Re: Plant Books and Plantsmen
- To: t*@eddy.u-net.com
- Subject: Re: Plant Books and Plantsmen
- From: d* f*
- Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 16:20:21 -0700 (PDT)
--- Tim Longville <tim@eddy.u-net.com> wrote:
> David,
>
> I tried to send a piece about Harry to Medit-Plants
> today but since I
> sent it as an attachment, and hence technically from
> Celia (whose
> machine this is) rather than from me, I suspect it
> may have bounced
> back. If it doesn't appear on the Medit-Plants list
> by tomorrow, I'll
> either send it again to the list as a simple long
> e-mail from me or
> send it direct to you personally. The piece is by
> James Compton and is
> affectionate and vivid in human terms and nicely
> tantalizing in plant
> terms!
I hope it does come through! I look forward to
reading it.
>
> The piece tells you that H. is near Reigate in
> Surrey but it doesn't
> give an exact address and I've never had one: I was
> taken by the
> friend of a friend - which, I suspect, no, I more or
> less know, is
> generally the way it's done with H. You need an
> intro from someone he
> knows and trusts. It isn't standoffishness, it's
> simply a refusal to
> waste his time (not much of it left now, either,
> presumably: he must
> be into his 80s) - hence he makes certain before
> agreeing to visits
> that the visitor(s) are serious or knowledgeable or,
> preferably, both.
> Still, as my own visit proves, both aren't strictly
> *necessary*
> qualifications...!
If you know of a contact "friend", I would be
interested, as a future possibility on a next
pass-through England...
>
> >
> > it
> >was an incredible experience getting the chance to
> see
> >the May to August seasonal progressions at Kew, and
> >wish I had a contact person there to request seed
> and
> >cuttings from.
>
> Am I not right in remembering that being a Friend of
> Kew gives you,
> for a less-than-huge annual subscription, access to
> seeds from there,
> among other perks? Though I think I also remember
> that a friend has
> told me that being a Friend of the Royal Botanic
> Garden Edinburgh is a
> better deal, since it costs less and you get the Kew
> perks thrown in.
> (And, sssh, whisper it softly, Edinburgh is a better
> garden!) If this
> is of interest, let me know - and I'll get details
> from the
> aforementioned friend.
I would be interested in info on Edinburgh's Botanic
Garden...
> >
> >Do you specialize in South African species in
> >particular?
>
> No, not at all. Rather the reverse, in the sense
> that they clearly
> don't make too much sense, here on the wet west
> coast of the UK. I
> just can't resist playing - and my most pleasurable
> game is testing
> the limits of hardiness and general cultural
> possibility. I've
> rummaged among S. American and Australasian flora
> quite a bit; had
> steered off S.Af. until recently, thinking it the
> least likely area
> with which to have any success; but initial
> toes-in-the-water have
> been quite encouraging. Several S.A. shrubs - a
> couple of
> pittosporums, a couple of agathosmas, etc - are
> doing quite reasonably
> here so far. And chasmanthe and cypella and some
> moraeas and dietes
> and, of course, those aristeas... all show promise.
Stuff from the Drakensburg mountains would probably be
your best bets for success, then. The Denver Botanic
Garden has quite a few introductions which they
brought back, and are also making their way into the
trade here in California.
>
> Many thanks for the offer of help re hardiness. It's
> v. difficult,
> always, isn't it? to know how conditions will
> 'translate': there are
> just so many variables; but my basic notion is that
> the more info. one
> has, the better one's chance of doing something
> sensible and, who
> knows? even successful.
I agree that conditions don't always translate, and
nothing, but nothing! compares to being there on a
visit to form your own impressions, based on what you
see succeeding versus the failures.
>
> > I think we are wetter than you are
> >in winter, generally milder in winter, warmer in
> >summer, but our diurnal temperature fluctuations
> due
> >to Northern California's special gegraphic
> conditions
> >make us unique as a mediterranean climatic zone.
>
> I think the diurnal fluctuations are probably the
> key difference. No
> doubt they have negative aspects but what
> immediately strikes me is
> that, as in Australia, a quite cold night will be
> rapidly followed by
> a seriously warm day: whereas here the quite cold
> night is usually
> followed by an only slightly less cold day! Ie,
> plants of marginal
> hardiness are put under just that crucial little bit
> more stress.
Cold nights followed by cold days are more the norm
here in northern California than you might suspect.
Southern California, below Point Conception(Santa
Barbara County), is another story. They typically do
have frosts(when and if), followed by 70F days. Here
a frost is more likely to be followed by a 45 to 55F
day.
>
> Another difference, of course, is soils. Ours are -
> well, mine is: and
> west coast UK soil generally tend to be - acid and
> heavy. Hence all my
> gardening is done in raised beds, with lots of
> incorporated grit and
> sand. Whereas your soil is...?
Our soils here in California tend to be neutral to
slightly alkaline, and sufficiently so that most
people ignore ph as a factor altogether, (or at least
I do, and then wonder why I don't do well with the
more acid needy plants). Clay soils are the typical
condition over most of California's urbanized areas.
Parts of California can also be granitic/sandy and
slightly acidic, such as the hills behind Santa Cruz
and Santa Barbara, but with our geography, conditions
can vary block to block, and Berkeley, Ca. can vary
from Sunset Western Garden Zones 15 to 17, with a
range of at least 10 to 15F degrees daytime
temperature in summer, and 5 to 10F degrees night time
temps in winter. Water quality also affects what one
can grow here in California, as well. Much of
Southern California is tied into Colorado River water,
combined with the Sierra's mountain water as well as
delta water(the confluence of the great valley rivers
of our central valley before they empty into San
Francisco Bay), which is more alkaline. Here in the
San Francisco Bay Area most of our water is either
local watershed or Hetch Hetchy Reservoir/Mokuleme
River water, and very high quality. Some people here
in the Bay Area may get there water directly from the
Delta, rather than tapped into in the high Sierra
mountains, and the water quality is more similar to
Los Angeles's,(alkaline, with high mineral content and
heavily chlorinated). It keeps it interesting!
>
> I wonder a little about your claim to greater winter
> wet. Can it be
> so? We have between 40 and 50 ins a year, spread
> pretty evenly
> throughout, though it *feels* as though more comes
> in winter, because
> then the wet tends to be accompanied by high
> salt-laden winds. (It is
> being so as I write!) Winter low is rarely more than
> -3C and more and
> more often no more than -1C, and that only for an
> occasional night
> (though there's always the once-in-a-decade serious
> cold snap, just to
> wake us up). Summer highs hardly ever exceed upper
> 70sF. (I've learnt
> to do lows in C but am still stuck in F for highs!
> Apologies.) This
> year they've hardly struggled to the mid-70s and
> that only on three or
> four days: and that isn't at all unusual -
> depressing, but not
> unusual. I always imagine that parts of Chile have a
> climate closer to
> ours than anywhere else in the world - and, yes, I
> do grow a lot of
> Chilean plants.
You definitely have higher annual rainfall totals than
we do in San Francisco or Berkeley, but our 25 to 35
inches tends to come primarily in December through
February or March, and we are most prone to losing
things from the wet and cold combo in December,January
or February. Areas adjacent Mt. Tamalpais in Marin
County, just north of San Francisco can receive up to
70-80" when everywhere else gets 20 to 30 inches,
while just 30 to 50 miles inland the rain shadow
effect of the coast ranges can reduce that to 15".
My experience with Chilean plants is generally
unimpressive. The more southerly latitude cooler
rainforest type species, such as Luma apiculata, tend
to be insect prone in my Berkeley garden, (thrips and
scale), while they thrive in adjacent San Francisco.
Mid Chile latitude plant species or more succulent
foliage types such as Alstroemeria or Calandrinia
thrive for me.
I would guess that the portion of the western US coast
which most approximates your conditions would be the
Mendocino to southern Oregon coastline, which is all
considered to be either Sunset Zones 15 or 17.(USDA
Zone 9)
>
> Warmly (if also wetly and windily!)
If not warm, at least nice,(65F today/48F tonight),
and no real rain to speak of yet,
>
> Yours,
>
> David Feix
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