Tony Tomeo

Posted on June 29, 2024June 29, 2024 by tonytomeo

Sweet Spot

*Saccharum officinarum* ‘Pele’s Smoke’ sugarcane

‘Pele’s Smoke’ sugarcane has grown enough for installation into the landscapes. I am not certain how happy they will be here through winter, but we will find out. Frost is mild here, but is supposedly enough to kill them to the ground. I expect that. Even if they do not die to the ground, I would prefer to cut them down by the end of winter regardless. Survival of their basal growth is more of a concern. I want them to regenerate next spring. It is difficult to imagine a species as vigorous as this being so vulnerable to the locally mild frost, but all the information that I find about it insists that it is marginal here. There are so many canned specimens that it would be no problem to shelter some through winter to replace any that do not survive in the landscapes. Later, if they get depleted, it would be no problem to take cuttings from those in the landscapes in autumn, and shelter them through winter to put back into the landscapes in spring. However, that is just too much unnatural intervention for me. If they are not happy here, they I do not want to force them. I enjoyed growing them while I did. I got the cuttings from grooming a specimen in Brent’s garden. I was not very careful with them, and did not process them very efficiently because I knew that I would get more than I could accommodate. Ultimately, after sharing a few with friends and neighbors who are aware of the risks, thirty new specimens remain here. Fifteen are in #1 can, including the first three that were just installed into the landscapes. Another fifteen are in four inch pots, which is annoying one less than a full flat of sixteen.

Posted on June 29, 2024June 28, 2024 by tonytomeo · 9 Comments

Six on Saturday: Glad

Butterfly gladiolus will not bloom for a while. Abyssinian gladiolus may not bloom at all. Hybrid gladiolus, though, are already finishing. I got these few pictures while I can, and will likely get pictures of butterfly gladiolus as they bloom later. I am glad to do so. They are my favorite gladiolus. They are more like wildflowers than overly bred hybrids. Also, they are very reliably perennial. I hope that the Abyssinian gladiolus perform also. They are also supposedly reliably perennial, but are not in a very good situation here. I should relocate them, perhaps closer to where the butterfly gladiolus are so happy. The hybrids are earning my appreciation too. I was not aware that they had potential to be perennial.

1. Gladiolus papilio, butterfly gladiolus is my favorite, because it is from Tangly Cottage Gardening, is approved by Skooter, is reliably perennial, and it blooms like a wildflower.

2. Its foliage is rather grassy, which is more compatible with other wildflowers than wide leaves of more garish hybrid gladiolus. The corms multiply and migrate quite efficiently.

3. Gladiolus murielae, Abyssinian gladiolus is my second favorite, even while it is not so much to see. It is a gift from a neighbor. It should bloom for autumn, but I have doubts.

4. Hybrid gladiolus are the most colorful, but are not reliably perennial. However, these and two others have been blooming well here for several years, and actually multiplying.

5. This orange with yellow hybrid gladiolus was one of the first two to bloom again after a few years of producing only foliage. The yellow gladiolus joined them a few years later.

6. This purple hybrid gladiolus is the other of the first pair to resume bloom, although it does not multiply as much as the yellow gladiolus that resumed bloom a few years later.

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 June 28, 2024June 26, 2024 by tonytomeo · 4 Comments

Thrift

When I see common thrift, Armeria maritima, in nurseries now, I wonder what such a diminutive perennial would be useful for. Their densely compact mounds of narrow evergreen leaves rarely get more than four inches deep, and take their time spreading to less than a foot wide. Then I remember how thrift visually softened the straight edges of my father’s brick patio and retaining walls, and fit so nicely into the tight spots. If allowed to do so, thrift creeps slowly over edges of pavement and stepping stones, but is not too eager to overwhelm them.

If it eventually gets overgrown, thrift is easily cut back to the edge of pavement at the end of winter, and will green over its raw edge by spring. The bits and pieces that are left over from cutting back the edges can be plugged back into other areas and will eventually develop roots if initially watered regularly. Once established, thrift stays healthier if allowed to dry somewhat between watering. Bald spots that may naturally come and go as mature plants die out in the center and then regenerate fill in faster if outer edges get cut back.

The dense round clusters of tiny flowers stand above the foliage on bare stems about four to eight inches high. The flowers are almost always bright pink, but are sometimes white or reddish pink. Bloom is most profuse in spring and may continue sporadically all year.

Posted on June 27, 2024June 26, 2024 by tonytomeo

Many Pruning Techniques

Proper pruning enhances performance rather than compromise it.

If gardeners can reach it, they will most likely shear it. They do not mind if it was intended to be a shade tree, a flowering shrub or even a sculptural succulent. Few will take the time to prune and groom properly. Ironically, formal hedges that actually need to be shorn are rarely shorn properly!

Most of us fortunately are not gardeners, but merely enjoy our gardens. We know the importance of proper pruning, and that various plants need different pruning techniques. The main difficulty is determining which techniques are best for each type of plant in our gardens.

Shearing is primarily for hedges; which by the way, should be slightly narrower up high, and slightly wider down low in order to optimize sun exposure to all parts. Generally, plants that are grown for their flowers, fruit or natural form should not be shorn regularly.

Fruit trees and modern roses need the most specialized pruning while dormant in winter, so are not recommended for ‘low maintenance’ gardening. Their specialized pruning thins out superfluous growth, concentrating resources for fruit and flower production. Pruning also removes suckers (from below graft unions) and the ‘four Ds’; which are Diseased, Damaged, Dying and Dead stems.

Most trees eventually need some sort of pruning to direct their growth. Limbs that are too low need to be pruned away to maintain adequate clearance from roadways, sidewalks, chimneys, roofs and anything else that they should keep their distance from. Lighting, road signs and views from cars coming out of driveways should not be obstructed. As larger trees mature, they eventually need the attention of professional arborists to maintain their health, stability and structural integrity.

Small trees like Japanese maple, Hollywood juniper and pineapple guava look much better with selective pruning and thinning to expose their natural forms. If they become obtrusive, such trees are very often pruned back for confinement. They should instead be pruned to direct their growth up and out of the way, so that lower obtrusive stems get removed, and upper growth can develop naturally.

Nandina, abelia, various bamboos, old fashioned lilac and other plants that produce new stems from the ground benefit from another type of thinning known as ‘alternating canes’. This involves cutting older canes to the ground as they begin to deteriorate or become overgrown. Alternating canes without any other pruning allows nandina to keep its distinctive foliar texture, and abelia to develop its distinctive arching branch structure.

Posted on June 26, 2024June 25, 2024 by tonytomeo

Not Ocotillo

Echinocereus engelmannii, hedgehog cactus?

Ocotillo, Fouquieria splendens, was the species that I intended to procure as Rhody and I walked out and into the desert that surrounded the home we lodged at northwest of Phoenix at the end of last April. I had seen it from the roads on the way there. I should have stopped to procure cuttings or small specimens while I had the chance. Furthermore, I should have stopped for cuttings or small specimens as we left without procuring any earlier. It is a fascinating species that I am completely unfamiliar with.

Hedgehog cactus, Echinocereus engelmannii, is all I procured instead. At least I believe that it is this particular species. I really do not know for sure. A few species of the genus are native to the area. This species just happens to be the most common among them, and its description seems to conform to my observations of this specimen. Other species bloom with floral color that is different from that which I observed with a few remaining shriveled floral carcasses. Most other species exhibit different foliar patterns or textures with their spines. This particular species is distinctly more unappealing than the others, but I got it.

Now, I have no idea of what to do with it. First, I should probably wait to see if it survives. The bits that I got might have been a bit too fresh to root before they rot. I suppose that I should remove the developing fruit to divert resources to vegetative growth and root development. I thought that they would abscise naturally after bloom, in response to the distress of separation from the original specimen. I would prefer natural abscission to unnatural intervention. Pruning wounds from such intervention might promote rot while the cuttings are already vulnerable to rot from below.

Posted on June 25, 2024June 24, 2024 by tonytomeo

Little Leaf Sage

Its common name is both simple and descriptive. Little leaf sage is a literal translation of its botanical name, Salvia microphylla. However, several of its most popular cultivars are actually hybrids with other species. Also, they are more popularly but inaccurately known as Salvia greggii. Most lack their species name between their genus and cultivar names.

Little leaf sage is a small and generally evergreen shrubby perennial. Mature specimens are about three or perhaps four feet tall. They are a bit wider, and some can slowly widen by dispersing little rhizomes. Their little leaves are less than an inch long and delightfully aromatic when disturbed. Where winters are cooler, frost might initiate partial defoliation.

Bloom is most abundant for late spring or early summer, and again for autumn. Sporadic bloom can continue throughout most of the year. A few flowers may even bloom through winter. Floral color ranges through red, white and pink, as well as peachy and rosy pink. Coppicing old growth at the end of winter promotes replacement with new basal growth.

Posted on June 24, 2024June 24, 2024 by tonytomeo · 2 Comments

Layering Can Copy Favored Flora

Seed is the most familiar method of propagation. However, some popular plants produce no viable seed. Some produce seed that is genetically very different from its parents. For many plant varieties, only vegetative propagation reliably produces similar copies. Such copies can grow from division, cuttings or layering. They are genetically identical clones.

Layering is uncommon for nurseries because it is generally insufficiently productive. It is unpopular for home gardening because it seems complicated. It is actually more reliable for many species than cuttings are. Also, layering is quite practical if merely a few copies are sufficient for home gardening. Realistically, it is not as complicated as it seems to be.

Layering is simply the development of roots where stems lay on the soil. All sorts of flora does it naturally without intervention. For example, ivy vines notoriously develop roots as they extend over the ground. Tips of raspberry canes develop roots where they leap over to reach the ground. These rooted tips grow replacement canes that repeat this process.

With a bit of intervention, several species that do not commonly layer can do so also. For some, it can be as simple as pressing a lower stem into moist soil. Application of rooting hormone to exposed cambium accelerates layering for most. Gouging into the underside of the buried portion of stem exposes its cambium. Tip growth must remain above grade.

For most species, the buried portions of layering stems should be a few inches in length. Extra stem length is no problem. Actually, if stems are long enough, they can be situated into their permanent locations. Stems can layer right below grade, but they prefer to be a few inches deeper. While their roots develop, they require irrigation for evenly moist soil.

The few inches of foliated tip growth above grade sustains actively layering stems. Also, remaining intact cambium provides sustenance from the original plant. Only a few stems can layer simultaneously, but that is enough for most gardens. Hydrangeas, azaleas and camellias layer quite easily. Pines, oaks and eucalyptus do not. Layers should develop quite a few roots before separation.

Posted on June 23, 2024June 22, 2024 by tonytomeo

Going Bananas! II

‘Double Mahoi’ banana has been tediously slow. Although I now know why, I am disappointed with its development so far. After the primary pup that I split from the original last year got frosted over winter, I noticed that its central bud survived and was barely beginning to recover. Then, it stopped. I mean, it did nothing for several days or maybe more than a week, even though the weather was warming. Also, the foliage remained pale, as if it had just emerged. Because it was stagnating for so long as the weather was warming, at least one of its leaves got scalded in the middle. Then, because I gave it a bit too much soluble fertilizer, its leaves got bad tip burn. I suspected that it was up to something while seemingly inactive, but did not really know. Finally, the tip of its first pup appeared. Then another appeared, and then a few more! While still just a pup, it had an entire litter of eight pups, which is four times ‘Double Mahoi’, and I do not know if it is finished. Of course, eight pups sharing resources do not grow fast. Also, the tip burn continued as the pups initially emerged, which likely inhabited growth for a while. For now, I can only give them plenty of water, and refrain from giving them more fertilizer. They have good exposure, but I will move them under saran if the weather gets too warm for such small pups to be so exposed. I doubt that all eight pups will survive, but I would have been pleased with merely one. Of course, the one original pup will not survive the process of diverting its resources to its pups, but that is an acceptable consequence of getting a bit more than expected.

Original ‘Double Mahoi’ pup not much more than a month ago

Posted on June 22, 2024June 22, 2024 by tonytomeo

Big Lemons

All but two of the forty or so cultivars of citrus that I grew in the early 1990s were grafted onto the same dwarfing shaddock rootstock. Only ‘Meyer’ lemon and ‘Seville’ sour orange were not grafted, or ‘on their own roots’. ‘Meyer’ lemon naturally stays compact enough to not need a dwarfing rootstock. it was our most popular cultivar. ‘Seville’ sour orange supposedly grows about as large as the various dwarfed sweet orange with or without a dwarfing rootstock, as if the rootstock does nothing to limit its ultimate size. It was our least popular cultivar.

‘Eureka’ lemon, ‘Lisbon’ lemon and ‘Sanguinelli’ blood orange grow larger than any of the other grafted dwarf citrus that we grew. ‘Eureka’ lemon is actually a variant cultivar of ‘Lisbon’ that produces fruit throughout the year, which is a desirable attribute within home gardens. ‘Lisbon’ lemon may seem to be a bit more productive, but only because it produces all of its fruit within a more defined season, which can be a desirable attribute for orchard production. Otherwise, ‘Eureka’ and ‘Lisbon’ lemons are indistinguishable from each other, and grow quite tall. ‘Sanguinelli’ blood orange grows about as large, with a nearly identical upright form, but with a softer foliar texture.

Without dwarfing understock, ungrafted ‘Eureka’ and ‘Lisbon’ lemon trees can grow as big as small shade trees, and produce more fruit than they can support against gravity. Their broken limbs are a horridly thorny mess to clean up. ‘Sanguinelli’ blood orange trees can grow about as large, although they support the weight of their fruit more efficiently, and any debris that they generate, hopefully from pruning rather than breakage, is not so objectionable to handle.

So, I should have known better than to plug a bunch of ‘Eureka’ lemon cuttings. As cuttings, they lack dwarfing understock. I shared more than half with neighbors, who have been warned. About fourteen remain. One is more than enough.

Posted on June 22, 2024June 21, 2024 by tonytomeo · 12 Comments

Six on Saturday: Surprise

Surprise is a town northwest of Phoenix that I encountered between late April and early May. These six are different sorts of horticultural surprises which I encountered at work.

1. Platycerium bifurcatum, common staghorn fern, Tillandsia usneoides, Spanish moss and two other unidentified species of Tillandsia combined for a surprisingly compelling epiphytic platter. The staghorn fern is from Brent’s garden. The Spanish moss should be fuller as it grows. The two unidentified Tillandsia should be displaced as the fern grows.

2. Brugmansia X cubensis ‘Charles Grimaldi’ angel’s trumpet is no surprise. A picture of it posted here last Sunday. Its richer than typical yellow floral color is a surprise though. It is also from Brent’s garden, and was from one of his projects years ago. Brugmansia X candida ‘Double White’ and Brugmansia suaveolens ‘Single White’ both bloom nearby.

3. Brugmansia, angel’s trumpet of an unidentified cultivar demonstrates why the yellow floral color of ‘Charle’s Grimaldi’ is so surprising. Both were about the same pale peachy color last year, with the same fragrance. I thought that they may be the same. Obviously, but actually surprisingly, they are not. I do not know what it is, but I know what it is not.

4. Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’ arrived here with Persicaria bistorta ‘Superba’ and perhaps Persicaria affinis ‘Dimity’ from Tangly Cottage Gardening early last April. I can not distinguish the cultivars, which is why I do not know if they include ‘Dimity’. It was a surprise to see ‘Superba’ bloom immediately after relocation. ‘Firetail’ is a surprise now.

5. Mimulus guttatus, seep monkey flower is blooming with surprising abundance where the stream from Redwood Springs flows into the drainage pond. The location should not be a surprise since, as its common name implies, this species prefers damp situations. It is surprising only because I somehow neglected to observe so much bright yellow earlier.

6. Rosa, rose of an unidentified cultivar would not be so surprising if I were not aware of how it got here. Someone who does not work in the landscapes removed it from where it was obstructing access to one of his projects. I saw it in his pickup as he was about to discard it. I am surprised that it survived, blooms well and seems to be a hybrid tea rose.