Adventuresome Gardening

Regular readers of this column know of my interest in plants from the world’s summer-dry climates, also called the Mediterranean Basin regions. Many plants from these exotic regions will thrive in the Monterey Bay area, and provide attractive and exciting alternatives to the garden center’s humdrum horticulture. Cultivating such plants is the enterprise of adventuresome gardeners and seekers of botanical thrills.

There are countless examples of such plants to be discovered among the selections of mail-order nurseries, either in published catalogs or online. To be fair, local garden centers also might have a few offbeat offerings; it’s worth asking the staff to mention any unusual plants.

One candidate for a featured position in the landscape is the Puya, which is one of about fifty-seven genera in the Bromeliad family. Just about all bromeliads are native to the tropical Americas. About half of the species are epiphytes (growing on air and rain), some are lithophytes (growing on rocks), and the rest are terrestrial (growing on earth). The most familiar of the terrestrial bromeliads is the pineapple (Ananas comosus).

Another terrestrial bromeliad is the Puya. This genus includes about 210 species, several of which are native to Chile, where they have the common name chagual.

One of the Chilean Puyas is the Blue (or Turquoise) Puya (P. berteroniana). This plant grows a flower spike about six-to-ten feet tall, and has exceptional landscape value because of its extraordinary 1.5” waxy, metallic blooms of an unearthly emerald-turquoise color, with contrasting bright orange stamens. The blooms hold blue, syrupy nectar that attracts hummingbirds, bees and other pollinators.

Puya berteronianas

The Blue Puya can be found in some public gardens. I viewed several fine specimens, and took this photo, about one year ago, in the Australian National Botanic Gardens, in Canberra.

Locally, the Blue Puya is in bloom now at the UCSC Arboretum. The blooms do not last long, so to see one of nature’s most extraordinary flowers, visit the UCSC Arboretum soon. For information and pictures, visit arboretum.ucsc.edu/ and click on “What’s Blooming.”

The Chilean bed in my garden includes two quite young examples of this genus: a Blue Puya (P. berteroniana) and a Silver Puya (P. coerulea). These are slow-growing plants, now years away from blossoming in my garden. While they are not yet pleasing my eyes, they are already trying my patience (a little) and piquing my imagination.

Annie’s Annuals lists nine Puya species, but current availability includes just three. Similarly, the wholesale nursery San Marcos Growers lists eight Puya species, with just three currently in production. Your local garden center could special-order plants from these nurseries, or another preferred source. Search the Internet by botanical name for information to share with garden visitors.

You certainly can keep your garden’s tried and true selections, but consider adding exotic plants to enrich your landscape.

Exotic Bulbs for Spring Bloom

As we proceed into autumn, the gardener’s thoughts turn to the gratifying display of spring bulbs.

If your garden already includes bulbs that bloom each spring, and you have all you want, relax and let nature do its thing!

If you want more blooms to brighten your spring, however, plant bulbs during the next few weeks.

The general rule is to plant bulbs before the ground freezes, but Monterey Bay area gardeners can only imagine a freeze to schedule bulb planting.

In this temperate climate, bulbs that do not require vernalization (dormant period chilling) are most convenient.

There are many bulbs in this category, including the popular narcissus, plus allium, colchicum, crinum, crocus, gloriosa lily, hyacinth, kaffir lily, muscari, snowflake, spider lily, and watsonia. Most of these are members of the large lily family (Liliaceae), which also includes the tulip.

Several species tulips require little chilling during their dormant period, including Tulipa bakeri ‘Lilac Wonder’, T. clusiana (Lady Tulip), T. saxatilis (Candia Tulip) and T. sylvestris (Florentine Tulip). All these produce demure, colorful blooms.

By contrast, hybridized tulips, with larger blooms and taller stalks, require chilling. Some helpful suppliers offer pre-chilled bulbs of hybridized tulips.

Bulbous plants are native to the globe’s five summer-dry climates, particularly the Mediterranean region, South Africa, and California. Adventuresome gardeners can have a great time growing spring bulbs from one or more of these areas.

Triteleia laxa

Triteleia laxa ‘Queen Fabiola’

Such projects require some research. The larger mail-order bulb suppliers offer at least a few bulbous species from faraway places, among the mainstream varieties, but their catalogs have inconsistent information about the country of origin.

Here are sources of bulbous plant information, by country of origin:

  • Pacific Bulb Society’s Wiki, a volunteer-written on-line encyclopedia of flowering bulbs, with photographs.
  • Telos Rare Bulbs, a mail-order nursery in Ferndale (on the California coast, near the state’s northern border), offers a great selection of native plants of California, South America and South Africa.
  • Mediterranean Area: Alpine Garden Society lists specialized books on bulbous plants, including Bulbs of the Eastern Mediterranean, by botanist Oron Peri. The bulbous plant cognoscenti are thrilled with this newly released book.
  • South Africa: The Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs (2002), by John C. Manning, Peter Goldblatt, and Dee Snijman.
  • Chile: Few bulbous plants are native to Chile, including Glory-of-the-Sun (Leucocoryne) and the striking—and rare—Blue Chilean Crocus (Tecophileae cyanocrocus). Both are available from Telos Rare Bulbs. For the short list, visit Chileflora (click on Seeds Shop/Life Form: Bulbous Plants) or Sacred Succulents (click on Rare & Beneficial Plants from Chile), a small, family-run business in Sebastopol, California.
  • Australia: Gardeners of the land down under cultivate several bulbous plants that originated in other areas, but apparently few if any that are native to Australia. (If you know of any, let me know.) The region’s popular Chocolate Lily (Dichopogon strictus) is attractive, but it’s tuberous, not bulbous.

Screen Shot 2015-11-14 at 12.20.55 PMThrough a recent search of the Internet. I found a new book by Attila Kapitany, Australian Native Bulbs (2015). This book highlights eight native
species of bulbs, corms, and tubers, and “discusses many more.” It is available on eBay with shipping costs for the interested buyer to discover.

 

 

 

 

Cultivating exotic bulbs can be challenging, intriguing and rewarding, as beautiful and out-of-the-ordinary blooms appear in the spring.

***

Comments and Questions are Welcome