Re: Fall Bloomers in a Berkeley, Ca. garden

david feix wrote:
> 
> Even though the days are getting shorter, the nights
> colder,(so far only down to 45F), and the rains have
> started, ( over 2" already, over 200% of normal), fall
> does not need to mean the end of the season for bloom.
>  As I wander through my own garden, dressed warmly in
> a sweater to keep warm, some of my fall favorites are
> just starting to bloom.  These are perhaps lesser
> known and grown than the typical fall/winter bloomers
> here in California, such as Camellia sasanqua,
> Hellebores, Flowering Quince, Cymbidiums, etc.

David
I read your list with interest, as some of the flowers were very
familiar
to me though others not grown here.
> 
> A large clump of Nerine bowdenii is  a dazzling > irridescent pink contrast to the green foliage all > around it, and the lavender pink towering Tree
> Dahlia/Dahlia imperialis is soon to join it. 

This nerine is a  long-time favourite here and comes up in quantity in
many old gardens. The tree Dahlia is also sometimes seen in our gardens,
but I have never had the urge to grow it myself as I don't find the
relatively small flower compared to the mighty length of stem
particularly appealing.

> Sedum spectabile and Schizostylis coccinea continue  with this same late summer/fall  pink theme, but have  both finished blooming for me in September. 

Sedum spectabile is very popular here and many different varieties are
grown, but for me Autumn Joy will always be the favourite. I have
recently also acquired an S.telephium variety with very interesting
darker purplish foliage and I look forward to seeing it flower next
Autumn. Schizostylis is grown here (under the common name of "winter
ixia") in several pink varieties as well as the original red, but the
finest plants I know and the ones which do the best are some garden
escapes growing in the rocks by our local small river. They have been
about the area for at least the last forty years and the first ones I
grew in my own garden were a few offsets from one of these wild clumps.
These were fairly average in appearence, being a rather pale red and
nothing outstanding in size, but when walking by the river during our
last autumn I came upon several clumps which seemed to me quite superior
both in flower colour and flower size. The colour was a most brilliant
red and the  size was equivalent to a plant I saw growing somewhere a
few years ago under the label of var major.

It seemed as though nature had been doing an interesting breeding job
all on her own and I gathered a couple of rooted shoots to bring home.
These have come through the winter well and I  have now planted them out
to see if they will perpetuate the good features they were showing in
the wild. Whether they will be well enough established to flower for me
next March remains to be seen.

> Amongst the blooming vines, the Mandevillea 'Alice > Dupont"' is still in full bloom as well, 
Alice is really beautiful, but while her white cousin is perfectly hardy
here my garden is to cold for this lady to survive out of doors, though
for some years she grew on the back wall of my (leanto) greenhouse.
> 
> In another part of the garden, the Thunbergia  grandiflora/Blue Sky Vine is heavy with its large  medium blue flowers twining amongst Senecio tamoides,
These are both rampant growers in the warmer  parts of the Bay Area, and
will bloom through > Christmas if located in a warm sheltered spot.

This is certainly where our two gardens part company, as I would never
even attmpt this beautiful vine, though I am sure it can be grown in
parts of our "Winterless North". The nearest I can get is the herbaceous
T. natalensis  which forms a summer clump about three feet high and
smothers itself in pale blue flowers which are quite charming but no
more a pale reflection of those of sky vine. Even this is not totally
hardy, but as I give it a bit of shelter under the house eves and it is
also totally winter-dormant it comes up reliably every spring.
> 
 Strelitzia  reginae which is also in full bloom. 
I have never grown this in my own garden which I think is a trifle
frosty for its comfort, but know it from other gardens in the area. 
Ironically, I originally met up with it in East Africa where it was only
possible to grow it successfully in the cool of the higher altitude
gardens.  

 Brugmansia 'Charles Grimaldi' and B. 'Frosty
> Pink' are both still in full bloom, and can continue
> year round if planted in a warm protected spot.  
Common around Auckland, Brugmansias can only be attempted around here
with some winter shelter.
> 
> The Brunfelsia pauciflora 'Floribunda' and B. p.
> macrantha 'Royal Robe' are both continuing to bloom,
> with waves of blue flowers.  Royal Robe is abit more
> difficult to keep blooming, as it demands heavy
> feeding to look good, but the true blue flowers which
> do not fade to white seem worth it to me. 

Possible here but only in a container so one can give winter protection.

 The various
> Abutilon hybrids have also been blooming all summer,
> and will continue through Christmas.  

The ordinary A. X hybridum vars are amazing here, as most years they
continue to flower all year round. They are a great source of emergency
rations for our bumble bees. Mine seed freely and many of the seedlings
are in most attractive and unusual colours from pale primrose to a deep
mahogany..
> 
> The Tibouchina heteromalla put on a very good show,
> with deep purple flowers and large silvery foliage,

T arvilleana is the only one normally attempted around here, but it is
on the borderline of heardiness in higher gardens like mine and hard to
keep in our winds because of its brittleness.
 
> Amongst the proteas in my garden, only the Protea
> 'Pink Ice', a hybrid, is blooming now.  This is so
> easy to grow here in the Bay Area, taking our
> frosts,(down to 25F), regular garden conditions and
> having almost year round  6 inch long blooms of a soft
> pink color.  Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset" is pushing
> new growth, and is absolutely glowing red when
> backlit.  The Leucospermum cordifolium hybrids are in
> bud now, but won't bloom in my garden until spring.
> They also have proven to be less cold hardy for me.

I have grown a fair few Proteas in my time but some have succumbed to
problems particularly attacks of the Waratah scale which we, alas,  seem
to have inherited from Australia. The pride and joy of my collection is
however the immense old bush of P cynaroides, which I grew from seed
over 40 years ago. Even though half the bush fell off from becoming to
heavy some fiftenn years since, it has almost made up the loss in new
growth and still produces in the order of 50 of its spectacular blooms
yearly. Another which does well for me is the red-flowered P aristata
which is fairly common in cultivation but almost unknown in the wild.
When not in flower it mimics a pine tree so well I have caught a few
people out with it! I dont have room for leucodendrons a s

Because the garden is a bit borderline in its minimum temps for most
Proteas, I have them situted on a high bank at the top of the garden
which because of the topography remains virtually frost-free and suits
them well also with its sunny windy aspect and very free drainage. They
grow among rocks and receive no feeding whatever.

  Ipheion  uniflorum is also likely to start blooming in  November. 

I have a log bed bordered with a wide band of Ipheon in the pretty blue
Wisley variety. I also ahve a clump of 'Froyle Mill', but find its
larger sized flower rather ungainly and it is not a good bloomer. My
Ipheons rarely bloom much before early spring however.

 My Veltheimia bracteata are in bud, and I
> look forward to their salmon pink/apricot bloom
> starting in November. (These also keep better if
> sheltered from heavy rains).

I have a big pot of Veltheimia which is normally most reliable.
Unfortunately I forgot to bring this under cover last autumn and it got
frosted alas, so only was leftr with about half of each leaf and one
very attenuated infloresence. However it has still managed to grow
good-sized bulbs and I will be more careful of it next time you can be
sure.
> 
Moira
-- 
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata (near Wellington, capital city of New Zealand)
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