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Six on Saturday: New Shears

Purchases are very rare in my garden. I acquire just about anything I want from friends and neighbors. However, I really wanted a particular brand and style of pruning shears.

1. Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’, bronze fennel is one of very few trendy plants in my garden. I dislike fads. It was infested with aphid earlier, but recovered enough to bloom.

2. Canna X generalis, canna is one of very few here that has not yet been featured on Six on Saturday. It is more of a vegetable than an ornamental, but its flowers are pretty also.

3. Canna X generalis ‘Alaska’ canna is a rare white canna, although it is really very pale yellow. I purchase almost nothing for my garden, but I coveted it enough to purchase it.

4. Amaryllis belladonna, naked lady is blooming splendidly, but not quite as abundantly as it did last year. I watch for white flowers so that I can relocate their bulbs after bloom.

5. New shears are the piece de resistance of my Six this week. They are not actually new, since I bought them used on eBay, in order to get the old style. Only their holster is new.

6. Rhody, who is as unimpressed as usual, has been absent from my Six on Saturdays for quite a while. Weekly, this really should be ‘Five and Rhody on Saturday’. Oh, priorities.

Anyone who would like to participate in this meme should peruse this participant guide for Six on Saturday.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 14 Comments

Six on Saturday: Last Wednesday Again

Again, this Six on Saturday lacks a theme. These are six random pictures that I took last Wednesday morning.

1. Rain?! Well, actually, it was just drizzly fog. It certainly looked like rain, though, and it was enough to fill a few puddles, and be hazardous for commuter traffic on Highway 17.

2. Phlox paniculata, garden phlox that I got a picture of last week flopped forward from the weight of the drizzly fog. It stood more upright as the moisture dried later in the day.

3. Pinus thunbergii ‘Thunderhead’ Japanese black pine is generating new growth rather late. It probably should have done this in spring so its foliage would be matured by now.

4. Alocasia macrorrhiza, elephant ears is now blooming with its weird green spathe and spadix. This same blooming stem is already producing a new leaf, so is not monocarpic.

5. Hedychium gardnerianum, kahili ginger is beginning to bloom. It has not done much since its arrival a few years ago. Gophers typically ruin it before floral buds even appear.

6. Canna X generalis, canna bloomed with this strange orange and yellow combination, which we did not plant. It is a sport. Strelitzia nicolai, giant bird of Paradise is behind it.

Anyone who would like to participate in this meme should peruse this participant guide for Six on Saturday.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 12 Comments

Six on Saturday: Not Closeups

This is what some of the flowers and foliage that are normally shown in closeup pictures look like within their respective landscapes. The first three landscapes need some work.

1. Citrus X latifolia ‘Bearss’ lime is almost surrounded by neighboring cape honeysuckle, so it is difficult to distinguish in this picture. Cape honeysuckle should be removed soon.

2. Musa acuminata X balbisiana ‘Blue Java’ banana on the left may be ‘Nam Wah’. The other on the right is unidentified. They moved into their landscape before the landscape.

3. Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’ smokebush is a striking focal point for its somewhat abandoned garden. It draws attention away from the neglect. It gets pollarded in winter.

4. Pelargonium hortorum, zonal geranium looks as good within the White Garden as in closeups. This is at the Mount Hermon Memorial Chapel. Its cypress need straightening.

5. Agapanthus orientalis, lily of the Nile is congregated in a large triangular herd on the side of the main road through Mount Hermon. It is blooming quite well for the summer.

6. Phlox paniculata, garden phlox appeared in this garden a few years ago, and has since become one of the more prominent features here. We have no idea where it came from.

Anyone who would like to participate in this meme should peruse this participant guide for Six on Saturday.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 16 Comments

Six on Saturday: Mixed Bag

These Six on Saturday lack a theme. They are a mixed bag.

1. Watsonia X pillansii ‘Coral and Hardy’ bugle lily is my first ever! Something dug it out last year before bloom, for no apparent reason. You can probably guess where it is from.

2. Canna X generalis ‘Cannova Mango’ canna on the right seems to have produced a red sport on the left. I do not think that another cultivar mixed with it, but I am not certain.

3. Matthiola incana, snapdragon has not been planted here for years because of rust. A few generations of just a few feral plants have grown from seed though. Most are yellow.

4. Osteospermum fruticosum, trailing African daisy might be feral also. Although some were planted nearby, I do not remember that any were planted in its particular location.

5. Phlox paniculata, garden phlox began as feral, since we do not know how the seed got here, but now that it is here, we cultivate it. Almost all of it is white, but one is lavender.

6. Rosa spp., rose is producing some exemplary flowers. I do not know what cultivar this is, but it resembles ‘Seashell’. I suppose its name is unimportant. It is pretty regardless.

Anyone who would like to participate in this meme should peruse this participant guide for Six on Saturday.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 19 Comments

Six on Saturday: Red, White & Blue

Today, the Fourth of July, is 250th Independence Day, so is also the sestercentennial or semiquincentennial of the United States of America.

1. Pelargonium X hortorum, zonal geranium provides an ideal red. Other cultivars here bloom white, bright pink and brighter pink. They have been reliably perennial for years.

2. Lobularia maritima, alyssum is exclusively white for its particular application within the White Garden. In the past, we had pink and purple alyssum within other landscapes.

3. Salvia has a name; but it eludes me. It is a new addition to the Blue Bed, which is next door to the White Garden, and not actually as exclusively blue as its designation implies.

4. Rosa spp., carpet rose is not blooming profusely this year, but is blooming enough for at least this picture. It grows into wickedly thorny thickets that are no fun to work with.

5. Begonia X semperflorens–cultorum, wax begonia lives with the alyssum in the White Garden. It is enjoying improved sun exposure associated with the removal of a few trees.

6. Lobelia erinus, lobelia is perched on the edge of a color bowl, but is not yet cascading over. This color bowl also contains red, white and blue petunias, for Independence Day.

Anyone who would like to participate in this meme should peruse this participant guide for Six on Saturday.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 16 Comments

Six on Saturday: Fowler

These are a few more flowers that are in bloom now.

1. Lantana montevidensis, trailing lantana in white sounds better than it looks. White is my favorite color, but I fail to be impressed. Lantana excels at other more vibrant colors.

2. Rosa spp., miniature rose is the only miniature rose here. It arrived as a cheap potted mini rose from a supermarket, which had outlived its domestic appeal before rehoming.

3. Silene coronaria, campion is such a delightful weed that we leave much of it where it appears. Most grows where it is not a problem, although this one is in the White Garden.

4. Agapanthus orientalis, lily of the Nile in white is special both because there are not so many of them, and also because only a few can bloom in their formerly shaded situation.

5. Gladiolus X hortulanus, gladiola has been reliably perennial for several years. I would like to know what is so special about their situation that allows them to perform as such.

6. This is the first new painted rock that I have found in quite a while, and the first rock I noticed with a spell check glitch. Is this really a glitch, though, or actually from Fowler?

Anyone who would like to participate in this meme should peruse this participant guide for Six on Saturday.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 16 Comments

Six on Saturday: Just A Few Flowers

It is difficult to select only six flowers from the many blooming at this time of year.

1. Morea bicolor, yellow African iris is not very yellow. It is an impressively resilient and reliable perennial, though, and is quite easy to propagate. It really deserves more credit.

2. Morea iridioides, African iris is at least as resilient, reliable and easy to propagate, so is therefore very common. Whenever we have use for more, we simply split big colonies.

3. Canna X generalis ‘Mango’ canna performs very well and proliferates very efficiently. It begins its bloom before any other canna here. I just am not so keen on its floral color.

4. Echinops ritro, globe thistle looks like an Allium in this closeup picture. You might be able to guess where it is from. It is the first that I have grown since the summer of 1986.

5. Crinum bulbispermum, Orange River lily typically does not bloom quite like this. The florets should have darker pink or red centers. Could this be another species of Crinum?

6. Hemerocallis fulva ‘Flore Pleno’ daylily has been growing like a weed. We relocated a few only a few years ago, and must already relocate some of their now crowded progeny.

Anyone who would like to participate in this meme should peruse this participant guide for Six on Saturday.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 11 Comments

Six on Saturday: Foliar Closeups

All six here this week are foliar, without flowers. I suppose that floral subjects would be more appropriate for June; so, perhaps next week.

1. Ilex aquifolium, English holly certainly looks vicious up close. It grows wild from seed in the landscapes. I canned several as if we might find a use for them, which is unlikely.

2. Abies grandis, grand fir was collected from the wild near Smith River. A few are now canned here, although we have no idea what to do with them. They are such grand trees.

3. Picea sitchensis, Sitka spruce came with the grand fir from near Smith River. It is also difficult or impossible to accommodate in the landscapes here. Collection is a bad habit.

4. Heliconia psittacorum, parakeet flower is considerably more useful than the previous three. For now, though, it remains canned on a silly shelf outside my bedroom window.

5. Saccharum officinarum ‘Pele’s Smoke’ sugarcane came with the parakeet flower from Brent’s garden in Los Angeles. It is almost too easy to propagate, so we have quite a few.

6. Saccharum officinarum ‘Purple Ribbon’ sugarcane is an old heirloom cultivar. It was acquired after ‘Pele’s Smoke’, but already has as much potential to propagate too easily.

Anyone who would like to participate in this meme should peruse this participant guide for Six on Saturday.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 20 Comments

Six on Saturday: Exotic & Native

The first three were recently added. The second three were already here. That makes for Six on Saturday.

1. Opuntia, prickly pear, of an unidentified species, was collected from the wild near the original Bat Cave, which is really the Bronson Caves, in Los Angeles. It is overly prickly.

2. Echinocereus, hedgehog cactus, also of an unidentified species, was collected from the wild in Buckeye, near Phoenix, in Arizona. It is even more prickly than the prickly pear.

3. Agave filifera, thread agave was salvaged from a planter box outside a barber shop in downtown Felton. The planter box needed to be dismantled, so the agave came with me.

4. Salvia, sage, also of an unidentified species, is part of a pattern of unidentified species here this week. It is native, though, so was here prior to the arrival of the previous three.

5. Whatever this is, it is also unidentified and native. The flowers resemble onion flowers in blue. I think that it might be Triteleia laxa, Ithuriel’s spear, but I really have no idea.

6. Achillea millefolium, common yarrow is native here, but may be descendents of some that were seeded here nearly twenty years ago. I do not remember any prior to seeding.

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 · 2 Comments

Six on Saturday: More Memories

Nearly everything in my garden has history of some sort.

1. Aloe arborescens, candelabra aloe came from the home of a friend in the East Hills of San Jose about twenty years ago. It is the only one of these six that was not just planted.

2. Aloe barbadensis, aloe vera came from my former neighborhood in town. I relocated decades ago, but got pups from a former neighbor who also took some to her new home.

3. Hesperaloe parviflora, red yucca came from Surprise, to the northwest of Phoenix in Arizona, near the new home of my former neighbor who gave me the few aloe vera pups.

4. Yucca desmetiana ‘Blue Boy’ yucca was a Christmas gift several years ago. It had been confined to its can within partial shade for too long. It already has stout but bare trunks.

5. Yucca glauca, soapweed grew from seed that I collected at a gas station somewhere in New Mexico on the way to Oklahoma in late 2012. It must be happy to be in the ground.

6. Yucca arkansana, Arkansas yucca, contrary to its name, came from Newalla, just east of Oklahoma City in Oklahoma, not long after I acquired the soapweed seed in late 2012.

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/