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Analysis

There is so much more to this picture than the kitty.

As Brent mentioned when he sent me this picture, which was included with my ‘Six on Saturday’ post earlier this morning, “There’s a lot going on in the picture.”

Slightly above the exact center of the picture, to the left of the tip of the kitty’s right ear, a Mexican fan palm peeks through a small void in the vegetation. It is at the curb of a home on the west side of the next street to the east. It is what Brent would have taken a picture of if he had zoomed in as intended. It leans to the right and south, as tall Mexican fan palms do there in response the the Santa Ana Winds.

The foliage of the queen palm above and to the left demonstrates that the Santa Ana Winds were blowing when the picture was taken.

The trunk that extends upward through another smaller void in the vegetation below the queen palm foliage is of another Mexican fan palm at the curb in front of Brent’s Jungalow. It is in alignment with the other Mexican fan palm to the east. Its canopy is obscured by that of the queen palm.

The foliage above and to the right of the primary Mexican fan palm, but below and to the right of the queen palm, is pink trumpet tree, which blooms spectacularly bright pink for spring.

The defoliated thicket of stems below and to the left of the primary Mexican fan palm is a large plumeria, which Brent, while very young, acquired from an elderly neighbor. He got it at about the same age that I was when I acquired my Dalmatian iris and rhubarb. More than a dozen other plumeria grow and bloom in a row that extends parallel to the walkway, in front of and behind the large specimen that is visible.

The somewhat yellowish foliage below and to the left of the plumeria is an impressively large Mexican lime that is somehow productive within all that shade.

The strange foliage that hangs outwardly from a dark central mass above and to the left of the Mexican lime, and left of the queen palm is a large colony of staghorn fern that is much closer to the window. Some sort of weird begonia foliage is below and to the left of it. California sycamore foliage is above it.

The top of a tall Indian laurel hedge is visible to the upper right of the picture. Some sort of odd dracaena and odd fern are visible to the lower left corner. Much but not all of the remaining vegetation is a mixture of understory palms, including various bamboo palms, Raphis palms and kentia palms. The spiral stairs lead to an upper deck, which has a splendid view of the rest of the garden that extends to the left, beyond the view of this picture. Finally, on the spiral stairs, is this kitty.

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Ornamental Kale (deferred from yesterday)

Flowering kale really seems to bloom.

Flowering cherry trees are prettier but fruitless versions of their fruiting counterparts. So are flowering peach trees. It seems only fair that some vegetables could also be prettier than culinarily useful. Gourds are ornamental squash fruit that can qualify as vegetables. Ornamental kale, Brassica oleracea, is an actual vegetable that is primarily ornamental.

Ornamental kale is also known as flowering kale, or ornamental or flowering cabbage. It is more foliar than floral though. Its dense foliar rosettes unfurl like big ruffly roses. Some are very ruffly. Some are intricately lobed. Foliar color can be white, pink, red or purplish. Ornamental kale is as edible as culinary kale, but a bit more bitter. It is a splendid garni.

Like cool season annual flowers, ornamental kale performs between autumn and spring. It grows quite slowly though. Seed that starts in August grows into seedlings for October. Seedlings that start in October only begin to get colorful during November, a month later. Their seemingly floral but foliar display ironically ends as they actually bloom for spring.

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Holly Olive

‘Goshiki’ is a popular holly olive.

English holly provides traditional cut foliage, preferably with a few berries, for Christmas. It is annoyingly prickly, though. This is why holly olive, Osmanthus heterophyllus, is now a more docile option. Its foliar texture is very similar, but with slightly dulled foliar spines. It is gentle enough for corsages and boutonnieres. However, it generates no red berries.

Holly olive is popular as small and perhaps decorated potted plants for Christmas decor. Afterwards, it adapts to home gardens more efficiently than typical Holiday potted plants. Such potted plants should not retain any mylar wrapping for too long. It inhibits drainage. Also, any small decorations or fake berries should not remain as stems eventually grow.

Most popular cultivars of holly olive are variegated. ‘Goshiki’, with more yellow or creamy white blotches than green, is the most popular here. Unvariegated holly olive is a classic dark drab green. All cultivars work splendidly as formal hedges. Alternatively, they might slowly grow taller than fifteen feet. The evergreen foliage becomes less spiny higher up. Tiny flowers are sweetly fragrant.

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Alocasia or Colocasia? II

Alocasia or Colocasia or both?

While it seems that anything can be found online, it is baffling to see what can not be found online. Horticultural concerns seem to be particularly lacking. Perhaps those who enjoy horticulture innately dislike the internet. Perhaps they are merely too busy in their gardens to bother getting online too much.

‘Pele’s Smoke’ has been one of the more popular cultivars of sugarcane for home gardens for quite a while, but I can not determine how wide its canes are. Eucalyptus pulverulenta and Eucalyptus cinerea seem to have traded their names since the 1980s, but now, no one seems to know which is which, or if either ever was the other. No one can explain how seed from sterile banana cultivars are available online. Anyone can say anything. There is no accountability.

Alocasia and Colocasia are as baffling now as they were when I mentioned the difficulty with choosing between the two about a month ago. I am still inclined to procure Colocasia gigantea for a riparian landscape at work. However, I am now inclined to also procure Alocasia macrorrhiza. Both are quite appealing. I think that I would like to grow both within the same landscape so that I can compare them later. It would be easier than trying to compare vague information about them that I can find online. Realistically, since I would grow them from corms, both are quite inexpensive. If necessary, I can later relocate whichever is less appealing than the other.

This would not be my first occasion of not relying on the internet. I am working with ‘Pele’s Smoke’ sugarcane presently, and will be pleased with it regardless of how it behaves. I grow both Eucalyptus pulverulenta and Eucalyptus cinerea; although by mistake, since I procured one because I thought it was the same as the other. All of the cultivars of banana that I grow were procured as pups or plugs, since I do not trust seed. Ultimately, I will be pleased with both Alocasia and Colocasia.

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Deciduous Foliage Is Efficient

Maple foliage only seems to be messy because it all falls at once.

(Horridculture will resume on Friday.)

Contrary to popular belief, most deciduous trees, those that drop all their leaves in autumn, are not as messy as most evergreen trees. There are of course a few exception; such as cacti that lack foliage completely, or Italian cypress that drop their finely textured foliage straight down within a very narrow drip-zone, where it decomposes and disappears unnoticed. Very few leaves fall from a big silver maple through winter, spring and summer, so that almost all of the raking is done when almost all the leaves get shed in autumn. However, a big Southern magnolia generally drops leaves throughout the year, so that raking is always necessary.

The problem is that when deciduous trees get to be messy, they are very messy. Also, they get to be messy at the worst time of year, when their leaves mix with rain to clog drains and gutters. Unraked leaves become hazardously slippery when they get wet and start to decompose. It is amazing how something that can be so appealingly colorful through autumn can so quickly become such a nuisance.

Leaves of deciduous trees somehow seem to be better for composting than those of some of the evergreen trees. Anyone with a Southern magnolia knows how slow the foliage is to decompose. Foliage of camphor, bay, carob and various eucalyptus certainly decompose slower than various maple, ash, poplar and birch. Many of us outfitted with green waste bins or curbside collection of green waste prefer to recycle the less desirable evergreen foliage, and compost primarily deciduous foliage. Those of us who do not compost but need to rake under large or many deciduous trees may fill bins for several weeks, or leave very big piles of leaves at the curb.

Small leaves, such as those of most elms, or finely textured compound leaves, such as those of silk tree, jacaranda or locust, may not need to be raked if they fall onto lower shrubbery or ground cover. Small leaves or the small leaflets of disintegrating compound leaves simply sift through the lower plant material to decompose below. However, large elms may produce such an abundance of foliage that some may need to be removed. Maple and other large leaves are not so easy to ignore. They can shade lawns, ground cover or bedding plants, so need to be raked as they fall.

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Wise Old Owl (2011)

There is more to cut flowers than flowers.

(This is an old article from 2011, so much of the information within is no longer relevant.)

The sixteen acres of gardens of Filoli are spectacular and horticulturally compelling throughout the year. However, the weather through winter, although more pleasant than other places in the world, is not always quite so compelling or conducive to garden tours. At Filoli though, this is not a problem. More than six hundred volunteers and the Filoli staff merely bring the outdoors indoors, by selecting materials from the garden to adorn the interior of the 36,000 square foot Filoli residence for ‘The Wise Old Owl’, the annual fund raising Holiday Traditions Boutique.

While perusing The Wise Old Owl merchandise, guests can enjoy how so much more than flowers can be brought in from the garden to deck out the home. Bare stems, gnarly limbs, evergreen foliage, pine cones, bark and all sorts of bits and pieces of the autumn and winter garden demonstrate the potential for alternatives to traditional cut flowers that we may not even recognize as useful materials in our own gardens. Of course, there will be no shortage of the less abundant flowers that bloom through the season and decoration that are not out of the garden, as well as live music to enhance the display. Regardless of horticultural interest or boutique merchandise, the grand residence at Filoli is worth visiting even on the least eventful day of the year.

There are too many events within the Event to describe here. Guests can visit http://www.filoli.org to plan ahead and make reservations for buffet lunches and evening bistro dining, as well as an elegant Saturday Evening Dinner Party with dancing in the Ballroom. Children six to twelve years of age can enjoy a Children’s Tea on the finale of The Wise Old Owl on December 3.

The Wise Old Owl begins in only a few days on November 25, and continues through December 3. The hours of operation and admission are variable relative to the various events throughout the main Event. Reservations for specific events can be arranged and more information can be found online

Tickets can be purchased online, by fax or by telephoning Filoli weekdays between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. At 650 – 364 8300 X 508. Order forms for fax transactions can be downloaded from the website and sent to 650 – 503 2090. Admission is limited; and tickets get exhausted somewhat early. Tickets are neither refundable nor exchangeable. Filoli is located at 86 Canada Road in Woodside (94062).

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Alocasia or Colocasia?

Alocasia odora

‘A’ or ‘co’? What is the better prefix for ‘locasia’? There are certainly differences between the two, but information regarding such differences and characteristics is confusing and potentially misleading. It is amazing how much less information is available now that so much more information is so much more available than it has ever been before.

Alocasia generally develops big leaves that point upward. Colocasia generally develops big leaves that point downward. Alocasia prefers a bit of partial shade. Colocasia prefers more direct sunshine. Alocasia generally has more colorful leaves. Colocasia generally has bigger leaves. Of course, these are generalizations, and some species of each of these two genera seem to be species of the other genus.

Colocasia gigantea supposedly develops the biggest leaves and can get twenty feet tall. Alocasia macrorrhiza supposedly is the biggest of its genus and can get fifteen feet tall. It is difficult to know what to believe.

One the edge of a pond at work, we would like to grow whichever of these massive perennials develops the biggest leaves. If we grow Alocasia, we can put it in a partially shaded situation. If we grow Colocasia, we can put it in a sunnier situation nearby. If we grow Alocasia, we can put it a short distance from the edge of the pond. If we grow Colocasia, we can put it right at the edge of the pond. We only need to know which cultivar of which species of which genus we should grow.

I am inclined to grow Colocasia gigantea. We have a few months to decide, since we do not want to plant it during autumn or winter. We recently acquired this Alocasia odora. Also, another similar but unidentified perennial that seems to be a Colocasia must be relocated from another disproportionately compact landscape.

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Unhappy Fishtail Palm

Now that the foliar color has improved, the foliar density is deteriorating.

Fishtail palm is never completely happy here. It is not much happier in Southern California. Even the happiest are discolored to a minor degree. Many are more significantly discolored. Some are so very discolored that they are visually unappealing.

No one seems to know why. I suspect that they would prefer more humidity. Perhaps they prefer more humid warmth. They may dislike the pH of the soil.

Furthermore, fishtail palms are monocarpic. Each trunk dies after bloom. Clumping sorts develop new trunks prior to the demise of a blooming trunk. Those that do not develop replacement trunks die completely.

The illustration above is obviously not of exemplary quality. I took it from the car while driving. This was on northbound Highway 101, at the northern extremity of Pismo Beach. The palm to the upper left of the sign for Spyglass Pointe, with the yellow arrow pointing at it from above, is a fishtail palm. Until recently, it had been famously chlorotic.

Colleagues who drove through Pismo Beach typically asked me about this palm after seeing how chlorotic it typically had been. This it he least chlorotic that I have ever seen it. However, it may be naturally deteriorating after its primary bloom. Although I have not observed any bloom, I can see that new leaves are not developing on the same rate that They had in the past. This picture shows it with only a single open leaf, with another foliar spike extending from the terminal bud.

This particular fishtail palm is not very old. I can remember when the associated residential buildings were constructed less than two decades ago. landscapes and associated trees were added shortly afterward. Since then, the fishtail palm had been unhappy. This likely why fishtail palm is not more commonly available here than it is.

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Beyond Fresh Cut Flowers

Palm fronds are striking cut foliage.

Most flowers bloom in spring. Many bloom a bit later and though summer. Not nearly so many start to bloom in autumn or though winter. This time of year, there is more to clean up from fading blooms than there are fresh blooms to cut and bring in.

Much of the color in the garden through autumn is provided by colorful foliage or foliage that gets colorful as the weather gets cooler. Later in winter, some plants have colorful bark and stems that gets revealed by winter defoliation. Coral bark Japanese maple, red twig dogwood and some arctic willows have remarkably colorful twigs.

Blooms of a few plants are sometimes cut and recycled after they fade because their dried flowers, flower stems or seed pods are appealing. Hydrangeas are not so attractive as they deteriorate out in the garden, but can be cut and hung upside down to dry to substitute for fresh flowers later. If done quickly, many types hold their color somewhat. Those that do not hold their fresh color may turn an appealing shade of brown.

Queen Anne’s lace can likewise be a nice dried flower, but is not so easy to hide in the garden while it dries. If cut and hung to dry, individual stems should be hung separately, since they bend and are difficult to separate if hung in clusters. Their flat-topped flower trusses curve inward as they dry, so they look nothing like they do fresh.

The rigid flower stems of New Zealand flax are rather sculptural protruding from their softer foliage. These same stems can be cut, plucked of seed pods, and like dried hydrangeas, used as cut flowers when there is not much else to get out of the garden. Ironically, New Zealand flax flowers sometimes get cut before they bloom, since not everyone appreciates their contrast against their own softly textured foliage.

Years ago, New Zealand flax flower stems were actually dried and spray painted! For those daring to try this technique, it also works well with lily -of-the-Nile flowers stems and trusses (plucked of their seed pods), Heavenly bamboo flower stems, and even dried pampas grass blooms. However, pampas grass blooms are deprived of their fluffiness and most appealing quality by spray paint. Bird-of-Paradise leaves twist interestingly as they dry, to provide texture with or without paint.

Fronds (leaves) of some fan palms can provide bold cut foliage. Mediterranean fan palm is difficult to handle because of the nasty teeth on the stalks, but has nice rounded leave that fan out nicely behind other flowers. They can be cut into smaller fans, or even other not so rounded shapes. Windmill palm is much easier to handle, but is a bit larger, so is more likely to need to be trimmed to shape. All are easy to cut with common scissors, and can be dried and spray painted.

There is probably more in the garden to substitute for cut flowers than would be guessed. Useful plant parts can be found in the least expected of places.

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Defoliation Is A Messy Process

Defoliating deciduous foliage must go somewhere.

Autumn foliar color eventually gets messy. Actually, any deciduous foliage can become messy during its autumn defoliation. Color is not a prerequisite. Some deciduous foliage remains green through the process. Furthermore, some evergreen foliage contributes to the mess. A few evergreen species shed a bit more as the weather becomes more wintry.

Contrary to popular belief, deciduous vegetation is neater than evergreen vegetation. It only seems to be messier because it defoliates completely at once. Also, such complete defoliation exposes bare stems. Evergreen vegetation sheds slower throughout the year. As it replaces old foliage with new, it sheds more in seasonal phases, but incompletely.

Deciduous leaves also seem to be messier because they are generally bigger. They do not disintegrate into landscapes as efficiently as tiny evergreen leaves do. They require raking from lawns, as well as groundcover that can absorb smaller leaves. So, they fall most abundantly, and dissipate least efficiently. That is why defoliation is so very messy.

Defoliation of deciduous foliage occurs at both the best and worst time of year. It allows more warming sunlight into homes and gardens while the weather is cooling. It leaves deciduous trees more resilient to eventual windy wintry weather. However, it gets messy while the weather begins to get less conducive to gardening. Summer is about finished.

It truly is ironic. Rain and wind will eventually dislodge the last deciduous foliage during winter. Rain is also why this same foliar debris must not clog eavestroughs and gutters. Yet, it is why removal of such debris can be such an unpleasant chore. Removal of foliar debris from hardscapes is also important. It stains and gets slippery if dampened by rain.

While defoliation decreases shade above, it can increase shade below. Accumulation of foliar debris can detrimentally overwhelm turf and groundcover. Some large leaves can do the same on top of dense shrubbery. Fungal pathogens proliferate within the dark and stagnant dampness below such debris. Shade from such debris inhibits photosynthesis.