Re: Autumn color in a Medit. climate
- To: Janet Smithen
- Subject: Re: Autumn color in a Medit. climate
- From: r*
- Date: Thu, 7 Oct 1999 17:03:06 -0700 (PDT)
Could Pope have meant by "genius" of a place what nature has produced
under the particular conditions it has imposed on any particular place?
Unfortunately, that could lock some of us into old brown dirt, sand, and
rocks, a few cactus, yucca and scrubbrush of one type or another. I don't
want--don't even want to want--to imitate the desert in my garden.
Romanticism aside, I prefer to labor under the delusion that
nature in its wisdom is willing to give a free hand to create
the "genius" of the infinitesimally small space I occupy in its scheme of
things exclusively to me. And thanks to the genius who created the
Arizona Mister, I have gardenias blooming on my patio. I'm not being
facetious, it's just that I think of a garden as a highly personal work of
art and if I get it right for me, it can be the stuff that dreams are made
of.
On Wed, 29 Sep 1999, Janet Smithen wrote:
> Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1999 16:12:20 -0700
> From: Janet Smithen <jansmithen@earthlink.net>
> To: Mediterranean plant list <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
> Subject: Autumn color in a Medit. climate
>
> My very favorite tree for Fall color is Chinese pistache, Pistacia
> chinensis. In my neighborhood, it is often planted as a street tree. And
> even though Sunset (the book) says it gets to 60 feet, I've never seen
> it any higher than 12 to 13 feet with a compact crown of about 8 to 10
> ft. It colors reliably as soon as the weather gets cool. And, oh those
> colors: flaming sunset colors to deep burgundy and sometimes yellow. On
> some trees there are more than one color. And then they drop; the tree
> is deciduous. It's an adaptable tree, accepting irrigation or drought
> and all the hot weather you can give it. It must be slow growing; the
> liquidambars planted at the same time are 4 and 5 times as tall.
>
> My other favorite coloring tree here in Southern Calif. is the Japanese
> persimmon, Diospyros kaki (had to look that one up!) The variety
> "Hachiya' is considered the most beautiful, but I believe they are all
> attractive trees year round. Sunset says they grow to 30 ft. but,
> again, I've only seen them in gardens at about 15 ft.
>
> December: the home of a friend, one walks into her California bungalow
> kitchen with a row of windows across the 12 ft. sink, to see the
> handsome gray-brown branch structure persimmon with its hanging globes
> of orange fruit right beyond the windows. As a backdrop, across the
> drive, is a grove of timber bamboo, it's yellow culms highlighting the
> brown and orange. Truly a sight to catch your breath. The leaves turn
> yellow before they drop, but the tree is a beauty in all seasons. The
> city of Riverside is reintroducing this once popular tree back into its
> parkways.
>
> After having raved on like this, it occurs to me that perhaps it's not
> suitable or beautiful to try to promote alot of intense "continental
> autumn color" in a Mediterranean climate. Wasn't it Alexander Pope who
> wisely warned us to "consult with the genius of the place". In other
> words, to try to create a garden that looks like it fits into the
> climate and location it is in. Whadda y'all think?
> --
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> 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/
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>
