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Grooming Deteriorating Bloom Conserves Resources

Daffodil are tidier with timely grooming.

Spring bulbs are now blooming, and some are already done. Summer bulbs will bloom a bit later, and some will continue until autumn. Annuals, perennials, shrubbery, vines and all sorts of other vegetation also bloom. Most simply shed their deteriorating flowers after bloom. Some may benefit from grooming to remove such flowers before they go to seed.

Grooming to remove lingering deteriorated flowers, or deadheading, is obviously neater. Flowers that continue to bloom are more prominent without their decaying predecessors. Camellias may not need such grooming, since their flowers fall away as they deteriorate. However, removal of fading flowers, before or after they fall, eliminates their mess below.

Perhaps more importantly, grooming to remove fading flowers conserves vital resources. Although most bulbs are sterile hybrids, some try to generate fruiting structures for seed. This consumes substantial resources. Removal of fruiting structures before they develop diverts resources to other growth. Canna diverts such resources into subsequent bloom.

For some species, grooming to remove fruiting structures stimulates subsequent blooms. After all, seed production is their priority, and the objective of bloom. If they perceive any deprivation of seed, they are compelled to produce more. Several dahlias bloom initially with single flowers. After grooming, the stems below branch for a few secondary flowers.

For a few potentially invasive species, grooming eliminates unwanted seed. Montbretia, which is famously invasive, is less so if deprived of its seed. African iris might disperse a few unwanted seed and get shabby without grooming. Summer snowflake and common grape hyacinth often disperse their seed. Both are too small and numerous for grooming.

Fortunately, summer snowflake and common grape hyacinth are true to type. Freesia are not. Without grooming, they can produce feral progeny that are similar to their ancestors. Such feral progeny are more prolific with seed for more of the same. Eventually, they can displace the desirable original varieties. Although more fragrant, they are not as colorful.

Posted on by tonytomeo

More Palm Silliness

Mexican fan palm, Washingtonia robusta

Mexican fan palm, Washingtonia robusta, is the most familiar palm throughout most of California. It is most typically groomed to remove deteriorated leaves without removing the associated toughly fibrous petiole bases that form a neat lattice-like sweater of stubble around its trunks. Some are groomed to also remove the stubble, leaving a clean shaven and leaner looking trunk. Some are shaven only part way up, with a sweater higher up. Without grooming, or if grooming discontinues, some accumulate beards of deteriorated leaves. Although generally harmless, such beards are combustible and can be infested with rats. On rare occasion, they become dislodged from their trunks and fall. They are dangerously heavy and very messy. This silly looking Mexican fan palm was groomed part way up, and then neglected long enough to accumulate a significant beard. The beard then fell, leaving the bare trunk exposed. Only the few lowest of the old leaves remain below where the beard was. A new beard is now forming above.

Queen palm, Arecastrum romanzoffianum, was an uncommon palm until it suddenly became very popular and almost too common through the 1990s. By that time, selective breeding produced the standardized modern variety, which is a bit greener, fluffier and more vigorous than most old specimens. Although it is a bit more genetically conformative than old specimens, it still exhibits genetic variability. Unless some are cloned by tissue culture, all are grown from seed. Some grow slower, so stay shorter. Some develop unusually plump trunks. Some are unusually floppy. This one is just weird. Its foliar canopy is so strictly narrow that it resembles the locally rare Andean wax palm, Ceroxylon quindiuense. Perhaps it actually is an Andean wax palm! A pindo palm, Butia capitata, lives in the associated front garden, and it is not exactly common.

queen palm, Arecastrum romanzoffianum or Andean wax palm, Ceroxylon quindiuense or something else?
Posted on by tonytomeo · 3 Comments

Palm Reading

This is painful to look at.

Not everyone is interested in horticulture. Most enjoy other interests, such as sports, arts or cooking. They may know no more about horticulture than a garden enthusiast knows about the Seattle SeaMonkeys. Unfortunately though, some are not as aware of their lack of horticultural expertise as garden enthusiasts are aware of their lack of proficiency with other interests.

For example, I can grow just about any fruit or vegetable or perhaps grain that can grow here, but if I can not eat some of them fresh, I am aware that I do not know how to cook them. I must rely on someone who does know how. Yet, someone who is proficient with cooking is likely to believe that it is practical to grow fresh vegetables on a kitchen windowsill because it seems so easy on television gardening shows.

Someone I work with found this young Mexican fan palm to be bothersomely obtrusive to a confined situation within which he was working. He is, incidentally, a sports enthusiast. Naturally, as a sports enthusiast, he believed that he was qualified to groom the obtrusive fronds from the trunk of the Mexican fan palm. This was the result.

The necrotic but nonetheless harmless and relatively pliable foliage was removed to expose the wickedly sharp teeth of its rigid petioles, which extended outwardly in all directions from the trunk. This could have been quite dangerous for anyone who might have been so unfortunate as to bump into it. The thorns curve inward, to maximize damage to victims who pull back, which is, of course, the natural response to an encounter with such thorns. It was painful to merely look at! It seriously reminded me that I am no expert on sports or cooking. I pruned the petioles cleanly back to the main trunk.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 2 Comments

Many Perennials Want Seasonal Grooming

Where frost is not a major concern, old canna foliage can be cut back as new growth develops.

Here on the west coast, autumn and winter weather is so mild that the native coral bells are already starting to develop new foliage on top of the old foliage from this last year. Technically, they are evergreen, so the old foliage does not need to be shed; but if it is not too much to ask, some types look better with a bit of grooming.

Other perennial plants that are from climates with stronger seasons and colder winters are not quite so evergreen. Many shed all of their foliage and are completely bare for at least part of the winter. Only a few, like cyclamen, are at their best through autumn and winter.

Dried watsonia foliage should be removed now if it has not been removed already. It is not so easy to pluck off like gladiola foliage is, so it should be cut off with shears. Because new foliage for next year develops before the old foliage of this past year is completely brown, it is often necessary to cut the old a few inches above the ground in order to avoid damaging the new.

The so called ‘evergreen’ daylilies can be even messier. New foliage is rather delicate, so it is easily tattered by the removal of old foliage. The ‘deciduous’ types may seem to be less appealing because they are bare for part of autumn and winter, but are so much easier to groom by simply removing all of the deteriorating old foliage as soon as it separates easily from the roots.

Deteriorating flowers can be removed from cannas; but their lush foliage can stay until it starts to deteriorate later in winter. Even if it survives winter, it should eventually be cut to the ground as it gets replaced by new growth in spring.

The many different iris have many different personalities. Most should be groomed sometime between summer and late autumn, although Dutch iris were groomed much earlier. Bearded iris that do not get divided can be groomed simply by plucking off big old leaves to expose smaller new shoots below.

Some dahlias bloom until they get frosted. Most though, are already finished. They do not need to be cut back all at once, but can be cut back in phases as leaves and stems dry and turn brown.

Posted on by tonytomeo

Many Perennials Want Seasonal Grooming

Peacock orchid bloom late, but eventually succumbs to frost and must be groomed.

Here on the west coast, autumn and winter weather is so mild that the native coral bells are already starting to develop new foliage on top of the old foliage from this last year. Technically, they are evergreen, so the old foliage does not need to be shed; but if it is not too much to ask, some types look better with a bit of grooming.

Other perennial plants that are from climates with stronger seasons and colder winters are not quite so evergreen. Many shed all of their foliage and are completely bare for at least part of the winter. Only a few, like cyclamen, are at their best through autumn and winter.

Dried watsonia foliage should be removed now if it has not been removed already. It is not so easy to pluck off like gladiola foliage is, so it should be cut off with shears. Because new foliage for next year develops before the old foliage of this past year is completely brown, it is often necessary to cut the old a few inches above the ground in order to avoid damaging the new.

The so called ‘evergreen’ daylilies can be even messier. New foliage is rather delicate, so it is easily tattered by the removal of old foliage. The ‘deciduous’ types may seem to be less appealing because they are bare for part of autumn and winter, but are so much easier to groom by simply removing all of the deteriorating old foliage as soon as it separates easily from the roots.

Deteriorating flowers can be removed from cannas; but their lush foliage can stay until it starts to deteriorate later in winter. Even if it survives winter, it should eventually be cut to the ground as it gets replaced by new growth in spring.

The many different iris have many different personalities. Most should be groomed sometime between summer and late autumn, although Dutch iris were groomed much earlier. Bearded iris that do not get divided can be groomed simply by plucking off big old leaves to expose smaller new shoots below.

Some dahlias bloom until they get frosted. Most though, are already finished. They do not need to be cut back all at once, but can be cut back in phases as leaves and stems dry and turn brown.