Posted on by tonytomeo · 11 Comments

Tropical Plants Far From Home

P80811+++++Plants can inhabit nearly every climate on Earth. They live in hot and dry deserts, cold arctic regions, rainforests and just about everywhere in between. Plants seem to have it all figured out. Some even know how to live in our homes as houseplants, although they probably did not plan it that way. Most houseplants are tropical plants that are naturally endemic to tropical ecosystems.

It is actually their tropical heritage that makes them more comfortable in our homes. Tropical climates tend to be conducive to proliferation of all kinds of plants. Those that want to live there must be competitive. Trees compete by growing faster and taller than other trees. Vines compete by climbing the trees. Understory plants that live under taller plants compete by needing less sunlight.

It is these understory plants that do not mind the shade of our homes. Even those that like bright ambient light might never expect to get direct sun exposure. The various ficus trees that might naturally grow tall enough to reach the top of a forest canopy in the wild are still understory plants while young. Because they know how to use resources efficiently, tropical plants do well in pots.

However, these advantages are not so useful out in the garden. Tolerance to partial shade also means that some tropical understory plants need to be sheltered. If too exposed, foliage can get roasted by sunlight or arid wind. (Most tropical climates are more humid than local climates are.) Complaisant roots do not disperse well enough to sustain lush foliage without regular watering.

Ironically, roots of the various ficus trees are very aggressive because they to not disperse deeply, but instead spread out at the surface of the soil where they grow into exposed root buttresses.

The most familiar weakness of tropical plants is their susceptibility to frost. Even though it does not get very cold here, it gets cool enough in winter to offend plants that would never experience cool weather in the wild. Actual frost can severely damage foliage, and can even kill some tropical plants.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 3 Comments

Another Bad Picture

P90330KKThis is why one should not ask someone else who is very vain to take a picture of something important. The vain only take good selfies. Others subjects are too unimportant to them to bother getting a good picture of.

Fortunately, I did not ask for this picture. Brent, my colleague in Southern California, sent it to me with all those other pictures that I shared this morning, and the rest of the pictures that I intend to share next Saturday. I think he wanted to show off his magnolia. I do not remember what cultivar it is, or even what species. I though there was a Magnolia soulangeana in this spot, but these flowers do not look right for that.

I think this picture shows off the plumerias better. Brent probably did not think of that because he does not understand how impressive these specimens are to those of who can not grow them, even while these specimens are bare. I would like to grow some here, but it gets a bit too cool for them in winter. They are very sensitive to even mild frost.

Some of us know plumeria as frangipani. There are quite a few different cultivars that are indistinguishable while bare in this picture. Some stay quite small. My favorite white flowered cultivar is very tall but lanky, with only a few branches. The biggest specimen is the most common, with large trusses of small but very fragrant white flowers with yellow centers. Most bloom with a few colors swirled together. A few are more uniform hues of light pink, bright pink, red, pastel orange and buttery yellow.

I have pruned these specimens a few times. The pruning debris gets plugged as cuttings of various sizes. They grow into copies of the originals that get used in landscapes that Brent designs.

Brent’s other pictures, as well as a brief explanation of the severity of his extreme vanity, can be found at: https://tonytomeo.com/2019/03/30/six-on-saturday-vanity/ and https://tonytomeo.com/2019/03/30/six-on-saturday-vanity-ii/ .

Posted on by tonytomeo · 6 Comments

Potted Plants Have Their Place

30918thumbPavement serves a purpose in a landscape. So does decking. They are the flooring of the outdoor spaces that are used for outdoor living. Patios and decks are where we barbecue and dine. Walkways and porches are how we get around the exteriors of our homes. Driveways are where we park cars. For what they get used for, they are better than turf grass, ground cover or bare soil.

So why is it so trendy to clutter pavement and decking with potted plants that would really prefer to be in the ground? It would be more practical to pave less area, and leave more space to plant things in the ground. There would be no damp pots staining concrete or rotting decking. There would be less area to rake or blow, with fewer obstacles in the way. Watering would be much easier.

Well, as it turns out, there are a few plants that should be potted. Houseplants are the most obvious. After all, not many homes have exposed soil where houseplants can be grown on the inside. Even if they did, it is still easier to keep houseplants potted for portability. Plants such as orchids and Christmas cactus, can live in the garden most of the time, and then come in while blooming. Portability is also important for tropical plants that need protection from even mild frost. It might be easier to move them than to cover them.

There are also a few plants that are contained because they are invasive. Mint and horseradish are culinary plants that are so famously invasive that not many of us would bother growing them if they were not so much better fresh from the garden than purchased from elsewhere. Rather than allow them to escape, mint is popularly potted, and horseradish is commonly grown in deep tubs.

Container gardening and growing plants in pots is something that we do for out own convenience, or just because it looks good cluttering otherwise useful parts of the landscape. With only a few exceptions, plants prefer to be in the ground, where they can disperse their roots as extensively as they like. They are healthier, and need less attention. To them, container gardening is unnatural.

Posted on by tonytomeo

Indian Laurel

61019It is hard to believe that such a delightfully robust and luxuriant tree like the Indian laurel, Ficus microcarpa nitida, can be so problematic. It looks so perfect, with lustrous evergreen foliage, like something that would be seen on Sesame Street. The broad and dense canopy is very symmetrical and neat. The stout trunk and limbs, outfitted with whitish gray bark, are bold and sculptural.

The problem is that the roots are so extremely aggressive. Buttressed roots elevate curbs, sidewalks and anything else that they can get under. Fibrous roots clog drainage, and strangle roots of more complaisant plants. Indian laurel is a tree that really needs room to grow. The canopy can get wider than fifty feet, and roots will spread much farther if they want to. Fortunately, Indian laurel shorn as a hedge has less foliage, so does not need to disperse roots so extensively.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 14 Comments

Drunk Stick

P80516Seriously, I am not making this up. ‘Drunk Stick’ is what the Spanish name of ‘palo borracho’ translates into. It is one of the few common names of the tree I know only as floss silk tree, Chorisia speciosa or Ceiba speciosa. Yes, it sounds crazy, but not as crazy as what the trunk and limbs looks like. One can speculate why it is known as ‘drunk stick’. I am not certain that I want to know.

The trunk in the picture is that of a small tree still in a #5 can. Larger trunks are no better. They are fat and green, and outfitted with these weird conical thorns. The thorns are not too terribly sharp like those of hawthorns or cacti, but they are terribly stout. Seriously! They are like made of wood! As the green trunk grows, it becomes distended, but only makes more thorns to cover the expanding surface of the bark. Even large trees are covered with these horrid things! Only the smallest limbs lack them, and even they have smaller versions. Drunk stick might be endemic to Bedrock, but Bamm-Bamm Rubble would not build his treehouse in one.

Why on Earth would anyone want this aberration of nature in the garden?! Well, it is interesting. After all, it got your attention. Several were planted as street trees in the medians of Santa Monica Boulevard through West Hollywood, to show off their weird trunks. On top of that, over the exteriors of their low and broad canopies, their fluorescent pink bloom matches their lime green trunks about as well as socks that Valley Girls (from the Santa Clara Valley of course) wore in the 1980s. Neither inebriation nor intimidation with a thorny stick is necessary to appreciate the uniqueness of the drunk stick.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 25 Comments

Houseplants Might Enjoy Some Weather

80404thumbThey were not always houseplants. They came from somewhere else. Most came from shady tropical forests, which is why they have such big dark green leaves, and are so tolerant of shady home interiors. They are pretty good sports about tolerating the domestic lifestyles that we subject them to, but they would really prefer to be thousands of miles away, growing wild back home.

Home interiors lack the sort of weather that the natural environments of houseplants get. The majority of houseplants would prefer rain, humidity, occasional breezes and perhaps more warmth. Some succulents may not miss the rain, but might crave heat and more sunlight. Regardless of what houseplants want, that can not get all of it in the comfort of our homes. They want to get out!

Unfortunately, that is not an option. Plants that have adapted to the relative darkness and protection from (shortwave or SUV) ultraviolet light in the home would roast if suddenly exposed to direct sunlight. (Windows block SUV light.) They would get battered by wind and damaged or killed by frost in winter. Those that become outdoor plants should be transitioned slowly and methodically.

However, there are a few times a year when the weather is not expected to get too cold, hot or windy, when houseplants can come out to the garden to get very lightly rinsed with a hose. Taking them out immediately prior to a light rain is even better. Rain is gentler and more sustained than a brief and coarse hose rinsing. Both techniques rinse away dust and residue from insect activity.

Rinsing does not eliminate mite, scale or mealybug infestations, but temporarily eliminates the residue from such infestations, and somewhat disrupts their activity. Mites prefer dusty plants to clean ones. While plant are outside, it would be a good time for any necessary repotting, or to apply horticultural oil to control mites or scale. Mineral deposits can also be scrubbed from saucers and the bottoms of pots. If hosed during sunny weather, houseplants should be shaded by a larger tree or awning.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 10 Comments

Mother In Law Tongue

61116What an unflattering name for such striking tropical foliage! The pointed and strap-shaped evergreen leaves of mother-in-law’s tongue, Sansevieria trifasciata, stand vertically, about two or three feet tall. They are rather rigid, and seem to be plastic with a glossy finish. Almost all modern varieties are variegated with silvery gray, white, cream or yellow stripes or banding. Dwarf varieties stay shorter, with flared foliage.

Because it tolerates shade and neglect so well, mother-in-law’s tongue has always been a popular houseplant. It is sometimes grown in pots outside where it can be sheltered from frost or direct sunlight that might roast the foliage. Pups can be divided from overgrown old plants, but will develop shorter leaves until they recover from separation. Crowded plants might get green sports (unvariegated mutant shoots).

Posted on by tonytomeo · 3 Comments

Even Houseplants Can Appreciate Rain

P71116Everyone is from somewhere. Not everyone is fortunate enough to be from California. Most of the various plants in our gardens, even if grown locally, are descendants of plants that were collected from all over the world. Most houseplants are from tropical regions. They perform well as houseplants primarily because they tolerate the sort of partial shade that they would get as understory plants in dense tropical forests.

Along with this advantage of tolerance to shade, tropical houseplants come with other disadvantages, such as an intolerance to frost. So, they are able to live inside the home, but are unable to live very long outside where winters are cool. Even areas of Southern California that do not get frosty can get cool enough to make many tropical houseplants uncomfortable. Consequently, they are confined to their homes.

That might seem to be acceptable to those who not think like plants do. Really, do houseplants even want to go outside? Maybe not. However, shelter from frost and cool weather also shelters them from other weather, such as wind and rain. Without wind and rain, any dust that collects on the foliage stays there. Mealybug and scale insects can proliferate and produce sticky honeydew, which also will not rinse away.

This is why some of us like to occasionally put our houseplants in a cool shower to rinse them off. It eliminates much of the dust, and clears out the stomata (respiratory pores). It does not kill mealybug or scale, but sets them back a bit, and rinses off the honeydew. Showering is also a good way to soak and rinse toxins from the soil. Only African violets, gloxinias and a few plants with fuzzy foliage should not be showered.

The only thing that works better than showering is rain. (Remember that wet stuff that starts to fall from the sky this time of year?) Rain is gentler, lasts longer than a shower, and is located outside where the mess of wet houseplants is not so bothersome. The only disadvantages of rain are that it can be cold, and is often accompanied by wind. A slight breeze would help agitate dirty foliage and dislodge dust, but strong gusts can knock houseplants over, and damage large leaves that are not adapted to any wind. Plants should be sheltered from both wind and direct sun exposure that might happen if the plants are not brought in before clouds clear after the rain.