some observations from my winter garden

Fellow gardeners - 

I sent the bit of text below to someone outside of the list and I
thought it might be of interest to all of you.  It comes in sort of
'mid-conversation', so take it for what it is . . .

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I have been similarly discouraged by the weather this winter, but I find
that I am encouraged as well.  Severe freezes are fairly routine in our
local climate, as they are in many similar mediterranean climates.  They
come with a delayed frequency which is uauslly just enough time to tempt
us into planting frost tender plants again since the last blow!  But many
of these 'tenders' grow fairly quickly or are easily re-established, so
we can get back to normal' in a year or two.  But there are many plants
which have been sailing through the bad weather pretty well and are now
starting to reward us with their success.  In my own garden, Westringia
'Wynyabbie Gem', a hybrid of W. fruticosa and W. erimicola, is sporting
its small lavender flowers sprinklerd throughout the rosemary-like
foliage; Euphorbia rigida (E. biglanulosa) bears bright chartreuse
bracted flower clusters atop it blue-grey stems clothed in large, scale-
like leaves, a nice compliment to a nearby Rosmarinus officinalis
'Joyce deBaggio' with its variegated chatreuse foliage and rich blue
flowers which are just starting to come on.  Salvia fulgens, though hit
pretty hard but the frosts, has enough stems that are still leafy and
blooming their large, true red flowers to make a show.  An Aechmea sp.
(a bromeliad) I've been experimenting with in the garden is surprizing
me with its red flower spikes and yellow flowers right now, over yellow
green rosettes which seem unfazed by the cold weather!  I just brought in
a bouquet of Roldana petasitis (formerly Senecio, an old-fashioned plant
once called 'California Geranium' because of the big, felty leaves of
similar shape to Pelargonium hortorum) to the office, the rich burgundy
flower cluster opening into bright yellow daisies which are well enjoyed
by my fellow workers.  All of this rambling in probably a far-too-long
way of saying the winter can be an exciting time in the garden here in
our mild climate, even when we are being hit hard by cold weather.  Now
is a good time to look around gardens to see what is doing well in spite
of the weather and think about 'filling the gap' in our gardens with a
few of these plants.  People tend to think only of spring gardens, even
here in our 'year-round' climate.  And the nurseries often aren't much
help in figuring this out, but many are changing.  My own garden, the
victum of multiple delays in clean-up and re-development over the last
couple of years (including an automobile accident in which I sustained
some injuries) still has enough 'umph' among the weeds and unpruned
growth to cause people to stop and remark (and even appreciate it).  All
because I chose as many plants as possible that have real impact on
more levels than just their seasonal flowers.  It is a soggy place like
all gardens right now, but because of all the winter growers, there is a
lot happening and little danger of soil erosion (its all on a slope).

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Sean A. O'Hara                       sean.ohara@poboxes.com
h o r t u l u s   a p t u s          710 Jean Street
'a garden suited to its purpose'     Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
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