Delightfully fragrant star jasmine can be either a ground cover or a climbing vine.
The strong fragrance of the inch-wide, star shaped flowers of star jasmine, Trachelospermum jasminoides, gets attention from quite a distance. Whether they bloom lightly in partial shade, or profusely enough to obscure nearly half of the foliage below, their crisp white shows up nicely against the rich waxy green of the simple two or three inch long, and inch wide leaves. Star jasmine is among the more complaisant of vines, so only climbs or creeps along the ground to about ten feet; perhaps twice as much when very mature.
Its abundance of small but very sharp spines are both a blessing and a curse. Barberry, Berberis thunbergii, can work like vegetative barbed wire. An intruder might get through its thicket growth of limber stems once. Its unavoidable thorny nastiness will dissuade a second attempt. Unfortunately though, the same thorny nastiness is unpleasant to prune.
Ironically, most barberry is aesthetic rather than utilitarian. Popular modern cultivars are bright yellow or dark purplish red. Variegation is still rare. Most cultivars are less than six feet tall. Some are very dense and less than two feet tall. Old fashioned green barberry that gets ten feet tall is now uncommon. Autumn foliar color is exquisitely red or orange.
Barberry works splendidly as a low shorn hedge, although it defoliates through winter. Its naturally billowy, flaring or upright form is even more splendid unshorn. Congested older specimens regenerate vigorously after winter coppicing. Small ovate leaves constitute a refined foliar texture. Tiny bright red berries are rarely observable before birds find them.
Sweet flag is a riparian perennial that performs well in saturated soil.
After many centuries of being grown for use in herbal medicine, sweet flag, Acorus gramineus, is still a popular evergreen perennial; but is now appreciated more for its low mounds of grassy foliage. ‘Ogon’, one of the most popular cultivars, has light yellow variegated foliage that contrasts well with deep green foliage, or brightens partially shaded spots in the garden. Individual clumps grow quickly to about eight inches tall and broad, and then spread slowly by producing more shoots. New plants are easily propagated by division. Sweet flag likes plenty of water, and does well in partially submerged pots in koi ponds, or poorly drained spots.
Monterey cypress is a famously rugged tree that inhabits harshly exposed coastal cliffs. It grows fast to get big and gnarly with age. Lemon cypress, Hesperocyparis macrocarpa ‘Goldcrest’, is a more civilized cultivar. It might potentially grow nearly forty feet tall, but at less than a foot annually. Vertical trunks support compact and relatively columnar form.
Lemon cypress foliage is densely evergreen, with tiny and tightly set scale leaves. New spring growth is impressively cheery yellow. It fades somewhat to yellowish chartreuse through summer. If the weather gets cool enough through winter, the foliage can get a bit more amber. The foliar aroma is coincidentally slightly lemony, to match the foliar color.
Once established, lemon cypress does not require much more than occasional pruning. It is satisfied with only infrequent irrigation, and might survive with none at all. Actually, it is susceptible to rot with generous or frequent irrigation. ‘Goldcrest Wilma’ is susceptible to foliar diseases within its even denser foliage. It stays compact enough for pots though (Incidentally, Hesperocyparis was Cupressus.)
Transvaal daisy is very popular within the floricultural industries.
After rose, carnation, chrysanthemum and tulip, the fifth most popular cut flower is the Transvaal daisy, which is also commonly known as the gerbera daisy, Gerbera hybrida. The composite (daisy-like) flowers are typically about three to four and a half inches wide, in bright shades of yellow, orange, red, pink and white, with dark centers. They stand several inches high on bare stems, adequately above the lower, coarsely textured foliage. Transvaal daisies can bloom well for a month or more as potted houseplants in sunny spots, but rarely survive more than two months indoors. If planted in a sunny but not too harshly exposed spot in the garden as they begin to deteriorate, they can sometimes recover and continue to bloom as short lived perennials. They need good drainage but uniform moisture in organically rich soil.
All forty-one species of Clarkia that are native to North America are native to California. Punchbowl godetia, Clarkia bottae, inhabits almost all counties of Southern California. It is absent only from Imperial County. It also inhabits Monterey and San Benito Counties. Its name may allude to its floral shape, or its bloom in Devil’s Punchbowl near Valyermo.
Punchbowl godetia is an ephemeral annual that blooms briefly for spring. Bloom is early in some regions but late in other regions. Also, its schedule is variably from year to year. Because it does not transplant easily, it is rarely available from nurseries. It grows better from seed, which is available online. Within favorable situations, it self sows after bloom.
Bloom is delicate and airy, on limber and lightly foliated stems less than three feet high. Individual flowers are barely an inch wide. Floral color is slightly purplish pink with white centers and tiny red spots. It is variable though, so might be a bit more purplish or lighter pink. Leaves are very narrow. New seedlings do not compete well with other vegetation.
If only it were not such an invasive weed, black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia, might be appreciate for remarkably fragrant and abundant white bloom that resembles that of wisteria. The pinnately compound leaves are about five to ten inches long with rounded leaflets that individually are about one half to three quarters of an inch wide and twice as long. Autumn color is soft yellow. Trees can grow fast to more than fifty feet tall. Furrowed and fissured gray bark makes middle aged trees seem older and more distinguished than they really are. The wood is excellent firewood. All parts are toxic so should be kept out of reach of horses.
Black locust is native to a big area between Pennsylvania, Georgia and Kansas. It was brought to California both to produce firewood quickly, and because it is so appealing in gardens. Modern cultivars and other specie with purplish pink or pinkish purple flowers lack fragrance, but are not invasive.
This must be one of the sillier horticultural names. Tree houseleek, Aeonium arboreum, is neither a tree nor related to leeks. The biggest cultivars can not stand much more than three feet tall. Above that, their succulent foliage gets too heavy for their fleshy stems and fine roots. They perform well as houseplants only within very sunny situations.
Formerly common tree houseleek, with simple green foliage, is not so common anymore. Almost all popular modern cultivars are variegated or bronzed, with wide foliar rosettes. Variegation ranges from bright lemony yellow to creamy white. Bronze ranges from light brown to very darkly purplish. Foliar rosettes are about four to eight inches wide.
Plumply conical trusses of tiny yellow or chartreuse flowers bloom for spring. They are neither numerous nor brightly colorful, but are weirdly interesting. Fresh spring foliage is most colorful and lush. It can fade and partially shed during arid summer weather. New plants propagate very easily from dragging stems or cuttings of pruning scraps.
Like ivy, Euonymus fortunei creeps along the ground while juvenile, then climbs as a clinging vine where it finds support, and finally produces shrubby adult growth that can bloom and produce seed when it reaches the top of the support. Most cultivars (cultivated varieties) are juvenile plants that make good small scale ground cover that will eventually climb and mature to adulthood if not contained. As vines, they work nicely on concrete walls, but should not be allowed to climb wooden walls or painted surfaces that they can damage with their clinging rootlets. Cultivars that are grown from cuttings of adult growth are strictly shrubby.
The finely serrated, paired leaves are about three quarters to two inches long and about a quarter to one inch wide. The most popular cultivars of Euonymus fortunei that are grown for their variegated or yellow foliage do not grow too aggressively or get too large. Those with green, unvariegated foliage can slowly but eventually climb more than three stories high. Docile variegated plants can sometimes revert to unvariegated and become more aggressive. (Reversion is mutation to a more genetically stable state.)
Proteas seem to be as happy locally as they are within their native range in South Africa. The Mediterranean climates there and here must be similar. Like most species from such climates, they are quite undemanding. They enjoy sunny and warm exposure with good drainage. They dislike fertilizer and frequent irrigation. Occasional irrigation is tolerable.
Pincushion protea, Leucospermum cordifolium, is the most popular protea here. Bloom can begin between late winter and early spring, and lasts for weeks. Many are presently blooming. Most are orange. Some are yellow or red. They are excellent cut flowers, both fresh and dried. Each rounded and four inch wide bloom contains many narrow flowers.
Pincushion protea develops stiff branches, but potentially wobbly roots. Sprawling stems that lean onto the ground improve stability. Pruning should remove undesirable stems at their origins, without leaving stubs. Shearing ruins form and texture, and inhibits bloom. Mature specimens can be about five feet tall and somewhat wider. Stiff evergreen leaves are about three inches long and half as wide.
Tony Tomeo 