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Queen Anne’s Lace

Goodness! Apologies for this dreadful picture!

There are actually a few different flowers known as Queen Anne’s lace. The most common species, Daucus carota, that has naturalized and even become somewhat of a weed in some areas, has two and a half inch broad, flat-topped trusses of delicately minute but abundant flowers, with a single red flower at the center of each truss. Apparently, Queen Anne pricked a finger with a needle while making the lace, leaving a drop of blood. Modern varieties have broader and fluffier trusses, often lacking central red flowers. They are a popular ingredient or fill for mixed bouquets with more colorful flowers.

The biennial foliage of Queen Anne’s lace grows to about three feet tall in the first year, with weedy but intricately lacy leaves. It blooms in summer of the second year. It is very similar to poison hemlock, which is poisonous enough to kill Nero, so should not be allowed to grow in vegetable gardens or where toxicity might be a problem; just in case.

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Box Elder

Box elder leaves are pinnately compound.

Leaves of three, leave it be, unless one can see that it is a box elder tree, Acer negundo. This is the most common of the North American maples. It is native to all American states except for only Alaska and Hawaii. Yet, it is also unique as the only maple with pinnately compound leaves. Typical leaves have three leaflets, but might have as many as seven. A few rare maples have palmately compound leaves.

Although common in the wild, box elder is rare within refined landscapes. It grows fast to about forty feet tall, but does not live for much more than fifty years. It typically develops a few plump trunks with casually irregular form. Unfortunately though, such form becomes structurally deficient with age. Autumn foliar color is unremarkable yellow or brown here.

However, a few garden cultivars display distinctly colorful foliage for spring. ‘Flamingo’ is the most popular cultivar. Pink variegation of new spring growth fades to white. ‘Auratum’ displays bright yellow new growth. ‘Violaceum’ displays smoky blushed new foliage with purplish red floral tassels. After pollarding, such cultivars are more compact and colorful, but lack floral tassels.

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Blood-Red Trumpet Vine

Blood red trumpet vine provides more lush foliage than bloom.

Abundant lush foliage is actually the main asset of blood-red trumpet vine, Distictis buccinatoria, with the sporadic clusters of three inch long tubular flowers blooming as an added benefit during warm weather. Bloom can certainly be impressive when least expected though; and has a sneaky way of getting a late blast of color out during Indian summer weather patterns, when the weather gets warm after a cool phase in autumn. Contrary to the name, the flowers are more ruddy orange with yellow throats than blood red. The rich green leaves are compound, with a pair of three inch long leaflets and a three fingered tendril reaching out from between.

The vines are somewhat aggressive and can climb more than twenty feet, so need adequate support. They should not be allowed to overwhelm smaller or slower plants, or escape out of reach into adjacent trees. The tendrils can grab onto and damage shingles and light fences, but are an advantage for covering chain link fences. Given the opportunity, blood-red trumpet vine can even climb rough cinder block or stucco walls.

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Ginkgo

Ginkgo tree develops brilliant yellow color.

Minimal chill is sufficient for ginkgo, Ginkgo biloba, to develop brilliant yellow foliar color. Mild weather actually enhances retention of foliage after it colors. Colder weather or frost accelerates efficient defoliation. Although less messy, it ruins the spectacular display too soon. Autumn foliar color is monochromatically yellow, but is the best yellow of autumn.

Some old ginkgo trees produce messy fruit with objectionable aroma. This characteristic limited their practicality and popularity. Modern cultivars, though, are male and therefore fruitless. Female cultivars are very rarely available, and mostly only by online purchase. Their fruit and the nuts within are edible. However, only mature trees can be productive.

Ginkgo trees grow somewhat slowly, but can eventually get taller than fifty feet. Modern cultivars are rather slender and perhaps lanky while young. They retain their elegantly irregular structure as they broaden with maturity. Leaves are about two or three inches long. Their venation radiates outward from their petioles, like fishtails, with paired lobes.

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Sticks on Fire

Sticks on fire is a more colorful version of pencil tree.

The old fashioned pencil tree, with leafless, succulent stems is a strikingly strange plant already. In mild climates of coastal Southern California, it can get quite large, nearly ten feet broad and twice as high. Sticks on Fire, Euphorbia tirucalli ‘Sticks on Fire’, stays less than half as large, but is even weirder because the stems are so oddly colored.

The inconspicuous leaves drop almost as soon as they develop, leaving distended fleshy stems that are either reddish or yellowish orange. Stems fade to softer yellow through summer, and then turn red in winter. Size and growth rate are limited by a lack of chlorophyll. Although related to poinsettia, the flowers of sticks on fire are not significant.

Sticks on fire prefers full sun exposure and warmth, but unfortunately needs protection from frost during winter. It can be happy under an eave on a south or west facing wall, or in a large tub that can be moved to shelter during winter. Plants in tubs are a bit more sensitive to rot if watered too frequently. The sap of sticks on fire is very caustic to skin and can be dangerous if it gets in the eyes.

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Daffodil

Daffodil will bloom months from now.

They may seem to be unseasonable now. Their flowers will not bloom until early spring. It is getting to be about time to install their dormant bulbs, though. Daffodil and all related Narcissus enjoy chilling under damp soil through winter. In fact, established bulbs bloom better after unusually chilly winters. Plump bulbs of some types are conducive to forcing.

The names for daffodil and Narcissus seem to be interchangeable. Narcissus is actually the Latin name of daffodil. It mostly applies to those with smaller but more abundant and fragrant flowers. Most with bigger but fewer and scentless flowers are daffodil. Narcissus are mostly white, but may be yellow. Daffodil are mostly yellow, but may be white or pink.

Some of the fancy varieties of daffodil bloom with billowy double flowers with two colors. Simpler Narcissus are more likely to naturalize though. Taller varieties of both can bloom nearly a foot and a half high. Their narrow and bluish green leaves stay somewhat lower. Foliage deteriorates after bloom, but lingers to sustain new bulbs until summery warmth.

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King Palm

King palm prefers frostless climates of Southern California.

Where it grows wild in rain forests of eastern Australia, the piccabeen or bangalow palm, Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, is a strikingly elegant tree that gets to about fifty feet tall on a clean, slender trunk. The six to ten foot long feather fronds (pinnate leaves) form a light but distinctive canopy about ten to fifteen feet broad. Smooth green petioles (leaf stalks) encase the upper few feet of crownshaft, eventually peeling away cleanly to reveal the smooth trunk as it grows below. A juvenile king palm does not bloom, but eventually flaunts adulthood with softly pendulous ‘graduation’ tassels of profuse but tiny purple tinged white flowers.

Locally, this palm is known more commonly as the king palm, and does best as a large houseplant or where it is protected from frost. Outdoors, it seem to be happiest close to the San Francisco Bay where it is somewhat insulated by all the water, but can unfortunately get smacked about by the wind there. A mature tree is somewhat more tolerant to frost than a young tree is, but can be damaged or even killed if it gets cold enough.

King palm fortunately does well in the partial shade of larger adjacent trees or buildings that might shelter it from frost. However, it can not be pruned down for clearance from higher trees, ceilings or any other overhead obstruction (including utility cables), so should be planted where it has plenty of room to grow vertically, or where no one will mind it getting removed when it gets too tall after many years.

Unlike most other palms, king palm does not transplant easily when mature. It has no problem getting planted from a pot to a larger tub or planter, or into the ground. Once in the ground though, it is there to stay.

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Lantana

Lantana exudes a pungent foliar aroma.

Bloom continues as long as warm weather continues. Within warm exposures within the mildest of climates, it does not stop for long. Within cooler climates, Lantana camara may already be decelerating its bloom. Although remarkably resilient to arid warmth, it can be vulnerable to frost farther inland. Once established, lantana does not require much water.

Umbels of several tiny tubular flowers are about an inch and half wide. Individual flowers bloom progressively inward from the edges of their umbels. They are typically yellow, but then fade to orange, red or pink. Blooms therefore develop yellow centers within orange, red or pink edges. One cultivar is uniformly bright yellow. Another fades to creamy white.

Old fashioned lantana can eventually grow six feet tall. Congested old specimens might respond favorably to coppicing after winter. After coppicing, new growth can grow six feet high within its first season. Modern cultivars are generally shorter and relatively compact, and a few sprawl. Their very slightly raspy foliage is pungently aromatic when disturbed.

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Canary Island Date Palm

Canary Island date palm is the boldest of the common palms here.

The biggest and boldest of the common palms is the Canary Island date palm, Phoenix canariensis, which can get more than sixty feet tall and nearly forty feet wide, with a full canopy of gracefully arching deep green fronds. A young tree actually spends the first many years as a shrubby plant while the base of the trunk develops. Fronds get longer and spread broader every year until the trunk gets big enough to elongate. Vertical growth then accelerates somewhat, but the canopy gets no broader.

Most trees are female, eventually producing ornately orange but messy clusters of inedible dates. Male trees eventually get a bit taller, but are not quite as graceful and bloom with unimpressive dusty tan flowers.

Old deteriorating fronds need to be pruned away close to the trunk. Petiole bases of the most recently removed fronds are often carved into ‘pineapples’ to leave a bit of support directly below the canopy. Removed fronds leave a distinctive pattern on the trunk.

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Japanese Garden Juniper

Japanese garden juniper stays relatively low.

With adequate time, this prostrate juniper slowly evolves from ground cover to shrubbery. Japanese garden juniper, Juniperus procumbens, can sprawl more than ten feet. Without obstruction, it might do so without getting higher than a foot. It grows higher as it depletes space to expand, or reaches its maximum width. It may eventually grow a few feet deep.

The evergreen foliage of Japanese garden juniper is elegantly grayish or bluish green. It contrasts splendidly with deep green junipers or other rich green foliage. The tiny leaves display a visually fine texture, but are actually rigid and prickly. New stems are short and somewhat pointy until they widen with new foliage. Foliar density excludes most weeds.

Like most junipers, Japanese garden juniper is challenging to prune. Because foliage is so dense, it does not extend far below its outer surface. Consequently, there is not much growth to prune back to. Exposed inner stems are unlikely to foliate efficiently. Shearing, although effective, temporarily compromises natural form. Frequent light pruning is best. ‘Nana’ is the more compact cultivar.