This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

some ramblings about my garden

Well, as I've just checking into my e-mail from this group, and find
that it's been so quiet, I'll just indulge in a little rambling of
my own (you've been warned!) . . .

Here in California, we're finally getting into the rains - fall
lingered far too long and was very hot and stifling.  Even still,
its a bit hard to suddenly change to wet and cool!  Oh well, no use
complaining about the weather!

In my own garden, the Tecomarias have been blooming longer into the
year's end due to the heat, but they now seem to be starting to
'fizzle out'.  We've enjoyed the two color forms in the garden (a
melon orange and the clear yellow dwarf/sprawler) as well as a new
one I have yet to plant - called T. capensis 'Buff Gold', which is
perhaps not very descriptive of the salmon orange flowers tinged
with some purplish/bronzy tints.  This will go well with a Phormium
('Maori Queen', I think) centerpiece near a favorite bench.
Locally, there is also the fiery red-orange color form, but I know
of no others in the trade currently.  If anyone out there knows how
to sprout seeds of Tecomaria capensis, perhaps I'd be able to
'discover' a few more.  A South African expatriot I know says these
plants come in all range of colors in his native land.  I was
pleased to see a small specimen planted in the spring (wrong time, I
know) just now coming back from the dead at my 'dry garden' planting
at the kid's school - it'll make a nice addition there.  I hope to
also establish the dwarf yellow there in the next weeks.

My large Salvia fulgens is finally come out of sulking with the
advent of cooler weather, and is now dressing itself in its bright
red flowers, much to the delight of our local hummingbird.  As many
of the other sages are now going out of flower, there is welcome
nectar to be had on 'big red'.  Always in full bloom during our Xmas
season, I can always count on this guy for a holiday show.  Right
now, I have some of it flowers in my office, combined with Cestrum
parqui (yellow), Carex bacans (spikes of reddish, millet-like
seeds), Cuphea micropetala (large tubular, yellow/orange/green
flowers), and a ripe pod from Iris foetidissima (split open to
reveal the large red-orange seeds).  All of these have lasted the
week well, and look like they'll still be going strong for a while.

Espaliered Abutilon 'Seashell' is reviving and putting on its
charming bells of peach/salmon (with an interesting lavender tint!)
even though its 'wall-mate', Humulus lupulus 'Aureus' is about done
in for the year.  But the copious amounts of copper brown hop fruits
are still quite showy.  Late next spring, we'll get to see where
this thug will emerge (always a bit different), and we'll ruthlessly
pull out all but the few that will be appropriate for this part of
the garden.  He's being replaced for the winter by the delicate
Asapargus asparagoides, or Baby Smilax, whose bright green, shiny
leaves are quite uncharacteristic of other Asparagus ferns.  These
are from seeds I planted in spring, and as most seemed to have
germinated, I'll need to do some thining.

A verbascum brought back from our campground on the Eel River (4-5
hours north of here) has flourish hugely in the front garden,
causing my wife to have second thoughts about its placement.  I
think its leafy rosette nicely anchors the curving brick wall we
constructed, and I may be 'allowed' to let it remain until flowering
this spring.  In this new area, Verbena bonariensis is growing well,
as is a native Stachy sp., from seed collected on another camping
trip.  Oxalis pes-capraea is also coming on fully!  :-(  My first
Echium pininnana is growing well, backed by Lepechina hastata, just
going out of bloom.  A muddle of other perennials is begging to be
sorted out when I have time (hah!), but Salvia chiapensis is
blooming freely in spite of this.

The Agave angustifolia variegata, planted too close the the stairs,
is threatening my neighbors daily.  It is quite strikingly
beautiful, but don't fall in that direction!  I think it may bloom
this spring - its certainly large enough!  Too big to move at this
point without severe damage to plant and gardener, I hope we can
endure it long enough to see the massive spike of flowers.  I
already have offsets I've been diligently pulling away from the
base, but I'd really like to see this spectacle!  (I'm also trying
to gather photos for a talk on Agaves I've been asking to give next
year).  The Leonotis leonorus 'Harrismith White' planted next to it
is a dissapointment (flowers are creamy white but age quickly to a
dirty brown and hang on), but still interesting.  I think I'll
transplant it down to the succulent garden by Lake Merritt when I
plant the A. angustifolia variegatas there.

The semi-succulent Senecio angulatus (I think) vine is rapidly
taking over the tall Cotoneaster bushes I hate, rejoicing its
victory with clusters of bright yellow tiny daisies.  This plant
seem to grow on nothing but air, sending long, pencil-thick stems
into the Cotoneaster canopy, popping out the top where its rich
green succulent, scalloped leaves are more attrative than the
host's.  I can't wait to see how much it'll have covered next fall,
when flower begins again!

Haven't had much time to be out in the garden to report on more -
its been too wet and always dark when I arrive home from work.  But
I'm sure stuff is going on out there . . .

 Sean A. O'Hara                     sean.ohara@ucop.edu
 710 Jean Street                    (510) 987-0577
 Oakland, California 94610-1459     h o r t u l u s   a p t u s
 U.S.A.                             'a garden suited to its purpose'
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index