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Gemini

Robert Tomeo, my younger brother, is 53 years old today, and happens to be a Gemini (if that means anything). For the next month (less one day) we will be the same age. Not only am I a Cancer (if that means any more than being a Gemini), but I also have the distinction of being born during the Summer of Love in 1967! Anyway, this is one of the more mundane of my recycled articles that should have posted at noon on Saturday, but seemed to be more appropriate for June 13.

tonytomeo's avatarTony Tomeo

P80617Astrology is an interesting concept. It is amazing how accurate the various zodiacs are. In fact, they are so accurate, that all twelve of the zodiacs can apply to just about anyone, regardless of their respective birthday.

For example, Gemini people are gentle, affectionate, curious and adaptable. Well, who isn’t? If I told you that these traits applied to Leo, Aquarius or Sagittarius, would you believe me? The weaknesses of Gemini are nervousness, inconsistency and indecisiveness. We all of us experience these weaknesses at one time or another. Gemini people like music, books, magazines and strolling about town. What about Aries, Capricorn and Taurus? Don’t they? Are Gemini people unique in their dislike for loneliness, confinement or repetition? Probably not.

June 20 will be the end of Gemini. It will then be time for Cancer, with its set of distinctive traits, strengths and weaknesses.

Gardening according to astrology might seem…

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The Good Weed

Only three years later, this tree is even more grand. It grows fast. Growth will decelerate as the tree matures, so that the tree should be with us for a good long time.

tonytomeo's avatarTony Tomeo

P80616KOnce in a while, a stray seed of a plant that would normally be considered to be an invasive exotic species happens to grow in a spot where it happens to fit. Those of us who regularly pull up unwanted feral seedlings, are typically skeptical. We probably pull up many such seedlings merely because we do not trust them, or because we do not want them broadcasting their seeds elsewhere in the neighborhood. In our region, Acacia dealbata, blue gum eucalyptus, black locust, pampas grass, broom, poke berry and Himalayan blackberry get no consideration; and their seedlings should be removed as promptly as they are discovered. English ivy does not get much more consideration, but every once in a while, it happens to wander into a situation where it is allowed to stay.

Catalpa is one that we are not quite sure about. It is an exotic species that happens…

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Six on Saturday: Lily Rose and Flowering Pear

Lily Rose Depp was just a little tyke when her father, Johnny Depp, graciously financed the installation of a herd of flowering pear trees as street trees in the neighborhood where she attended school with my niece. Lily Rose is such a delightful and horticultural name. I happen to be very fond of lilies. I also happen to be very fond of roses. I just do not like them together in the same garden.

1. Before it began to deteriorate, this lily looked like Patrick Star, the next door neighbor and best friend of Spongebob Squarepants, or perhaps Carl Junior in drag. It lives in the rose garden.

2. ‘Apricot Candy’ is a rose that I am not familiar with, but it lives here now. It is a hybrid tea rose, which I prefer. I also like the name. Apricots were a primary crop for the Santa Clara Valley.

3. This and #1 above continue to bloom within the rose garden, many years after almost all of the other perennials were removed from the site so that it could be redeveloped as a rose garden.

4. ‘Iceberg’, although white, is not my favorite rose for this week. As reliable and prolific as it is, I still find it to be mundane and cliché. Regardless, it is one of the best within our rose garden.

5. This is my favorite lily this week, not because of the color, but because it is ‘not’ within the rose garden. It is across the road, in a small garden of mostly perennials, where good lilies belong.

6. ‘Proud Land’, although not white like ‘Iceberg’ above, is my favorite rose this week. The rich red is exemplary of the color that red roses should be. This is one of three that I planted in 1984!

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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Smoke Tree

Smoke tree has striking foliage too.

Wispy billows of pinkish or tan blooms through June and July are what the smoke tree, Cotinus coggygria, is named for. It probably should have gotten more recognition for brilliant foliar color in autumn. It reliably turns bright yellow and orange, and if the weather is right, it can turn rich red and even purplish. Until then, the popular modern varieties have either dark purplish or light yellowish foliage. Some of the older plants have slightly bluish green foliage. The nearly circular leaves are about two or three inches long. Yellowish varieties tend to be shortest. Those with purplish or bronze foliage get larger. Old fashioned green plants are the largest, and can get twelve feet tall and broad. Smoke tree can be large shrubbery, or pruned up as small trees. Aggressive pruning in winter promotes better foliar color through spring and summer, but inhibits smoky bloom. Slightly distressed plants have better color in autumn. Plants that are watered too much are likely to succumb to disease within only a few years.

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Drought Tolerance Versus Container Gardening

Drought tolerant plants loathe root confinement.

There are probably just as many reasons to not grow plants in containers as there are reasons to justify container gardening. Some potted plants consume less water than they would in the ground, but only because their demand is proportionate to their limited size. They only want more water in the ground because they can grow larger.

The most drought tolerant of plants are actually the least practical for pots or even large containers. They tolerate drought because they efficiently disperse their roots so extensively. Since they can not adequately disperse their roots in pots, they rely on what they can get from a relatively limited volume of soil. However, even if watered generously, many drought tolerant plants simply can not produce enough finely textured roots to absorb enough moisture.

For example, eucalyptus trees want to begin dispersing their roots while very young. If confined, their long and wiry roots simply go around within their limited volume of soil, trying to find a way out. They can develop a few more fibrous roots than they typically would, but probably not enough to compensate for limited root dispersion.

Wild lilac (Ceanothus spp.), flannel bush, manzanita and smoke tree are not only sensitive to confinement, but have difficulty recovering from confinement if put into the ground after their roots have circled too much within a container. Pines and many other conifers are likewise sensitive to confinement, but some types can recover if the binding roots get severed before they go into the ground.

Plants with dense and fibrous roots are more adaptable to containers. Most succulents and common yucca are good choices. Ferns and some grasses also work nicely, but need to be watered rather regularly. Some types of arborvitae and juniper work better than larger coniferous evergreens. Some small bamboos can stay potted, but not larger types.

Annuals, compact perennials and many ground covers that provide color and fill in space around larger plants are naturally adaptable to container gardening, but their need for regular watering can not be denied. There simply is no practical way of combining container gardening and drought tolerance.

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Real Deal

Oh My! I forgot about this recycled article from 2018. It most definitely conforms the Horridculture meme for Wednesdays.

tonytomeo's avatarTony Tomeo

P80203Stereotypes can be such a bother. For the past almost twenty years that I have been writing my gardening column, many of those who read the column have been making assumptions about who I am and how I behave. I actually find much of the behavior that I should conform to be rather objectionable. Even the lingo would be awkward for me. I am a horticulturist, and if you must know, an arborist as well. It is my profession. I did not take an interest in horticulture because I retired or got bored with my primary career. Nor did I flunk out at everything else. I am not a garden guru, flower floozy or hortisexual. I do not crowd my garden with garden fairies, repurposed junk or rare and unusual plants. There is nothing eclectic or quaint. There is no whimsy or magic, and most certainly NO riot of color!…

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Mexican Snowball

Mexican snowball is strikingly pallid blue.

The silly common name actually suits its plump rosettes of pale bluish succulent leaves. Mexican snowball, Echeveria elegans, forms small colonies that might resemble stashes of snowballs. Individual rosettes are circular, and a bit wider than tall. The widest are four inches or so across. The evergreen leaves are as neatly radial as scales of a pine cone.

Some may know Mexican snowball, and various other species of Echeveria and related Sempervivum, as hen and chicks. Big rosettes can produce so many small pups around their edges that they are reminiscent of mother hens surrounded by their huddled chicks. These pups are quite easy to separate for plugging into pots or elsewhere in the garden.

Mexican snowball is happiest in sunny situations with rather regular watering, but should tolerate a bit of shade and lapses of watering. For small trees in big pots, it can cover the surface of the potting media nicely. Pups plugged into crevices of stone walls might grow into clinging colonies. Tiny pink flowers with yellow tips bloom on wiry stems about now.

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Succulents For Better Or Worse

There are all sorts of succulents.

Succulents, both old and new, have been something of a fad for quite a while now. There are certainly many reasons for them to be popular. They add bold form, texture and color to the garden. Most adapt excellently to container gardening. Many types are resistant to pathogens. Succulents are generally easy to maintain and equally as easy to propagate. 

However, one of the primary premises of the increased popularity of succulents is simply untrue. Contrary to popular belief, not all succulents are drought tolerant. Only those that are naturally endemic to desert or chaparral climates can survive with minimal irrigation. They neither expect nor require any more moisture than the rain that falls through winter.

Many succulents are naturally endemic to climates that are not arid. Some are even from tropical rain forests. Such succulents rely on watering to compensate for the local lack of rain through the long and warm summers. Furthermore, many succulents from chaparral and desert climates also want water if their undispersed roots are confined to containers. 

Many popular succulents are cacti. They lack foliage, and are instead armed with spines and thorns. (Spines are modified leaves. Thorns are modified stems.) Their fat succulent stems are green to compensate for their lack of foliage, by conducting all photosynthesis. Generally, most cacti actually are tolerant of drought, although less so within containers.

However, many of the most popular and trendy succulents have succulent leaves as well as succulent stems. Some obscure their stout stems within densely set foliage. Although some are chaparral plants that are somewhat drought tolerant, many require watering for adequate hydration. Even Epiphyllum, which are tropical cacti, require regular watering.

Furthermore, many of the succulents that can survive through dry summers without water take drastic measures to do. Various species of Aeonium and Echeveria let much of their older foliage shrivel to conserve moisture for the younger foliage. Echeveria retain much of their shabby dry foliage as insulation. So many of the succulents that have potential to survive without watering are happier with it.

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Halston Junior

If gophers can procreate annually, the gophers who torment us now may be the great grandchildren of Halston Junior, and the great great grandchildren of Halston! However, Halston must be deceased by now, and Halston Junior is either also deceased, or is very elderly after three years.

tonytomeo's avatarTony Tomeo

P80610Apparently, the warnings were effective. https://tonytomeo.wordpress.com/2018/01/27/caution/ . They managed to avoid the traps and survive to perpetuate another generation under the lawn of Felton Covered Bridge Park. It is impossible to know if they are directly related to the now deceased Halston https://tonytomeo.wordpress.com/2018/04/21/halston/ who infested a landscape only about two miles away. It is unimportant. They all are intent on conquest.

Halston Junior, a baby gopher who may or may not be a descendant of the famed Halston, was found wet and shivering on the surface of the ridiculously perforated lawn. Rhody wanted to play, but was restrained from consorting with the enemy. The prisoner was detained, dried and put in one of Rhody’s blankets to recover. There was no formal interrogation, but the detainee was found to be well armed.

It is impossible to imagine what sort of damage such sharp and strong claws could inflict!P80610+

It is equally…

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Souvenir

This recycled article explains why I purchase almost nothing from nurseries.

tonytomeo's avatarTony Tomeo

P80609KNurseries are full of plants for sale. That is their business. They sell plants, and whatever plants need. With a bit of money, it is easy to purchase plants to compose an exquisite landscape. That is important to landscape professionals who make a business of composing landscapes to beautify the environments in which they work.

Those of us who enjoy home gardening might also purchase plants that we want for our garden. Yet, our home gardens are more than mere landscapes that are designed to simply beautify. The might also produce flowers for cutting, fruits and vegetables. Some might produce firewood. Gardens are usable spaces for active lifestyles. They are spaces for us to grow whatever we want to grow.

I buy almost nothing for my garden. The last item I purchased was a ‘John F. Kennedy’ rose, and I only did so because it was easier than growing one…

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