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Six on Saturday: Autumn Or Not?

Some vegetation is responding to cooler autumn weather as it should while some refuses to concede. Autumn foliar color is not so spectacular this season.

1. Canna musifolia, canna foliage is beginning to discolor in response to cooling autumn weather. I will groom such foliage out through the season until there is nothing left of it.

2. Plectranthus scutellarioides, coleus is not so easily convinced that it really is autumn. It is as vigorous now as it was for summer. I suspect that it will not last for long like this.

3. Cornus florida, flowering dogwood is already defoliated, and it did so quickly without much color. Others were somewhat more colorful, and were retaining their color better.

4. Acer palmatum, Japanese maple, like coleus, is not convinced that it really is autumn. This particular specimen is as green as it was for summer. Others are beginning to color.

5. Strelitzia nicolai, giant bird of Paradise supposedly blooms randomly. However, ours prefers to bloom through summer and finish about now, so is actually right on schedule.

6. Impatiens hawkeri, New Guinea impatiens, like coleus and Japanese maple, is not yet convinced that it is autumn. It will likely succumb to autumn chill when the coleus does.

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

Why Bother?

Nasturtiums were a good choice for my downtown planter box, or so I thought. I know that people pick flowers from such planter boxes. I figured that nasturtiums bloom so abundantly that no one could possibly pick all the flowers from them. Technically, I was correct. Technically, not all of the flowers were picked. However, there were times when only a few of the abundant flowers remained. I replaced them with some sort of compact aeonium like perennial that I can not identify. It forms dense mounds of yellowish green succulent foliage that I figured no one would bother. I do not mind when I notice a few pieces missing. There is enough to share. What I do mind is that someone clear cut harvested enough to leave this bald patch. The left half of the picture demonstrates what it should look like. What is worse is that there is so much of it extending outside of the railing that would not have been missed if it had been taken. Also, as the picture below shows, the more prominent common aeonium is not exempt from such pilferage. So, why do I bother? Well, I still enjoy my downtown planter box.

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Six on Saturday: Pots

Pots are a bit more common within our landscapes than they should be, but they can be justified.

1. Philodendron selloum ‘Lickety Split’ split-leaf philodendron grew efficiently enough to obscure its pretty green pot within a few months, but does not seem to grow much now. It seems to merely replace old foliage with new foliage. The stems do not elongate much.

2. Dianella caerulea, blueberry lily is named Sigmund because it looks like a shabby sea monster. It is in a large terracotta pot that it now completely obscures. It visually softens the blunt end of a low stone retaining wall that separates a few stone steps from a ramp.

3. Cymbidium, orchid with a few small bits of Vinca minor ‘Alba Variegata’, small white variegated periwinkle are in a cheap plastic urn, with Sigmund in the background to the left. I know neither the species nor the cultivar of the orchid, but it blooms white nicely.

4. Alocasia odora, taro, or whatever species this is, has grown quite nicely to obscure its pot, just like the split-leaf philodendron and Sigmund. It was taken from a vacated home with an Australian tree fern two years ago. Sadly, the old home will soon be demolished.

5. Brugmansia, angel’s trumpet really is getting to be redundant, but is also really quite pretty. Like the orchid, both its species and cultivar are unknown. I grew it from a scrap from a green waste pile in East San Jose. Its big terracotta urn was a gift a few years ago.

6. Eucalyptus globulus ‘Compacta’, dwarf blue gum is certainly not a typical houseplant. Yet, here it is within an antique coffee shoppe lounge at work. We do not know how long it can survive here without direct sunlight, but will eventually find out. It is quite grand.

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

KPCR Garden Report

Nothing is official yet. I am hopeful, though. I am currently in training to establish a new Garden Report on Pirate Cat Radio KPCR-LP 92.9 FM in Los Gatos, KMRT-LP 101.9 FM in Santa Cruz, KVBE-LP 91.1 in Portland, and online at KPCR.org. For me, it is daunting. However, those training me are confident of my ability. I have no problem talking about horticulture for an hour. My difficulty is operating the necessary electronics. It is not much, and actually looks quite simple. I am just not comfortable with it. I am intent on doing what I must, though. I miss my former Garden Report gardening shows on KSCO 1080 AM in Santa Cruz and KBCZ 89.3 FM in Boulder Creek. Ultimately, I would like to post recordings of the new Garden Report here on the blog, or at least post links to such recordings. I am told that is not difficult to do, if I record the shows, which is apparently standard procedure. I still need to find “intro” music for the beginning and end of each show, but I believe that I have a source for that. Goodness, although I know this should be easy, I am nervous!

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Six on Saturday: Off Color Angel’s Trumpets

Angel’s trumpet continue to bloom even as the weather cools. Perhaps they will continue until frost. Their floral color is a bit off though, perhaps as a result of the cooler weather. They work out nicely for ‘Six on Saturday’, though. Strangely, not much else is blooming as well as angel’s trumpet is now.

1. Angel’s trumpet probably should not bloom so late, but does not seem to know or care that it is autumn. I was impressed by a previous bloom phase, so will see what this does.

2. This is a more open flower of the same angel’s trumpet as above. Its floral color is the most variable of the cultivars, but has most commonly been more peachy pink than this.

3. This angel’s trumpet flower should be frilly double white. I suppose that it is not so off color. However, it is barely frilly, and lacks double form. I can not complain. It is pretty.

4. This angel’s trumpet flower blooms with the peachy pink color that #2 should exhibit, but should bloom yellow. Again, I can not complain. I just wonder what is going on here.

5. If I remember correctly, this rhododendron is not off color like some angel’s trumpets are but it is very off season. My complaint is that it will not bloom for spring as it should.

6. Rhody might disapprove of all this off color commentary if he were not so thoroughly distracted by someone with goodies. He can not see the same colors as humans anyway.

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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Pet Rock

It has been nearly seven years since I documented the discovery of this mysterious Pet Rock in a hanging pot of zonal geranium at work. Until only recently, it had remained where it was for all this time. I did not want whomever left it to return to find it gone. Even after the zonal geranium were replaced with ivy geranium, it was returned to its original position. Unfortunately though, the ivy geranium did not perform much better than the original zonal geranium, so their hanging planters were recently removed completely with no plans to replace them. The Pet Rock was regrettably removed with them. There are no other planters nearby to deposit it into. I can only hope that whomever left it will not miss it. Realistically, I suspect that it was forgotten about shortly after it was left there. The difficulty is that I do not know. Well, the Pet Rock remains in the nursery at work, just in case someone asks about it. Perhaps it will eventually be deposited elsewhere in a landscape for someone else to wonder about. Perhaps that is how it was deposited into the hanging pot of zonal geranium where I found it!

Posted on by tonytomeo · 12 Comments

Six on Saturday: Miscellaneous

Both work and home gardening were relatively mundane this week. Consequently, these six lack a theme. Irrigation is at that awkward phase when less is necessary, but it is still very necessary. No more rain came after the first storm of the season, but the weather is cooler, and the days are shorter. Autumn is arriving . . . slowly. Maybe I will get pictures of autumn foliar color for next Saturday.

1. Robinia pseudoacacia, black locust is much more out of focus than I was aware of as I took this picture to show how blue the sky is without any rain in the foreseeable forecast.

2. Begonia X semperflorens–cultorum, wax begonia succumbed to a major infestation of fungus gnat larvae. These fresh cuttings were made from their unaffected upper growth.

3. Amaryllis belladonna, naked lady seedlings grew from seed from white flowers. They will not bloom for several more years. I am curious to see if they might also bloom white.

4. Saccharum officinarum, sugarcane probably should not have been bothered until the end of winter, but I separated five clumps. This is the traditional Purple Ribbon cultivar.

5. Acer rubrum, red maple is redundant to a picture of the same two Saturdays ago, but is too pretty to not get a last picture of before the end of its season. It is mostly bare now.

6. Rhody was busy with relaxation while I was at work on Thursday. He is commendably proficient with such tasks, while not being late for petting sessions and treats afterward.

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/