Posted on by tonytomeo · 14 Comments

Six on Saturday: Shabby Spring

This should have been done earlier. While most who participate in Six on Saturday have been posting pictures of early spring bloom, I have been posting less colorful pictures of dormant corms, their barely visible new spring growth, some windmill palm foliage and a sliced weirdly yellow beet. Some of the few flowers that I posted pictures of were oddly pallid, which was sort of why I thought they might be interesting. Now that I am posting floral pictures, early spring flowers are beginning to deteriorate. The first two are rather shabby. The third has not been quite right for a few months. I should have found fresher flowers.

1. Eucalyptus cinerea or pulverulenta, florist silver dollar got an identity crisis. I learned it as cinerea. I am now told that it is pulverulenta. Regardless of its name, bees enjoy it. We thought we added another tree of the same species nearby, but it is the other species.

2. Tecomaria capensis, cape honeysuckle really was prettier earlier. Its bloom is not too profuse, but it is distinctly orange. Goodness, I really should have taken a better picture.

3. Rosmarinus officinalis, rosemary is badly infested with mites, but blooms regardless. It is right across the road from the silver dollar, and just as popular with the honeybees.

4. Lavandula stoechas, Spanish lavender is the only lavender that self sows here. It does not become invasive though. Its bloom may be blue, pink, white or, obviously, lavender.

5. Tulbaghia violacea, society garlic is one of my least favorite of perennials. It stinks! It is not so much to look at either. It has been here for many years though, and will not die.

6. Grevillea rosmarinifolia, rosemary grevillea seems as popular with hummingbirds as rosemary and silver dollar is with bees. Hummingbirds are prettier than this odd bloom.

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 by tonytomeo · 11 Comments

Horridculture – White

White bloom brightens a shady landscape.

White is my favorite color. Do not argue with me about it. I do not need to hear that it is not truly a color or that it is the absence of color. Technically, it is either or both the complete absence of color or the complete saturation of all color. In that regard, it has either or both the same or opposite definition as black.

A prism demonstrates the colorfulness of white light by separating it into all other colors that it contains. Nothing is lacking.

Other colors can be mixed with a bit of white to become a tint, but retain their identity. They can be mixed with a bit of black to become a shade, but retain their identity. They can be mixed with other colors for various hues. Only white and black lose their identities with the addition of another color. No matter how pale, white becomes a tint of the additional color. No matter how dark, black becomes a shade of the additional color.

Pink is not really a color, but it is somehow more acceptable as such than white is. It is merely a tint of red. In other words, it is red with white.

Furthermore, brown is not really a color, but is somehow more acceptable as such than white is. It is merely a shade of orange. In other words, it is orange with black.

Gray is either or both a tint of black or a shade of white, but only if either or both black or white is considered to be the color that it is. Goodness, this is getting complicated.

Ultimately, such analysis is irrelevant to my predilection for white. Brent says that I am a white supremacist. That is rude. I just know that my favorite color is white.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 15 Comments

Six on Saturday: Winter to Spring

Spring is beginning to express itself. Only one of my six thinks that it is still winter. After a mild winter, I expected this sooner.

1. Colocasia gigantea ‘Thailand Giant’ elephant ear is the only one of these six to remain dormant. I still must determine if two will go directly into a landscape or get canned like the other two next week. I actually purchased these corms, but do not feel guilty about it.

2. Alocasia macrorrhiza ‘Borneo Giant’ elephant ear is another guiltless purchase. It has a very similar name and is from a similar region as the ‘Thailand Giant’ elephant ear, but grows from smaller rhizomes rather than fat corms. It is already generating new growth.

3. Musa acuminata ‘Double Mahoi’ banana was one of several items that I brought back from Los Angeles last year. After taking several small pups from it, I gave the original to a neighbor. Then, all the pups seemed to die! Now I am pleased that they are recovering.

4. Actinidia deliciosa, fuzzy kiwifruit cuttings are generating foliage. I hope that they are also generating roots. They are a male pollinator for a female cultivar that grew last year from a single pruning scrap that an associate here neglected to remove from his pickup.

5. Platycerium bifurcatum, staghorn fern looks weird as it extends new foliage. Actually, it always looks weird, which is its primary allure. I am concerned that such fresh foliage can be damaged by cold rain. It likes rain and humidity but in conjunction with warmth.

6. Viburnum tinus, laurustinus is the only floral feature of these six. I am not so keen on it, but am learning to appreciate it because its early spring bloom is popular where harsh weather through winter inhibits other bloom. It is simple white, without any pink blush.

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 by tonytomeo · 4 Comments

Horridculture (deferred from Wednesday) – Bad Garden Tour

The Jungalow, as I wrote six years ago, is Brent’s home and associated gardens. It is an overgrown mess of lush foliage. I perceive it to be a frivolous waste of very limited space. Everyone else perceives it to be a phenomenally luxuriant urban oasis.

The house next door is more my style. It is a compact and simple home with simple bisymmetric architecture and an even simpler landscape. If Brent had not installed a symmetrical pair of tipu trees at the curb, a symmetrical pair of Tolleson’s weeping junipers flanking the porch and a foundation planting of star jasmine, it would have no landscape at all. It might be my favorite house in the neighborhood. Brent hates it.

More specifically, he hates that it is right next door. He would prefer it to be a bit farther away, so that a home with a landscape that is more compatible with his could be next door instead.

Anyway, sadly, a back bedroom of the house next door that I am so fond of burned a few days ago. Fortunately, Brent was in his office behind his home when it happened. He noticed a red glow and heard a window break. When he investigated, he could see the fire and smoke through the hedge between the backyards, so called 911. A fire crew arrived within only a few minutes to extinguish the fire before it ruined more of the home.

Brent sent this brief and blurry video of the situation shortly after the fire was extinguished. It resembles a hasty video garden tour, but speeds past some of the more interesting features of the garden, including my homeless camp, before turning back to show smoke rising from the house next door. It is a saddening situation for the next door neighbor.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 14 Comments

Six on Saturday: Strange Times

Some flowers are blooming strangely this year. Well actually, one bloomed strangely last year, and is now blooming normally. Flowers that prefer more winter chill than they can experience here are blooming quite nicely this year, even after less frost than last winter. I can neither make sense of it all, nor complain about it. I mean, it may be strange, but it is strange in a good way. We added a windmill palm that I mentioned two weeks ago to a landscape. I like palms, especially this palm, but I am not sure that I like them here with the redwoods. Palms are strange with redwoods.

1. Trachycarpus fortunei, windmill palm is strange because it is one of only three palms here. Palms and redwoods should not mix. It remains canned, so will be removed as the unseen angel’s trumpet behind it grows. I featured it two weeks ago, before it came here.

2. Hyacinthus orientalis, hyacinth is not so strange either, but it performs strangely well and reliably with only minor chill. Several have been blooming like this for several years.

3. Bergenia crassifolia, pig squeak is blooming strangely late with a strangely light pink floral color. Otherwise, it blooms a bit better now that a sycamore that shaded it is gone.

4. Ribes sanguineum, red currant is blooming with a strangely light pink floral color too. It is not much more than white, but is not white. All are this same strangely pallid color.

5. Brugmansia X cubensis ‘Charles Grimaldi’ angel’s trumpet did just the opposite. After blooming strangely pallid peachy orange since spring, it now blooms yellow as it should.

6. Helleborus orientalis, Lenten rose is blooming strangely well this year. Typically, only a few bloom like this. Now, many are. This is one of a uniform colony that is likely feral.

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 by tonytomeo · 6 Comments

Horridculture – Hackers

How could anyone believe that this was appropriate?!

Of the many different types of horticultural professionals, the two most professional and educated are nurserymen and arborists. The two least professional and downright idiotic are maintenance gardeners and arborists. That means that some of the most professional and some of the least professional of horticultural professionals are arborists.

I have been very fortunate to have worded for some of the most professional, most educated and best arborists. However, much of my work as a consulting horticulturist and arborists involved damage that was caused by some of the least professional, least educated and worst of so-called arborists. They ruin the trees that their clients pay them to maintain or repair. It is infuriating.

Someone put a great deal of effort into destroying this formerly healthy tree.

This tree was formerly a nearly exemplary specimen of big cone pine, Pinus coulteri. It was impressively healthy and exhibited no indication of instability. Its only obvious problem was that it developed so many trunks that it would eventually develop structural deficiency. That will not likely be a problem now, since it will not likely survive long enough for such deficiency to develop. Even if it remains healthy enough to grow significantly, it will become too structurally deficient as a result of this recent damage to survive for long.

I can not imagine how anyone, arborist or not, could believe that this was a proper pruning technique. Nor can I imagine how anyone could have put so much effort into so blatantly destroying this formerly healthy tree. Seriously, this involved a lot of work! Every trunk, every major limb, and many minor limbs were cut. Some cuts were made at lateral branches, but many were not. It is not possible for the tree to compartmentalize all of the resulting pruning wounds, which will remain exposed to the weather until the tree succumbs to the resulting decay.

Recovery from such severe damage is impossible.
Posted on by tonytomeo · 23 Comments

Six on Saturday: Hello Yellow

White is my favorite color. I sometimes post six pictures of exclusively white flowers for Six on Saturday. Also, I posted six pictures of exclusively red flowers merely to show that I could. I might have tried other colors as well. I do not remember trying yellow though. California bay gave me the idea, although its bloom is rather unimpressive. Silver wattle is much more colorful. So is daffodil. Dandelion is merely a weed; but technically, silver wattle is also. Ultimately, I got four pictures of yellow flowers, a picture of an aberrative beet, and a picture of someone who might qualify as golden retriever light gold, which at least sounds yellow. He can not see most colors anyway.

1. Acacia dealbata, silver wattle is an aggressively naturalized exotic species. It certainly is pretty though. It typically blooms earlier, and maybe by New Year’s Day farther south.

2. Umbellularia californica, California bay does not bloom as prettily. Its flowers are too tiny, too sporadic and too high in its canopy to be prominent, but it blooms nonetheless.

3. Taraxacum officinale, dandelion, like silver wattle, is also an aggressively naturalized exotic species. It infests most lawns, and blooms to toss its seed whenever it wants to.

4. Narcissus pseudonarcissus, daffodil continues to bloom. Several are still budded. If it were not so variable with its bloom schedule from year to year, I would say that it is late.

5. Beta vulgaris, beet should be red, not yellow. ‘Detroit Dark Red’ is best! This seems to taste about the same, but looks like a sick carrot! I loathe carrots! Why do this to a beet?

6. Rhody remains unimpressed. He is no more interested in beets than carrots. He could be more concerned about the first of a few storms that should arrive in only a few hours.

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 by tonytomeo

Horridculture – Salvage

A hedge of a dozen like this came from one branched stump.

This is an old and redundant topic. I should know better. Some vegetation is not worthy of salvage. Even that which is worthy can become excessive if too much is salvaged. The problem is that I find it very difficult to discard vegetation that I can relocate to another landscape, or grow in the recovery nursery whether or not we have use for it.

A few stumps of shrubbery needed to be removed from a small landscape of one of the buildings at work. With one exception, the shrubbery was common Photinia X fraseri, which had been cut down some time ago, and had not grown back much. The one exception was a common Escallonia rubra, which had been cut down even earlier, so had grown back about five feet tall, with a few distinct trunks.

I had no problem discarding the Photinia X fraseri. The stumps came up with mostly severed large roots, and very minimal fibrous roots that they needed to survive. If I really want to grow more, it would be more practical to grow it from cuttings. I am none too keen on the species anyway.

The Escallonia rubra was not so simple. Although I was determined to discard it all, and I am no more fond of the species than I am of Photinia X fraseri, it came out with more than enough fibrous roots to survive relocation. What is worse is that the several trunks were easily divided into several individual well rooted specimens, with several more layered stems attached to them. I assembled an even dozen well rooted specimens as a hedge outside a fence of our maintenance shops, and nine smaller rooted cutting to alternate between cypress trees outside another similar fence. Although pleased with the results, I should have discarded them.

This is one of the smaller well rooted specimens, although the layered stems are smaller.
Posted on by tonytomeo · 13 Comments

Six on Saturday: Palm Springs

Palms spring up anywhere they want to. Only the fourth and sixth of my Six on Saturday are not feral. Incidentally, the last three are not my pictures; and Brent sent the last two. His curbside Mexican fan palm is at least one of the parents of my pair of seedlings here.

1. Washingtonia robusta, Mexican fan palm, which I wrote about earlier, was too pretty to stay in the recovery nursery where no one can see it. We put it here temporarily, until a pup from the Agave ovatifolia, whale’s tongue agave that bloomed and died here, gets large enough to replace it. It is canned within the big pot for ‘efficient’ removal, but is so heavy that I have no idea of how to get the can out of its pot. It will be a bit heavier later.

2. Wicked spines on its petioles contribute to the difficulty of relocating this heavy palm.

3. Trachycarpus fortunei, windmill palm is also too pretty to stay unseen in the nursery. It will also get groomed and relocated temporarily to a landscape next week. This young palm grew in the garden of the mother of childhood friends, so I am very protective of it.

4. Palms and redwoods do not mix well. A colleague wants this windmill palm gone. It is about twenty four feet tall. That ladder is eight feet tall. It will be difficult to relocate, but I do not want it cut down and killed. Like the others, I have no idea of what to do with it.

5. Brent’s curbside Mexican fan palm looks embarrassed with its silly uplighting. That is the moon above. This palm, which is a Memorial Tree for Brent’s brother, was about ten feet tall when relocated here because it grew under electrical cables several blocks away.

6. Bedford Drive, nearer to the original location of Brent’s curbside Mexican fan palm, is flanked by very old and alternating Mexican fan palms and Phoenix canariensis, Canary Island date palms. They were grandly uniform until the Canary Island date palms began to succumb to pink rot during the 1980s. The Beverly Hillbillies started their shows with a scene of their arrival in town on a similarly flanked street three blocks to the northeast.

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 by tonytomeo · 2 Comments

Horridculture – Weather

So close to ripening!

The weather here made national news on Sunday night. It was apparently quite a storm, with unusually windy wind. A few trees fell in the neighborhood. The roads were messy with debris. The electricity at home was disrupted. Otherwise, to me, it did not seem like a particularly bad storm. After all, this is winter.

HOWEVER, on Saturday, even before the worst of the weather on Sunday, the wind knocked over my small ‘Ponderosa’ lemon, only a few hours after I posted a picture of one of its two developing fruit. It is a dinky tree in a #1 can, but its lemons are disproportionately large. As I mentioned on Saturday, I should have removed the lemons to divert resources to vegetative growth, but wanted to see if they would develop and ripen. The weather did it for me.

Now I am annoyed. I do not like to be one who complains about the weather. There is not much to complain about in that regard here. This is a pleasantly mild climate that lacks the sort of severe weather that other climates must contend with. The gust that blew over the small lemon tree was not nearly as strong as those that blew over trees within the surrounding forests and neighborhoods. I am just annoyed that after letting the lemons grow as much as they did, their effort will now be wasted.

The two lemons did not develop as they should have, but are still bigger than average ‘Eureka’ or ‘Lisbon’ lemons. I put them aside to ripen if they can. I doubt that they will. I can prune the small tree to remove the stems that had previously supported the two lemons, and make cuttings of them, to grow more small trees. Actually, I should have done this anyway.