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Six on Saturday: Madness

Cool season annuals are beginning to replace warm season annuals not because weather is beginning to cool for late summer, but because warm season annuals are beginning to deteriorate after their long and warm summer. Deterioration of remaining petunias was accelerated by warm weather today. It was warmer than a hundred degrees. Fortunately, marigolds are the first and only cool season annuals that were added into the landscapes already and they tolerate such warmth. I believe that they are varieties of ‘Durango’. I do not know what the petunias that they are replacing are, but they resemble old fashioned red, white and blue varieties of ‘Madness’ that were too popular during the Bicentennial Summer of 1976, although a comparable white variety is notably lacking.

1. ‘Madness – Blue Vein’, if I remember accurately, looks something like this. Its name is not as appealing as its color, and might have been less appealing in the summer of 1976.

2. ‘Madness – Blue’, which looks like this, was one of the three most popular varieties for the summer of 1976, with ‘Madness – Red’ and ‘Madness – White’, but is almost purplish.

3. ‘Madness – Red’ is more convincingly red, very much like this, and just like ‘Madness – Blue’ and ‘Madness – White’, was very popular in profusion through the summer of 1976.

4. ‘Durango – Gold’ is not very different from marigolds that were overly popular during the 1970s, when ‘Madness’ petunias were popular. I do not know when it was developed.

5. ‘Durango – Orange’ is just as familiar as ‘Durango – Gold’ because of its similarity with old fashioned varieties. Only a few specimens of ‘Durango – Flame’ are blooming nearby.

6. ‘Durango – Red’ is the only of these Six that, to me, does not seem to resemble the sort of varieties that were popular in the 1970s likely because red bloom was developed 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/

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Pot Marigold

Pot marigold blooms with marigold colors.

French marigold is one of the most popular annuals of autumn. Pot marigold, Calendula officinalis, provides similar color with daisy like flowers. Most are bright orange or yellow. They lack only the warm burnished red of French marigold. They compensate with more variety of their pastel ranges. Their single or double blooms are two to three inches wide.

Within cooler climates, pot marigold blooms between spring and late autumn frost. Here, it blooms better through mild winters, with only minor pauses for any mild frost. It is more likely to dislike summer warmth. Like many seasonal annuals, it can technically grow as a short term perennial. However, also like others, it performs best for a particular season.

During their season, taller varieties may grow a bit higher than two feet. Most are shorter. Their oblong and slightly fuzzy leaves are mostly between two to five inches long. Some develop wavy margins. Mildew is sometimes a problem. Deadheading promotes bloom. However, a few deteriorating flowers can remain to provide seed for another generation. Subsequent generations eventually revert to simple and single yellow or orange bloom.

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Cool Season Bedding Plants Begin

Marigold becomes more popular for autumn.

There is no rush yet. Some cool season bedding plants can go into their gardens as late as autumn. Ornamental kale and cyclamen can be as late as winter if necessary. Locally, autumn and winter can be a bit later than elsewhere. Also, different cool season bedding plants rely on different schedules. Ornamental kale and cyclamen actually prefer to wait.

Cool season bedding plants are the same as winter bedding plants. They also qualify as cool season annuals and winter annuals. However, most have potential to be perennial, and some can perform after winter. Some are warm season bedding plants within cooler climates. Locally warm summers and mild winters limit their performance very differently.

All bedding plants provide a profusion of temporary floral color for their assigned season. Cool season bedding plants replace deteriorating warm season bedding plants. Within a few months, warm season bedding plants will become seasonal again. Most that can be perennials are disposable for simplicity. Replacement is generally simpler than salvage.

Installation of bedding plants is often contingent on performance of their predecessors. If petunias of last summer still bloom nicely, pansies for autumn may need to wait. Pansies might need to be early though, if petunias are already shabby. Most cool season bedding plants are fortunately adaptable in that regard. Merely a few must wait for cooler weather.

Scheduling for seeding of cool season bedding plants is not as adaptable. Seed can not germinate and grow faster if late. Actually, seedlings grow slower as weather gets cooler. Seedlings for some species should be growing already. Others should start about now or rather soon. Some should start in cell packs or flats. Several others prefer direct sowing.

Pansy and viola are probably the most familiar and reliable cool season bedding plants. Marigold and perhaps snapdragon are popular now, but may not perform through winter. They become seasonal again as winter ends. Sweet William and a few sorts of primrose are potentially perennial. Any that survive through summer could resume blooming soon.

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Bedding Dahlia

Bedding dahlias can perform as perennials.

Dahlias are as variable as related chrysanthemums. Rare tree dahlias can grow ten feet tall from the ground annually. Most popular dahlias grow less than half as high with more lavish bloom. Bedding dahlias are less than a foot and a half tall with smaller but profuse flowers. They are popular as warm season annuals, but can be perennial like the others.

Bedding dahlias are neither as ornate nor as diverse as those that are better cut flowers. They compensate with foliar density and floral profusion. Their flowers are less than five inches wide, and could be about half as wide. Their floral color range is limited to yellow, orange, red, pink and white. Floral variegation can add another color of the same range.

Bloom continues through summer and autumn, until frost. Deadheading promotes better bloom. Dormant tubers may remain in their gardens through winters here. They could rot, though, while their soil remains cool and damp. If dug and stored for winter, they prefer to return to their gardens prior to spring warmth. Dormant tubers propagate well by division.

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Garden Verbena

Garden verbena sort of resembles lantana, with more variety of color.

When I first saw ‘Peaches ‘N Cream’ garden verbena, Verbena X hybrida, that was trendy in the early 1990’s, I thought that the variable shades of pale pink and nearly white of its flowers were too dull. Then I saw the flashy bright red, purple, blue and fluorescent pink of other modern varieties at the time, and gained a new appreciation for the more subdued color range, including white and more ‘normal’ pink. The flower color range may not be very extensive, but it is diverse.

Even though it is commonly grown as an annual, garden verbena is actually a short term perennial. It is a traditional component of mixed flower urns and planter boxes, but does not necessarily need to be replaced along with other annuals. Like English ivy and ferns that are so often planted with annuals, garden verbena can be salvaged, at least for a few seasons, as annuals come and go. It looks good in hanging pots or large urns where its slightly cascading form can be appreciated. In good soil, garden verbena can become a colorful small scale ground cover.

Mature plants do not get much more than six inches deep or two feet wide. Their coarsely dentate leaves are about two inches long. Their flat, two inch wide trusses of small flowers bloom mostly in summer. Hard pruning at the end of winter helps restore plants in spring, and keeps plants healthy longer. Mildew can become a problem in humid areas, particularly if air circulation is inhibited by crowded foliage.

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Hollyhock

Hollyhock was more popular within Victorian gardens.

Old fashioned hollyhock, Alcea rosea, can be a bit too imposing for small gardens, since their spire like flower stalks can get taller than eight feet. Modern varieties are more proportionate, standing about five or six feet tall. Some are only about two and a half feet tall. Many modern varieties also have fluffier semi-double or double flowers. Those with smaller flowers have denser flower set than old varieties (Flowers are closer together on the stem.).

The three to five inch wide flowers bloom through summer in shades of pink, red, purple, pale yellow, pale orange and white. Removal of spent flower stalks may promote shorter autumn blooms, but also prevents self sowing. Seed can be sown at the end of summer for blooms next year. The coarsely textured and variably lobed basal foliage does not get much wider than two feet. Snails and rust can be problematic.

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Nasturtium

Feral nasturtium is yellow or orange.

Most consider nasturtium, Tropaeolum majus, to be a warm season annual. Some might consider it to be a cool season annual. A few press its tender stems into moist soil to root and continue growth as a perennial. Plants that bloom for summer can disperse seed for winter bloom. Plants that bloom for winter can likewise disperse seed for summer bloom.

Because they replace themselves so readily, they may seem to be perennial. In actuality, plants from one season, whether warm or cool, may not last long in the next. Seed might be sneaky about spreading. Trailing nasturtiums might naturalize in riparian ecosystems. Nasturtium seedlings are available in cell packs, but do not grow as vigorously as seed.

Nasturtium bloom is diverse shades and tints of yellow, orange and red. Varieties bloom with particular colors within that range, although few are true to type. Their feral progeny bloom only bright orange and bright yellow. Their tender growth does not get much more than one or two feet deep. Trailing varieties can climb as high as first floor eaves though. Nasturtium leaves are almost circular like those of water lilies.

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Perennial Annuals

New Guinea impatiens (with ivy geranium) from last year.

Annuals complete their entire lifespans within a single year.

Perennials survive for more than a single year.

Biennials grow vegetatively during their first year, and then bloom, disperse seed and die during their second year, but that is another story.

Most species that are appreciated as annuals here actually have potential to be perennials, even if only short term perennials. They are only replaced annually because it is easier than maintaining them through their dormant season.

For example, busy Lizzy is a warm season annual that gets installed for spring and replaced with cool season annuals for autumn. However, if cut back and sheltered from frost, it can survive through winter to perform for the following spring and summer. Actually, it can survive perennially like this for quite a few years, and as it ultimately deteriorates, it can replace itself with its own cuttings or layered stems.

Brent did this with New Guinea impatiens from last year. He neglected to replace them for winter (which is quite brief there), and then noticed that they resumed growth as winter ended. Now, they are huge and even more spectacularly florific than they were last summer.

The picture above shows where I camp out in his backyard when I go to Southern California. Most of the white bloom to the right is actually ivy geranium that cascades below the New Guinea impatiens, but most of the white bloom to the left is New Guinea impatiens above ivy geranium. (White on white was not quite as monotonous when each of the two species maintained its distinct form last year.)

Small terrace at the western margin of the garden.

This other pair of potted dwarf Alberta spruce surrounded with the same New Guinea impatiens above, with a close up below, flanks the steps to a small terrace at far western margin of the garden.

These New Guinea impatiens are huge because they resumed growth from last year.
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Cosmos

Cosmos has potential to almost naturalize.

For the past few years, I have really been overly indulgent with the seed catalogues from Renee’s Garden. I wanted to try more varieties of classic annual cosmos, Cosmos bipinnatus, than I could fit in my garden. I recently grew ‘White Seashells’ with tubular ray flowers, and colorful ‘Double Click’ with ruffled semi-double and double flowers, and even the ‘Dancing Petticoats’ mix, which includes several varieties! By now, I have probably grown all but a few of the many offerings.

After trying so many though, I still can not tell you which are my favorites. It would not matter much anyway, since I did not deadhead them to deprive them of their abundant seeds. Their self sown progeny are now mixed and beginning to bloom in random shades of pink ranging from pale pink to nearly red to nearly purple, with a few white.

Naturalized cosmos eventually reverts to bloom with more genetically basic single flowers in simpler shades of pink and white, on stems about three or four feet tall. They can even get taller than six feet and wider than two feet. Most of the popular garden varieties that I started out with though stay less than three feet tall. ‘Sonata’ is a popular strain that stays even shorter, so is among the most practical and proportionate for refined gardens.

Seed can be sown or new plants can be planted now to bloom through summer. Naturalized plants are already blooming only because they get an earlier start. Regardless of color or form, all cosmos flowers are about three inches wide, with yellow centers. Their finely textured pale green foliage is quite delicate and airy. 

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Vegetables Change With The Seasons

Zucchini seed can be sown now.

Annuals are not all that change with the seasons. Vegetables do also. After all, with few exceptions, vegetable plants are also annuals, or perform as such. Most of those that are biennials are edible only during their first year. They bloom and become inedible if they survive for a second year. Most perennial vegetables are easier to replace than recycle.

As with annuals, it seems to be a bit too early to replace cool season vegetables. Some continue to produce, and may do so for a while. The weather still seems to be a bit too cool for warm season or summer vegetables. Technically, it actually is too cool for some. However, some must grow from seed. The weather will be warmer by the time they do.

Most cool season vegetables are actually vegetables. In other words, their edible parts are vegetative rather than fruit. Conversely, most warm season vegetables are actually fruit. In other words, they contain seeds. Tomato, chili, eggplant, cucumber, squash, corn, okra and bean are familiar examples. Some but not all continue to produce until autumn.

For example, zucchini and other summer squash produce until frost. So do pole bean, some cucumbers and indeterminate tomatoes. However, winter squash only grow during summer to ripen all at once for autumn. Okra, eggplant and various chilis should produce throughout summer, but likely will not. Secondary phases can prolong their production.

Determinate tomatoes, bush beans, and corn benefit most from phasing. They produce all their fruit within a brief season and then produce no more. Subsequent phases should start before preceding phases finish. Some can eventually replace lingering cool season vegetables. With good soil, fresh new tomato plants can start below aging tomato plants.

Seed for corn, beans, root vegetables and greens prefers direct sowing into their garden. Seedlings are stressed by transplant, and too many are needed. Cucumber and squash grow as well from seedling as seed, and a few should suffice. Tomato, chili and eggplant prefer to grow from a few seedlings a bit later. Some varieties are available only as seed, though. Such seed should be sown by about now, directly or within cells, outside or in.