Re: Dan Hinkley's lecture in Melbourne
Hello Susan,
Dan lectured here in southern Cal. at the arboretum last summer, so I
know whereof you speak when you say "inspirational"! We're lucky in that
we can mail order from his fine nursery and several plants in my garden
have come from Herronswood. However, we must be careful because much of
what he offers is just not suitable for our hot summers/dry soils.
Yucca filamentosa 'Variegata' is both adaptable and very beautiful, both
in a pot and in the garden. It never gets very big, but just produces
clusters of pups from the base of the original plant. Drought tolerant
and easy to grow; makes a good companion plant to mounding cistus,
lavenders, rosemary.
Common oregano (O. vulgare) can turn almost weedy in a garden situation,
if you're not watchful. There are other more attractive oreganos, such
as O. 'Hopley's Purple' and O. 'Santa Cruz Pink' for use as a dry garden
ground cover. Hybrids of Oreganum laevigatum, they both bloom in May,
then keep their lovely colored flower bracts throughout summer and fall.
Others, such as O. hybridum, O. rotundifolium and it's hybrids, 'Kent
Beauty' and 'Barbara Tingley' are valued for pot plants as well as
edging. They all make outstanding dried flowers. But planted in the
garden, you must keep your eye out for their traveling abilities.These
eastern Mediterranean natives are fairly available here in good
nurseries and mail order houses. I haven't seen seed.
But, the seed you can get is that of the sumptious Medit. native,
Cerinthe major 'Purpurescens'. Available from Thompson and Morgan, it is
a cool weather annual which once growing in your garden will volunteer
modestly every year after that. The spring blooms at 18 inches are
curled racimes of deep blue and purple against glaucous blue-green
foliage, which I'm sure you remember from Dan's slides.
Cotinus coggygria 'Atropurpurea' or Purple Smoke Bush is a popular
deciduous shrub grown here and in northern Cal. as well as in England!
It easily adapts to our heat and dry soils because it is a desert plant.
The deep burgundy leaves are a dramatic foil for Westringia, lavenders
and smaller Grevilleas. It is a common practice to pollard or "stool"
them low during their winter dormancy in order to produce larger, more
dramatic leaves. However, this deprives you of their beautiful
smoke-like flowers in late summer. I understand they are slow and chancy
from cuttings. And I'm sure they'd not come true from seed, because
there is a more common green-leaved form.
I've not grown Eryngium giganteum, but have the little Canary-bird
creeper, Tropaeolum speciosum. Seeds also from Thompson & Morgan. This
is a dear little climber with rounded leaves and a resemblance to
nasturtium because it is a relative. It will lace up to 6 feet into
shrubs or perennials. It supposedly has yellow canary-like flowers, but
mine never bloomed, so did not set seed.
Glad you liked Dan Hinkley, he is such an accomplished horticulturist,
writer and plant hunter. He introduces and popularizes new plants from
all over the world, so is a real boon to all gardeners. Yes, you'll have
to come to the west coast (U.S.) some day. Lots of good nurseries. Lots
of good gardens! Jan
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Jan Smithen, gardening teacher
California Arboretum Foundation
jansmithen@earthlink.net
Sunset zone : 19
USDA zone : 10
Visit the California Arboretum homepage at :
http://www.arboretum.org/
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