Re: Brachychiton? Re: Another mystery tree

John,
Thanks for your response on Brachychiton acerifolius,
and I concur that here in California at least, drier
and warmer winters may be a larger factor in getting
this tree to bloom than the overall heat load.  Since
we rarely get warm and dry winters here, I have never
seen this factor in action here in Berkeley.  Our
winter low temperatures are usually in the mid 30's to
mid 40'sF, and generally we don't warm up into the
70's during the day as you often do in Los Angeles. 
If we do have a warmer winter, it's usually no drier,
and drier winters are usually no warmer than average. 
I should have amended my post to include year round
heat load, rather than just accumulated summer heat.  

My experience with many tropicals and subtropicals in
northern California's maritime influenced
microclimates is that many plants which bloom
profusely in southern California do not bloom as well
here.  Those that do,  usually are only in bloom here
at the end of summer, when it finally warms up.  Late
summer through fall tends to be the season when many
of these types of plants look their best here in
Berkeley.  Some examples of unseasonally late bloom
here in my garden,(compared to southern California),
might be;  Duranta stenostachya, Petrea volubis,
Portea petropoliteana, Heliconia latispatha and H.
spissa, Thunbergia grandiflora, Tibouchina granulosa
and T. heteromalla, and Tupidanthus calyptratus.  I
find that with all of these plants, an early and long
warm summer or spring can push them into bloom much
earlier in the year.  These are a few of the plants
that I grow which are always to be seen in bloom
months earlier in Los Angeles than here in the Bay
Area.  Of course, latitude comes into play as well,
and the largest benefit of gardening here in Berkeley
is that we can grow plants to perfection that require
more humidity and cool nights to do well.  Having said
that, I must admit that I have generally failed with
many plants from Chile, such as Luma apiculata,
Pernettya spp, Eucryphia spp, Crinodendron hookerianum
and Desfontainea spinosa which seem very prone to
insects such as thrips and scale in my garden, while
flourishing in Golden Gate Park's Strybing Arboretum
and at the University of California at Berkeley's
Botanic Garden.




- John MacGregor <jonivy@earthlink.net> wrote:
> David,
> 
> I disagree with you about summer heat load being the
> determining factor in
> the blossoming of Brachychiton acerifolius.  I have
> lived in southern
> California for thirty years now, and have watched
> their performance.  These
> trees are not uncommon in the Los Angeles
> Basin--both inland and in the
> coastal areas where they don't get a great deal of
> heat.  The one on the
> east side of the Art Gallery in the Huntington
> Botanical Gardens is typical.
> It is in the lawn and receives water year-round.  In
> most years, it drops
> its leaves on a branch or two here and there, and
> the bare branches bloom,
> but the rest of the tree keeps its leaves.  Some
> years are better than
> others, and occasionally it will lose the leaves on
> half the tree, while the
> other half remains green.
> 
> The only year this and every other B. a. in the
> vicinity lost all its leaves
> and burst into full bloom was in 1994 after the
> warmest and driest winter we
> had had in more than a decade.  This included trees
> in Brentwood and West
> Los Angeles and Long Beach as well as ones in the
> Pasadena area where I
> live.  I discovered trees all over town that I had
> never noticed before.
> Even boxed specimens in tree nurseries were
> resplendent, and I am sure that
> more were sold that year than in the previous ten
> years combined.  The one
> planted that year in Cynthia Hall's garden never did
> bloom again, and we
> took it out last year when the wind blew it over.
> 
> Margaret Moir's comment about its unpredictability
> is apropos.  From my
> observations, I think the warmer winter
> temperatures--probably combined with
> some winter dryness-- is the most likely key to
> making it bloom profusely.
> The rest of the time we should just be happy with
> its handsome, shiny,
> sycamore-like leaves.
> 
> John MacGregor
> jonivy@earthlink.net
> 
> 
> ----------
> >From: david feix <davidfeix@yahoo.com>
> >To: medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
> >Subject: Re: Brachychiton? Re: Another mystery tree
> >Date: Sun, Oct 1, 2000, 8:34 AM
> >
> 
> > Diane,
> > I think that the overall heat load may also be a
> > trigger for the amount of bloom for Brachychiton
> > acerifolius, as well as the other irregular
> blooming
> > Brachychitons.  Here in the San Francisco Bay
> Area, B.
> > acerifolia is rather rare, but I have seen it
> bloom in
> > the more inland, (and therefore hotter),
> locations,
> > such as in Hayward, Ca., near to the city hall.
> > Another tree of approximately the same age in
> Oakland,
> > at the Dry Garden Nursery has never bloomed, and
> it is
> > cooler in general in Oakland/Berkeley than in
> Hayward,
> > especially in the summer.
> > I saw many trees of this same size,(about 25 to 30
> > feet tall), in bloom in Marbella, Spain, while
> > traveling this summer, and the climate there is
> much
> > warmer than the Bay Area.  The minimum night time
> > temps in summer are much more similar to southern
> > California's inland valleys, than coastal Bay Area
> > locations.  I suspect that the 10F difference in
> > summer night time lows may account for the shy
> > blooming here, as it is generally never above 56F
> at
> > night here, even in the height of summer.
> > I would suspect that you too have cool night time
> > temps, even in your greenhouse, which may be
> > inhibiting bloom.  Another factor could be the
> lower
> > light intensities during winter at your latitude,
> when
> > the flower buds would start forming.  They also
> bloom
> > well in subtropical desert climates, ( I saw this
> tree
> > growing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but wasn't there
> in
> > blooming season).
> > David Feix, Berkeley, California
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > - Julius & Beverly Elischer
> <elischer@iinet.net.au>
> > wrote:
> >> Peter and Margaret Moir wrote:
> >>
> >> > Diane,
> >> >
> >> > This is my first foray into the medit plants
> >> forum, but since we're still on
> >> > the subject of the Brachychiton [I was about to
> >> email you with the
> >> > brachychiton suggestion when I saw you had
> already
> >> got there!] I thought I
> >> > would throw in my two bob's worth. The
> >> Brachychiton will flower even in
> >> > climates which receive  heavy winter and spring
> >> rainfall such as here in the
> >> > South West of Western Australia. The flowering
> is
> >> unpredictable every where,
> >> > even in it's native habitat. Sometimes half the
> >> tree is lit up with blossom
> >> > while the other half is bare!
> >> >
> >> > I think the non-flowering must be due to
> something
> >> other than the winter
> >> > wet. But I wouldn't give up hope!
> >> >
> >> > Cheers, Margaret
> >>
> >> I was just about to write the same thing. Here in
> >> Perth, W.A., they are splendid
> >> after our wet winters - but not always.
> >>
> >> Beverly
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Beverly Elischer
> >> Perth, Western Australia
> >> Ph. +61 8 9386 5244
> >>
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________
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> > 


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