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Mexican Weeping Bamboo

Mexican weeping bamboo is more appealing in abundance.

Like junipers, bamboos have gotten a bad reputation from only a few of their problematic specie. Many of the traditional running bamboos really are too aggressively invasive. However, there are many clumping bamboos that are much more adaptable to confined and refined garden areas. Even these complaisant bamboos remain uncommon though, both because of the unpopularity of bamboos, and because they are not so easily produced.

            Mexican weeping bamboo, Otatea acuminata aztecorum, is certainly one of the more interesting of these clumping bamboos. Their limber inch and half wide stems are not nearly as rigid as those of most other bamboos are, and may bend down to the ground under the weight of their abundant and remarkably finely textured foliage. The four or five inch long leaves may be only an eighth of an inch wide. Both the stems and foliage move nicely in even slight breezes.

            Established plants are somewhat resilient to neglect, but can get rather yellowish and will likely stay less than ten feet tall without regular watering. With regular watering and monthly application of nitrogen fertilizer, such as lawn fertilizer, during warm weather, they can get twice as tall. Old canes should be pruned to the ground as they begin to deteriorate. There should be plenty of fresh new stems to replace them.   

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Cut Foliage For Christmas Decor

Coniferous evergreens are popular Christmas decor.

Christmas trees are extreme cut foliage. They grow on farms like cut foliage that florists use, but are entire trees! Although most fit under household ceilings, some within public venues are famously grand. Nonetheless, they are ultimately as disposable as any other cut foliage. Eventually, after their Christmas season, they become common greenwaste.

Other cut foliage is also popular as home decor through the Christmas season. Much of it is from the same sorts of coniferous trees that become Christmas trees. Almost all of it is evergreen, since deciduous vegetation is already defoliating. A few deciduous stems with colorful bark, such as red twig dogwood, are nice too. So are colorful winter berries.

Cut foliage is more practical as wintry decor within climates with cooler winter weather. Not much blooms during such weather. However, because of this same wintry weather, people prefer to be inside. While inside, they appreciate the color, texture, and perhaps aroma of cut foliage. Locally, such foliar decor for winter is more traditional than practical.

Actually, the most traditional cut foliage of Christmas is uncommon within local gardens. Scraps from the lowest branches of Christmas trees are a good source of minor bits of it. Premade wreaths and garland include a few types that are otherwise unobtainable here. Improvisation is necessary to create wreaths and garlands from locally available foliage.

Only a few of the few blue spruce that live here grow large enough to share many stems. Their best foliar growth is also their most important structural growth. Removal of it might cause minor disfigurement. Other spruce, as well as various fir, are very rare within home gardens. So is Eastern white pine, although a few other pines are notably common here.

Atlas cedar, Deodar cedar, various cypress and various juniper are also rather common. A few sorts of holly are uncommon but not rare, but they produce only a few berries here. Holly olive may be more common, and resembles English holly, but produces no berries. Southern magnolia is a strikingly untraditional cut foliage, but becomes fragile as it dries.

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Coffee

It looks more like a houseplant than the source of coffee.

The White Raven Coffee Shop, the best little pourhouse in Felton, has an interesting but old fashioned houseplant on the counter. This group of four small but rapidly growing coffee trees, Coffea arabica, was a gift from a loyal customer.

Mature plants can get to thirty feet tall in the wild. Fortunately, coffee trees are easy to prune to fit interior spaces. Pruning for confinement is actually better than relocating big plants outside, since they do not like cold weather and are sensitive to frost.

Like various species of Ficus, coffee is appreciated more for lush foliage that happens to grow on a tree that can be trained by pruning to stay out of the way, overhead or in other unused spaces or corners. The simple remarkably glossy leaves are about two and half inches long or a bit longer. The very fragrant small white flowers are almost never seen among well groomed houseplants, and only rarely and sporadically bloom among less frequently pruned larger trees in greenhouses and conservatories.

The half inch wide coffee fruit, which is known as a ‘cherry’, is even more rare than flowers among houseplants because of the scarcity of both pollinators and pollen (from so few flowers). Those fortunate enough to get flowers sometimes pollinate them with tiny paintbrushes or clean make-up brushes to compensate for a lack of insects about the house. The resulting bright red or somewhat purplish cherries barely taste like cherries and only make two coffee ‘beans’ each; not enough to bother roasting and grinding for coffee, but great for bragging rights.

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Giant Bird Of Paradise Migration

A Flock Of Seagulls

Giant bird of Paradise is not actually from Paradise, and if it were, it would not be the Paradise in Butte County that burned five years ago. This particular species, Strelitzia nicolai, is from South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe. These particular specimens are from none of these places though. They came from Morgan Hill. Nor are they actually birds, although they seem to be migratory like so many species of birds that migrate about the southwestern portion of Africa, and apparently Morgan Hill, but not Paradise. Oh, this is getting confusing.

Giant bird of Paradise, which is unrelated to Big Bird of Sesame Street, is a grand perennial that can get twenty feet tall. It resembles the more common bird of Paradise, but with tall trunks that resemble those of small palm trees. Also unlike the common bird of Paradise, their appeal is more foliar than floral. In other words, their primary attribute is their lush foliage, rather than their bloom. Actually, their bloom can be undesirable within some situations.

In fact, that is why these particular specimens needed to be removed. Their bloom was drooling messy nectar onto the pavement below. In horticultural slang, they are known as ‘drooling seagulls’ because of this habit, and also because their bulky white flowers look like seagulls peeking from the lush foliage, and of course, drooling while they do so.

Morgan, the old F250 who coincidentally is named after Morgan Hill, and I brought these giant bird of Paradise here, where they await processing. They are supposed to be left out of the ground for about two weeks anyway, so that they will be less susceptible to rot when planted and irrigated. After their processing, they will get heeled in here so that I can monitor them more directly as they begin their recovery. The best of them will migrate again to their permanent landscape after the rainy season starts. I should get better pictures of them and their processing for Six on Saturday.

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Fern Foliage Is Softly Bold

Ferns provide distinctive and bold foliage.

Ferns are foliar perennials. They provide neither floral color nor fragrance. They provide neither fruits nor vegetables. With few exceptions, they provide no shade. The very few that are deciduous are not impressively colorful for autumn here. Ferns can not grow as hedges. Nor can they become lawns. They exclusively provide distinctive fern foliage.

They do so splendidly! Most produce the sort of distinctively lacy fern foliage that ferns are famous for. Some exhibit even more finely textured and airy foliage. A few exhibit a relatively coarse foliar texture. Almost all ferns are rich and deep green. Some are lighter or slightly yellowish green. A rare few are silvery gray, or display an intricate silver lining.

Almost all ferns that are popular within home gardens are evergreen. Most benefit from occasional grooming to remove deteriorating old foliage. Some produce new growth on top as old growth lies down below. Several grow most lushly after removal of all foliage prior to their growing season. A few deciduous types of fern defoliate for their dormancy.

Ferns do not develop stems or trunks like most other vegetation does. They sprawl over the ground with rhizomes, which are fleshy stems. Rhizomes grow only in length, but not in diameter. Tree ferns grow upward as their rhizomes deteriorate below. Roots that grow through the deteriorating rhizomes form what seems to be trunks. Fern roots are fibrous.

Leaves of ferns are fronds. Such fronds of most ferns divide into pinnae, which are like smaller leaflets. Pinnae of some ferns divide into even smaller pinnae. Rachi are central stalks that suspend the pinnae within individual fronds. Ferns reproduce by spores, so lack flowers. Most ferns propagate efficiently by division of preferably dormant rhizomes.

Because of their fibrous root systems, ferns are complaisant to confinement within pots. Most ferns are naturally understory vegetation, so are innately tolerant of partial shade. Ferns that tolerate aridity as well as shade and confinement are delightful houseplants. Most ferns are very tolerant of relocation, although some must replace foliage to adapt.

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Ornamental Foliage Augments Spring Color

Variegation contrasts nicely with darker foliage.

Spring bloom is the most colorful color in the garden here. It is not the only color though. Some deciduous foliage will provide color at the opposite end of the year. Bark can add a bit of color, particularly while deciduous trees defoliate for winter. So can colorful fruit. Furthermore, ornamental foliage, both deciduous and evergreen, can contribute color.

Ornamental foliage is not the same as deciduous foliage that is colorful only for autumn. The distinction is that it is colorful from the beginning. Generally, it is most colorful while fresh during spring. If both deciduous and colorful for autumn, it changes from one color scheme to another. If evergreen, it may remain more or less colorful throughout the year.

Ornamental foliage of this sort displays various colors and patterns. Variant colors might be yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, pink, bronze, white or gray. They can be variegation such as stripes, margins, blotches, spots, patterns or blushes. Alternatively, they can be monochromatic. Most fade to some degree during the warm and dry weather of summer.

The colors of ornamental foliage are not as vibrant as floral color. They are not intended to attract pollinators. In fact, most of such color serves no practical purpose. Blue, gray or white foliage mostly originates from high altitudes or harsh desert climates. It reflects a bit of excessive sunlight to avert scorch. Most other ornamental foliage is mere mutation.

In the wild, such mutant foliage is generally a disadvantage. White portions of variegated leaves contain less chlorophyll. Consequently, they can not photosynthesize as much as green portions. Such foliage only perpetuates unnaturally within cultivation because it is appealing. Some mutant ornamental foliage can revert to more vigorous greener growth.

Ornamental foliage can be annual, perennial or woody. New Zealand flax, canna, coleus and caladium are the most variably colorful. Coprosma and various pittosporum are a bit more limited. Euonymus, hosta and ivy display white or yellow variegation. Smoke tree, redbud and some maples are surprisingly diverse. Agave blue spruce and some junipers can contribute gray and blue. There are too many options to mention.

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Hair Grass

This is one of the more complaisant of ornamental grasses.

A rather sloppy style of the 1970s combined with a weird color of the 1980s might explain the resemblance of hair grass, Muhlenbergia capillaris, to real hair. The lime otter-pop green color of the foliage, which looks so fresh in the garden, is actually quite dated for hair. So is the pleasantly soft texture. The sparse, fuzzy cloud of purplish pink bloom that hovers just above the foliage in autumn is extraordinary, although only slightly more contemporary for hair color. Happy hair grass plants that get plenty of water in sunny spots can get more than two and a half feet tall. Yet, the perennial foliage is so soft that it tends to fill in space between other sturdier plants instead of overwhelming them.

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Ornamental Grasses

Pampas grass was once appreciated for its appealing foliar texture and strikingly elegant bloom.

Lawns are among the most useful of landscape features, but are also the most horticulturally incorrect. They require such constant maintenance and so much water that they give grass a bad reputation. Yet, the turf grasses that are used for lawn are actually a minority among grasses. There are so many more grasses, including a few turf grasses, that can add color, texture and the seldom considered asset of ‘motion’ to the landscape.

Most grasses move nicely in a breeze. Old fashioned pampas grass, with remarkably limber and long leaves, is one of the best for motion. As if the elegant foliage were not enough, billowy white flowers on tall sturdy stalks nod gracefully in season. (However, pampas grass gets quite large, has potentially dangerous foliage that can cause nasty paper cuts, and in rural areas, can escape into the wild to become an invasive weed.) Red fountain grass does the same on a smaller scale that is more proportionate to suburban gardens.

Red fountain grass also provides striking brownish red foliage. Blue festuca and larger blue oat grass, although insensitive to a breeze, provide really excellent pale blue foliage. The most popular variety of miscanthus grass is variegated with white. Hair grass is a weird yellowish green that resembles that of a rubbery fishing lure.

Besides the odd color, hair grass also has an oddly soft texture that allows it to spill over the edges of retaining walls and pots, with delicate autumn flowers that hover above like a swarm of gnats. Mexican feather grass seems somewhat coarse up close, but has the uniform texture of wheat at a distance. Switchgrass has a more rigid texture, and stands more vertically than other softer grasses. Feather reed grass does both, with flowers that stand vertically above the soft billowy foliage below.

There are as many different kinds of grasses as there are variations of color, texture and motion. Only a few are annual. Almost all are perennial. There are a few in between; perennials that die out in a few years. Most grasses are only a few feet tall. Some never get taller than a foot. Yet, a few get several feet tall.

Most grasses are at their best if they get cut to the ground every few years or even annually. However, some need no maintenance except only for watering. If satisfied with watering, some grasses can sow their seed to cover the outskirts of a landscape, and can be an appealing alternative to ground cover. There are even a few grasses that will naturalize without watering.

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Foliar Color Goes Beyond Green

Foliar color can exceed floral color.

New England is famous for spectacular foliar color through autumn. Such color is merely seasonal though, and almost exclusive to deciduous vegetation. With few exceptions, its color range is limited to variations of yellow, orange, red or brown. It happens thousands of miles away, and is difficult to replicate on such a grand scale with locally minimal chill.

For smaller scale home gardens, there are many options for foliar color at any time of the year, regardless of chill. Some are deciduous. Most are evergreen. Colorful foliage might exhibit variegation or monochromatic coloration. Variegation might involve stripes, spots, borders, veining, or any combination of divergent colors. Some might entail a few colors.

Besides autumnal yellow, orange, red or brown, foliage can be pink, purple, blue or gray. Variegation can feature any of these colors, as well as white. The size and form of plants with foliar color ranges from small annuals and perennials to vines, shrubbery and trees. A few of such plants that are deciduous might change to different colors through autumn.

Various Hosta, Euonymus, Coprosma, Pittosporum, Hedera and Bougainvillea are some of the more popular plants with white or yellow variegation. New Zealand flax is popular for bronze, brown, gold or pink variegation. Canna can display evenly bronze or purplish foliage, white patches on green foliage, or neat yellow and pink stripes of varying widths.

Purple leaf plum and some cultivars of smoke tree, beech Eastern redbud and Japanese maple have the best purplish foliage. Other cultivars of smoke tree, as well as arborvitae, juniper, Monterey cypress and honeylocust, generate impressively yellow foliage. Agave and blue spruce contribute soft blue. Coleus impresses with various color combinations.

Whether deciduous or evergreen, most colorful foliage displays its best color while fresh and new in spring. For some, color fades through summer. Junipers that are gold through spring may be plain green by summer, particularly in dry conditions. Although light colors and variegation are appealing within shady situations, shade can inhibit such coloration.

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Palms Are Very Distinctive Among Trees

Palms provide distinctively lush foliar texture.

Palms seem to exemplify the culture of California. However, only the California fan palm, which is also the desert fan palm, is native. All others are exotic. With its dwarf palmetto, Oklahoma has as many native palms as California. Furthermore, the California fan palm is only endemic within remote riparian ecosystems of the Colorado and Mojave Deserts.

Common date palms were likely the first of the many exotic palms in California. Spanish Missionaries imported them for date production during the Eighteenth Century. Although initially utilitarian rather than decorative, recycled trees from displaced orchards became popular for larger landscapes. Potentially messy fruit is minimal without male pollinators. 

Long before urbanization displaced date orchards, many other palms came to California merely because of their visual appeal. Some are large enough to be shade trees. Others can provide shade in groups. Many develop elegant trunks or sculptural form. Some stay relatively low or shrubby. All innately provide famously and luxuriantly evergreen foliage.  

Palms are most certainly appealing within appropriate situations. They are very different from other trees though. Like arborescent yuccas and cordylines, palms are ‘herbaceous trees’. Unlike yuccas and cordylines, and with very few exceptions, palms do not branch. Nor do their trunks continue to expand in width as they continue to grow in height above.  

Palms consequently spend their first few years widening their bases at ground level. Big palms, such as Canary Island date palm, likely require many years. Once their bases are adequate, developing palms ‘launch’ into vertical growth. Although palms do not branch, a few, such as Mediterranean fan palm, develop multiple trunks from their primary bases. 

Once palms launch, they grow only upward. They lean only to avoid shade, or if pushed by wind. It is impossible to direct their bulky but singular terminal buds around obstacles, such as utility cables. It is also impossible to contain their shade as they get high enough to shade adjacent areas instead. Many palms are spiny, so are difficult to prune properly, even while young and within reach.