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English ivy

A few cultivars of English ivy are variegated.

During the 1990’s, English ivy, Hedera helix, evolved beyond small scale ground cover and became popular for pseudo-‘topiary’. It is now commonly trained onto wire frames formed into spheres, cones and all sorts of shapes. English ivy is also a nice greenery to fill in between flowering annuals and perennials in mixed urns and planters, especially where it can cascade downward.

There are all sorts of cultivars (cultivated varieties) for all sorts of applications. ‘Hahn’s Self Branching’ English ivy is probably the most practical for ground cover, since it fills in so reliably and is somewhat tolerant of partial shade. ‘Needlepoint’ had darker and more finely textured foliage; but since it does not cover larger areas so efficiently, it is instead more commonly used as greenery with mixed annuals and perennials, or for pseudo-‘topiary’. All sorts of variegated English ivy, whether alone or as a component to mixed plantings, brightens slightly shaded spots. Variegation ranges from greenish white to yellow. Leaves can be lobed, ruffled, elongated, cleft or even nearly compound; but are generally two to three inches wide. Most have three to five ‘corners’.

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Coastal Redwood

Coastal redwoods need room to grow.

Not every garden can accommodate coastal redwood, Sequoia sempervirens. Wild trees can grow hundreds of feet tall, with trunks as wide as thirty feet! None are so big in home gardens, but only because they are still young. They can live for more than two thousand years. By that time, those in urban landscapes are very likely to become major concerns.

Realistically though, urban trees are generally more compact than wild trees. There is no need for extreme height without competition from other similarly tall trees. Besides, lower trees are less vulnerable to wind. Warm and dry wind can desiccate foliage. Strong wind can dislodge branches. Limbs that fall from very high canopies are extremely hazardous.

Almost all modern coastal redwoods from nurseries are of the cultivar ‘Soquel’. They are strictly conical and symmetrical in form, with uniform foliation. ‘Aptos Blue’ exhibits more relaxed form and very slightly bluish foliage. ‘Santa Cruz’ should be more available than it is since it is more resilient to arid warmth. Old seed grow trees are genetically variable. For old formal gardens, they are less formal than younger trees.

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Ghost Ivy

Adult ghost ivy growth is shrubby rather than vining. Also, it blooms and produces seed.

Ghost ivy is actually just a fancy name for variegated Algerian ivy, Hedera canarienses ‘Variegata’. Their glossy six inch wide leaves with three or five ‘corners’, are irregularly blotched with dark green, very pale green and white. Like all ivies, ghost ivy can grow as a ground cover, climb like a vine, and eventually develops self supporting branches that bloom and set seed. It may be somewhat less aggressive than unvariegated Algerian ivy, but can still overwhelm perennials, small shrubs, and even small trees.  

Ivy can be allowed to climb tree trunks only if it is not allowed to wrap around and graft onto itself. Otherwise, tree trunks will become constricted as they grow and expand within their ivy wrappers. Because they climb by aerial roots, the various ivies should not be allowed to climb painted or wooden surfaces that can be damaged or succumb to rot. However, some people like the look of ivy cascading down from hefty arbors and porches enough to not mind replacing rotten parts occasionally.  

Contrary to the deep green of Algerian ivy, which adds a cooling effect to sunny landscapes, ghost ivy lightens up dark areas. Ghost ivy is only rarely available in ground cover ‘mud’ flats, or in #1 (1 gallon) cans. Larger plants are not practical, since they take too much time to recover from transplant. New plants are very easy to propagate from cuttings made from pruning debris. Cuttings from shrubby adult growth become shrubby plants.

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‘Karpooravalli’ Banana

‘Karpooravalli’ is a relatively undemanding cultivar.

‘Cavendish’ and its variants have always been the most familiar types of banana locally. They are the most popular that are available from produce markets. From nurseries, they remain the most commonly available cultivars. A few other options are only beginning to become available. A few of these could be more reliably productive within local climates.

‘Karpooravalli’ has been available here for quite a while, but remains uncommon. Those who are familiar with it often describe it as wanting ‘only sunshine and water.’ It tolerates soil of inferior quality better than other cultivars, and craves less fertilizer. Within rich soil, it may crave none. It should likely stay away from fences that its pups could sneak under.

‘Karpooravalli’ is supposedly the sweetest of the Indian bananas. Although its fruit is a bit shorter than more familiar bananas, it is often a bit plumper. Ripe fruit is yellow with pale green blush, and delightfully aromatic. Foliage is more resilient to wind than that of most other cultivars. It can stand more than fifteen feet tall on its very vigorous pseudostems.

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Nix

Buick / Lincoln

Carson, Rhody’s Roady, is a 1994 Roadmaster. Although Chevrolet Caprice, Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight and Cadillac Fleetwood are the same sorts of contemporary sedans, Buick Roadmaster is somehow designated as the last great American Sedan. All are very rare, likely because they were already so old fashioned when they were new. Finding Carson was no easy task. In the process, and to be a responsible consumer, I investigated other options, including Mercury Grand Marquis from about the same time. Ultimately, I really wanted a Buick, which is a bit more refined than a Chevrolet, but not quite as vain as a Cadillac. Although all options were very tempting, I have been completely pleased with Carson. A few weeks ago though, this 1992 Lincoln Town Car was acquired by the fleet at work. Because most of who work here are young people who lack appreciation for real sedans, particularly such totally awesome luxury sedans, this Town Car will be sold. Because such sedans are even more old fashioned than they were when they were new decades ago, it will not be sold for much. Goodness! It is extremely tempting. Town Car is the luxurious Lincoln version of the Mercury Grand Marquis. This particular Town Car is of the Cartier Edition, which would be a bit too froufrou for me if I could see what identifies it as such. I believe that his name is Nix, but I just refer to him as the Town Car to avoid getting too familiar or attached. His trunk is nearly as spacious as Carson’s, so can bring more plant material back from Southern California or the Pacific Northwest than a modern compact pickup, which was one of the justifications for investing in a sedan that I have no practical use for rather than a modern pickup.

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Dwarf Alberta Spruce

Dwarf Alberta spruce is more like a strictly conical shrub than a small tree.

Unlike other related white spruce, which get more than fifty feet tall, dwarf Alberta spruce, Picea glauca albertiana ‘Conica’, stays smaller than its Latin name, rarely getting more than seven feet tall. It is so dense and conical that it should never need to be pruned. Shearing only damages its short light green to grayish green needles. Dwarf Alberta spruce is compact enough to live in large tubs or urns, as long as its sensitive roots are well insulated. (Concrete or wooden planters are well insulated, so do not transfer too much heat to the roots within. Ivy or ground cover cascading over and shading planters also helps.) Foliage should be sheltered from harsh exposure, since it can be desiccated by warm breezes or reflected glare, like from large windows or light colored south facing walls.

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California Fan Palm

California fan palm is almost native.

California fan palm, Washingtonia filifera, is the only palm that is native to California. It is naturally exclusive to very distinct ecosystems, though. It inhabits isolated riparian oases of the Colorado Desert. Some also inhabit the Mojave Desert and the Sonoran Desert. It prefers arid warmth. Unfortunately, it may not perform as well within milder climates here.

Otherwise, it is a stately palm that is more adaptable than most are to formal landscapes. It resembles Mexican fan palm, but is shorter and stouter, with a fluffier canopy. It tends to stand straighter, with neatly bare gray trunks. Groomed trees rarely retain petiole stubble. Alternatively, they are handsome, although combustible, with full beards of dried leaves.

California fan palm grows about fifty feet tall, and taller in the wild. Its canopy may be ten to fifteen feet wide. If flattened, its fronds, or complete leaves, might be more than ten feet long. Stiff petioles, with rigid and sharp teeth, are a bit more than half of their total length. The species name filifera describes filaments that hang from the clefts of fronds, and new bud growth.

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Money Plant

Money plant becomes more prominent after bloom.

As their coarse, foot wide basal clumps of foliage turn yellow and start to die down, the solitary two foot tall stalks of money plant, Lunaria annua, develop open clusters of flat, inch wide seedpods that resemble coins. The thin outer casing and seeds within fall away as soon as these coins ripen, leaving tan, tissue paper thin discs that are ideal for dried flower arrangements. Seeds self sow reliably enough to naturalize where conditions are right, but not aggressively enough to be noxiously weedy. Money plant does not need good soil, and wants only a bit more water than related mustard and wild radish. Their small, purple or white flowers that bloom in spring look like radish or mustard flowers but are not as colorful.

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Windmill Palm

Windmill palm can disperse copious seed.

Palms take commitment. Some of the most popular grow too big for their situations. Most grow so tall that only arborists can maintain them. None are conducive to pruning to limit their natural height. Individual palm trunks rely on their single terminal buds, which grow only upward. Diversion is not an option for any palm that encroach into electrical cables.

Windmill palm, Trachycarpus fortunei, is one of the more complaisant of palms. It can not grow around utility cables, but otherwise does not grow obtrusively big. Young trees can grow fast to fifteen feet tall, but then grow slowly to double their height. Only a few elderly trees grow as tall as forty feet. Their foliar canopies are generally less than ten feet wide.

Trunks of windmill palms are distinctively shaggy. Pruning dead fronds as closely to their trunk as possible promotes a neater appearance. Because growth decelerates with age, trunk shag is typically wider higher up. Trunks are about half a foot wide, but seem twice as wide since they are so shaggy. Gathering seed from pollinated female trees is simple.

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Black Chokeberry

Black chokeberry is already popular within its native range.

The recent popularity of fruits that contain antioxidants is restoring the popularity of an old classic deciduous shrub with an odd name. ‘Black chokeberry’ obviously does not sound very appetizing, so is more commonly known by its Latin name Aronia melanocarpa, or simply ‘Aronia’. It has always been popular within its native range east of the Appalachians and just north of the Canadian border, and is becoming more popular everywhere else since becoming available from mail order catalogues. Although it is not well rated for local climates since it prefers cooler winters, it can sometimes be found in local nurseries.

Shiny, black chokeberries are about half an inch wide, and ripen about now. They are purported to taste something like cranberries. Mine taste more like pithy crabapples so far; but I do not mind. I grow the three or four foot high shrubs just as much for their remarkable autumn color later in the year. The rather unremarkable inch or two wide trusses of small white flowers that bloom in spring can be slightly fragrant.

Pruning is rather simple, as long as chokeberries do not get shorn. Vigorous stems that may get considerably taller than four feet may be pruned back to promote shrubbier growth. Aging stems can be cut to the ground in winter, and will be readily replaced by new sucker growth.