Posted on by tonytomeo

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…

View original post 148 more words

Posted on by tonytomeo · 2 Comments

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…

View original post 505 more words

Posted on by tonytomeo · 21 Comments

Six on Saturday: Plebian

Refined gardens are interesting. They are pretty also. Many are impressively colorful. It is easy to understand why refined gardens are as popular as they are. However, they innately lack quite a bit. Furthermore, they demand more attention that what would naturally grow wild. We are very fortunate here, that the refined components of our landscapes are rather minimal, and must conform to the unrefined components of the surrounding forests. We occasionally add a few new plants, including annuals. Much of what grows here now was once refined, but has gone wild. They are the plebian of horticulture.

1. Zinnia were just recently planted for summer. They are some of the most refined flowers now. There are not many annual bedding plants here, and none live in big beds. These are in a row.

2. Alyssum were planted as summer annuals sometime in the past. These were likely planted about a year ago, and survived through winter. They would likely be white if they grew from seed.

3. Alstroemeria are too aggressively perennial. They were planted intentionally, but overwhelmed the mixed perennial bed they were in. We tried to remove them, but a few continue to bloom.

4. Geranium, or zonal geranium, which is just a rather mundane Pelargonium, was plugged as cuttings and left to go wild. It happens to be one of my favorites because I have always grown it.

5. Calla must have been planted intentionally somewhere and sometime in the distant past, but was dug up and dumped with what became fill dirt here. It now blooms on the side of the road.

6. Poppy, or more specifically, California poppy, which is the Official State flower of California, grows wild, of course. They are some of the least refined flowers now, but also, among the best!

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 · 10 Comments

Oleander

Oleanders add color to the commute.

As long as freeways have been getting landscaped, oleanders have been contributing their profuse white, pink and red bloom. Heat, exposure and lack of moisture do not seem to bother them. They have become less common recently only because of new diseases that had never before been problematic. The diseases do not necessarily kill all oleanders everywhere, but are serious problems where the nurseries that grow most oleander are located.

The largest oleanders can get more than fifteen feet tall, and can be pruned up as small trees with multiple trunks. Oleander trees with single trunks almost never stand up straight, and do not want to give up their stakes. Because flower clusters develop at the ends of new growth, frequent exterior pruning or shearing inhibits bloom. Dwarf cultivars that are naturally proportionate to their space will bloom better than larger types that need to be pruned for confinement.

Oleander flowers are about an inch or two wide, with five petals, although some have ruffly ‘double’ flowers. Unfortunately, double flowers tend to hang on as they deteriorate after bloom. Some oleanders are slightly fragrant. The name ‘oleander’ is derived from the similarity of their leaves to those of olive trees (‘Olea‘), although oleander leaves can get three times as long.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 2 Comments

Be Careful With Toxic Plants

Toxic plants can be quite appealing.

Plants are so much more intelligent than they get credit for. Many use color, fragrance and flavorful nectar to get insects and animals to disperse their pollen for them. Some provide fruit for animals that inadvertently take and disperse their seeds. Others use barbs or sticky substances to attach their seeds to unknowing animals that take them away. Plants have all sorts of techniques for exploiting those who are more animated than they are. After all, immobility has certain disadvantages.

Because plants can not get away from the animals and insects that eat them, many have developed techniques for being unappealing. Plants that live in deserts where edible foliage is relatively scarce are famous for their nasty thorns and spines, like those of cacti and agave. Hellebore and poinsettia have caustic sap that make them unpalatable. The naturally aromatic foliage of many edible herbs, like rosemary and lavender, is actually intended to repel grazing animals with sensitive noses.

Some plants unfortunately rely on toxicity for protection. Many plants are only partially toxic. For example, apples are intended to be eaten safely by animals that disperse the seeds within, but their seeds are toxic enough to avoid getting eaten by rodents after dispersal. Potato, tomato, rhubarb, asparagus and elderberry plants all produce edible fruits or vegetables, but also have poisonous parts. Some edible fruits and vegetables, like grapes and onions, are edible to humans, but toxic to dogs.

Foxglove, angels’ trumpet, morning glory, yew, rhododendron, azalea, oleander and castor bean are some of the more notably toxic plants often found in home gardens. Wisteria, holly and ivy produce toxic seeds and fruits. Dieffenbachia is a popular but very toxic houseplant. Although mostly safe, toxic plants can be a problem where young children might put things into their mouths, or where puppies are in that chewing phase.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 5 Comments

O

Horridculture on Wednesdays used to be about aberrations of horticulture. I would contend that this recycled article could potentially conform to that tradition; but that is because I find disruptive wildlife to be objectionable. I suspect that most would disagree. It seems that everyone likes Kenny. https://tonytomeo.com/2018/09/16/kenny/

tonytomeo's avatarTony Tomeo

P80530

‘O’ is for ‘opossum’. That it the proper common name for the familiar North American critter who lives in or near many home gardens where fruit, vegetables or pet food are available. When a similar critter was found in Australia, it was given the same name by someone who did not spell it properly, hence ‘possum’. It is marsupial, and therefore related to many familiar Australian critters like koalas, kangaroos and the most terrifying of all, wallabies. Well, if the North American name can be applied to an Australian critter, it only makes sense that the Australian name can be applied to the North American critter. Thought technically and correctly ‘opossum’, many of us know them simply as ‘possum’, without the preceding ‘O’.

Opossums have a vast native range in North America. They can live anywhere that does not get too cold for them. They have likely always lived in…

View original post 285 more words

Posted on by tonytomeo · 2 Comments

California Buckeye

California buckeye resembles related horse chestnut.

Chaparral climates are not easy without irrigation. The long summers are warm and arid. California buckeye, Aesculus californica, knows what to do if it can not stay hydrated out in the wild. It simply defoliates. Yes, it goes bare right in the middle of summer. If it does it early enough, it refoliates after rain resumes in autumn, only to defoliate again for winter.

This ‘twice deciduous’ characteristic is likely why California buckeye is not more popular for unirrigated landscapes of other natives. Shade is an asset through warm summers. In coastal, riparian or irrigated landscapes, the original spring foliage lasts through summer to defoliate in autumn, like that of most other deciduous plants. It may get shabby though. 

Nonetheless, California buckeye is a delightful small tree, typically with a broad and low canopy suspended by a sculptural branch structure. Not many get more than twenty feet tall, although some get twice as tall. Bark is strikingly pallid gray. The elegant leaves are palmately compound. Six inch long trusses of tiny white flowers are sweetly fragrant in spring.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 4 Comments

Roots Prefer To Roam Freely

Some yuccas are unhappy in pots.

Roots are innately mysterious. They consume much of the resources that plants require. They stabilize the stems above them. Few plants can survive without them. Yet, roots are very secretive about their work. Almost all are invisibly subterranean. Consequently, they get minimal consideration. A lack of consideration is a root cause of many root problems. 

Every plant species has distinct environmental preferences. Some plants require full sun exposure. Others tolerate or prefer partial shade. Some are more discerning than others. Similarly, plants that naturally disperse their roots extensively dislike confinement of their root systems. Small plants and some riparian plants are more adaptable to confinement.

Annual bedding plants and many small perennials perform well within pots, planters and small spaces because they do not need to disperse their roots extensively. Some woody plants with fibrous root systems, such as azalea, boxwood and andromeda, can adapt to confinement also. Occasional pruning can keep them proportionate to their root volumes. 

Most of the popular succulents perform remarkably well in confinement. Some types that disperse their roots extensively if necessary will adapt to confinement by dispersing their roots only as far as they must. If they get all they need within a pot, they need not go any farther. However, succulents that are endemic to dry desert regions are not as adaptable. 

Desert plants can survive warm and dry summers because they disperse their roots very extensively. They can not do so within the confinement of pots and planters. This should not be a problem that systematic irrigation can not compensate for. Unfortunately though, these same plants are too susceptible to rot if their roots are damp during warm weather.

So, some plants that are the most resilient in the ground are the least resilient in pots. Of course, this is not an absolute rule. Yuccas from tropical and temperate climates perform well either in the ground or in pots. Those from desert climates are likely to rot in pots. In general, drought tolerance and container gardening are two fads that are not compatible. 

Posted on by tonytomeo

Not So Fruitless Cherry Trees

Three years after this presently recycled article posted, these trees have not yet been cut down. They must be very soon. They got to bloom one last time (again), but are unable to support the weight of their own trunks any longer.

tonytomeo's avatarTony Tomeo

P80520The ‘politically correct’ designation for them now is ‘flowering cherry’. We all know what it means, but it is not quite as accurate. After all, they all flower. Fruiting cherries can not make fruit without flowering first. The old fashioned designation as ‘fruitless cherry’ is more accurate, but not so appealing. Besides, after half a century, the work of these two deteriorating old fruitless cherry trees has not been in vain.

We are not certain what cultivar they are. I think of them as ‘Akebono’ because that is what I am familiar with. However, those who have been acquainted with them longer know them as ‘Yoshino’. The tree structure seems to be more similar to that of ‘Akebono’. The bloom seems to be more similar to that of ‘Yoshino’. My Mother happens to like ‘Akebono’, so if she ever asks, I know what to say. However, I would tell my…

View original post 614 more words

Posted on by tonytomeo

FLUX

This recycled article might seem like it would conform to the ‘Horridculture’ meme for Wednesday, but is merely about a disease that looks worse than it actually is.

tonytomeo's avatarTony Tomeo

P80523This unhappy native white alder, Alnus rhombifolia, had been deteriorating for quite a while. White alders do not last long even in the wild. A few nearby have already been removed. This one is next. They were nice and shady when the landscape was new. Nicely maturing sycamores and a bigleaf maple can take over for this one now.

As bad as it looks, this nasty stain had nothing to do with the imminent doom of this tree. It developed only recently, and very quickly. It is not nearly as bad as it looks. If the tree were not to be removed, it could survive with this problem for quite a while. Other healthier trees can live with it for many years or indefinitely, and some actually recover.

It is ‘flux’. More specifically, it is slime flux, which is also known as bacterial wetwood. The obvious symptoms are this…

View original post 180 more words