Re: Winter Flowerers
- Subject: Re: Winter Flowerers
- From: y* g*
- Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2001 22:26:47 +0200
You lucky people with your blooming gardens! Here in the Cyclades, Greece,
it's a green oasis after the wettest, coldest month I ever wish to
experience. My seaside garden, despite high walls, has only carnations,
violas, pelargoniums, verbena, hibiscus, grevillea, salvia, rosemary,
lantana, jasmine, and narcissus tazetta in bloom at present. The latter were
one month later than last year. Haemanthus albiflos, ligularia and opuntia
have just finished. I have something iris-like in bud (the dog ate the
label). There are shoots of 30 different genera of spring bulbs already up
but according to last year's diary I have to wait until Jan 24th for the
first of them, lachenalia aloides "pearsonii" to flower. It's good to see
other people's lists. There'll definitely be some changes made next year to
avoid this hiatus.
Happy New Year
----- Original Message -----
From: "david feix" <davidfeix@yahoo.com>
To: <Einionygarddwr@aol.com>; <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
Sent: Sunday, December 30, 2001 9:42 PM
Subject: Re: Winter Flowerers
>
> --- 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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