Sunday Best – Angel’s Trumpet
Six on Saturday: Bad Timing
Autumn seems to be a bit early this year. The weather is already cooler with a bit of rain. Although no more rain is in the forecast, neither is warm weather. Besides, even if warm weather resumes, it will not last long. Vegetation really should be getting ready for that. A few species, though, are behaving like it is spring or summer. Some were prompted to do so.
1. Platycerium bifurcatum, staghorn fern has been happy this year, but should not be so active now that the weather is cooling. New growth will be vulnerable to chill this winter.
2. Solandra maxima, cup of gold vine cuttings are developing roots now that it will soon be too cool for them to grow. The pruning scrap just happened to become available now.
3. Prosopis velutina, velvet mesquite seedling had all summer to germinate, but decided to do so now. It is the only one of these ‘six’ that is not tropical, so it should know better.
4. Mangifera indica, honey mango seed was sown after its fruits were eaten. Seasonality was not considered. Several seedlings are now growing just prior to autumn and winter.
5. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, tropical hibiscus cuttings have been growing slowly but surely since the end of last winter, but just as they should be slowing, they are trying to bloom.
6. Alocasia macrorrhizos, taro is also trying to bloom just as it should be decelerating its growth for autumn and winter. It will be interesting to see how this late bloom proceeds.
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/
Sunday Best – Pale Pink Miniature Rose
Six on Saturday: Peeping
Autumn foliar color is scarce here, not because the weather is too mild, but because it is not such a priority within landscape design. A few species can develop such color as they do where autumn weather is cooler. Of course, some do not. Native California sycamore is a stately deciduous tree with striking form while bare through winter, but contributes minimal color.
1. Cornus florida, flowering dogwood is just beginning to exhibit foliar color for autumn. It performs surprisingly well in the Santa Cruz Mountains above the Santa Clara Valley.
2. Lagerstroemia indica, crape myrtle is also starting to exhibit foliar color for autumn. It may do so before the weather gets cool, as if it somehow knows what time of year it is.
3. Platanus racemosa, California sycamore does not know or care what time of year it is. It is more likely to yellow in response to hot and dry summer weather than to do so now.
4. Platanus X acerifolia, London plane tree is the sycamore with maple foliage. It is just beginning to yellow, but ultimately, does not do much more than that before defoliation.
5. Acer platanoides, Norway maple is the maple with sycamore foliage. This cultivar has bronze foliage through summer, so develops its yellow foliar color for autumn quite late.
6. Acer rubrum, red maple, like crape myrtle, can develop foliar color for autumn before cool weather, as if it knows what time of year this is. It defoliates relatively early though.
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/
Sunday Best – Lily of the Nile Pods
Six on Saturday: Coming & Going
Although the weather is predicted to be more typical, it was prematurely autumnish last week. It is a reminder that it really is time for Autumny and wintry flowers to come into season while summery flowers go out of season. This “Six on Saturday” is about some of such coming and going. (To comply with guideline #7 of the participant guide for Six on Saturday, I am limiting verbiage.)
1. Viola wittrockiana, pansy is traditional for winter floral color. It replaces petunia, and should last until petunia becomes seasonable again next spring. It is coming into season.
2. Petunia X hybrida, petunia is traditional for summer floral color. It replaced pansy as pansy finished its season last spring. It is going out of season now. Do you see a pattern?
3. Tagetes patula, marigold is traditional for autumn floral color. It was just installed as a narrow border for a small rose garden. For there, it is one of the more reliable annuals.
4. Pelargonium peltatum, ivy geranium, in eight or so baskets, hung from the eaves of a prominent building at work, but never flourished. They will be recycled somewhere else.
5. Dianthus caryophyllus, carnation does not do much through summer, but now begins to bloom as nights become cooler. I forget that it is here. I also forget how delightful it is.
6. Canna, canna blooms a bit less enthusiastically as the weather begins to cool, but can technically bloom until it gets frosted. If it does not get frosted, it can bloom continually.
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/
Sunday Best – Photobomb
Six on Saturday: A Few More Surprises
The unseasonably relocated roses that I had been so concerned about for the past month or so continue to surprise with more growth and bloom. So do a few other species. These first three happen to be from Tangly Cottage Gardening. The following two happen to be white. The last happens to not be of horticultural orientation.
1. Canna ‘Stuttgart’, along with a few other fancy potted Canna, unfortunately needed to be relocated from the deck that they inhabited at work. However, it seems to be happier after relocation, and makes larger and more ornate leaves, which is what it is grown for.
2. Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’ bloomed lightly but on time for early summer, and then bloomed again before the original bloom faded completely. The secondary bloom is only now fading, with a backdrop of duckweed and watercress. (This is an older picture.)
3. Hesperantha coccinea, crimson river lily was not expected to bloom because it was so dinky when it arrived late last winter. I thought that its bulbs would need to mature for a year or so before they would be mature enough to bloom. Apparently, it wastes no time.
4. Albizia julibrissin, silk tree blooms white instead of pink, although, because it blooms on top of its high canopy, not much of it is visible from the ground. It finished blooming already, but some minor pruning recently revealed a few of these aberrant white flowers.
5. Rosa spp., rose is another of the few roses that were not expected to bloom after their unseasonable relocation. It seems to be a climbing type, with long and limber stems, and trusses of small flowers. I am impressed that it not only survived, but is growing so well.
6. Heather fails to be as impressed by these developments that I find to be so surprising.
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/
Sunday Best – Evening Primrose
Six on Saturday: Bud to Bloom
As mentioned last week, I got pictures of the roses that were in bud at the time, in bloom now. It will be autumn on Monday, though, and cool season annuals are replacing warm season annuals.
1. Unidentified Salvia was added to one of the landscapes by someone who was here for the summer, just prior to his departure. Now, I have no idea what it is. I could ask, but I feel that I should recognize it, or at least be able to identify it. I like its pure white bloom.
2. Viola is now in season, whether or not it seems as if it should be. We must rely on the date as much as the weather. While the weather suggests that it is still summer, the date insists that Monday will be autumn. These viola will be safe with several days of warmth.
3. Lobularia maritima, alyssum makes the transition from warm season annuals to cool season annuals difficult. It is still too pretty to remove. Technically, it could perform as a short term perennial until individual plants get too old. By that time, it can reseed itself.
4. Rosa spp. of an unidentified cultivar produced a few notably plump rose hips like this to remind me that I have been negligent with deadheading. Now that subsequent bloom is unlikely, I could leave them to ripen. However, the new roses are continuing to bloom.
5. Rosa ‘Sheer Magic’ rose is one of the new roses that surprisingly bloomed after brutal and unseasonable relocation. This is the same flower that I posted a picture of while still in bud last week. A few more floral buds continue to develop but will lack time to bloom.
6. Rosa spp. of an unidentified cultivar is another of the new roses. This is also the same flower that I posted a picture of while still in bud last week. I have reason to believe that this rose is ‘Chrysler Imperial’, which should be red, but very often blooms reddish pink.
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/
Tony Tomeo 