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Six on Saturday: Memories

All but very few plants in my garden have history. Some have very extensive history, and a few have been with me for most of my life. Most were gifts. Some grew from pups, seed or cuttings that I collected from work, other gardens, or places that I travelled to. Almost nothing was purchased, although #1 of these six was a significant purchase for me while I was in high school. These Six are described in reverse chronology of their approximate acquisition. None are blooming now, but some get divided and planted now or a bit later through autumn. The roses will get pruned after defoliation. Only naked lady should not be disturbed until later.

1. 1983 Rosa hybrid, ‘Proud Land’ rose is the only one of these Six that I purchased, and also the only one that has not proliferated abundantly since acquisition. I got only three.

2. 1982 Montbretia masoniorum, crocosmia grew wild on a parcel in Montara where my Pa built his home. I do not know what variety it is. It is not as aggressive as most others.

3. 1980 Agapanthus orientalis, lily of the Nile has been with me since I removed it for a beloved neighbor who had brought it from a garden in Oakland about two decades prior.

4. 1979 Amaryllis belladonna, naked lady is from the homestead garden of my maternal maternal great grandparents in Hoot Owl Creek in Oklahoma, like my grape pop iris (5).

5. 1972 Iris pallida, Dalmatian iris, sweet iris or grape pop iris, came to my garden from the garden of my maternal maternal great grandparents, where it likely grew as an orris.

6. 1971 Rheum rhabarbarum, rhubarb likely grew in the garden of my paternal paternal great grandparents shortly after 1941. I got my copies of it before I got into kindergarten.

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/

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Black Oak

Not many native deciduous trees turn orange or brownish red in autumn like California black oak can.

Though native mostly to the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges between San Francisco and Oregon, California black oak, Quercus kelloggii, also inhabits isolated colonies in lower mountains as far north as the southern half of the Oregon Coast, and as far south as San Diego County. It actually occupies more area than any other hardwood tree in California. Wild trees competing in forests can get more than a hundred feet tall and live for five centuries. Well exposed urban trees may take their first century to eventually get about half as tall with trunks as wide as four feet.

Even while young, California black oak is a distinguished tree, with a broadly rounded canopy and elegantly arching limbs. The smooth silvery bark of young trees eventually becomes dark and uniformly checked with maturity. The distinctive deeply lobed leaves are about five inches long, and turn gold, soft orange or even brownish red before falling in autumn.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 15 Comments

Pumpkins After Halloween

Jack o’ lanterns and pumpkins will soon meet their gory demise now that Halloween is over.

Pumpkins are both the biggest of the common fruits, and also the most wasted. So many of us bring at least one into our homes for Halloween, only to discard them afterward. Not many of us actually bake or make pies from ‘used’ pumpkins. However, those of us who like to can or freeze fruit and vegetables can really take advantage of this tradition by politely collecting jack o’ lanterns from neighbors, or getting unsold pumpkins from markets for very minimal expense. (Pumpkins are ‘low acid’ fruits that need to be canned with a pressure cooker.)

The somewhat small brownish ‘sugar pie’ pumpkins that are sold for pies are of course the best, with the richest flavor and meatiest shells. The common bright orange pumpkins used for jack o’ lanterns are not as meaty and lack flavor, but are certainly worth the price if they are free. White pumpkins can be just plain bland; but with enough sugar and spices, can make decent pie. The deeply furrowed green or gray pumpkins might likewise taste better than they look, but who knows? I certainly have not tried one yet.

Because the jack o’ lantern pumpkins have such thin shells, my neighbor and I prefer to cut them into pieces and steam them before peeling them. It is a messy job, which is why she has me do the peeling part of it. Before steaming, she cuts out any parts with candle wax (on the bottom) or soot (on the top). Once peeled, the pulp is ready to be pureed, and then frozen, canned or baked directly into pies.

Those of us who do not indulge in freezing, canning or baking of ‘recycled’ pumpkins can either give our pumpkins to neighbors who do, or must otherwise dispose of them. On the compost pile, pumpkins should be chopped up and spread out so that they do not mold and rot as much as they would if left intact. Chopping them with a shovel should be adequate. By now, there should be plenty of fresh leaves on the compost pile to spread pumpkin parts out over.

If fireplaces or wood stoves have been used already, the resulting ash can be spread out with chopped pumpkin, to inhibit mold in compost piles. Ash also deters snails. Just be certain that only dead ash gets scattered, without any embers, and that it gets spread thinly enough so that it does not become a mucky mess that actually inhibits composting.

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Horridculture – Sealant

Actually, it seems to me that the unnecessary use of sealant on shiners has become less common during the past three years since this recycled article was posted.

tonytomeo's avatarTony Tomeo

P90810++++Grafting compound is a thick sealant applied to a fresh graft union to limit desiccation while the graft knits. A bit more typically gets applied to the cut distal end of the scion. There are various formulations of grafting compound, ranging from something resembling roof patch to a something with the consistency of thick paint.

The stuff, as sloppy and icky as it is, really is helpful. I can not imagine how big orchards were grafted before it was invented.

It is also useful for keeping cane borers out of the cut ends of freshly pruned roses. For those of us who remember how to prune roses properly, leaving only a few thick canes, grafting compound really is practical. I just don’t use it on roses because cane borers are not a problem here.

Since I do not use grafting compound on roses, and the plants that I graft do…

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London Plane

London plane might resemble Norway maple.

The parents of this unintentional hybrid are supposedly American sycamore and Oriental sycamore. No one really knows. London plane, Platanus X acerifolia, appeared within a private collection in London at the middle of the Seventeenth Century. It became popular there two centuries later, through the Victorian Era, because of its resilience to pollution.

Mature London plane trees might be taller than a hundred feet. Few here are old enough to be much taller than sixty feet though. Regardless, defoliation of such grand deciduous trees might be overwhelming through autumn. Foliar tomentum (fuzz) can be surprisingly irritating while raking too much foliage. Autumn color is unimpressively brownish yellow. The specific epithet ‘acerifolia’ translates to ‘maple foliage’, because the foliage resembles that of Norway maple.

London plane remains among the most common of street trees. It really is commendably adaptable to inhospitable urban situations. However, it is not perfect. Its roots eventually displace pavement. The foliar canopies can eventually grow disproportionately broad for compact urban parkstrips. For some people, the foliar tomentum can be a major allergen.

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Chimney Clearance Must Be Maintained

Chimneys do not get enough consideration.

Chimneys are easy to neglect. Some are external to the homes they serve. They occupy visible but minor garden space. Others are internal. Only portions that extend above their respective roofs are visible. Besides the use of accompanying fireplaces or woodstoves, they do not change with the seasons. Nonetheless, chimney clearance is very important.

Trees and vines often extend growth over the tops of chimneys. They grow most actively while chimneys are least active through spring and summer. Such growth is hazardously combustible within the exhaust of chimneys below. Essential chimney clearance pruning eliminates hazardous vegetation prior to the use of associated fireplaces or woodstoves.

Various eucalyptus, cypress, pine, cedar, juniper, fir, spruce, oak and bearded fan palms are very combustible. Deciduous oaks become less combustible as they defoliate during cooling weather though. Other deciduous vegetation is likewise less combustible by the time chimneys are most in use. Vines can accumulate debris directly on top of chimneys.

Vegetation within ten feet of a chimney should generally be two feet below the top of the chimney or fifteen feet above it. More combustible vegetation justifies more clearance or more vigorous grooming. Accumulated dry detritus is more hazardous than fresh foliage. Burning vegetation drops burning debris onto other combustible vegetation and material.

Of course, fireplaces, woodstoves and their associated chimneys are not as common as they were in the past. Most municipalities banned them from new construction during the past many years. Removal of chimneys that incur damage from earthquakes is generally more practical than repair. Chimney clearance becomes unnecessary without chimneys.

Furthermore, few surviving chimneys experience as much use as they did decades ago. Modern heating systems are much more practical and efficient. They generate no smoke to offend neighbors. They are unregulated by ‘no-burn’ alerts. Now that urbanization has replaced orchards and woodlands, firewood might be expensive from local tree services.

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The Bad Seed Redemption

Phlox and campion became politely naturalized within the same landscapes by the same means.

tonytomeo's avatarTony Tomeo

P91103The seed is not really bad. At least I do not think that it is. It is merely misunderstood. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it is simply unidentified. I really do not know what it is. I do not say that very often, especially about seed that I bother to collect to sow elsewhere. I believe that it is of American bellflower, Campanula americana. If not, it is very closely related.

It appeared in part of one of the landscapes at work. Because it looked like some sort of campanula, we left it to see what it would do. It got quite tall, but never started to look like something we did not want to take a chance on. We were rewarded for taking the risk when it bloomed with these elegant spikes of small sky blue flowers. That was a little more than a…

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X Marks The Spot

The arborists for whom I worked generally tagged only trees that needed to be removed. They did not want to apply pain to trees that would remain within their respective landscapes. Other inspecting arborists who work for various utility establishments generally tag trees with single dots of particular colors that indicated the need for particular procedures, or to indicate which utility cable is most relevant to the need for such procedures. Such dots are not too obtrusive for trees that needed pruning for clearance of utility cables, but would remain within their respective landscape.

tonytomeo's avatarTony Tomeo

P91102KHorticulture is not all about growing things. If everyone was out planting trees, the World would eventually be overwhelmed with forest. It is sometimes necessary to cut trees down. There are several at work that we have been wanting to cut down for quite a while. Some are structurally deficient enough to eventually become hazardous, which is unacceptable in public spaces.

Even here among some of the oldest trees in the World, nothing last forever. Coast live oak, like that in the picture above, has potential to survive for centuries, but eventually succumbs to decay and disease. If fact, this particular specimen is doing it right now. If not cut down soon, it will eventually fall onto an adjacent building and a parking lot below. Its days are numbered.

Literally, it will be cut down on Monday morning, along with a few other coast live oaks and bay laurels in…

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Six on Saturday: Going Bananas

Bananas are getting to be a bit too abundant here nowadays. I certainly do not mind. All will go to good homes after winter. Coincidentally, to obtain one copy of ‘Golden African’ banana, I was about to violate my rule against purchasing any plants, when four pups of an unidentified banana became available. Because I expect fruit to be of inferior quality, I am not at all discriminating about cultivar. I can try ‘Golden African’ later if these four pups are somehow unsatisfactory. The smaller fruitless bananas that are producing pups were already here. So were the cannas, which are incidentally related to bananas. Ginger should have been included. Two species live here. (Links for 1, 2 and 3 are the same.)

1. Canna musifolia, which is one of three that grew from runty seed, produces this oddly striated foliage. It was too small in August to show with other foliage on Six on Saturday.

2. Canna musifolia, with scrawny pastel orange bloom and bronzed foliage, produces an abundance of seed, including one that grew into the seedling with striated green foliage.

3. Canna flaccida is not really Canna flaccida as I had hoped. Otherwise, it would be too genetically stable for this defiant specimen to add orange to its exclusively yellow bloom.

4. Musa basjoo may not be Musa basjoo either. Its identity is merely a guess. Of the two that stayed here, this one had three pups, shed one, but continues to fatten up these two.

5. Musa basjoo that initially lacked pups is more than compensating for the other’s loss, by producing two more pups. We could get six of these technically unidentified bananas!

6. Musa acuminata pups of unidentified cultivar arrived only recently. The smallest pup in front lacks rhizome, so is unlikely to survive. The other four are large and exemplary!

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 · 8 Comments

Chestnut

These chestnuts that may later be ‘roasting on an open fire’ are now falling from the trees that produced them over summer.

Of all the nut trees that are actually quite easy to grow, the chestnut, Castanea (various specie and hybrids), has somehow become the most obscure. It probably lost popularity while native forests in eastern North America were being annihilated by rampant disease (which never became such a threat in the west), but may be unpopular simply because it can get so big. Mature trees are regularly more than seventy feet tall and nearly as broad.

Chestnut trees are productive for those who like the nuts, but simply very messy for those who do not. The smooth meaty nuts are contained within offensively spiny husks known as ‘burrs’. A few varieties of chestnuts fall freely from the burrs. Most need to be separated from their burrs even after they fall to the ground. The evenly serrate leaves will soon be turning amber gold or brown for autumn.