Posted on by tonytomeo

Sweet Spot

Saccharum officinarum ‘Pele’s Smoke’ sugarcane

‘Pele’s Smoke’ sugarcane has grown enough for installation into the landscapes. I am not certain how happy they will be here through winter, but we will find out. Frost is mild here, but is supposedly enough to kill them to the ground. I expect that. Even if they do not die to the ground, I would prefer to cut them down by the end of winter regardless. Survival of their basal growth is more of a concern. I want them to regenerate next spring. It is difficult to imagine a species as vigorous as this being so vulnerable to the locally mild frost, but all the information that I find about it insists that it is marginal here. There are so many canned specimens that it would be no problem to shelter some through winter to replace any that do not survive in the landscapes. Later, if they get depleted, it would be no problem to take cuttings from those in the landscapes in autumn, and shelter them through winter to put back into the landscapes in spring. However, that is just too much unnatural intervention for me. If they are not happy here, they I do not want to force them. I enjoyed growing them while I did. I got the cuttings from grooming a specimen in Brent’s garden. I was not very careful with them, and did not process them very efficiently because I knew that I would get more than I could accommodate. Ultimately, after sharing a few with friends and neighbors who are aware of the risks, thirty new specimens remain here. Fifteen are in #1 can, including the first three that were just installed into the landscapes. Another fifteen are in four inch pots, which is annoying one less than a full flat of sixteen.

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Six on Saturday: Glad

Butterfly gladiolus will not bloom for a while. Abyssinian gladiolus may not bloom at all. Hybrid gladiolus, though, are already finishing. I got these few pictures while I can, and will likely get pictures of butterfly gladiolus as they bloom later. I am glad to do so. They are my favorite gladiolus. They are more like wildflowers than overly bred hybrids. Also, they are very reliably perennial. I hope that the Abyssinian gladiolus perform also. They are also supposedly reliably perennial, but are not in a very good situation here. I should relocate them, perhaps closer to where the butterfly gladiolus are so happy. The hybrids are earning my appreciation too. I was not aware that they had potential to be perennial.

1. Gladiolus papilio, butterfly gladiolus is my favorite, because it is from Tangly Cottage Gardening, is approved by Skooter, is reliably perennial, and it blooms like a wildflower.

2. Its foliage is rather grassy, which is more compatible with other wildflowers than wide leaves of more garish hybrid gladiolus. The corms multiply and migrate quite efficiently.

3. Gladiolus murielae, Abyssinian gladiolus is my second favorite, even while it is not so much to see. It is a gift from a neighbor. It should bloom for autumn, but I have doubts.

4. Hybrid gladiolus are the most colorful, but are not reliably perennial. However, these and two others have been blooming well here for several years, and actually multiplying.

5. This orange with yellow hybrid gladiolus was one of the first two to bloom again after a few years of producing only foliage. The yellow gladiolus joined them a few years later.

6. This purple hybrid gladiolus is the other of the first pair to resume bloom, although it does not multiply as much as the yellow gladiolus that resumed bloom a few years 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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Thrift

Thrift performs well in coastal climates.

When I see common thrift, Armeria maritima, in nurseries now, I wonder what such a diminutive perennial would be useful for. Their densely compact mounds of narrow evergreen leaves rarely get more than four inches deep, and take their time spreading to less than a foot wide. Then I remember how thrift visually softened the straight edges of my father’s brick patio and retaining walls, and fit so nicely into the tight spots. If allowed to do so, thrift creeps slowly over edges of pavement and stepping stones, but is not too eager to overwhelm them.

If it eventually gets overgrown, thrift is easily cut back to the edge of pavement at the end of winter, and will green over its raw edge by spring. The bits and pieces that are left over from cutting back the edges can be plugged back into other areas and will eventually develop roots if initially watered regularly. Once established, thrift stays healthier if allowed to dry somewhat between watering. Bald spots that may naturally come and go as mature plants die out in the center and then regenerate fill in faster if outer edges get cut back.

The dense round clusters of tiny flowers stand above the foliage on bare stems about four to eight inches high. The flowers are almost always bright pink, but are sometimes white or reddish pink. Bloom is most profuse in spring and may continue sporadically all year. 

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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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Butterfly Amaryllis

Hippeastrum papilio, butterfly amaryllis is an uncommon and weirdly epiphytic amaryllis. It may not be as pretty as the countless more colorful hybrids of the genus, but it is more reliably perennial. All of the few specimens that I have observed within home gardens are potted or in the ground, either because they are easier to grow that way, or because those who grow them are not aware that they are epiphytic. After all, that is quite weird.

This specimen, from my Six on Saturday post earlier this morning, is blooming in Brent’s garden. As I mentioned earlier, Brent did not know what it was when he acquired it from a neighbor who left it with him when she relocated. I know that it does not look like much in this picture, but that is only because Brent is an idiot, and takes bad pictures. I intend to get a copy of this butterfly amaryllis for my garden, and may try to grow it epiphytically.

I find this species to be more appealing than prettier hybrids, both because it is reliably perennial, and because it is a simple species rather than a hybrid. This is also why I dug a few naturalized Crinum bulbispermum, Orange River lily bulbs for my garden. They are none too pretty, but will last forever. The same applies to Amaryllis belladonna, naked lady, but they are a bit too prolific and common to not potentially qualify as a weed. Their bright pink floral color can be a bit obnoxious anyway. But of course, that is why I was so very pleased to find a bulb that bloomed white, which is my favorite color. It is multiplying nicely here now, just like I know the butterfly amaryllis will once I get a fresh copy of it.

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Bearded Iris

Bearded iris blooms after spring bulbs.

There may be no other flowers that exhibit such a diverse range of floral colors. Bearded iris, Iris X germanica, classifies as a hybrid of Iris pallida and Iris variegata. The genus of Iris derives its name from the Greek word for rainbow. As the name implies, it includes all colors of the spectrum. Floral form, height and, for some, fragrance is also quite variable.

About sixty thousand cultivars of bearded iris are supposedly documentable. It is difficult to estimate how many lack documentation. The smaller miniature cultivars are only a few inches tall. The tallest cultivars may grow four feet tall. Although they classify as summer bulbs, they are fleshy rhizomes that bloom for spring. Some will bloom again for autumn.

Bearded iris multiply whether or not anyone wants them to. Their rhizomes branch in two directions after bloom. Besides that, side shoots develop randomly from plump rhizomes. Congested rhizomes may bloom less. Division during summer promotes bloom. Division may happen annually or every few years. Bearded iris prefer sunny and warm exposure.

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Blue Eyed Grass

It is more like an iris (of the floral sort, not the ocular sort) than a grass.

Contrary to its common name, blue eyed grass, Sisyrinchium bellum, is not a grass at all, but is like a diminutive iris. The modern cultivars that are more commonly found in nurseries are somewhat more colorful than the wild plants that are native to coastal areas between about Santa Barbara and Portland. Yet, even these are rather subdued, with small half inch wide blue or light purple flowers delicately suspended above bluish grassy foliage that may be as low as only a few inches, and is rarely higher than a foot. They bloom best in sunny but not too hot areas. Once established, blue eyed grass is not too demanding, but naturalizes and slowly spreads more reliably if watered occasionally through summer. However, they can rot if watered too generously or too frequently.  

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Flowering bulbs brighten the garden better than incandescent bulbs.

Daffodil bloom from bulbs that were installed last autumn.

The elegant white callas that are just about to bloom in my garden have their origins in the ‘old country’. I obtained them from the garden of my great grandfather Tomeo in my ancestral homeland; Sunnyvale, near San Jose. I am told that my great grandfather planted them decades ago, and had been trying to get rid of them almost as long. I suppose that means that these callas are easy to grow.

My belladonna lilies that got planted two autumns ago are about as old, since they came from the garden of my mother’s mother in Santa Clara, right near Sunnyvale, and were in her mother’s garden prior to that. These bulbs just keep on growing, blooming and multiplying. Although I do not like their bright pink color much, I can not argue with their reliability.  

Bulbs and bulb like plants that can take care of themselves and thrive with minimal or no attention are always welcome in my garden. Bright orange crocosmia is perhaps just as reliable, or should I say ‘persistent’, as callas are, and like callas, should be planted about now. Yellow, red, and orange with red flowering varieties are also available. Pink, red, orange, yellow and salmon cannas are in season too. They are easier to contain, but are likewise prolific.

Some of my other favorites that get planted about now for summer bloom want more attention, but are certainly worth it. Dahlias can naturalize if conditions are right for them, but will more likely do better if dug, divided and replanted in enriched soil at least every few winters. They are remarkably easy to propagate. Asiatic lilies likewise prefer to be dug and replanted as their soil becomes depleted, but are not likely to regenerate year after year if ignored.             

Honestly though, some of the other summer blooming bulbs and bulb like plants that get planted about now are rather risky. I like to grow gladiolus because they happen to be among my favorite flowers. However, unless they get well amended soil and fertilizer, they do not perform very well, if at all, after their first year. Liatris is not much more reliable. Tuberous begonia is still a mystery to me, since I have not been able to prevent them from rotting in their first year!

Of the many bulbs and bulb like plants that get planted in autumn that are now blooming, grape hyacinth, snowdrop, watsonia, bearded iris, daffodil and narcissus are the most reliable and likely to naturalize, particularly with rich soil and regular watering. Daffodil and narcissus do not spread as well as the others, but are probably the most resilient. With a bit more effort, freesia and crocus can be persistent. In some situations, freesias have actually been known to naturalize as effectively as grape hyacinth.

Other early bloomers (that get planted in autumn) are more demanding. The anemones that I planted in about 1990 survived neglected in my garden for nearly a decade, but probably produced more flowers in their first year than in all subsequent years combined. Ranunculus and hyacinth may do the same if conditions are not just right for them. Tulips are perhaps the most profusely colorful of spring bulbs, but are sadly grown mostly as annuals, since they rarely do much more than produce foliage after their first year.

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Ginger Ail

White butterfly ginger is still green.

At least seven gingers live here. Five are ornamental. Two are culinary. None have yet died back as they should for winter.

Now that it is time to divide them, I do not know what to do with their intact foliage. For this white butterfly ginger from Forest Garden, I divided the rhizomes and installed them into the landscape with their healthy foliage still attached. I do not want to cut it back until it succumbs to frost. I suppose that it can remain as long as it is healthy. It is likely promoting healthier secondary growth. Because none of the gingers are crowded yet, it should not be difficult to selectively groom out older growth as new growth develops. I doubt that older foliage absolutely must be pruned away during winter. If it were that important, the rhizomes would shed it naturally, with or without frost.

This is a mild climate, with very mild frost; but gingers should still die back for winter regardless. Cannas certainly do, even without significant frost. Even some of the banana trees were somewhat unhappy about the chill.

Actually, the banana trees seem to be bothered more by chill than the gingers. Is this normal? Angel’s trumpet, cup of gold vine and blue ginger (which is not related to ginger) also expressed more displeasure than the gingers.

I really should have sheltered some of these species better. Actually, I probably should not be growing so many species that are so sensitive to chill and frost. I will be going to Southern California again in about April, so could bring back even more tropical species. It is a bad habit.

Technically, the average last frost date is about a month and a half from now. Technically, a bit of frost is possible even after that.

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Asian Taro

Asian taro leaves grow very big.

Both alocasias and colocasias are striking foliar plants. Alocasias generally develop big leaves that point upward. Colocasias generally develop even bigger leaves that hang downward. Alocasias are generally more colorful, perhaps with striking foliar patterns. Also, most tolerate more shade than colocasias. Of course, these are generalizations.

Asian taro, Alocasia odora, resembles colocasias as much as alocasias. Its big cordate leaves may point only slightly upward, and might sag downward. They can grow two feet long and a foot wide, on petioles as long as three feet. Collectively, foliage can get more than five feet tall. It is bright but monochromatic green, similar to that of Kermit the Frog.

Asian taro is only occasionally available from nurseries. Small plants are too delicate for nurseries to market too many of them for too long. Their dormant bulbs are more likely to become available with summer bulbs. They can be wider than three inches! They grow slowly though, especially while weather is cool. Foliage may not appear for two months.