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Six on Saturday: Bucket List

Hyacinth Bucket of ‘Keeping Up Appearances’ might say, “It’s ‘Bouquet’.” However, this really is about the contents of two buckets, two cans, a bin, and a terracotta pot, without flowers. Most of these items must be processed prior to the end of the rainy season.

1. Agave ovatifolia, whale’s tongue agave bolted and bloomed too soon after installation. It is monocarpic, so died an ugly death while trying to replace itself with fresh new pups. I planned to later select the biggest pup to replace its original. Unfortunately, a gardener who did not know what they are pulled them all with nearby weeds. I scrounged through the debris to find these. Incidentally, I must still find homes for Agave americana pups.

2. Chrysanthemum X morifolium, mum contrarily will not die. It was abandoned after a wedding, but then potted into a landscape as it bloomed again. Removal for replacement as it again finished bloom revealed that each of these many stems is rooted individually.

3. Agapanthus orientalis, lily of the Nile is getting to be rather tedious. These shoots are of the same batch that I featured last week, and that I processed more than a month ago. I processed too many, so must now get the leftovers into the ground before winter ends.

4. Forsythia X intermedia, forsythia will bloom soon, but for the moment, is dormant. I relocated an old specimen that was always in the way. These spare twigs can be forced.

5. Actinidia deliciosa, kiwifruit vines grew easily from a broken bit that I found in a load of debris that someone left here last winter. They are female without pollinators though. These are dormant pruning scraps of its male pollinator, and should grow just as easily.

6. Rain was falling yesterday and is forecast to continue lightly through most of Monday.

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 · 24 Comments

Six on Saturday: Old School

Bauhinia punctata, Tupidanthus calyptratus, Olmediella betschleriana and Oreopanax capitatus are a few species that Brent and I studied in school during the late 1980s, then encountered only very rarely afterward. Actually, neither of us have encountered a single specimen of Oreopanax capitatus since 1990. Brent managed to procure a Tupidanthus calyptratus for his driveway. I may eventually procure a Bauhinia punctata. Nowadays, I work with Cocculus laurifolius and Pittosporum crassifolium, which, previously, I had not seen since school. Agapanthus orientalis and Juniperus chinensis ‘Kaizuka’ could be just as old fashioned, but never really got scarce. Perhaps I should post more pictures of species here that are actually rare instead.

1. Agapanthus orientalis, lily of the Nile has been very popular and even common longer than anyone can remember, and still is. This picture of these divided and plugged shoots is here because I neglected to post it as I discussed them in Six on Saturday a month ago

2. Juniperus chinensis ‘Kaizuka’, Hollywood juniper was passe prior to when Brent and I were in school, but older specimens remain. They are like sculptural small cypress trees.

3. Cocculus laurifolius, laurel leaved snailseed is a species that we studied in school, but have seen in only a few situations since then. I happen to be acquainted with a few now.

4. Pittosporum crassifolium, karo is very similar in that regard. It might have been more popular a long time ago, but lost popularity as more interesting species were introduced.

5. Pittosporum crassifolium, karo produces annoyingly abundant and annoyingly sticky seeds. ‘Pittosporum’ translates to ‘pitchy seed’. If they germinate, they do not do it here.

6. Rhody’s Roady got its new license plate with the colors of 1969. ‘O’ is for ‘Occidentale’, which is Rhody’s last name. It is irrelevant to an Isuzu or a downtown shopping district.

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

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.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 10 Comments

Six on Saturday: Bad Botany II

Botany is bad this week for a different reason than it was last week. It is lacking. I mean, there is none. Only common names are mentioned. The first picture, which is not mine, includes too many different species to cite. Even if I wanted to, I could not identify all of them from this picture, and I can not remember what all of them are. The other pictures conversely show only a few common species that need no introduction.

1. Brent sent this picture of a view from his primary landscape design studio west of Los Angeles. The Jungalow is obscured by overgrown vegetation on the left. More species of flora inhabit this compact garden than all the combined acreage that I work and live on.

2. Scenery from my work is very different. Redwoods are the primary species. The bland foliage to the left is tanoak. Only a few species of trees grow wild here. The scenery from my writing studio is embarrassingly less interesting, but that is a topic for another time.

3. Banana trees live at work because I like a few species that, to me, seem to be the sort of vegetation that is more common in the Los Angeles region. They got frosted at home.

4. Roses, which are in the background of the banana tree, are more popular here than in the Los Angeles region, and are actually dormant for winter. This one does not generate new canes from its base though, which is why it is now so gnarly after dormant pruning.

5. European white birch are also dormant during the slightly cooler wintry weather here. I can easily relocate feral specimens like bare root stock. Cooler weather has advantages.

6. Bay and box elder obscure this local sunset that looks like it should be in Los Angeles.

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 · 8 Comments

Six on Saturday: Bad Botany

These six lack a common theme. I do find the botany of four of them to be annoying, but that is no theme. Leyland cypress has a new genus name, which I did not mention. I still do not believe that the native blue elderberry is the same species as the black elderberry of the East. I still do not know for certain if the double white angel’s trumpet is a hybrid, although I do believe that it is. Although I exceeded my preferred word count limit here, I tried to abbreviate some of the redundancy of nomenclature while including both Latin and common names with the same cultivar name. Otherwise, the first of these six would be Saccharum officinarum ‘Pele’s Smoke’, ‘Pele’s Smoke’ sugarcane, with ‘Pele’s Smoke’ mentioned twice, with a comma in between. I may continue this technique in the future.

1. Saccharum officinarum ‘Pele’s Smoke’ sugarcane continues to grow like a weed on the warm windowsill in the galley at work. It is not bronzing though. I suspect that this fresh new foliage will be too tender to survive outside even after early spring. It is no problem. It will simply make more. Many more cuttings are growing outside. They are slower but more resilient. For less redundancy, I used its same cultivar name after its species name and before its common name. Of course this explanation is longer than any redundancy.

2. Sambucus cerulea, blue elderberry is classified by most botanists as a Western variety of American black elderberry. I know better. I am Californian. Regardless, I am growing a few cuttings from a few different parents because no one seems to know if they should be more productive with pollinators, like European black elderberry is. Four tagged bits are from the same very productive specimen, which must be removed from a landscape. The other pair is from a random roadside specimen. Three other pairs were added later.

3. Agave americana, century plant is too prolific. We installed one of several ‘unwanted’ specimens and found all these pups within its can underneath. We can not use them all.

4. Ulmus parvifolia, Chinese elm became unavailable years ago after it was identified as a host for Dutch elm disease. Watersprouts continue to grow from a stump of a tree that was cut down years ago. If I could, I would grow several of this formerly familiar species.

5. X Cupressocyparis leylandii, Leyland cypress is irrelevant to this illustration of how a chainsaw cuts if one side is sharper than the other. Another saw cut the flatter surface to the left. Incidentally, the ‘X’ preceding the genus name indicates an intergeneric hybrid.

6. Brugmansia X candida ‘Double White’ angel’s trumpet should not bloom now. Either it does not know, or it does not care. Incidentally, the ‘X’ between the genus and species names indicates an interspecific hybrid. Like for the sugarcane, I used the same cultivar name after its species name, and before its common name. Is such abbreviation proper?

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 · 27 Comments

Six on Saturday: Colorful but Inedible Berries

Snowberry is native here. I have been wanting to grow it because I like its white berries. I just found a seedling where it could not stay, so brought it back here. I am very pleased with it, but did not want to share pictures of it as scrawny canned bare twigs. I got these pictures instead.

1. Callicarpa americana, American beautyberry is what compelled me to get pictures of berries for this week. I shared a closeup picture of the first of these berries as they began to ripen more than a month ago, which was about two months later than elsewhere. I do not mind. These are my first, and there are more of them now. Perhaps their berries will ripen on time when they are established within the landscapes. The seedlings, as well as white butterfly ginger and, recently, American holly, were gifts from Our Forest Garden.

2. Sarcococca ruscifolia, sweet box typically produces very few red berries that typically fall off before turning black. They are both atypically abundant and atypically black now.

3. Ilex aquifolium, English holly self sows, but most feral specimens seem to be male, or produce only a few berries, in a few sparse clusters. Very few produce clusters like these.

4. Viburnum tinus, laurustinus also self sows. I am not as impressed with it as I am with English holly, but have been learning to appreciate it more, as those in other regions do.

5. Cotoneaster pannosus, silverleaf cotoneaster is naturalized a bit more vigorously. It is not as pretty as I like to think it is. I should retain a few specimens but eradicate the rest.

6. Pyracantha coccinea, firethorn is more colorful with similar but with more abundant and glossier berries. Unfortunately, it is also much thornier, so it is no fun to work with.

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 · 9 Comments

Six on Saturday: Lily of the Nile Division

Now that the weather is getting cooler and almost rainy, it is time to relocate overgrown lily of the Nile. Quite a bit of it has slowly climbed over stone retaining walls to encroach into walkways. I remove rhizomes that are on top of walls, as well as any that are within a foot or so of the walls. After I divide and groom them, I install them where they will be more of an asset to the landscapes. They settle in with cool and rainy wintry weather, so should be ready to grow as soon as the weather gets warmer in spring. I neglected to get any before and after pictures to show where they came from and where they went to, (or to get six pictures).

1. Roots of lily of the Nile can hold firmly onto a silty riverbank as the river floods above. They are impressively densely meshed. They are fleshy though, and therefore easily cut.

2. Rhizomes are also both impressively densely meshed and fleshy. Division is no simple task. I separated these scraps by cutting their roots. I bury them between divided shoots.

3. Foliar shoots or rosettes with a few inches of their rhizomes will grow into new plants. These have been groomed, so are ready for plugging with scraps of rhizomes in between.

4. Gophers claimed all but a few lily of the Nile that were plugged here last year. I should have taken a picture of their replacements here, even if they are not much to brag about.

5. Oh deer! We are very fortunate that deer avoid the landscapes here. They always have.

6. Sugarcane is growing like a weed. This is one of too many cuttings that I brought from Los Angeles. They were pruning scraps from what I believe to be ‘Pele’s Smoke’. Sweeet!

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

Six on Saturday: Self-Replication

Kwanzan flowering cherry is spectacular as it blooms for early spring. Only one inhabits our landscapes, and of course, it is dormant and defoliated until next spring. I took these six pictures of it anyway, to demonstrate that it is deteriorating fast, but could be able to replace itself before it succumbs to decay completely. Unfortunately though, it will likely be removed before it is able to do so, so that we can install a purple leaf plum within this particular situation instead. I only assist with this self-replication process because of the very unlikely possibility that replacement with another different tree may never actually happen. It has been delayed for years.

1. This flowering cherry tree has been deteriorating for the past several years. Several big limbs have died, leaving its canopy disfigured and lopsided. Its right half is nearly gone.

2. Only shiners remain where some of the major limbs that died were removed from the trunk. If this tree were to survive any longer, these shiners would decay before they heal.

3. Incidentally, this tree is not grafted. Suckers from the roots are indistinguishable from growth of the canopy. Bark of exposed roots is indistinguishable from bark of the trunk.

4. Therefore, this sucker is genetically identical to the original tree. The roots have been generating suckers for several years. All but this one were removed. Instead, it is bound.

5. The binding stake is nailed to one of the major limbs of the original canopy, as well as to a big root below. Damage to the limb is unimportant. It will be removed soon anyway.

6. The bound sucker is now more than six feet tall. It could develop branches to begin to grow as a new tree next year. It could stay as a replacement after removal of the original.

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 · 35 Comments

Six on Saturday: Springtime

Flowers bloom throughout the year here. I featured bloom this week to avoid the topic of minor frost damage that I should have protected vulnerable foliage from. Frost is minor here, and does not occur every year, but it occurred here prior to some other regions this year. However, this bloom can imply that it is springtime.

1. Osteospermum X hybrida, African daisy should bloom most for spring, but can bloom randomly whenever it chooses, and often blooms most profusely for summer or autumn.

2. Helichrysum bracteatum, strawflower is my favorite of these six because I remember it as the main cut flower crop to the east of my Pa’s home in Montara through the 1980s.

3. Salvia chiapensis, Chiapas sage is a species that I had never met before last year. They grew well through last summer, and even better with more bloom through this summer.

4. Cestrum fasciculatum ‘Newellii’, bastard jasmine has an interesting name. Of course, it is not really jasmine. It recovered slowly from gopher damage, but blooms nicely now.

5. Rosa, carpet rose is my least favorite of these six because it is so cheap and common. I prefer old fashioned and respectable hybrid tea roses that are such excellent cut flowers.

6. Iris X germanica, bearded iris should bloom for spring. Reblooming types also bloom for autumn. I have no idea what this is, but I sort of doubt that it is a reblooming variety. Earlier, it did not bloom much, so now seems to be blooming late for the first phase this year, rather than blooming again for a second phase within the same year. Furthermore, its simple bloom and slim floral stalks suggest that it is not extensively bred. It might be a simple species that is confused about the seasons here, because this climate is so mild.

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 · 10 Comments

Six on Saturday: Unidentifiable

Only Australian tree fern is identifiable. Another is just, well, . . . weird.

1. Alocasia odora, taro was installed by a tenant, into a situation that was too dark for it. Now that the tenant is gone, and before another arrives, I brought it back to the nursery for reassignment. The holes in the leaves are from redwood twigs that fell from very high up. I can not identify its cultivar, and am not ever sure if it is an Alocasia or a Colocasia.

2. Sphaeropteris cooperi, Australian tree fern was next to the taro, so came here with it. Although otherwise healthy, its etiolated leaves were reaching towards limited sunlight.

3. Sphaeropteris cooperi, Australian tree fern that I tried to recycle from the garden of a former neighbor did not survive. It is a saddening loss. It was an excellent tall specimen.

4. Nephrolepis cordifolia, sword fern might make good use of the trunk of this deceased Australian tree fern. Technically, the trunk is not actually a trunk at all; but is merely an accumulation of roots that extended downward through the decayed stem of the original fern. Perhaps the roots of this sword fern can do the same before the dead original roots deteriorate. It seems like a graft, but of course it is not. Nor is it a hybrid. It is just weird.

5. Brugmansia, angel’s trumpet of an unidentified cultivar is blooming for the first time. It has been with me for a few years, but dies back each winter. Before it recovers enough to bloom, it dies back again. I got it as a twig from a greenwaste recycle pile in San Jose.

6. Brugmansia, angel’s trumpet should be pastel orange. I took the original twig because I assumed that it was of a specimen that bloomed pastel orange. Does this look orange?!

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/