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Six on Saturday: Canna flaccida?!

Canna have been so extensively hybridized that very few modern cultivars are identified by species. They are known merely by their generic designation of Canna with a cultivar name. Canna flaccida is an ancestor of many hybrids, and the only species that is native north of the Rio Grande, but seems to be rare here. I want it! NOW! I should be satisfied with flashier modern cultivars, but I prefer simpler species, especially one from Florida.

Well, it may be here already. Late last spring, at the worst time to dig Canna, I dug a big colony of it from a site that was about to be landscaped. Even after most were recycled to other gardens, the remnants were canned into two dozen #5 cans. One dozen contained three rhizomes each of ‘Wyoming’. The other dozen cans contained five rhizomes each of an unidentified cultivar with narrower green leaves and yellow bloom. That is enough to plant thirty-six linear feet of ‘Wyoming’ and sixty linear feet of the yellow sort! Now that they are blooming, the unidentified yellow sort seems to be the rare Canna flaccida. I do not know for certain, but it keys out accordingly. If so, it is much more than I hoped for!

Two other Canna that live here were omitted from these pictures because there are only Six on Saturday rather than eight. Without its billowy red bloom, the foliage of a cultivar that remains unidentified is indistinguishable from #1 anyway. ‘Cleopatra’ is normally a hot mess of color, but is sharing only green foliage at the moment. Its foliage is typically randomly striped with broad and narrow bands of green like #1 and dark bronze like #2. Its weird bloom is randomly blotched with bright red and bright yellow, like condiments that squirt out the far side of a hamburger, or Pikachu on the grill of a Buick.

1. ‘Edulis’ was a gift from a neighbor. I wanted it for its fat rhizomes, which are like small potatoes. The slender flowers are red. (‘Edulis’ is a group of many cultivars and hybrids.)

2. ‘Australia’ is one of very few plants that I actually purchased. It cost nearly six dollars! A neighbor of my downtown planter box requested bronzed foliage; but I still feel guilty.

3. ‘Musifolia’ may have inhabited one of our landscapes since its construction in 1968. It gets so tall that I bend it down for deadheading. It and ‘Edulis’ produce viable seed. The slender flowers are peachy orange. (‘Musifolia’ is a group of many cultivars and hybrids.)

4. ‘Pretoria’ lived with ‘Musifolia’, but in spring, was dug and canned for protection from gophers. Only four #1 cans of its rhizomes survive. The billowy flowers are vivid orange.

5. ‘Wyoming’ is recovering from relocation while actively growing last spring. Most went directly to new homes. The billowy and vivid orange flowers resemble those of ‘Pretoria’.

6. Canna flaccida remains unidentified. It arrived with ‘Wyoming’, so is also recovering from untimely relocation. The elongated foliage is simple light green. Flowers are mildly fragrant at night. Apparently, only one other extremely rare species of Canna is fragrant.

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate:

Six on Saturday – a participant guide
Posted on by tonytomeo · 7 Comments

Six on Saturday: Bad Habit

Growing horticultural commodities can be a very rewarding occupation, even if not very lucrative. Growing random plants merely because they are available may be a bad habit. Sometimes, I procure propagation stock intentionally because I want to grow copies of a particular plant. Perhaps more often, I grow something merely because I can not bear to discard good propagation stock or actual plants. That is why there are so many homeless cannas here now! After I prune zonal geraniums, I feel obligated to process all the scraps into cuttings rather than simply discard them into the compost.

1. Opuntia (of unidentified species or hybrid), prickly pear lives at a clinic in Santa Cruz. Someone with a weed whacker busted off a few pads. It is good for both nopal and tuna. It is shabby and canned because someone with a weed whacker here kept cutting it also.

2. Clivia miniata, Natal lily was pulled from a trailside prior to weed whacking. I do not know if it is feral from seed or a cultivar from landscape debris. They have not bloomed.

3. Iris pseudacorus, yellow flag is naturalized in a roadside ditch in Ben Lomond. It is an invasive species in some regions. Therefore, it must be contained and deadheaded here.

4. Platanus racemosa, California sycamore was a sucker on one of the big trees at work. It pulled off with roots attached, so got canned. Its trunk died, so is now replacing itself.

5. Washingtonia robusta, Mexican fan palm needed to be removed from a yard in Santa Clara. Many were in pavement. Someone else got most that were salvageable. I got eight.

6. Cinnamomum camphora, camphor tree seedlings grew out sidewalk expansion joints at a job in San Jose. I pulled some out. A few came out with roots, and grew up like this.

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 · 10 Comments

Six on Saturday: Agave Surprise

Several species of Agave inhabit the landscapes here. Only a few are identified. Some of those that are unidentified could likely be identified if their identities were important to us. For some, identification would be as simple as researching our records. I know what Agave attenuata is only because there is nothing else like it. #3 is likely a variegated and dwarf cultivar of Agave americana. #6 is the surprise of these Six. It is a familiar species that was formerly identified as another genus. Although its relation to the Family should be obvious in regard to physiology, it is not visually similar to others of the Agave genus. I still know it by its older and perhaps less accurate designation. It works for me.

1. Pups of an unidentified agave that was removed last year are a concern because others just like this continue to develop where the agave was relocated from a few years earlier!

2. The parent agave got removed and dumped next to a greenwaste pile after gophers ate its base, but somehow survived. It fell over only recently. Maybe other gophers found it.

3. Gophers also ate the base of this other unidentified agave, which, like the other agave, seems to have survived somehow. Fortunately, it did not leave undesirable pups behind.

4. Agave attenuata arrived as a big cutting with a long stem, and by odd circumstances. The severed stem generated a big secondary rosette, which is now generating four pups.

5. The pup to the lower right of this unidentified agave indicates that its primary rosette may be about bolt and bloom. Although most agaves are monocarpic, their pups survive.

6. Surprise! Fresh from 1985, tuberose, which was formerly Polianthes tuberosa, is now Agave amica. We just installed three, with two more still canned. I hope for many pups.

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 · 16 Comments

Six on Saturday: BIG News II!

Yes, this is a sequel to the BIG News of my previous Six on Saturday, which could qualify as a sequel to other Six on Saturday posts that were in regard to the original topic of the Gladiolus papilio. Well, at least there are fewer sequels about this topic than there are in regard to Rocky. No, not ‘that’ Rocky; although he has too many sequels also. Rocky is a raccoon. Actually, he or she is not a specific raccoon, but is any raccoon who necessitates relocation, and is unlikely the same more than once. Rocky likely return from relocation, but avoid areas in which they were trapped.

1. Rocky VI, or VII, or maybe VIII or more. I can not count them all. Heck, I do not know when we started counting. They might have been quite fashionable nearly a century ago.

2. African daisy may not seem special, but to me, they seem to be atypically colorful. The color range was limited to white and eerie shades of purple while we were still in school.

3. Phlox arrived in one of the more colorful landscapes just a few years ago, and politely proliferated. No one knows how it got here. It is perfectly white, and alluringly fragrant.

4. Bulbine caulescens, which lacks a common name, may seem to be no more interesting than African daisy, but is very special to me, because of who procured it a few years ago.

5. Gladiolus papilio from Tangly Cottage Gardening is, of course, the BIG news for these Six on Saturday. I noticed well budded floral spikes a week ago. They are now blooming!

6. Only a single new floral spike was observed last week. I should have investigated more thoroughly. There are actually several! A few are in full bloom like this. They are so rad!

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 · 15 Comments

Six on Saturday: BIG News!

The BIG NEWS for this ‘Six on Saturday’ was only discovered yesterday morning. It does not look like much yet. I suppose that anyone who witnessed my exuberant reaction to it likely wondered what all the fuss was about. I suppose that I should be embarrassed. Oh well, I am not. I know how totally awesomely excellent it is! Furthermore, it is approved by both Skooter and Rhody! (That is ‘the’ famous Skooter of Tangly Cottage Gardening.) The fifth of these Six is also important news, although the first four are rather mundane.

1. Four O’ clock with a five O’ clock shadow is not big news. It is actually rather mundane folly that is included here merely because I like bragging about shabby but pretty weeds.

2. Lily of the Nile fasciation does not classify as big news either, although it is intriguing. This entire colony blooms like this or worse, and after all the other lily of the Nile finish.

3. Black coral pea climbing over the Eureka lemon tree is more of an annoyance than big news. I should have known this would happen while I was not looking. Vines are sneaky.

4. Grapevines, although sneaky, are at least productive. These are suspended more than ten feet above the courtyard below. Unfortunately, opossums typically get the fruit first.

5. Koi are rather big news, but are not the big news. Seven moved into the drainage pond last Saturday just after Six on Saturday. Cheeto is below the middle. Shiro is to the right.

6. Gladiolus papilio from Tangly Cottage Gardening is finally THE BIG NEWS this week! It has been here for a few years, but bloomed only once last year, after major tribulation. I noticed this floral stalk today. I do not know how long it will take to mature and bloom.

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 · 21 Comments

Six on Saturday: Mostly Summer

Seasons here are rather mild. People from more interesting climates may not realize that there are any seasons here. Some may believe that it is almost always summer, with only a few days of some other season that is not summer. In reality, climates here experience the same four seasons that occur throughout the rest of North America. The seasons are merely less distinct here. That confuses some plants. Many plants that do not mind mild climates set their own schedules. Some simply have extensive bloom seasons. Of course, many flowers, such as petunias, are totally aware of winter, but know how to thoroughly exploit summer.

1. Chrysanthemum does not seem to be aware that it should bloom for autumn. Actually, it blooms whenever it wants to, and after this bloom phase, may also bloom for autumn.

2. Roses should bloom from spring until autumn, but because of partial shade, generally finish with the best bloom by now. This year, their bloom continues as if it is still spring.

3. Lilies that grow from bulbs bloom only for spring, although many were still blooming recently. This one is a daylily. Like the chrysanthemum, it blooms whenever it wants to.

4. Petunia is a classic warm season annual for summer. This one is dressed up as Santa Claus for Christmas time though. Maybe it is actually dressed up like the flag of Austria.

5. This color is rad, even if I can not describe it. Is it purple? Is it burgundy? Perhaps it is irrelevant. I would not have selected it anyway. Such tasks require specialized expertise.

6. Ah, this is more my style. Even I can see that this is plain white. It is my favorite color, and is one of the two simplest. Only black is as simple; but it is very rare among flowers.

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 · 22 Comments

Six on Saturday: Glad

Gladiolus hybrids are not reliably perennial locally. They might not be reliably perennial anywhere. I had believed that they could be so where they get more winter chill, but chill does not seem to help. I have been told that they are no more perennial in Pennsylvania, Oregon or Oklahoma. When I grew them many years ago, only about a third survived to bloom for a second season. Of that third, only about a third survived to bloom for a third season. This is one of many reasons why I am so ‘glad’ about perennial Gladiolus papilio , as well as Watsonia species, from Tangley Cottage Gardening. Although, strangely, a few hybrid Gladiolus survive.

1. Watsonia X pillansii ‘Coral and Hardy’, just like the Gladiolus papilio, was a gift from Tangly Cottage Gardening of Ilwaco in Washington. I learned that it blooms in summer.

2. Lilium of an unidentified cultivar is finally finishing bloom. Obviously, it is irrelevant to Gladiolus. It just happened to be so pretty precisely as I was in need of a sixth picture.

3. Gladiolus is mostly finishing bloom now. These few are blooming a bit late. These are merely the common hybrid sort that someone purchased from a retail nursery years ago.

4. Not only have a few of the Gladiolus hybrids been surprisingly reliably perennial for a few years, but this pastel yellow cultivar has actually multiplied, from one bulb to a few.

5. This Gladiolus hybrid blooms annually also, but unlike the pastel yellow cultivar, does not multiply. This and one other just like it are the only two, with neither more nor less.

6. This purple Gladiolus hybrid does the same. It would be nice if it could generate a few copies. Since it is the only specimen here, and might be fragile, I will not tamper 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 · 4 Comments

Six on Saturday: Flood Zone

The biggest lawn where I work for part of the week was formerly a pond. It was installed above an extensive drainage system to compensate for the natural saturation of the soil. A relatively small pond remains at the lowest corner of the large lawn to contain some of the runoff, which gets pumped back onto the lawn for irritation. However, this pond had drained and became overwhelmed by vegetation many years ago. Only recently, after the removal of the overwhelming vegetation, the pond was restored by the simple closure of its drainage gate. It is developing into a different sort of riparian ecosystem from what it was for the past several years, which was different from what it was before that.

1. Cattail and Himalayan blackberry overwhelmed this area many years ago. We knew it as the corn dog orchard because of the cattail bloom. This is what remains of the cattail.

2. Cottonwood appeared several years ago. They grew in a small grove of several slender trunks, perhaps from a single root system of a primary tree. These two are flooded now.

3. Knotweed proliferated on the margin of the newly flooded pond. Some got submerged where it grew while the water was lower. I hope that it dies like the submerged bramble.

4. Weeping willow enjoys the swampy situation here. The newly flooded pond might not bother it much. The soil is naturally saturated within a minimal depth from the surface.

5. Water lily seems happy here too, although one of the six that were installed is missing. One specimen has about twenty leaves. I could not take a picture of it without reflection.

6. Fountains are supposed to dissuade proliferation of mosquitoes. I do now know what to think of it. Everyone else (except mosquitoes) likes it though. That is more important.

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 · 21 Comments

Six on Saturday: Oh Deer!

Deer have avoided the primary rose garden for longer than anyone can remember. They avoid a large colony of carpet roses nearby also. (The carpet roses were relocated across the road from where they were, but did not go far.) I thought that some old canned roses could be about as safe in another landscape less than half a mile of winding road away. I was wrong. The primary phase of bloom was harvested by neighbors who walk past that landscape. Subsequent phases are mostly consumed by deer. I was surprised to find that these flowers lasted long enough to deteriorate.

1. There is not much vegetation that deer will not eat. New Zealand flax is one of the few species they ignore. It is primarily a foliar plant though. Bloom looks like dinky bananas.

2. Carpet roses often manage to bloom regardless of the voraciousness of deer. Bloom is generally too profuse for deer to eat all the flowers. Unfortunately, I loathe carpet roses.

3. I believe that the color of this particular rose could be described as ‘peach’. I am not at all proficient with color, so this is merely a guess. This cultivar seems to be a floribunda.

4. This rose initially blooms brighter yellow before fading like this. Of course, I have not seen it fade much in the past. I am impressed that this flower lasted long enough to fade.

5. Two buds peeking over the edge suggest that this pink rose is a floribunda too, like the peach rose #3 above. I can not identify any of the cultivars of any of these recycled roses.

6. Rhody apparently shares my disdain for carpet roses. I realize that this is not the most flattering picture, but I also realize that the worst picture of Rhody is the best of my Six.

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: Bummer!

Things do not always go according to plans. Seasons and weather change faster than we can keep up. Many plants do what they want to do rather than what we want them to do. There is always compromise. It is a bummer that a unique agave is bolting now, and will eventually die, but it provided plenty of pups to replace itself with. It is a bummer that I must remove a productive elderberry bush before the berries ripen, but there are plenty more elsewhere. It is a bummer that two exemplary red maples may have died, but there are three more. The excess of recycled cannas is not a bummer though, but merely extra work.

1. Whale’s tongue agave was a splurge. The horticulturist who got it had been wanting to grow it for a while. However, two years later, it had a litter of pups and is now blooming!

2. The flowers are not even very pretty. At least the floral stalks are weirdly striking, and bloom slowly. Although monocarpic, it could take months for the original rosette to die.

3. Six big potted maples were installed temporarily last year. Three are red maple. Three are Norway maple. The red maples foliated before we made arrangements for irrigation.

4. Elderberries are developing nicely. These are some of the best. However, they are on a big healthy elderberry bush that must be cut back from a roadway before they can ripen.

5. Cannas are fun! I was pleased with an opportunity to recycle a bunch from a neighbor. However, this pile is HUGE! Well, I know what I will be doing this Saturday. Goodness!

6. These cannas bloom very nicely. Most are bright orange. Most of the rest are yellow. A few are red. Unfortunately, they are blooming in the big pile, unseen and unappreciated.

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/