!

However, to me, the entire region seemed to be riparian. Nothing was far from some sort of waterway. I encountered nothing that resembled a familiar chaparral ecosystem. Someone who is more familiar with the region could distinguish between the various local ecosystems. I should be more observant about the diversity of the ecosystems and their associated vegetation, both native and exotic, when I return late next winter.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 18 Comments

Six on Saturday: Chuck’s Grandparents

‘Charles Grimaldi’ is likely the most popular angel’s trumpet. It is very vigorous and very fragrant, with cheery yellow bloom. I plugged several cuttings last autumn, but then very unfortunately neglected to protect them from our unexpectedly and unusually cold frost. Of only two survivors, one grew so splendidly that it is now prominently displayed in the landscapes, rather than ignored in the nursery. It has an amusing history. (The first two pictures are not mine.)

1. This pair of ‘Charles Grimaldi’ angel’s trumpet might be familiar to those who watched television in the early 2000s. They were prettier while GreenArt managed the landscape back then. They are gone now. This was the best picture that I could find of them online. The third specimen that was omitted after it was delivered now inhabits Brent’s garden.

2. This omitted third specimen of ‘Charles Grimaldi’ angel’s trumpet is more impressive within Brent’s Dreamscape at the Jungalow. A picture of its bloom represents its species in the Sunset Western Garden Book from several years ago. It is the source of my copies.

3. This copy grew more than six feet tall from a cutting that I plugged last winter. Its can sits on the bottom of its big urn. Its bloom was too pretty to leave unseen in the nursery.

4. Bloom, which began only recently, will not likely continue much longer. The specimen might return to the nursery for winter, and then be installed into a landscape afterward.

5. A comparably tall copy of an unknown cultivar with orange flowers is about to bloom. Unfortunately, the weather will likely become too cool for these buds to finish blooming.

6. Young banana trees are likewise too striking to leave unseen within the nursery. Their cans were placed within more appealing pots within the landscapes at least until winter.

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/