Posted on by tonytomeo · 12 Comments

Six on Saturday: Souvenirs From Oklahoma

 

Oklahoma is a place that I mention often in my writing. It was one of those very few places outside of California that I had always wanted to go to. After actually going there seven years ago, I want to go back to see what another season besides autumn is like. The flora there was so fascinating and unfamiliar. In the short time I was there, I collected seed of several species. Amazingly, most seed were viable a few years after collection.

1. Seed ~ was collected in these old pill bottles. These seed are not really from Oklahoma. They are mostly from canna, and were collected more recently. Collecting seed can be a bad habit.P91012

2. Yucca glauca ~ seed was collected at a truck stop in New Mexico on the way to Oklahoma, where it is also native. I found a shoot of Yucca arkansana in Oklahoma, but it did not survive.P91012+

3. Sapindus saponaria ~ seed was found hanging over a fence from a backyard into an alley in Norman. The ‘seedling’ on the left grew from a root that broke from the seedling on the right.P91012++

4. Diospyros virginiana ~ happened to be in season while we were there in November and December. The small persimmons are very different from Japanese sorts, and loaded with seeds.P91012+++

5. Cercis canadensis ~ is the state tree of Oklahoma. Supposedly, the variety that grows wild there is ‘Texensis’. Several native plants are named for places where they were first identified.P91012++++

6. Juniperus virginiana ~ was not grown from seed, but gathered as wild seedlings. It is unpopular among those more familiar with it, and for good reason. I, however, am unfamiliar with it.P91012+++++

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 · 18 Comments

Six on Saturday: Souvenirs

 

My first rhubarb was given to my by my paternal-paternal great grandfather before I was in kindergarten. My Iris pallida also goes back four generations. I got one of my two favorite zonal geraniums from a compost pile in Montara, and snuck it back on the train when I was in the seventh grade. Some of the plants I grow have been with me for a remarkably long time.

Well, I did not get pictures of my rhubarb, Iris pallida or zonal geranium for today. Instead, these are five plants with whom I became acquainted more recently, and my first yucca whom I met three decades ago. They all have their respective stories that are more interesting than what I mentioned here. None are directly from nurseries, although #2 and #4 are from cultivars.

I sort of suspect that these plants and others of such significance to me will be with me for a very long time. I know that blue gum is nearly impossible to tame, and that windmill palm can’t be pruned down like the others. I will not force them to comply. The others can give me more cuttings to replace themselves indefinitely. The place names designate where I acquired them.

1. Holmby Hills ~ Los Angeles – Yucca elephantipes – This was my very first Yucca. My colleague, Brent Green, removed it from a project he was working on back in about 1988. It lived as a houseplant next to my desk for many years, and produced a few pups.P91095

2. Mid City ~ Los Angeles – Brugmansia suaveolens – Brent got me cuttings for this angels’ trumpet from another of his landscapes a few years ago because I really wanted a single white to add to the four more complicated cultivars that I already accumulated.P91095+

3. Reno ~ Nevada – Salix laevigata – I know that there is nothing special about the all too common red willow. I like this one anyway, because it grew from a broken twig I happened to grab on the Truckee Riverwalk through Reno. I should be more discriminating.P91095++

4. Murphys – Ficus carica – A few of these little fig trees were grown from pruning scraps. A friend wanted copies of the original tree before selling the home where the tree lived. We do not now what cultivar it is, but we sort of suspect it is the common ‘Mission’.P91095+++

5. Santa Cruz – Eucalyptus globulus – While waiting for a friend who needed a ride, and pacing outside, I started plucking a few tiny weeds from planter. One of the weeds happened to be a tiny blue gum seedling. Against my better judgment, I did not discard it.P91095++++

6. West San Jose – Trachycarpus fortunei – An old friend’s mother grew flowery annuals and perennials in pots on the porch. This windmill palm grew from seed in one of the pots, and was happy there for a few years, but eventually got too big. It lives here now.P91095+++++

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 · 33 Comments

Six on Saturday: Still NO Blue Ribbon

 

That could change later today, at the Jam, Pie and Chili Contest of the Santa Cruz Mountains Harvest Festival. My jams or jellies have won second place every year for the past few years, except for only one year when my mother’s peach jam won second place. How embarrassing! Anyway, for some of the past few years, my entries have won both second and third place.

However, none of my jams or jellies have won a first place blue ribbon!

This could be the year!

Will it be? Well, that is doubtful.

Blue elderberry jelly is what most often wins second place, except only when blackberry jelly . . . or my mother’s peach jam . . . is better. Unfortunately, blue elderberries were rather scarce this year, and what I got were not very good. In fact, they were downright bad. Other fruits, such as currants and gooseberries, were too scarce. Dogwood berries did not ripen soon enough.

For this year:

Peach jam looks and tastes great, but is about as chewy as a gummy bear.

Plum jelly is a sloppy mess that tastes sort of burnt.

Elderberry jelly is a bit sloppier, and, as mentioned above, is made with inferior fruit.

Blueberry jam is sort of like preserves. It is not bad. However, it is made from surplus ‘store-bought’ blueberries from a neighbor, instead of from locally grown or collected fruit.

Blackberry jam tastes great, but the seeds are weirdly tough this year, like wooden gravel.

Blackberry jelly is probably the best of the six, but tastes more like sugar than berries.

1. Do you notice anything missing among these few of the several ribbons that have been awarded to our jams and jellies in the past? There is not a single blue ribbon . . . yet. It will be mine!90928

2. Do you see what else is missing? Of course not. If you could see it, then it would not be missing. It would also be blue; as in the blue elderberries that normally make the ‘second’ best jelly!90928+

3. The native currants were no better. They are never abundant like blue elderberries are, but there are normally more than there were this year. I did not bother looking for gooseberries.90928++

4. Kousa dogwood made plenty of fruit, but it is not ripe yet! Oh well. Ironically, this particular tree might get cut down this winter. The abundant fruit is too messy on the pavement below.90928+++

5. Tomatoes are insultingly abundant where they grow wild around the compost piles and on roadsides. I do not need any more stoopid tomatoes! They will not help me win my blue ribbon!90928++++

6. Six submissions are ready for the Jam Contest later today: peach jam, plum jelly, elderberry jelly, blueberry jam, blackberry jam, blackberry jelly. I will write about the results tomorrow.90928+++++

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 · 15 Comments

Six on Saturday – II: Six More

 

‘Six on Saturday‘ is a popular popular gardening meme that many of us garden bloggers participate in on Saturdays. The link explains how it works. Simply, we post six pictures of what is happening in our gardens or landscapes at the time, along with brief explanations. Mine just posted at midnight. I know I should be done, but I happened to find a few more pictures to share.

These six pictures of marigolds that were just installed at work are not as interesting as the topic I wrote about earlier, but are just too pretty to be discarded before I show them off. The second and third pictures, as well as the fourth and the fifth pictures, might be redundant to each other if they show the same varieties of marigolds, but I do not care. They are all so pretty.

Marigold will not likely be featured in my weekly gardening column this year, because the bigger but related African marigold was featured last October. These here are the smaller and more traditional French marigold. Their bright yellows, bright oranges and rusty reds suit late summer and autumn like miniature chrysanthemums. Their foliage is so delightfully aromatic.

Although I am none too keen on annual bedding plants, I happen to like marigold. They were more popular when I was a kid. They were not so variable back then; and there were certainly none of those pathetic fake white sorts that are really just pale yellow. They were plain and simple orange, yellow and rusty red, in blends or uniform. We could easily grow them from seed.

Unfortunately, marigolds will not be with us for long. They were planted to replace petunias that did not last long enough. At the end of autumn, they will be replaced by cyclamen for winter.

P90921KP90921K+P90921K++P90921K+++P90921K++++P90921K+++++

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 · 33 Comments

Six on Saturday: Locust

 

John the Baptist did not really eat orthopteran insects out in the desert. The locust he ate were the beans of the carob tree, Ceratonia siliqua. They are actually quite nutritious. Supposedly, they are known as locust because they resemble the elongated abdomens of the insects with the same name. A few other related trees that also produce beans are collective known as such.

Robinia pseudoacacia happens to be known as black locust, even though there is nothing black about it, and the tiny and papery beans do not even remotely resemble insects. Supposedly, it arrived with Gold Rush prospectors who wanted something of their homes in Eastern North America. It naturalized aggressively, and is now an invasive exotic species in much of the West.

We tolerate a few at work. They are too pretty to cut down without a good excuse. However, one gave us a good excuse when it fell last winter. It was notably polite about it, by falling into a gap between two roofs that a cat could jump across. Damage was very minimal. Nonetheless, the tree and its destabilizing associates needed to be removed. They are gone but not forgotten.

1. Thorns of black locust only look blurry in this picture. They are wickedly sharp! The sharpest are on the most vigorous stems, which is exactly what the freshly cut stumps here generate.P90921

2. Thickets of suckers (or watersprouts) like these developed where black locust trees were cut down last winter. Most developed on freshly cut stumps. Many emerged from random roots.P90921+

3. More than half of the suckers from the formerly impenetrable thicket around the stump at the center of the picture were removed to relinquish space for the lauristinus in the foreground.P90921++

4. A few bay trees got cut down with the black locust trees. I wanted them coppiced, but was away when they instead got VERY badly pollarded. Oh, the shame! (I will coppice them later.)P90921+++

5. As nasty as black locust is, it has a few attributes. Spring bloom resembles that of white wisteria, and is almost as fragrant. This finely textured pinnately compound foliage is quite elegant.P90921++++

6. Their high and open canopies provide nice shade too. It is just enough for warm summer weather, but not too much to exclude turf grass and understory plants that tolerate partial shade.P90921+++++

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 · 13 Comments

Six on Saturday: Recycling Weeds

 

A weed is a plant where it is not wanted. There are plenty here. There are also a few situations that could use some of the plants that are considered to be weeds in their present situations. Since we are not a ‘landscape’ company that earns more by needlessly disposing of, and installing, as much plant material as possible, we sometimes get to recycle some of our useful weeds.

Laurustinus, Viburnum tinus, which I refer to simply as ‘viburnum’, has politely naturalized here. It is not prolific enough to be invasive. It just has a sneaky way of getting around, mostly in irrigated landscaped areas. It lives in the wild too. It sometimes grows into situations where it is an asset. It sometimes becomes a problem. I don’t mind removing it. I am none to keen on it.

A thicket of viburnum is in the process of being removed from an area that will soon be outfitted with a new and more appropriate landscape. Rather than merely removing and disposing of all of the viburnum, we are relocating it into other landscapes where it will be more useful as informal screening hedges. I would prefer to wait until autumn, but the new landscape is waiting.

For the informal screening hedges that we want, these viburnums will work splendidly. They will fit right into the unrefined and unlandscaped areas as if they belong there. Prettier species that I would prefer would be more conspicuous, and look like something that was planted. I know that these recycled plants will initially not be as uniform as nursery stock, but I do not care.

1. This thicket of viburnum has been here as long as anyone can remember. It gets cut down when it gets too high, and takes a few years to regenerate. A new landscape will be going in here.P90914

2. The biggest and gnarliest specimens get discarded. It would not be practical to salvage them. These mid-sized specimens with relatively compact root systems should be easily relocated.P90914+

3. They clean up nicely, with most of their foliage pruned away, and their long stems pruned back. Some of their roots get pruned to facilitate planting, and also to stimulate new root growth.P90914++

4. Once planted and soaked in, many of the relocated specimens seem to be comparable to what might have been purchased from a nursery. Even with the warm weather, wilting is minimal.P90914+++

5. With two more that are out of view beyond the right margin of this picture, these five make a nice hedge of seven newly relocated viburnum. They are nothing fancy, but should work well.P90914++++

6. This is the view that they are intended to obscure, featuring seven dumpsters and various utilitarian unpleasantries. That’s them in a neat row across the lower right corner of the picture.P90914+++++

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 · 18 Comments

Six on Saturday: White (but not) Trash

 

That is, of course, a matter of perspective. Some of us might find some of the six species represented here to be trashy. Some of us might find all six to be appealing. After a slight expression of disapproval of my insensitive designation of my six pictures as ‘White Trash’ last week, I considered that I should perhaps be more tactful with my opinions this week. Then, I got over it.

These six just happen to be rather innocuous, so I have nothing too objectionable to say about them. I am actually rather fond of them. The last comment about #5 refers to the 2-in-1 graft.

1. Oregano, Oringamum vulgare, is civilly naturalized in a few spots. I let it bloom because it is rather pretty. There are plenty of unbloomed stems for anyone who wants a bit of the foliage.P90907

2. Autumn sage, Salvia greggii, with white flowers, developed within a colony that was originally of the cultivar ‘Hot Lips’. The more typical flower is blurred in the upper right background.P90907+

3. Chilean jasmine, Mandevilla laxa, is a mildly fragrant mandevilla. The fragrance is barely perceptible here. I am impressed anyway. I do not expect any fragrance at all from a mandevilla.P90907++

4. Star jasmine, Trachelospermum jasminoides, is much more fragrant, especially in abundance. I know it is common, but I like it anyway, as much for the foliage as for the fragrant bloom.P90907+++

5. Rose, Rosa spp., seems to be the all too common floribunda cultivar, ‘Iceberg’. It is grafted together with what seems to be ‘Burgundy Iceberg’, onto standards (rose trees). 2-in-1 = tacky!P90907++++

6. Oleander, Nerium oleander, to many, is even tackier. I really like it. Besides, it does so well without irrigation in the rustic or unrefined landscapes. It might be the cultivar, ‘Sister Agnes’.P90907+++++

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 · 41 Comments

Six on Saturday: White Trash

 

This is getting close to the in-between time for annuals. Warm season annuals that bloomed through summer will soon be getting replaced with cool season annuals that will perform through winter. Of course, our seasons are neither as distinct nor as severe as they are elsewhere. Many annuals are actually perennial here. Some stay later than they should, just because they can.

Aging annuals and perennials can get somewhat trashy if they are not pruned back or replaced soon enough. Their replacements might not be very impressive until they get established and start to grow. So far, only a few violas have been installed here for autumn, and only because the petunias that were where they are now were getting tired prematurely. There will be more.

There is certainly much more color in the landscapes than what these pictures show. White just happens to be my favorite color.

1. Alyssum is supposed to be a cool season annual for spring or autumn. It does not like cold winter weather or warm summer weather. In our mild climate though, it does well in any season. In sunny spots, it self sows to replace itself before it gets old and deteriorates. This batch will eventually get removed, just so we can put something else here. It is prettier in sunnier spots.P90831

2. Dianthus, like alyssum, is supposed to be a cool season annual. It just does not succumb to the minor summer warmth here. Nor does it succumb to the mildly cool winter weather. It could grow as a short term perennial if we did not need to remove it to plants something else later. It also would perform better with better sun exposure. Here, bloom is not as full as it should be.P90831+

3. Viola is one of the cool season annuals that does not do well through summer here. Some survived from last spring, but they were not happy about it. A few of the many might survive and regenerate if we cut them back, but it is easier to plant something new. These white violas, as well as some comparable yellow ones, got planted early to replace prematurely fading petunias.P90831++

4. Petunia is a warm season annual that did well through most of the summer, but is now fading a bit early. Some have already been replaced with violas. Others probably should be. These are still mostly presentable, so can remain for now. If possible, it is better to not replace them with violas too early. Violas that grow too much before autumn can get floppy through winter.P90831+++

5. Phlox was not planted. A single plant grew in an already crowded bed of flashy annuals and perennials two springs ago. There were a few more last year, and even more this year. They all land in good situations, where they unobtrusively grow through spring, bloom in summer, and die back through autumn. They are warm season annuals, but are expected back next spring.P90831++++

6. Geranium, which are really pelargonium, are perennial here, rather than annual like they are in climates with cooler winters. They can be damaged or even killed by frost where they are more exposed, but this particular geranium is sheltered by an eave and trees. They will probably get cut back at the end of next winter, just to stimulate fresh new growth to replace the old.P90831+++++

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 · 15 Comments

Six on Saturday: The Shining

 

‘Shiners’ have nothing to do with Rudbeckia hirta, which is commonly known as ‘black eyed Susan’. (Why did rude Becky hurt Susan like that anyway?) Shiners are the wounds left from pruning significant limbs from their supporting limbs or main trunks. They shine most blatantly when fresh, and then fade in the weather.

The best shiners are those that will be compartmentalized (healed over) most efficiently. They should not be cut too deeply, or be left with stubs that interfere with compartmentalization. There is quite a bit of science to shiners.

1. This is a good example of a bad shiner. (I could have gotten a better picture of it, but thought that the sun shining from behind was appropriate to the topic.) This shiner was not made by pruning a limb away from a main trunk, but by pruning a main trunk away from a limb. The main trunk leans over so much that most of it needed to be removed to maintain minimal clearance over a driveway. The only two options were to prune it back the the limb on the left, or remove the entire tree. Because the shiner is wider than the remaining limb, which will become the main trunk, it will take several years to be compartmentalized. By that time, decay will have extended downward from the shiner into the main trunk below.P90824

2. Removal of a limb that was battering the topsides of delivery trucks left the shiner above and left of the center of the picture. The scar to the lower left of the shiner, and another scar farther the lower right, closer to the lower right corner of the picture, were caused by a single altercation with one truck that drove off the edge of the driveway. Since it is not really encroaching into the driveway, or interfering with minimal clearance, this particular damaged limb remains.P90824+

3. This is the thrashed limb that was removed from the limb in the #2 picture above. The freshest damage is still red. This limb had been up above minimal clearance for a few years before the supporting limb sagged with the weight of the growing canopy above. Damage to the trucks is more of a concern than the limbs, so it had to go.P90824++

4. This is another good example of a bad shiner. The main trunk to the right would not have been able to compartmentalize over the stub until it grew out past it, or the stub rotted and fell away. The stub was partly rotten, but also partly viable, with a small branch growing from it. The viable portion would have taken more time to rot away. The whole mess was cut away after this picture was taken; but the resulting shiner that I did not get pictures of has another problem. This picture shows how the stub wraps around the main trunk from behind. The bark compressed between the stub and the main trunk, which is known as ‘included bark’ or ‘bark inclusion’, will temporarily be in the way of compartmentalization of the shiner. Fortunately, the tree is young and vigorous enough to figure it all out.P90824+++

5. What looks like shark jaw bones without the teeth is the callus growth that once surrounded a well cut shiner. After the shiner was cut, and the tree started to compartmentalize over it, the tree died suddenly. As the trunk decayed, this dense callus growth that started to compartmentalize the shiner decayed slower. The uniformity of the callus growth shows how evenly the shiner was cut. I believe that the bottom of the shiner is to the left, but that could be backward. I can only say that the shiner is sideways in this picture.P90824++++

6. Coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia, is the only species in all five of the pictures above, and also provided the biscuits to the lower left and the upper right in this picture. ‘Biscuits’ are sometimes cut to adjust a shiner after the main part of a limb is pruned away, or perhaps to cut a stump slighter lower after a tree is cut down. I really do not remember why I saved the biscuit to the lower left, although I can remember the tree that it came from. The fresher one to the upper right is from the shiner in the first picture #1 above. I kept the Hollywood juniper biscuit to the upper left because I thought it would smell like the related Eastern red cedar (which is actually a juniper rather than a cedar) that cedar chests and closets are made with. The deteriorating biscuit to the lower right is from a very dead white fir that needed to be cut down. I kept it because I happen to be very fond of white firs, but so rarely see them here.P90824+++++

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 · 20 Comments

Six on Saturday: Out Of Africa

 

Lily-of-the-Nile was the first perennial that I divided and propagated on a substantial scale. Back when I was in the seventh grade, I was instructed to remove an overgrown specimen that was nearly a quarter of a century old. It was too tough, big and heavy to dig up intact, but relatively easy to dismantle and remove in smaller pieces. These smaller pieces were all too easy to split into individual rhizomes with single terminal shoots. These individual rhizomes were easily groomed and planted where I thought copies of the same lily-of-the-Nile would be nice. A few years later, these copies were big enough to be dug and divided into even more copies. Nearly four decades later, I am still growing a few copies.

Because it is so resilient and undemanding, lily-of-the-Nile is one of the most common perennials here. They bloom through summer, with their firework shaped blooms at their best in time or the Fourth of July. Now that they are finishing their long bloom season, the deteriorating flowers must be removed, by ‘deadheading’.

1. Lily-of-the-Nile, although common, really is a delightful perennial. I thought I was getting a good representative picture here, but can now see that the two lower blooms in the foreground are fasciated, so are more billowy than typical blooms are. Also, the sunlight at about noon was a bit too harsh for a good picture of the foliage.P90817

2. This very late blooming floral truss is how all the other blooms started out.P90817+

3. This one shows how they look at full bloom. It is only beginning to deteriorate.P90817++

4. As individual florets fall away, these maturing green seed capsuled remain. They slowly dry and turn tan before tossing their seed late in autumn or winter. Of course, they should get pruned out before they do so.P90817+++

5. Lily-of-the-Nile are very easy to work with, but snotty with this goo that flows from all cut floral stems and any damaged leaves. Ick!P90817++++

6. This is the pile of deadheaded bloom that got cut on Wednesday. More will be cut next Wednesday. Almost all typically finish within two weeks or so. However, they started a bit late this year, and are finishing more randomly than they normally do.P90817+++++

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/