Two September Blooms

Anna Apple - it seems odd for a few apple blossoms to appear in mid-September after an oppressive three week heat wave? Surprising as it may be, here they are - how many shopping days until Christmas?



....and David Austin "Mary Rose"

Gigantic Cumulus Clouds

Veering off the topic of gardening, an unusually massive, majestic cumulonimbus cloud - and based on a little research, probably a calvus-type cumulonimbus - formed just east of my neighborhood, probably east of the crest line of the Santa Ana Mountains. The weather has been unusually hot - in the high 90's - for over a week, with building humidity. This was one of the larger, higher altitude thunderheads that I've seen in years so close to home. Incoming jetliners on approach to John Wayne Airport were definitely diverting around this cell, in an unorthodox landing pattern. Interestingly, it completely disappated within two hours of taking this photo.


Additionally, very large Pyrocumulus clouds have been forming over the immense Station Fire in the San Gabriel Mountains. A pyrocumulus cloud is essentially a very unstable, violent thunderhead that forms as super heated air and convection from wildfires or volcanic eruption rises, collecting moisture and blooming as it hits colder air. The term Ppyrocumulus also applies to the so-called "mushroom cloud" formed by atmospheric nuclear detonation. This photo (copied from wikipedia), shows the pyrocumulus from the Station Fire towering over downtown L.A.



At one point on September 2nd, I'd estimate the top of the pyrocumulus was well over 20,000 feet - it was incredible, dwarfing the 10,000 foot summit of Mt. San Antonio to the south. Evidently, these pyrocumulus clouds can form rain heavy enough to douse the flames that are feeding it, however in the instance of the Station Fire, the fire was much too large for this to have occurred. Another weird fact is that a pyrocumulus cloud can contain such violent weather that temperatures within upper pockets of the cloud can plummet well below freezing, despite the scorching heat that produces the cloud in the first place.

A Bushel of Sticks on Fire

I just received this free bounty of large (up to about 4 feet tall) Euphorbia tirucalli cuttings from my sister, who is re-thinking and thinning some of the plantings in her own fabulous garden.



My intent is to re-shape these cuttings into numerous shorter, less columnar plants (while being careful with their milky sap, which is a skin irritant) and re-planting in a yet-to-be determined location(s). If you've seen Sticks on Fire at the nursery, especially Roger's Gardens, you know that good-sized specimens like this are pretty expensive - I'm guessing this photo is close to $100.00 retail worth of plants.

In fact, one of my own Sticks on Fire is ready to be "pruned" of a large cutting itself, thus supplying me with even more to re-plant. Pictures of the results will be posted at a later date.

August Bloom Day + 2

After a relaxing week traveling up the coast to Pismo Beach, its time for a mid-August garden update. The roses got active again while we were gone, and one of my favorites, Jardin de Bagatelles is in fine form, while Fame is getting ready to really show off as well.







We went kayaking at Avila Beach, and our guide explained that giant kelp grows up to 15 inches a day. The only thing that seemingly grows faster than giant kelp is an Italian Squash, as this beast appeared out of nowhere while we were gone.
























Eyelash Sage, s. blepharophylla, is blooming again. Hummingbirds flock to this blossom.

....while Andean Sage, s. discolor, continues to please with easily the best looking foliage of any salvia in my garden. I have this positioned in nearly full shade under a large juniper tree, and it thrives. In spring, Andean Sage produces multiple bracts of deep indigo, nearly black flowers that are very unusual. Highly recommended!!


Finally, how about a subtle blaze of August color from Sticks on Fire, euphorbia tirucalli, tucked among the lavender and rosemary

Problems With Ptilotus

Early this past spring, I purchased three containers of a cool looking plant at M&M Nursery, ptilotus, or Wallaby Tail, as they were labeled. I soon learned that quite a buzz was building within the western gardening community regarding this native Australian species, now finding its way into our local nurseries.

Well, several months later, I'd have to say I'm not too impressed - either that or these ptilotus (ptiloti?) are none too impressed with my gardening skills. My ptilotus looked great up until mid-June, then as you can see from the photo they all started pooping out, as this one, like a spent annual. The plant is advertised as being very drought tolerant, and mine are positioned near other drought tolerant plants that continuously thrive. I did a little research, and found that there are several varieties of ptilotus, and I'm thinking that the three I purchased were mis-labeled and may actually be the Joey variety, which is indeed an annual, not the perennial Wallaby Tail or Platinum Wallaby.



Regardless, why would they all start to die-off in mid-summer if they were annuals? It would make more sense if they croaked as the weather chilled. There's the issue of alkaline versus acidic soil tolerance, as discussed by Sunset, between the two varieties - I honestly don't know the makeup of my soil. However, I did see several specimens at Roger's Gardens a couple weeks ago that looked great, with bright green, rubbery foliage and leaves at least double the size of mine - possibly these were truly the preferable Platinum Wallaby sub-species.

Anyways, my current thoughts are that I'll probably abandon efforts to cultivate the popular ptilotus in the future, unless anyone has any suggestions as to what I may be doing wrong.

The Living Roof

If you have not seen it yet, a must see on your next trip to San Francisco is the new California Academy of Sciences, of which The Living Roof is a highlight for any gardener. The Living Roof is exactly that - the entire undulating roof of the Renzo Piano building is covered by a massive carpet of California natives. Evidently about 30 native species were tested for their hardiness to Golden Gate Park's Zone 17 climate, and 9 finalists were selected - 4 perennials and 5 annuals. The Living Roof relies solely on rainfall and fog for water. The perennials include Sedum, a native Armeria or Sea Thrift, a native strawberry and prunella vulgaris which appears to dominate. California Poppy, Goldfield and a native Lupine are among the annuals that grow on the roof. There is the occasional odd ball "alien" species, carried in by birds.

If the same Living Roof were to be developed on top of some structure here in Zone 23, I'm curious how the 9 finalists might differ from those thriving in Golden Gate Park?

Another interesting plant I saw in Golden Gate Park was a simply massive Mexican Bush Sage (s. leucantha) that was at least 8 - 10 feet tall.

June Gloom Happenings

June Gloom as its called in coastal Southern California is in full effect, with daytime temps below 70 and persistent marine-influenced cloud cover.  The garden has slowed down a bit because of the weather, but there's a few things of note. The first tomatoes are ripening, including Sungold, a prolific cherry-sized that is perfect for salads.  The popular new Australian native ptilotus, or "Wallaby Tail" sure looks nice intermingling with the yellow blooms of Santolina.  The "formal" rose garden is in between major bloom cycles, but still looks pretty nice.  My "tomato and basil"garden is just behind the rose garden, enclosed by a boxwood hedge.  Finally, the Rose "Guy De Maupassant" is in great form right now.

Miniature Gardening

I'm developing a new "area of interest" relative to gardening - "Miniature Gardening!"  The excellent M&M Nursery in Orange CA has built a pretty nice business it seems specializing in plants and decorations for what they call "fairy gardens."  These fairy gardens are mini landscapes created in pots, saucers and larger containers and planters that are complete with tiny trees, hedges, pathways, arbors, fountains and even "fairy" figures (think "Tinkerbelle")  I've always admired these demonstration gardens at M&M, and I've always badgered my family jokingly that the "Storybook Land Boats" is my favorite ride at Disneyland because of the mini gardens.

So I finally decided to create one of these mini landscapes, and I'm quite pleased with the results.  As you can see my first effort has a Japanese quality to it, what with the bonsai evergreen.  And yes, that is indeed a micro-sized koi pond no larger than three inches in length!  

Since my younger son seems to likes these mini gardens as well, I can see how this might turn into an expensive little pastime as we start creating more elaborate landscapes over the summer.     

Can anyone identify this plant?

I purchased the plant pictured here several years ago, in two four inch pots.  I have it planted in a partially sunny border that gets regular water.  As you can see it has spread beautifully.  In about 4 weeks, it will be completely covered in those small snap dragon-like flowers.  The flowers have a little "mouth" you can pull open and closed, like a snap dragon.  The foliage is small, delicate, lush and is shaped similarly to oregano - no serrations on the leaves.  Again, the pictures really do not portray how great this looks when in full bloom.  In winter, it really dies back, but every spring comes back strong.  Next to the nasturtium and the pencil, you can get an idea of the scale.  (not a bad looking border either, I must say, huh?) 

It really is one of my favorites, and I'd buy lots more for many other areas, but it was not labeled when I bought it, and I have never noticed it at the nurseries I usually shop.  Any ideas?

Austin Flowers

Being a bit of an anglophile, I like The Cotswolds, Elgar, Britten, Benny Hill and E.M. Forster, and I also tend to a number of David Austin Roses, and they're blooming now:

From top to bottom ~

The Pilgrim, a great climber

Abraham Darby

Graham Thomas

The Dark Lady - unbelievable fragrance

Dichroa febrifuga

I have no luck growing basic Hydrangea macrophylla, however I have had nice success with a hydrangea relative that is native to Nepal!  Here is Dichroa febrifuga, also called Blue Evergreen Hydrangea.  I found this plant several years ago at The Orangery, a short-lived nursery that occupied the outdoor space adjacent to the sorely-missed Denman's in Old Town Orange.  I can't say I've seen it anywhere else.  The specimen is not even listed in my 40th anniversary, 1995 version of Sunset Garden Book.

I'm wondering, has it been added into recent editions?

Indeed, it is native to Nepal and southeast China, and the plant is evidently used as a natural remedy for reducing fever.  The plant has many of the characteristics of common hydrangea, and mine could actually use a little shaping up as you can see,  but as is, it has a very pleasing, California native look to me.  I can imagine this plant looking right at home growing wild in some shady redwood grove somewhere in Big Sur.

My specimen is planted in a shady, naturally mulched area underneath the spreading boughs of a good-sized Juniper tree.  The area stays pretty moist.  Evidently the blueness of the blooms can be manipulated by adjusting soil PH, but I do nothing of the sort.  According to San Marcos Growers, this plant can reach 4-6 feet in height, but mine is no taller than 3 feet.

I'm going to assume this plant will thrive in any garden up and down the California coast.  Highly recommended.

Apple Thinning

As discussed in a previous post, its shaping up to be a banner year for my dwarf apple trees Anna and Dorsett Golden.  The bottom photo shows a typical bough completely over-laden with fruit.  It does not seem reasonable to me that these trees, both barely five feet tall, can possibly support so many apples to ripeness.  So, I just thinned the fruit pretty drastically on both trees to a level as seen in the first two photos.  The thinning amounted to dozens of discards, but there are dozens that remain.  My plan this season is to provide a bit more water than previous years, probably something like an additional single deep watering once a week, to see how large I can get these select fruit to mature.  

The Alstroemeria Meadow

Although Sunset recommends they be grown in full sun, I have a "meadow" of alstroemeria planted in a very shady area that has been quite successful over the years.  The meadow is a riotous mish-mash of five different varieties of alstroemeria, with some errant blackberry vines, nasturtium and Japanese artemisia all forming this cool, wild looking meadow.  I don't do much of anything to tend to this area, other than pull the spent flower stalks.  It does get regular surface watering from the sprinklers as soon as the weather warms up.  I try to never let the top soil get dry during warm/hot weather.  This plot looks pretty sad during the winter, as the alstroemeria and artemisia both die off more or less to the roots.  However, come spring everything sprouts up and looks great.

Although I never noted which varieties I planted, I believe two of them are Peruvian Lily - or alstroemeria aurea, which I purchased at Green Scene a few years back.  These two varieties will have flower stalks well over three feet tall as we move closer to summer. 

  

Lavender Care

Lavender is of course a common favorite here in Zone 23.  I grow a pretty fair amount of it, mostly varieties of English and French and some Spanish.  For those who grow Lavender, you know that English varieties it seems in particular can get overgrown, leggy and downright ugly after a few years, even with trimming.  My typical response to this has been to remove these overgrown specimens, roots and all, and replace them with a fresh 1 gallon plant.  

I have a border garden of lavender, rosemary and iceberg roses along our front split rail fence (cited recently by a famous local entomologist as an area of high spittlebug incidence) that was getting unruly this fall.  I cut back several English Lavender all the way to the ground.  Too tired to try to remove the roots, I just left them in the ground. Well, look at them now.  This photo shows one of several new plants that have sprung from those roots, forming shapely, good-sized shrubs much quicker than would have been the case if I had replaced them.  Now I know.   

Gardening Music

There's been a number of " list your favorite plants" posts recently on various gardening blogs, like Sunset magazines'.  How about a list of "great tunes to garden by"  - music to crank up on the outdoor speakers while you garden?  Some of my suggestions, in no particular order:

Sun Giant/Drops in The River - Fleet Foxes (in reality, any and all songs by Fleet Foxes)

Homegrown - Neil Young

Bluebird - Buffalo Springfield

Merriweather Post Pavillion - Animal Collective (play the entire album, absolutely genius)

Good Day Sunshine - The Beatles

Three Little Birds - Bob Marley

Succulent Flower

Here's a new arrival, yet to be planted.  It is calandrinia spectabilis, a succulent that is native to Chile.  This is going to be a good one, as I've read nothing but raves about this plant.  Evidently it blooms endlessly from early Spring through Fall, and the flowers, as you can see, are just an awesome, glowing purple hue.  I should expect this plant to grow up to 12 - 16 inches tall and maybe up to 3 feet wide.

Yippeee Ya Yaaayyyy Mini Saguaro Cactus!

.....actually, its euphorbia leucodendron, discovered and purchased at Target of all places.  But it does look like a grove of mini Saguaro Cacti.  All I need to do now is get myself some of those little cows the size of schnauzers.  UDATE 5/19/09 - Upon further research, I have found that this Euphorbia, also called Yellow Leaf Bush Euphorbia grows to 10 - 13 feet (not so mini after all) and is native to Madagascar.  Since this photo was taken, my specimen has sprouted small yellow flowers on top of each stalk. 

Environmentally Irresponsible

Even though the editors of Sunset Magazine would give it a resounding thumbs down, we've got a BIG back lawn, and right now, with our mid-spring heat wave, its real green and real plush.  This velvety back lawn covers more square footage than the footprint of our entire house.  Sure - these lawns guzzle California's precious water resources, but, have you ever tried playing bocce or croquet on one of those drought resistant fescue, cacti, succulent lawn-substitutes?

In The Flowers

Erigeron karvinskianus, Santa Barbara Daisy, is a classic staple for southern California gardens. Definitely common , but it's popular for good reason.  Its one of my absolute favorites - completely epitomizes southern California gardening.  The handsome little mounded plant seen here started a few years back as a tiny plug from a pony-pack.     

Orange Blossom

This beauty is the climber rose Polka, blazing against the southern California sky on the last day of March.