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Crape Myrtle

Crepe myrtle has notably complaisant roots.

The popularity of crape myrtle, Lagerstroemia indica, is mostly justifiable. It is a compact tree, so is proportionate to small urban gardens. Its roots are very complaisant, so should not displace pavement. It blooms spectacularly for summer, and then develops fiery foliar color for autumn. Its only problem is that it is so popular that it has become too common.

The largest cultivars of crape myrtle do not grow much taller than twenty feet. Therefore, they are appropriate for utility easements with high voltage cables. Because of their very docile roots, they are popular as street trees. Although, they do not grow wide enough to provide much shade. Street trees should have single trunks. Others can have multiples.

Floral color is white, pink, red or mauve. Bloom can be very profuse and billowy. Autumn foliar color is bright yellow, orange and red before defoliation. The smooth bark is nicely mottled. Aggressive dormant pruning for winter delays bloom, but promotes bigger floral trusses. Crape myrtle enjoys warmth and full sun exposure. It does not need much water, once established.

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Hydrangea

Hydrangeas tolerate a bit of shade.

Old fashioned hydrangea, Hydrangea macrophylla, were somewhat predictable. Those that developed color bloomed pink in alkaline soil or blue in acidic soil. White hydrangea only bloomed white. Nowadays, some cultivars bloom better in pink while others bloom better in blue. Pink cultivars in acidic soil or blue cultivars in alkaline soil may be purple.

Floral form has also evolved significantly. Old fashioned hydrangeas bloom with big and rounded trusses of many small flowers. Such trusses are about four to eight inches wide. Some modern cultivars bloom with flatter or conical trusses. Some produce tiny florets in the center with bigger florets around them. All hydrangeas bloom for summer or autumn.

Big hydrangeas can grow about six feet high and wide. Most modern cultivars are more compact. The deciduous foliage is lush. Individual leaves are about six inches long, with serrate edges. Hydrangea perform better after dormant pruning during winter, to remove older canes. Younger canes that grew during the previous season will be more vigorous. Although bulky, hydrangea blooms are delightful as cut flowers. All parts of hydrangea, though, are toxic.

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Prune

Prunes are merely freestone European plums.

A prune is not merely a dried plum. Plums and prunes are really two distinct types of fruit. Plums are Japanese cling fruits, with their ripe flesh firmly adhered to their pits. They are rounder, softer, juicier, more colorful and best for fresh eating. Prunes, Prunus domestica, are European freestone fruits. They are slightly oblong, firmer, sweeter and dark purple.

Because of their higher sugar content, prunes are more popular dried than fresh. Plums are likely to mold during the drying process because they contain less sugar. Prunes are also better for canning and juicing than plums. However, for marketing purposes, modern prunes now qualify as plums. Plum juice is apparently more appealing than prune juice.

Regardless of their differences, plums and prunes are of the same genus. They grow on similar trees that require the same dormant pruning through winter. Dwarf trees are about ten feet tall. Semi-dwarf trees, which are the most popular, can get almost fifteen feet tall. Efficient pruning keeps them shorter so that more of their fruit grows within reach.

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Canna

Canna begins as a summer bulb.

The many distinctive garden varieties of Canna typically begin as late or summer bulbs. They go into the garden as dormant rhizomes at the end of winter or beginning of spring. Then, they grow fast to bloom for summer. They continue to bloom until late autumn or, in mild climates, early winter. However, Canna foliage is as appealing as its colorful bloom.

The big and lush leaves may be green, bronze, striped or variegated. ‘Australia’ has very deep bronze foliage with fiery red bloom. ‘Tropicana’ has green, yellow, bronze and pink stripes with fiery orange bloom. ‘Stuttgart’ blooms merely with wispy pale orange flowers. However, it does so on high stems with foliage which is irregularly variegated with white.

Floral color can be pink, red, orange or yellow, either bright or pastel. Variegated, spotty or blotchy combinations of color are common and popular. Yellowish white is quite rare. Tall Canna can grow eight feet tall, but bloom with small and wispy flowers. Short Canna may stay less than two feet tall, but with big and bold bloom. All growth should be cut back as winter ends.

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Fraser’s Photinia

Fraser’s photinia is thornless and fruitless.

Old fashioned photinias, which are now rare, are thorny and messy with copious berries. Almost all modern photinia, though, are Fraser’s photinia, Photinia X fraseri. It is a hybrid that is both thornless and fruitless. It is also among the most popular plants for evergreen hedges and screens. Therefore, it is readily available from nurseries and garden centers.

After shearing, Fraser’s photinia develops richly reddish bronze new foliage. Such color eventually fades to dark green. However, the process repeats after each shearing, which may be three times annually. Shearing also enhances foliar density, and refines hedges. Bronze color is best in spring, after late winter shearing. It fades slightly faster in summer.

Without shearing, Fraser’s photinia can become a small tree as tall as fifteen feet. Foliar color is less vivid, though, and only develops once for spring. Also, unshorn trees bloom, often profusely, with big trusses of tiny white flowers. Some find the floral fragrance to be objectionable. Compact or variegated cultivars of photinia may sometimes be available.

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Japanese Black Pine

Japanese black pine produces small pinecones.

Most pines grow too large for compact urban home gardens. Japanese black pine, Pinus thunbergii, is an exception. Although it can grow bigger in the wild, it does not get much taller than twenty feet here. It takes many years to grow as broad, typically with irregular and sculptural form. Because of its form, it is quite conducive to pruning for confinement.

The evergreen foliage of Japanese black pine is rich deep green. Its paired needles are about four and a half inches long, and somewhat stiff. Its stout cones are only about two or three inches long. They are as green as their foliage while developing, but eventually become brown. Even young trees have handsomely flaky bark, which darkens with rain.

Japanese black pine is notably undemanding. It supposedly prefers slightly sandy soils that drain efficiently. However, it performs well within local soils. Disease and pathogens are quite rare here, although boring beetles sometimes appear. Japanese black pine can thrive in large pots if pruned to be proportionate. It is popular for both bonsai and niwaki, and can perform for centuries.

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Lion’s Tail

Lion’s tail has oddly aromatic foliage.

Too much bloom should be no problem. Although, for lion’s tail, Leonotis leonurus, it can be. It blooms for the middle of spring. Then, it continues blooming in increasingly prolific phases until late summer or autumn. There is little time for deadheading between bloom phases. Furthermore, deadheading too aggressively delays subsequent bloom phases.

It is best to prune deteriorating bloomed stems just below their lowest floral tufts. Pruned stems can then generate side shoots that should bloom for a subsequent phase. Growth unfortunately gets congested by the end of the season. Coppicing late in winter removes all of such congested growth. This promotes new growth and a new beginning for spring.

Mature specimens can grow taller than six feet by the end of summer, and slightly wider. Their narrow leaves are about three inches long. They bloom with dense tufts of tubular flowers in neat tiers on the upright stems. Floral color is almost exclusively bright orange. Cultivars with yellow or white bloom are rare and not as bright. Foliage is very aromatic. New plants are easy to propagate by division while plants are coppiced.

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Mexican Fan Palm

Mexican fan palms are quite tall.

Queen palm might now be the most popular and common palm here. However, Mexican fan palm, Washingtonia robusta, is still the most prominent. That is because it is so very tall! It grows quickly to about fifty feet tall. Growth decelerates with maturity; but old trees are about twice as tall. Some of the tallest local specimens are more than a century old.

Mexican fan palms are about twice as tall as California fan palms, but slimmer. Their tall trunks lean as prevailing winds blow them. Consequently, some of the tallest lean above adjacent gardens rather than their own. The pleated and palmate leaves are about three feet broad. They are about six feet long with their petioles, which have unpleasant teeth.

Mexican fan palm is not discriminating about soil or water. It commonly self sows where it gets no irrigation, and grows well without it. With irrigation, it only grows faster. Without pruning, Mexican fan palm accumulates beards of dry fronds. With pruning, it can either retain a lattice of petiole bases on its trunk, or be shaven. Only arborists can prune them properly.

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English Ivy

English Ivy often climbs into trees.

With containment, English ivy, Hedera helix, is a dense and evergreen groundcover. As it matures, it eventually excludes weeds. Containment is very important, though. It grows fast into trees and shrubbery, and clings to buildings. On buildings, it promotes decay of wood siding and ruins paint. As a vine, it is safe only on concrete and cinder block walls.

Juvenile growth of English ivy is mostly rather compact. Ideally, it is less than six inches deep. It gets a bit deeper where shaded. Leaves are as wide as three and a half inches. Stems develop roots where they touch the soil. Adult growth is shrubby, though, and can protrude several feet higher than its support. It blooms and produces small black berries.

‘Hahn’s’ is probably the most popular cultivar of English ivy because it branches so well. ‘Needlepoint’ has elegantly narrow foliar lobes. Cultivars with yellow or white variegation grow notably slower. They are popular as foliar components in big pots of mixed annuals and perennials. Some of the hundreds of cultivars are more popular as houseplants than outside.

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Zinnia

Zinnias are excellent as cut flowers.

Extensive breeding complicates the identity of modern garden zinnias. Although they are products of several species, most identify simply as Zinnia elegans. They exhibit a broad range of floral color and form. Short varieties grow only a few inches tall. Large varieties grow as tall as two and a half feet. They are warm season annuals that bloom until frost.

The two to four inch wide flowers bloom in phases as long as the weather is warm. Their floral color can be yellow, orange, red, purple, pink, salmon, chartreuse or bronze. Some varieties have striped or freckled flowers. Some resemble daisies, with big petals around prominent centers. Pom-pom types produce puffier flowers with nearly obscured centers.

Zinnias enjoy good exposure and rich soil. The paired and very slightly raspy leaves can be susceptible to powdery mildew. Removal of deteriorating flowers promotes continual bloom. However, a few can remain to produce seed for the following season. Their seed should be sown as soon as possible after the last frost. Zinnias are excellent cut flowers, and can last for a week or even two.