Posted on by tonytomeo · 14 Comments

Six on Saturday: First Six of 2026

Even if there were plenty of flowers to take pictures of, I have not been in the landscapes much while it is so rainy. These are from the nursery.

1. Opuntia ficus-indica, prickly pear pads were found at the dump while other landscape debris was being dumped. I was not involved. However, I will be pleased to install them.

2. Buxus japonica, Japanese boxwood turns so yellowish during winter, that it seems to have died this year. We have been trying to find a use for this specimen for quite a while.

3. Canna indica ‘Alaska’ canna is obviously not ‘Alaska’, which has simple green foliage. I suspect that this is ‘Tropicana’. I hope that its spotty foliar discolorations are not virus.

4. Canna indica ‘Australia’ canna got plucked where it migrated a bit too far. These pups will be canned and grown for other landscapes. Surplus might be shared with neighbors.

5. Sarcococca ruscifolia, sweet box produces black berries. Apparently, such berries are red before they ripen to black. I was not aware. There are typically not enough to notice.

6. Sarcococca ruscifolia, sweet box berries are unfortunately poisonous. Otherwise, they look like they might have culinary application. They are unusually abundant this season.

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: Stormy Weather

Several days of stormy weather were predicted, and came with a flash flood warning and a tornado warning for Christmas, but it really was not that bad. No floods. No tornados.

1. Sandbags were readily available for those who might have needed them for the storms that were expected. The wind was strong, but the rain was not as torrential as predicted.

2. Hedera helix, English ivy and a rotten stump of Lithocarpus densiflorus, tanoak were among the vegetation debris that needed to be removed from roadways after the storms.

3. Pseudotsuga menziesii, Douglas fir contributed to the mess as well. This small bit did not reach the ground, though. Larger branches interrupted electrical service to the area.

4. Cyclamen persicum, florist’s cyclamen looks rather shabby after so much windy, cold and rainy weather without interruption. The weather should be a bit drier for next week.

5. Iris unguicularis, Algerian iris has been more resilient to the weather; and it has been blooming for a long time. This might be its third appearance here in my Six on Saturday.

6. Leucojum vernum, snowflake is what we know as snowdrop. Now that snowdrop is so commonly available online, there could eventually be some confusion with their names.

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: More Unseasonal Azaleas

Half of these blooms are right on time. The other half are azaleas that really should wait until spring to bloom. I hope that some refrain from blooming now to bloom in season.

1. Osmanthus fragrans, sweet osmanthus may not be much to look at, but is exquisitely fragrant. I believe that the current cool and humid weather enhances its floral fragrance.

2. Viburnum tinus, laurustinus, which is not typically very fragrant, likewise seems to be more fragrant with cool and humid weather. This one blooms white without pink blush.

3. Osteospermum ecklonis, African daisy blooms significantly less while weather is cool, but seems to never be completely without bloom. This one blooms with a billowy center.

4. Rhododendron spp., azalea should not be blooming now. Flowers that bloom now will be finished and unavailable to bloom in spring. I believe that this cultivar is ‘Coral Bells’.

5. Rhododendron spp., azalea, which is likely ‘Fielder’s White’, is blooming prematurely also. If I remember correctly, it typically does this, but somehow blooms for spring also.

6. Rhododendron spp., azalea with double bloom is probably a recycled florist specimen. I have no idea what cultivar it is. It certainly is colorful. I hope it saves bloom for spring.

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: Ferns

After the warm and arid summers here, ferns enjoy the beginning of the rainy season in late autumn or early winter, which is about now.

1. Adiantum capillus–veneris, Southern maidenhair fern replaces all its tired old foliage for autumn. It resembles native species of maidenhair fern, but with distinct foliar form.

2. Nephrolepis cordifolia, sword fern remains within a big pot because it can be invasive in the ground. It is directly related to Boston fern, but is not quite as soft and pendulous.

3. Dryopteris erythrosora, autumn fern is the only fern here that exhibits autumn foliar color. It is pretty, but quite diminutive. It is no bigger now than it was several years ago.

4. Polystichum munitum, Western sword fern and the next two ferns are native here. All three grow wild within some of our landscapes; and all are remarkably tolerant of shade.

5. Athyrium filix–femina, lady fern is also known locally as ostrich plume fern, but is not related. It has tender leaves with almost succulent rachises that break easily if disturbed.

6. Woodwardia fimbriata, giant chain fern has a similar foliar texture, but is bigger and more resilient than lady fern. We sometimes need to remove big superfluous specimens.

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 · 16 Comments

Six on Saturday: Common Color

As bloom of most other plants decelerates for late autumn and winter, the floral color of common annuals becomes more prominent in the landscapes at work.

1. Viola X wittrockiana, viola blooms with smaller but more profuse flowers than pansy. I am not certain if they are the same species. Also, most of the flowers face one direction.

2. Viola X wittrockiana, pansy blooms with bigger but less profuse flowers which mostly face random directions. We got only two six packs to add to other flowers in a small bed.

3. Viola X wittrockiana, pansy is redundant to the picture above, but is a different color. The plants are so dinky that they are scarcely visible behind their relatively wide flowers.

4. Bellis perennis, English daisy ranges in color from this rosy red to white like the color scheme of candy canes. I am fond of it because it is not so overly bred like other annuals.

5. Cyclamen persicum, florist’s or Persian cyclamen is cheapened as an annual. I used to grow mine as cool season perennials. I also grew colors other than simple red and white.

6. Rhody was unconcerned with these common annuals as he surveyed his domain early last Monday, while I burned forest green waste. He is not overly horticulturally oriented.

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: Cooling Weather

It is looking a bit more like autumn as a few more species respond to cooling weather by discoloring or deteriorating before defoliation.

1. Hosta plantaginea, hosta is really looking shabby now. Actually though, it never really looked all that good. The difference is that this shabbiness is because of cooling weather.

2. Plectranthus scutellarioides, coleus, which looked so splendid for Six on Saturday two weeks ago, is beginning to succumb to cooling weather, as is typical for this time of year.

3. Acer palmatum, Japanese maple, which was still green for Six on Saturday two weeks ago, is now beginning to yellow in response to cooling weather, as it should for autumn.

4. Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ Japanese maple was already bronzy red, but is beginning to turn a bit brighter red because of the cooling weather. Its color may linger for a while.

5. Metasequoia glyptostroboides, dawn redwood is likewise beginning to yellow because of cooling weather. It eventually turns brown while all the other redwoods remain green.

6. Rosa, carpet rose is the only one of these six that is not responding to cooling weather as it produces a few rose hips. I did not expect this. Rose hips are rare in our landscapes.

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: More Late Bloom

Flowers are starting to succumb to cool and rainy weather. So, it is beginning to look like autumn here. Summer is truly over.

1. Pelargonium X hortorum, zonal geranium is finally starting to look somewhat shabby after the recent rains, although several others continue to bloom as if nothing happened.

2. Rosa spp. ‘Iceberg’ rose is probably the last rose to bloom for the season. A few young floral buds are molding before they bloom. The roses get pruned before New Year’s Day.

3. Tagetes patula, French marigold is more seasonable. It is expected to bloom through autumn, and could continue until replacement with warm season annuals during spring.

4. Abutilon X hybridum, flowering maple does not seem to know when to stop blooming for autumn. Its bloom should probably decelerate now that the weather is getting cooler.

5. Rhododendron spp., azalea is even more confused than the ‘Duc de Rohan’ azalea that bloomed not so long ago. It is blooming more abundantly and even later, or not so early.

6. Rhody curls up somewhat tighter while the weather is cool. His fur should get fuzzier, but does not seem to be doing so. He insists on coming to work with me, out in the cold.

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 · 12 Comments

Six on Saturday: Autumn Or Not?

Some vegetation is responding to cooler autumn weather as it should while some refuses to concede. Autumn foliar color is not so spectacular this season.

1. Canna musifolia, canna foliage is beginning to discolor in response to cooling autumn weather. I will groom such foliage out through the season until there is nothing left of it.

2. Plectranthus scutellarioides, coleus is not so easily convinced that it really is autumn. It is as vigorous now as it was for summer. I suspect that it will not last for long like this.

3. Cornus florida, flowering dogwood is already defoliated, and it did so quickly without much color. Others were somewhat more colorful, and were retaining their color better.

4. Acer palmatum, Japanese maple, like coleus, is not convinced that it really is autumn. This particular specimen is as green as it was for summer. Others are beginning to color.

5. Strelitzia nicolai, giant bird of Paradise supposedly blooms randomly. However, ours prefers to bloom through summer and finish about now, so is actually right on schedule.

6. Impatiens hawkeri, New Guinea impatiens, like coleus and Japanese maple, is not yet convinced that it is autumn. It will likely succumb to autumn chill when the coleus does.

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: Pots

Pots are a bit more common within our landscapes than they should be, but they can be justified.

1. Philodendron selloum ‘Lickety Split’ split-leaf philodendron grew efficiently enough to obscure its pretty green pot within a few months, but does not seem to grow much now. It seems to merely replace old foliage with new foliage. The stems do not elongate much.

2. Dianella caerulea, blueberry lily is named Sigmund because it looks like a shabby sea monster. It is in a large terracotta pot that it now completely obscures. It visually softens the blunt end of a low stone retaining wall that separates a few stone steps from a ramp.

3. Cymbidium, orchid with a few small bits of Vinca minor ‘Alba Variegata’, small white variegated periwinkle are in a cheap plastic urn, with Sigmund in the background to the left. I know neither the species nor the cultivar of the orchid, but it blooms white nicely.

4. Alocasia odora, taro, or whatever species this is, has grown quite nicely to obscure its pot, just like the split-leaf philodendron and Sigmund. It was taken from a vacated home with an Australian tree fern two years ago. Sadly, the old home will soon be demolished.

5. Brugmansia, angel’s trumpet really is getting to be redundant, but is also really quite pretty. Like the orchid, both its species and cultivar are unknown. I grew it from a scrap from a green waste pile in East San Jose. Its big terracotta urn was a gift a few years ago.

6. Eucalyptus globulus ‘Compacta’, dwarf blue gum is certainly not a typical houseplant. Yet, here it is within an antique coffee shoppe lounge at work. We do not know how long it can survive here without direct sunlight, but will eventually find out. It is quite grand.

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: Off Color Angel’s Trumpets

Angel’s trumpet continue to bloom even as the weather cools. Perhaps they will continue until frost. Their floral color is a bit off though, perhaps as a result of the cooler weather. They work out nicely for ‘Six on Saturday’, though. Strangely, not much else is blooming as well as angel’s trumpet is now.

1. Angel’s trumpet probably should not bloom so late, but does not seem to know or care that it is autumn. I was impressed by a previous bloom phase, so will see what this does.

2. This is a more open flower of the same angel’s trumpet as above. Its floral color is the most variable of the cultivars, but has most commonly been more peachy pink than this.

3. This angel’s trumpet flower should be frilly double white. I suppose that it is not so off color. However, it is barely frilly, and lacks double form. I can not complain. It is pretty.

4. This angel’s trumpet flower blooms with the peachy pink color that #2 should exhibit, but should bloom yellow. Again, I can not complain. I just wonder what is going on here.

5. If I remember correctly, this rhododendron is not off color like some angel’s trumpets are but it is very off season. My complaint is that it will not bloom for spring as it should.

6. Rhody might disapprove of all this off color commentary if he were not so thoroughly distracted by someone with goodies. He can not see the same colors as humans anyway.

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/