Posted on by tonytomeo · 20 Comments

Six on Saturday: Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer

Summer is a few days more than half finished. Weather remains noncompliant. Again, I should not get redundant by describing how last spring lingered, with only a few days of summery warm weather. Instead, I can now describe how the weather is beginning to be more like that of autumn. There is still time for some warm weather through September and perhaps even into October here. For now, we can simply appreciate the comfortably mild weather. During a typically warm summer, this is about when we begin to miss the rain. It might finish during March, and might not resume until November. The dew this morning looked almost like raindrops, but even a native Californian can distinguish dew from real rain.

1. Mornings start out atypically cool and damp. It is not exactly hazy. Nor is it uniformly foggy. It almost looks cloudy. It has been doing this for much of this oddly mild summer.

2. Friday morning was so damp that the dew resembled rain. It left spots on windshields of the work pickups, although such spots were not circular as if caused by real raindrops.

3. Banana trees and other species that appreciate warmth are growing unusually slowly. This happens to be the rare Musa ingens, which is the biggest banana tree in the World.

4. ‘Ponderosa’ lemon is slightly chlorotic, likely because of the lack of summer warmth. I should remove the fruit to redirect resources. One lemon can grow to weigh two pounds.

5. Giant reed is one of the most aggressively invasive exotic species within riparian zones of California. It does not seem so aggressive in cultivation here while the weather is cool.

6. ‘Proud Land’ rose bloomed nicely and nearly on schedule last spring, and continues to bloom, although somewhat reluctantly. I installed this now old specimen in about 1984.

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

Horridculture – Deadhead (from last Wednesday)

At least the new growth is healthy.

Property management pays landscape service companies to maintain their landscapes for them. It is expensive. It is certainly fiscally adequate to justify the expectation that this sort of damage would not occur within the landscapes that property management pays landscape service companies to maintain. Now that it did occur, it should be remedied as efficiently as possible by the landscape service company that is justifiably expected to both prevent such damage, and remedy such damage if it occurs. This should not be a complicated concept.

Realistically, this is likely not as egregious as it seems to be. Automated irrigation was likely disabled through the rainy season last winter. It might have been enabled a bit too late into the dry season that began last spring. Hey, it happens. The upper stems of the subject succumbed to desiccation, likely as a result of warm and arid weather. Now that the automated irrigation has been restored, the subject is now attempting to recover from the damage by generating healthy and vigorous new growth relatively low within its canopy. Upper necrosis might remain only because the gardeners are prohibited by their insurance to perform any tasks above a particular height, even with a pole pruner instead of a ladder, and the necrosis is simply too high for them to engage. That task must instead, and perhaps more appropriately, be performed by an arborist. However, the arborist who typically maintains the trees at this particular property would need to charge an expensive minimal fee for this relatively minimal task. It would be more feasible to postpone the task until there is a need for more substantial arboricultural work. The arborist could remove necrosis from this subject within a few minutes, and without charging extra, while at the site to maintain many other larger trees.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 27 Comments

Feline Ecology

No one can build a better mousetrap.

Darla is a feral kitty who used to live here. I believe that she is why no rodents lived here. I never actually saw her do anything to dissuade rodent infestation. Actually, I rarely saw her do anything. She was quite reclusive and disliked almost everyone except Rhody.

Unfortunately, someone else here insisted that fleas were a problem because of Darla. He also insisted that Darla came inside to share her fleas with the carpet and furniture. No one else, including Rhody, ever noticed a flea. Darla never came inside.

While the weather was getting nastier than it had since 1982 last winter, Darla went to live at a home in Santa Clara. After her initial disapproval, she efficiently adapted, and learned to appreciate it. Apparently, she is now happy with her more domestic lifestyle. She is quite elderly, so really deserves safer and more comfortable accommodations.

Rodents are everywhere now! Rats and mice come inside for any scraps of food that the crew leaves out. Ground squirrels have burrowed into much of the exposed soil downstairs. They as well as the rabbits and perhaps tree squirrels eat some of the plant material that is stored in the yard until it goes into the landscapes. The ground squirrels are already digging after the soft buds of the pups my giant bird of Paradise that were heeled in only yesterday! I need to put blood or bone meal out there in an attempt to repel them. I had not considered how horticulturally beneficial a kitty could be.

Of course, with so many rodents here, the fleas have also become a major annoyance, particularly for Rhody!

Now, others at work want me to hire another feral kitty. I do not know how to take care of a kitty, especially a feral kitty!

While the cat is away, the mice and all the other rodents will play.
Posted on by tonytomeo

New York Times

(This article is copied from my other discontinued blog at Felton League. It is not about horticulture, but links to another article about hedges, and features Brent’s garden.)

This is why I have never stayed at Hotel del Flores.

The New York Times featured a picture of my homeless camp! It is the third illustration of this article about landscape hedges. It shows where I camp while in Southern California, including the orange garden daybed where I sleep, and, as the primary topic suggests, a portion of the surrounding hedges.

This illustration should demonstrate why I enjoy being homeless in Southern California. It is quite luxurious. The weather is exemplary for camping. I wake amongst lush tropical foliage and palms, to the gentle sounds of small fountains and wild parrots. It is about as excellent as camping within one of my gardens, but very different, and special because I do it for less than three cumulative weeks annually. For many years, I have been wanting to stay at the famously eccentric Hotel del Flores nearby, but will not do so without inhospitable weather to dissuade homelessness.

Seeing this particular illustration reminds me of why this Felton League blog has been discontinued. For quite a while, there has not been much to write about that would not be intrusive to those involved. Societal difficulties as well as personal difficulties within society certainly remain, but are not as prominent as they had been. My own experience with faux homelessness, albeit within another Community, is strangely appropriate as an illustration for an unrelated article within the New York Times.

Most of those who experienced unemployment, poverty, homelessness or related difficulties here in the past are now enjoying major improvements to their personal situations. Many of those who are not yet benefiting from such improvements appreciate support from this graciously compassionate and generous Community. This has always been a good place to be in a bad situation. Perhaps, now that I no longer blog here, I should write a book about my experiences.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 24 Comments

Six on Saturday: Welcome to the Jungle

Giant bird of Paradise, Strelitzia nicolai, is a grand perennial. It develops several trunks like those of palms, with lush leaves like those of bananas, and bold white flowers. Their bloom can be messy with its sticky and viscous nectar though. Brent and I refer to them as drooling seagulls. For this reason, these giant bird of Paradise needed to be removed. I was pleased to recycle them. They look pathetic now that most of their foliage has been pruned away to minimize evapotranspiration during their recovery. Most should begin to regenerate roots through summer, and then resume growth for next spring and summer.

1. Giant bird of Paradise does not look so impressive laying on the ground. This is one of two piles of well foliated trunks that must be processed and heeled in until next autumn.

2. ‘A Flock of Seagulls’ demonstrates how abundantly these mature specimens bloomed. They are not just any seagulls, but are dead drooling seagulls. I will glean them for seed.

3. Husks make the trunks seem to be bigger than they are. They are the bases of petioles of leaves that were pruned off over the years. Trunks are leaner and tidier without them.

4. Severed roots are unimportant. They merely indicate that a portion of a subterranean rhizome remains attached to the base of a trunk. Trunks are neater without their husks.

5. Adventitious roots grow from portions of rhizome that remain attached to the bases of the trunks, and from the bases of trunks near the rhizomes. These roots are now buried.

6. Lineup shows that there are about a dozen significant trunks, a dozen shorter trunks, and half a dozen pups. They are heeled in here to begin rooting with frequent irrigation. They will be relocated to their permanent landscape after the rain starts during autumn.

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 · 1 Comment

Horridculture – Post Office

Posted!

The Post Office in town is where I go to post or collect mail. For the past few years, this small coast live oak has been getting so low that I must duck under it to get onto the sidewalk from the parking spaces, or even to get past it on the sidewalk. It is particularly annoying because it is in such a prominent location where many other people park and enter the Post Office. I have sometimes considered bringing my pole saw and other pruning tools to prune it for clearance, but because I have not driven the pickup into town for a very long time, and do not intend to do so anytime soon, I would have no means with which to dispose of the debris.

Well, someone else pruned it. Well, sort of pruned it. Well, let us just say that I no longer need to duck under it. What a hot mess of stubs, or should I say, ‘posts’. This is after all, the Post Office. How could anyone think that this was acceptable?! How difficult would it have been to cut these lower limbs properly, without leaving these horrid posts?! Even someone who is not at all concerned about the tree or proper arboriculture can see how hideous this is. Seriously, this goes beyond negligence. Someone put considerable effort into doing this so extremely improperly!

I brought my pole saw the following week to remove these posts without doing any more pruning. I figured that without all the foliage, I could fit them into the trunk of the Roadmaster. However, by the time I go there, someone, likely from the Department of Public Works, had already repaired the damage. The tree could be pruned a bit more, but at least it is not so mutilated.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 2 Comments

Giant Bird Of Paradise Migration

A Flock Of Seagulls

Giant bird of Paradise is not actually from Paradise, and if it were, it would not be the Paradise in Butte County that burned five years ago. This particular species, Strelitzia nicolai, is from South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe. These particular specimens are from none of these places though. They came from Morgan Hill. Nor are they actually birds, although they seem to be migratory like so many species of birds that migrate about the southwestern portion of Africa, and apparently Morgan Hill, but not Paradise. Oh, this is getting confusing.

Giant bird of Paradise, which is unrelated to Big Bird of Sesame Street, is a grand perennial that can get twenty feet tall. It resembles the more common bird of Paradise, but with tall trunks that resemble those of small palm trees. Also unlike the common bird of Paradise, their appeal is more foliar than floral. In other words, their primary attribute is their lush foliage, rather than their bloom. Actually, their bloom can be undesirable within some situations.

In fact, that is why these particular specimens needed to be removed. Their bloom was drooling messy nectar onto the pavement below. In horticultural slang, they are known as ‘drooling seagulls’ because of this habit, and also because their bulky white flowers look like seagulls peeking from the lush foliage, and of course, drooling while they do so.

Morgan, the old F250 who coincidentally is named after Morgan Hill, and I brought these giant bird of Paradise here, where they await processing. They are supposed to be left out of the ground for about two weeks anyway, so that they will be less susceptible to rot when planted and irrigated. After their processing, they will get heeled in here so that I can monitor them more directly as they begin their recovery. The best of them will migrate again to their permanent landscape after the rainy season starts. I should get better pictures of them and their processing for Six on Saturday.

Posted on by tonytomeo

No More Reblogs

My blogging discontinued quite a while ago. Articles from my gardening column still post in two parts on Mondays and Tuesdays, with the primary topics on Mondays, and the featured species on Tuesdays. Older articles still post in the same format on Thursdays and Fridays. These articles are not actually blog posts though. They are gardening column articles.

Originally, my only blogging had been on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays. ‘Horridculture’ topics posted on Wednesdays. ‘Six on Saturday’ contributions posted on Saturday mornings. Random topics posted at noon on Saturdays and on Sunday mornings. Then, with the exception of ‘Six on Saturday’ contributions, all of these blog posts were recycled from earlier posts, so no longer qualified as actual blogging.

Now, as was inevitable, there are no more blog posts to recycle. Articles from my gardening column will continue to post on Mondays and Tuesdays. Older articles from the same column will continue to post on Thursdays and Fridays. I will likely continue to participate in the ‘Six on Saturday’ tradition on Saturday mornings. Otherwise, except for occasional random posts, regularly scheduled but recycled posts for Saturday afternoons, Sundays and Wednesdays will not continue.

In the future, recycled gardening articles may also be omitted, and new gardening articles may not be divided into two sections. If so, intact articles from my gardening column may post only weekly here. After all, the original purpose of this blog was to be another minor venue for the gardening column, . . . and obviously, pictures of Rhody.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 43 Comments

Six on Saturday: Better Late Than Never

As I explained earlier, unusual weather has interfered with the growth and bloom cycles of many species. Winter weather was exceptionally wintry. Spring and summer weather was exceptionally mild until only recently. Many flowers bloom precisely on schedule, as if oblivious to the unusual weather. Many flowers bloom significantly later than normal. Lily of the Nile seems to be about a month late. So does garden phlox, although I do not remember if it bloomed simultaneously with lily of the Nile last year. Nor do I remember when butterfly gladiolus bloomed. Hybrid gladiolus seemed to bloom right on schedule, so are finished.

1. Agapanthus orientalis, lily of the Nile should have been blooming like this more than a month ago, and at least for Independence Day. Some buds are only beginning to open.

2. Agapanthus orientalis, lily of the Nile does not bloom abundantly in the shade, but it blooms grandly. This picture can not show that this one floral truss is about a foot wide.

3. Agapanthus orientalis, lily of the Nile, although genetically variable, had always been exclusively blue within all of the landscapes here. This is the first of three white blooms! I grew the originals in the early 1990s, but needed to relocate their herd a few years ago.

4. Phlox paniculata, garden phlox seems to be even more delayed than lily of the Nile is. I can not be certain though, since I got acquainted with its seasons only a few years ago.

5. Gladiolus X hortulanus, hybrid gladiolus was not so delayed, so bloomed precisely on schedule, and now needs deadheading. I am pleased by how many are reliably perennial.

6. Gladiolus papilio, butterfly gladiolus is Skooter approved, and is from Tangly Cottage Gardening! I do not know if it was delayed, because I am still getting acquainted with it.

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 · 25 Comments

Six on Saturday: Late for Summer

Summer was late this year. This is sounding redundant, so I will not mention last winter again. Nor will I mention last spring or early summer. Now that summer is about a third over, it seems as if it is merely beginning. Lily of the Nile, which never fails to bloom for Independence Day, began to bloom only a few days ago. Bloom is catching up though, or at least trying to. These summer flowers are doing well, and were actually doing well last week, when I was unable to post these pictures because of bad reception. Easter lily was done right after I got these pictures. The preponderance of red here is mere coincidence, but summery.

1. Lilium longiflorum, Easter lily was likely left behind after a wedding in the old Chapel. It lives in a garden across the road now. It is the only of these six that finished blooming.

2. Hydrangea macrophylla, hydrangea is pleasantly pink even without the fertilizer that maintains its pink color. Blue hydrangea faded to lavender without their pH adjustment.

3. Pelargonium hortorum, zonal geranium is quite a bit more prolific in bloom than the old fashioned sorts that I am accustomed to growing. The floral color is impressive also.

4. Gerbera jamesonii, Transvaal daisy is as bright and bold as 1984. However, I still fail to be impressed. It is certainly pretty, but looks like a squirting daisy that a clown wears.

5. Papaver rhoeas, poppy grew from seed that got sown prior to the last torrential storm of last winter. I thought that all the seed got washed away. This was a delightful surprise.

6. Hemerocallis fulva, daylily grows like a weed. We move it from one garden to another as it outgrows its space. This double orange cultivar may be ‘Kwanso’, but I do not know.

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/