Re: Brugscents and mid fall gardens

Bob,

Hope all is well, and glad to hear that the 'Charles
Grimaldi' is a local favorite!  it is not usually warm
enough here in my Berkeley, California garden for the
scent to become overpowering, and I agree that the
'Frosty Pink' form as grown here is very mild by
comparison.  It is also more subdued here as we have
been  getting so much sustained fog,(a full week
without seeing the sun here in mid October), and I am
sure it would still be pumping out more blooms if it
had stayed warmer. 

Fellow medit-planters,

Hope this isn't too much, but is meant as a response
to generate some traffic from everyone.  Again, most
of the plants in my garden which are showiest at the
moment reflect what can be grown in a mediterranean
climate rather than true mediterraneans, I hope it
will not be considered too off topic.  In my defense,
for those who might assume I have a very water
intensive garden, it is all being grown in a very wind
sheltered and mostly tree shaded small area, in lieu
of lawn, and is mostly sustained on twice weekly drip
microspray irrigation for 12 minutes per cycle, and
much less outside the height of summer. 

I have been back home for a week now, after 2 months
of being away, first in South Africa/the Western Cape
for their late winter/early spring, and then on to Sri
Lanka, Bali, Malaysia for some endless summer.  the
botanical tour of the Cape was incrdible, our guides
such as Anne Bean and John Manning superb, and the
wildflowers incredible.  It may sound sacriligious to
some, but I actually preferred the Fynbos areas with
all their myriad shrubs and fewer spring bulbs to the
fabulous floral displays of Namaqualand.  This
probably has to do with the ease of growing fynbos
vegetation in my location, as opposed to the
difficulty in replicating the seasonally very hot and
dry west coast South African conditions of
Namaqualand.  

The highland landscapes of Sri Lanka with its cloud
forest vegetation and mountains of tea plantations
were also an eye opener, with so many familiar
mediterranean plants being grown there.  There is also
a wealth of subtropical high altitude plants that have
made very little headway into the California landscape
trade, and the mountains of Southern Indian must hold
equal promise.  Of course, without fail, I find out
that one of the plants I fell in love with is already
being grown at both the Huntington Botanic Garden and
by Gary Hammer of Desert to Jungle; the fabulous
foliage plant, Strobilanthes gossypinus.  Apparently
it tolerates the hot and dry conditions of inland
Southern California, (but growing rather slowly), but
I suspect its true potential is yet to be discovered
here in coastal northern California, where it is not
seen.  Imagine a felty leaved Tibouchina heteromala
with dense foliage and habit, and a golden indumentum
to the other wise silvery cast of the leaves.  

It was a great trip, lots of new inspiration and new
plants/seed to try growing, as well as a suitcase full
of new plant reference books from South Africa, Sri
Lanka and Malaysia to find room for.

I don't know if I like being back in this foggy gloom,
but the plants sure don't seem to mind it, and I don't
expect any frost until around Christmas at the
soonest, if then.  An unirrigated garden here would
pretty much be in a state of rest, but with abit of
water, the show can be pretty spectacular about now. 
The 18 foot tall Giant Tree Daisy, Montanoa
grandiflora, is completely covered with white and
yellow bloom, with the lavender Tree Dahlia not far
behind.  The Iochromas such as the pale yellow
species,(name not at hand, but originally from Steve
Brigham at Buena Creek Gardens in San Marco, Ca.), I.
cyanea, and I. grandiflora are all fully laden with
flowers, and keeping the hummingbirds busy.  The other
big leafy and blooming things in the garden from
cloudforest habitat include Heliconia matthiasiae,
which is very similar to H. latispatha, except that
the flower spike does not spiral as it extends and
opens, and the leaves are much wider and paler green. 
I happen to love this plant for a wind protected and
shady area, as it gives that touch of the tropics at a
season when I like to be reminded of summer, and
remains showy for at least another 6 months.  The
other really showy plant at the moment is a Tibouchina
from south eastern Brazil, T. granulosa.  The deep
lavender flowers with a white center are accented by
the reddish new foliage, contrasted against the deep
glistening green/almost black(in shade) older leaves,
on a small tree that is now about 12 feet tall, and
should keep blooming for several months.  The cinnamon
colored twigs also nicely mirror the new foliage color
of the Centradenia grandifolia below it.   Of course,
the various Hedychiums are also at their peak, such as
H. flavescens, tail end of H. gardnerianum, and the
non scented H. greenei.

Afer visiting South Africa, I would be remiss not to
mention a few of the currently blooming South Africans
in my own garden, and although none are from the
mediterranean Western Cape, all do exceedingly well
here with regular garden conditions.  These include
the Crinum moorei with their 5 foot tall spikes of
deep pink lily flowers, the first blooms of the
fluorescent pink  Nerine bowdenii, and the various
colors of Nerine sarniensis cultivars in pots, in
pink, white, rose and coral, all shimmering in the
light.  Schizostylis coccinea is also in full bloom,
as are many of the Plectranthus species, such as deep
purplish blue P. ecklonii, pale lavender P.
zuluensis,(which blooms year round here, as does the
ground cover P. neochilus).  It was interesting to see
P. necohilus so commonly used in the Cape Town area in
gardens and commercial landscapes, and so rarely seen
or planted here in California.

The Clivias such as C. nobilis are also still giving a
great show in the more shaded parts of the garden, and
make a nice summer/fall blooming complement to the
winter/spring blooming C. miniata.  Another Eastern
Cape plant getting ready to bloom is Hypoestes
aristata, with its small delicate narrow petaled
flowers that do look very much like ribbon embroidery.

I could keep rambling on, but will stop for now. 
There is also alot of bud set on the various Proteas,
Leucadendrons, Leucospermums, Isopogons, Grevilleas,
showing much promise for later this fall/winter. Let's
hear what is interesting in your area now...

Best regards,
David Feix, in Berkeley, California, USDA zone 10a 


--- Bob Beer <sazci@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I brought several springs of Brugmannsia "Charles
> Grimaldi" (a big pale 
> orange-yellow one with serrated leaves) here to
> Istanbul last summer (thanks 
> David!) and they are now all around 5 feet high. 
> The only other one I've 
> seen in Turkey was one of the white varieties, down
> in Antalya.
> 
> I love the scent, but in a limited dose. When they
> first started popping off 
> this summer, they were on the balcony outside my
> bedroom, and the breeze was 
> just sufficient to bring it in at a high
> concentration...  I had to close 
> the window; it was so strong that it kept me from
> sleeping!  But it was nice 
> from the other end of the house.  I recently moved
> into a smaller place with 
> unfortunately less sun, and donated the brugs to the
> garden out back of my 
> music school; people are completely astounded at
> them, and everyone wants 
> cuttings.  I'm betting that within a year or so it
> will be common in the 
> street planters around the neighborhood (the current
> favorites are Fatsia, 
> Canna and .... Fatsia and Canna).  For closer
> quarters I like a pink one, 
> variety unknown, where the scent is not quite so
> overpowering.
> 
> Bob


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