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Coneflower

71129Known more as a medicinal herb, and by its Latin name, coneflower or Echinacea, is a delightful prairie wildflower that works just as well in refined home gardens. It blooms in summer and again in autumn, although autumn bloom can be inhibited if plants are not groomed of deteriorating stems from the previous bloom. Like related gaillardia and rudbeckia, coneflower is a nice cut flower.

Flowers start out like any other daisy flower, but then fold back with the long ray florets hanging downward around the more rigid centers of darkly colored disc florets, forming cones. Flowers can stand almost three feet high, mostly on unbranched stems. Many popular varieties stay lower. Leaves and stems are somewhat hairy or raspy. Old varieties were mostly purple or lavender. Newer varieties can be orange, yellow, red, pink, white or green. Big plants can be divided after autumn bloom, or in spring.

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Planting Cool Season Cover Crops

71129thumbTraditional horticultural technology that was so common in the orchards, that were likewise more common, was more practical than so much of what we do in our modern home gardens now. Orchardists got good insects to take out the bad insects. They got mulberry trees to distract hungry birds from maturing apricots and prunes. They even got weedy annuals to control other weeds.

Once it got established, mustard grew wild under many orchards. It self sowed so efficiently that it did not need to be sown. It grew fast, and shaded out other nastier weeds. Anyone who wanted to pick greens could take all they wanted without setting it back. It was sometimes tilled in early, or cut early and left on the surface as mulch, but was probably most often left to die back naturally.

Besides controlling weeds, the mustard improved the soil and kept it friable, both by dispersing roots through it, and also by decomposing into it. Other types of cover crops help limit erosion through winter, or improve soil fertility. All are very easy to plant and grow, and almost all get all the water they need from rain through winter. They only need to be cut and tilled when they are done.

Of course, they are all ‘done’ at different times. Orchard mustard that never gets cut or tilled is never really done. It just perpetuates itself. Cover crops in home gardens are done when we say they are done, before the space is needed for something else. Some should be cut before self sowing and becoming more a weed than a cover crop, whether or not the space is needed right away.

Cover crops get planted by simply broadcasting seed onto freshly tilled soil that will not be used for anything until next year. After seed is broadcast, the soil can be raked lightly to cover the seed. If it is not watered right away, the rain will take care of it. Fava beans, oats, barley, millet, clover and annual rye grass are some of the more familiar cover crops. Sesame and sorghum are rare.

Freeway iceplant and old varieties of common geranium (Pelargonium X hortorum) can function as prettier perennial cover crops. The iceplant can be cut from established colonies and plugged as short cuttings about four inches long. When geraniums get cut back, the pieces can likewise be processed into cuttings. Unlike annuals, these would get removed when their space is needed.

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Oklahoma

P71119Standin’ on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, specifically on the corner of West Second Street and North Kinsley Avenue, there was this bronze statue of someone famous. I am still not certain who he was. A statue of Glenn Frey was added nearby later, and might have replaced this one, but I could not find much news about it. The new statue does not look anything like this statue, which was the only one there when we stopped to get our picture taken there five years ago on our way to Oklahoma.

We did not plan the trip very well. We did not plan it much at all. We were in a less than ideal situation at home, so loaded up a tired old Blazer and went on our way. I sort of planned on staying for a few days or maybe two weeks, and then returning alone to Felton, and then tending to some work near Hilo in Hawaii by early December. Steven and Gayle who are with me and the bronze guy in the picture were to stay in Oklahoma. Of course, even these meager plans did not go as planned. I stayed much later, and all three of us, Bill the terrier and Darla the kitty all returned to Felton on the last day of 2012.

What a trip! It was the farthest I had ever gone from the West Coast, and the longest time I had ever been out of California. It was my first time in another time zone, and then another! I actually ‘lived’, albeit temporarily, in Oklahoma; and I got to drive through Arizona, New Mexico and a small part of Texas to get there!

I had always wanted to go to Oklahoma because I had heard so much about it growing up. My maternal grandmother was an Okie, so much of what I learned about horticulture was from that background. To me, it was one of those magical places where great grandparents lived and grew tons of fruits and vegetables in the rich red soil on their farm. It was where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain, and the fragrant wheat sure smells sweet . . . okay, so maybe not that part.

Oklahoma certainly did not disappoint. It was exactly as I knew it would be, but was completely fascinating anyway. Pecan, black walnut and various hickory trees grew wild, as well as American persimmon, Eastern red cedar, redbud, honeylocust and blackjack oak. Vacant parcels were overrun with native red mulberry, campsis, honeysuckle, Arkansas yucca and sumac. I collected seed from more specie than I can remember.

The funny thing about all this is that the Okies did not understand my interest in all their flora. Much of it was the sort of stuff that they cut down and burn. The Eastern red cedar, honeylocust, red mulberry, campsis and sumac were quite unpopular for their habit of growing into rangeland. Even less invasive plants did not impress those who had always been around them. To them, redwood, big oaks, avocado, citrus and all the cool exotic specie that we grow in California are much more interesting. It was a matter of perspective.

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September 11 Remembrance Garden, Winslow, Arizona

P71118The main complaint about this Remembrance Garden is that there is no garden. Two steel girders from the destroyed World Trade Center stand vertically on pedestals within a concrete slab shaped like the site of the World Trade Center. The pedestals are set within squares of stones that correspond to the outlines and locations of the of the World Trade Center Twin Towers #1 and #2 within the World Trade Center Site. The outlines and locations of the other buildings of the World Trade Center are designated by darker concrete within the slab. There is no real synthetic landscape. Only a few ash, cottonwoods, pines and junipers are scattered about.

This might be the most perfect landscape I have ever seen.

Please don’t get me wrong. I appreciate good landscapes that do what they were designed to do. Most of the prettiest are designed to make spaces more appealing. They make our homes more homey. They make our offices more comfortable. They shade streets and parks to make them cooler during warm weather. Whatever landscapes are designed to do, they should do it well. That is precisely what is demonstrated so perfectly by the landscape, or lack of synthetic landscape, at the September 11 Remembrance Garden of Winslow in Arizona.

This is not a comfortable space. It is not intended to be. A bit of shade might be nice during the hot summers in Winslow, but would detract from what this space is set aside for. The starkness and harshness are important here. There is nothing to distract, nothing to obscure, nothing to interfere with what the Remembrance Garden is designed for.

The Remembrance Garden is located outside of the eastern edge of town and on the western edge of the Painted Desert. It might have benefited from more of a synthetic landscape if it had been located in town. A few trees and evergreen shrubbery might have been useful to soften any urban surroundings. Actually, the girders were temporarily located in a lightly landscaped area when they first arrived in Winslow, and then moved to this site a bit later. Despite the complaints of a few insensitive tourists, it is hard to believe that this setting and landscape were not very thoughtfully planned out.

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Mother In Law Tongue

61116What an unflattering name for such striking tropical foliage! The pointed and strap-shaped evergreen leaves of mother-in-law’s tongue, Sansevieria trifasciata, stand vertically, about two or three feet tall. They are rather rigid, and seem to be plastic with a glossy finish. Almost all modern varieties are variegated with silvery gray, white, cream or yellow stripes or banding. Dwarf varieties stay shorter, with flared foliage.

Because it tolerates shade and neglect so well, mother-in-law’s tongue has always been a popular houseplant. It is sometimes grown in pots outside where it can be sheltered from frost or direct sunlight that might roast the foliage. Pups can be divided from overgrown old plants, but will develop shorter leaves until they recover from separation. Crowded plants might get green sports (unvariegated mutant shoots).

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Even Houseplants Can Appreciate Rain

P71116Everyone is from somewhere. Not everyone is fortunate enough to be from California. Most of the various plants in our gardens, even if grown locally, are descendants of plants that were collected from all over the world. Most houseplants are from tropical regions. They perform well as houseplants primarily because they tolerate the sort of partial shade that they would get as understory plants in dense tropical forests.

Along with this advantage of tolerance to shade, tropical houseplants come with other disadvantages, such as an intolerance to frost. So, they are able to live inside the home, but are unable to live very long outside where winters are cool. Even areas of Southern California that do not get frosty can get cool enough to make many tropical houseplants uncomfortable. Consequently, they are confined to their homes.

That might seem to be acceptable to those who not think like plants do. Really, do houseplants even want to go outside? Maybe not. However, shelter from frost and cool weather also shelters them from other weather, such as wind and rain. Without wind and rain, any dust that collects on the foliage stays there. Mealybug and scale insects can proliferate and produce sticky honeydew, which also will not rinse away.

This is why some of us like to occasionally put our houseplants in a cool shower to rinse them off. It eliminates much of the dust, and clears out the stomata (respiratory pores). It does not kill mealybug or scale, but sets them back a bit, and rinses off the honeydew. Showering is also a good way to soak and rinse toxins from the soil. Only African violets, gloxinias and a few plants with fuzzy foliage should not be showered.

The only thing that works better than showering is rain. (Remember that wet stuff that starts to fall from the sky this time of year?) Rain is gentler, lasts longer than a shower, and is located outside where the mess of wet houseplants is not so bothersome. The only disadvantages of rain are that it can be cold, and is often accompanied by wind. A slight breeze would help agitate dirty foliage and dislodge dust, but strong gusts can knock houseplants over, and damage large leaves that are not adapted to any wind. Plants should be sheltered from both wind and direct sun exposure that might happen if the plants are not brought in before clouds clear after the rain.

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Epiphyte

P71108A plant that clings to another plant for support without parasitizing it is an epiphyte. Some do it to get a bit more sunlight closer to the ceiling of a dense forest. Others do it to get up off of the forest floor to avoid competition with conventionally terrestrial plants. Maybe some just want to avoid grazing animals. It is often difficult to determine why plants do what they do.

Spider plants, ephiphyllums and many types of orchids, bromeliads and ferns are some of the more familiar epiphytes. Most do not actually cling to trees. They instead live in the crotches of limbs where debris from the foliar canopy above accumulates. Either way, they do not need much organic matter in which to disperse their roots, and some need none at all. Many collect what they need from the air and precipitation.

This is not about an epiphyte.

It is about a Mexican fan palm that thought it was epiphyte.

You might have though that the picture above depicts a common Mexican fan palm next to a surly London planetree. With closer inspection, you will notice that the palm lacks a trunk at ground level. The utility pole visible below the palm is not attached to it, and does not support it. Yet, the palm does not just hover there. It grew from a cavity in the London planetree.

Most of us know how many plants self sow in weird places. Sometimes they appear where they are welcome. Usually, they end up in pots with other plants, too close to pavement, or in rain gutters that have not been cleaned out enough. Of course, big trees commonly appear under utility cables. Once in a while something self sows in a decaying cavity of a tree.

Most of us have enough sense to remove self sown trees and plants that appears where they can not live for long without causing problems. Those of us who hire gardeners tend to trust and hope that the gardeners would exhibit the same sort of common sense. After all, that is part of what they are payed significant money for.

Unfortunately, Mexican fan palms are not epiphytic. They are just too heavy, even when young.

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Sweetgum

71122One of the big four for mild climates, sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua, develops an excellent display of mixed yellow, orange and red, regardless of how quietly autumn tries to sneak in. Of the other three, Chinese pistache is more orange with less yellow, flowering pear is more ruddy, and gingko is only bright yellow. They all get very flashy color, but sweetgum just might be the flashiest.

Some trees can favor one color or another. Distressed trees tend to be more pinkish red. Vigorous trees might have more yellow. Garden varieties were selected for reliable variability; although ‘burgundy’ has more dark red. Only trees that are too sheltered, too vigorous or pruned too aggressively will lack color. Urban trees can get fifty feet tall, but do not get very broad. Structural deficiency, aggressive roots and spiky seed capsules the size of ping pong balls can be problematic.

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Autumn Color That Proves It

71122thumbThere may not be a good time to talk about it this year. The late warmth really put a damper on some of the autumn foliar color. Some trees are dropping their leaves as soon as they start to turn color, leaving only fading green leaves in their canopies. Only the most reliable trees for autumn color, sweetgum, Chinese pistache, flowering pear and gingko, are trying to make up for lost color.

Now, just because these four trees happen to color well and reliably in autumn does not necessarily mean that they are the right trees for every application. No tree is perfect. Gingko comes close in regard to adaptability to a broad range of applications, but provides only bright yellow autumn color. Flowering pear can be an excellent tree in most regards, but it very susceptible to fire blight.

The other two eventually get too big for some applications. Chinese pistache gets broad with low branches, and old trees (that predate the selection of the standardized male cultivar) can be messy with tiny but profuse fruits. Mature sweetgum trees are notoriously messy with obnoxiously spiked mace-like fruits, and can develop serious and potentially hazardous structural deficiency.

There are certainly more trees and plants that can provide foliar color in autumn. These just happen to be four of the most reliable, and most brilliantly colored. Chinese tallow turns dark burgundy and almost purplish, but colors best in response to a sharp and sudden chill. Red oak turns a monochromatic brown like that of a paper bag, but of course, the color does not appeal to everyone.

Years ago, it was advisable to select flowering crabapples and flowering cherries while blooming in spring because that was the most accurate representation of their floral color. (Photographs were not what pictures are nowadays.) This is still good advice. For autumn color, it is probably better to observe trees around the neighborhood, and then identify those that are most appealing.

Once a few are identified, it is easier to research them to learn about their distinct characteristics, and to determine if they are appropriate for particular applications or situations. Some might be too big. Some might be too messy. Some are not as colorful as others. Persimmon has the added bonus of fruit. Crape myrtle blooms nicely in summer. It is better to know before planting them.

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GREEN

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GREEN – Greening Residential Environments Empowering Neighborhoods – allocates resources, procured from both municipal funding and private donations, to the installation, maintenance and protection of trees in public spaces within the collective urban forest of Los Angeles, and to the enforcement of environmental justice.

How is that for a mission statement?

It is no coincidence that GREEN is also Brent’s last name. He is quite vain. Really though, it works.

Brent has been planting street trees since we were in school in the 1980s, and did his first big project of thirty trees in the median of San Vicente Boulevard on his thirtieth birthday in 1998. This January, twenty years later, he will be planting fifty more trees.

Here and there, I will be writing more articles about these projects. They are too involved to write just one article about. For now, I would like to mention the Facebook page for GREEN, at https://www.facebook.com/GREEN-1518459741733375/. I am sorry that I can not devote more attention to it. I really should be writing more articles about what GREEN does.

There is more to it than just planting. Trees also require staking. Street trees need pruning for clearance above the roadways that they shade. Some trees needed to be injected with systemic insecticide for homopteran insect infestation. When mature Canary Island date palms were being stolen from the embankment of the Santa Monica Freeway and sold into other neighborhoods, GREEN was there to stop it, and to get at least one of the trees returned (although the neighborhood is still waiting for other reparations). GREEN has organized neighborhood clean-ups and graffiti abatement.

GREEN is in Los Angeles, but could be duplicated in other municipalities that could use more trees, or that already have trees that need maintenance. So many trees in America have tree preservation ordinances, but some of the biggest cities need to enforce their ordinances more diligently.

If you continue to read my blog, you will be reading more about GREEN. Again, the Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/GREEN-1518459741733375/