Re: Winter Flowerers
- Subject: Re: Winter Flowerers
- From: d* f*
- Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2001 11:42:52 -0800 (PST)
--- Einionygarddwr@aol.com wrote:
> I'm afraid that here on the north-east tip of the
> Welsh coast actual flowers
> are a brave (not to say foolhardy) few, sandwiched
> between autumn stragglers
> and promises for spring.
For the lack of things brave enough to bloom, it
sounds like quite a few to pull one out to brave the
cold. You might try the Gordonia in your area, it did
survive down to 24F/-5C in my garden, and perhaps down
to 18F/-8C at the UC Berkeley Botanic Garden up the
hill, so might actually be a suitable wall plant for
you, much like Fremontodendron. Leaves were only
mildly burnt in my garden in the December 1990 arctic
blast. As it blooms October to February here, and the
flowers are fragile in wind and rain, it probably
wouldn't look its best. We are fortunate that we
usually get a couple day's reprieve with rain, enough
to see some of the flowers between storms. I imagine
it looks much better in rainless Hong Kong at this
season, where I first saw it growing wild. The very
large tree at Berkeley, 30' x 30', is on a hot dry
slope; my small compact shrub, 5' x 6' across after 10
years, and kept small by pruning, looks like it would
never get that large.
Plectranthus zuluensis is also still blooming outdoors
here where less subject to rain. It was showier in
late fall, but again coming from a winter dry area in
South Africa, it does amazingly well in our wet
winters. The Libbertia grandiflora also gets weedy
here, and has probably been removed from many gardens
because it gets too large. I would suspect that the
ease of growth does make some people like it less over
time, mine lasted 2 years. I find myself feeling the
same way about Aristea ecklonii, but the blue flowers
are beautiful. L. peregrinans is much better
behaved, but dies out in too much shade here, the
general condition of my rear south facing garden in
winter. Being surrounded by a 20 foot tall hedge of
Pittosporum tenuifolium does block abit of winter sun,
but sure helps visually screen the adjoining 2 story
buildings. The effect creates a giant courtyard
garden, open only on the west side facing San
Francisco Bay a mile away. My garden does seem to stay
milder than the surroundings, less frosty than
friend's gardens even closer to the bay. Works out
fine for plants which don't mind winter temps down to
high 30'sF, but not enough heat or sun for many winter
blooming things, like Eranthemum pulchellum or
Odontonema stricta. This may be part of the reason I
can successfully grow so many tender things, just as I
think the several layers of tall shrub/tree canopy
help protect those at ground level. I have many of my
most tender things beneath the dense canopy of
Pittosporum undulatum trees, which I suspect keeps it
above 40F most of the time. It suits the 6 or so
species of tender epiphytic Rhipsalis well, many are
also in full bloom, several feet long, the white
flowers a perfect compliment to the fragrant
Victorian Box.
While we are wishing for warmer weather, it is nice to
remember the week before Christmas, down at the tip of
Baja California. Abit different from northern
California, with the warm breezes and fresh blooms on
tropicals such as Traveller's Palms/Ravenala
madagascariensis and Strelitzia nicolai,
Frangipanni/Plumeria, and Gardenias in bloom around
the hotel gardens in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California.
Another spectacular palm enjoying this location along
the Tropic of Cancer was Bismarckia nobilis. Even
fairly young palms were full of ripe fruit, along with
the huge blue fan shaped leaves, a nice contrast to
the Coconut Palms and Mexican Fan Palms everywhere.
It is pleasant to daydream of living somewhere warm
enough to grow these things. The dwarf Heliconia
psittacorum in bloom within the brilliantly sunny
airport terminal were a nice going away visual image.
The Red Coral Vine, Antigonon leptotus, native to
Baja, was one of the most spectacular natives in
bloom, covering acres of ground or climbing up into
Cacti. The surrounding Sonoran Desert vegetation was
looking particularly lush after the extremely heavy
rains of the hurricane they had in September, and the
desert looked green across the distant mountains.
Coming back to Berkeley on Christmas Eve, to see some
of the warmer growers here still struggling to bloom
where they get enough sun, but no flowers in full
winter shade. Things like Duranta stenostachya are
still in bloom, but not nearly as showy in the rain
and cold, and still pushing new buds, but hassn't set
much of the orange berries it is known for. My
Schefflera pueckleri(old Tupidanthus calyptratus),
have finally opened almost 2 year old flower buds, and
it's a more subtle version of Fatsia japonica, glowing
soft white right at the trunks, below the leaves.
Since the trees are now 15 feet tall, this puts the
flowers right at eye level.
One of my favorite color combinations right now,
(memories of desert sunsets here), is the succulent
Sticks on Fire Euphorbia tirucallii, with its orange
stems against the pale orange flowers of Kalanchoe
tubiflora/Mother of Millions, with its metallic purple
sheen over silver gray buds. These would both be
rotting from too much rain if not under a glass roof
just outside my kitchen door. Both do just fine in
the open out closer to the ocean in San Francisco,
with sandier soils and usually much less rain. I wish
I had more room to bring other cacti and succulents
under cover, as I no doubt will lose many things to
rot this winter, no drought here. The Graptopetalum
amethystinum is already dropping leaves, while the
much tougher G. paraguayense is unfazed by all the
rain. Echeveria imbricata has rotted out already
where the soil is too heavy clay. Only serves to
remind me that many of these are usually growing
epiphytically on rocks or trees in Mexico, and cold
wet clay soil doesn't suit them. I find it amazing
that most of my Echeveria species are tolerant of
being planted out in the garden with the clay soils
here, after seeing how they grow in Mexico!
Wishing everyone a great 2002, and beautiful gardens!
David Feix
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