Ten Reasons to Buy a Plant

Many—and perhaps most—gardeners understand that a good practice is to buy plants in the fall, so that they can be irrigated by the rains while establishing their roots in preparation for a growth spurt in the spring.

That’s a better strategy than buying plants in the spring when garden centers offer plants with fertilizer-induced early blooms and a tendency to fade in common garden soil.

Another good practice: buy plants for specific goals. Purposeful purchases will be more successful than impulse buys, which can be based on an attractive name or an effective sales display.

With these ideas in mind for early planters, here are ten guidelines for visiting a garden center or opening a mail-order catalog,

  1. Fill a specific gap in the landscape. Look first for a plant with an appropriate size at maturity, and then consider the variety of secondary factors.
  2. Provide color when needed. You might want more color in the spring, or the summer, or the fall. With a bit of research, you can find plants that will show color on the desired schedule.
  3. Feed birds, bees, and butterflies. These winged creatures benefit from, healthy food sources, and will come quickly to gardens where the right plants are available.
  4. Develop a collection of plants. Different species within a genus, or different varieties within a species, add interest to the garden. Another rose, or another fuchsia, for example, will compare nicely with the existing selections.
  5. Extend a color scheme. A white garden, or a yellow and blue garden, for example, will look even better with an additional specimen that fits the scheme.
  6. Add a needed spot of color. A well-placed and well-chosen colorful plant can enliven a too-green planting bed by bringing an eye-catching contrast (but avoid adding color randomly).
  7. Create a focal point. A specific situation might call for an interesting plant, container or sculpture to be strategically placed to attract the eye of anyone walking through the garden.
  8. Fill a container. A large, empty container, or one with a plant past its prime, can become a strong asset in the garden with a well-chosen new plant or combination of plants. For a successful project, use fresh planting mix.
  9. Protect against pests and diseases. If diseases or gophers or any of several other pests invade your garden look for a pest-resistant plant, or replace one that’s not.
  10. Add a drought-resistant plant. A garden of succulent plants and others that evolved for a dry climate will grow well during the predicted future years of light rainfall.

You might have other specific reasons for buying plants. It’s most important to know the role the plant will play when you bring it to the garden. An Internet search or a reference like Sunset’s Western Garden Book can help with these decisions. If a plant also has an appealing name or a bright blossom, that’s a plus!

Enjoy a creative and purposeful browse through a garden center or a nursery catalog!

Planting for Fall Color

Experienced gardeners know that the early fall is a very good time to install new plants. This timing anticipates our Mediterranean climate’s rainy season, during which Nature provides the moisture that new plants require, and the winter months allow time for them to establish their roots in preparation for above-ground growth in the spring.

It is quite natural in this season for gardeners to plant with spring flowers in mind, with their greatest interest focused on spring bulbs. There’s nothing wrong with that approach, especially when gardeners explore the lesser-known geophytes, as well as the always popular spring- and summer-blooming bulbs.

Still, this season is the ideal time to plan for next year’s fall season. This planning begins with a critical look at your own garden. Is it visually exciting and beautiful during the next few weeks, or does it appear tired and eager to enter dormancy? If it could be more pleasing to the eye, plant now to ensure a better look a year in the future.

An easy and reliable way to find plants to add fall color to your next-year garden is to take a walk through your neighborhood to spot attractive plants that look healthy and vigorous. By scanning gardens with growing conditions like yours, this approach automatically directs your attention to plants that are likely to do well in your garden.

Another productive strategy is to ask at your favorite garden center about plants for fall color. A trustworthy garden center will be ready to point out such plants and recommend winners for your garden setting.

Research also can identify good candidates. The Sunset Western Garden Book lists several trees, shrubs, and vines for fall color, and provides details for each in its Western Plant Encyclopedia.

Here are a few popular selections.

Trees

Pacific Dogwood (Cornus nattallii) A spectacular tree that can grow to 50 feet tall. It flowers white or pink in the spring and again in the summer> In the fall it displays yellow, red and pink leaves and clusters of decorative red fruit.

Maidenhair Tree (Ginkgo biloba ‘Autumn Gold’) An ancient, actually prehistoric genus that can reach 30 feet tall. It produces gold-colored leaves that drop quickly in the fall to produce a golden carpet.

Flowering Crabapple (Malus hybrids) Small trees (usually 20 feet tall) that flower in the spring then hold their attractive fruit through the fall. Many varieties are listed in the Western Garden Book.

Shrubs, Perennials

Cotoneaster varieties (e.g., C. lacteus, C. franchetii) This shrub, native to China, comes in various sizes from groundcover to twenty feet tall and wide. Produces bright red berries in the late summer followed by fall.

Windflower (Anemone x bybrida) The popular Japanese Anemone (A. japonica) produces white, pink, or rose flowers on arching stems up to four feet high, followed by unusual cottony seed heads.

cotoneaster-anemone

Cotoneaster & Anemone

Aster (Aster x Frikartii ‘Monch; Symphyotrichum spp.). Only the European and Asiatic species are still called Aster officially; North American species have that long new name. Hundreds of varieties are available to produce an abundance of flowers from white to pale blues and pinks to deep scarlet and purple.

Vines

Chinese Wisteria (W. sinensis). This vine, the most common wisteria in the west, produces clusters of violet-blue, slightly fragrant flowers that open all at once in the fall.

Roger’s California Grape (Vitis californica cultivar ‘Roger’s Red’) A central California native often grown as an ornamental plant grows so vigorously that gardeners can boast of their green thumbs. Many American and European varieties are available for table grapes.

There are many more plants that can beautify your garden environment in the fall with colorful flowers, foliage or fruits. Plan and plant now, as we enter the planting season, to set the stage for attractive seasonal displays in future years.

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In Praise of Japanese Maples

Trees add to the garden landscape in various ways. Often, very large trees will dominate the scene, and bring stability and grandeur to the scene, and shade a large area. In time, they can be desirable components to the garden and add value to the property.

By contrast, small trees contribute to the landscape in different ways, notably as specimen plants that attract the eye with their specific features, e.g., blossoms.

Unless you have a relatively large garden, a large trees can be overwhelming, and a small tree can be a delight.

There are many choices of small trees, which might be called “patio trees,” even though they have roles to play in all parts of the landscape.

Today, let’s review the Japanese Maple, which many gardeners and landscapers regard as the most popular of the small trees.

The true Japanese Maple is Acer palmatum. Other Acer species, including A. japonicum and A. shirasawanum, are also called Japanese Maples, and have attractive characteristics. Still. A. palmatum has been the focus of hybridizers in Japan for centuries, and has been favored by western horticulturists since its introduction to England in 1920. The species now includes well over1,000 cultivars.

The extraordinary range of sizes, forms, leaf shapes and colors of A. palmatum reflect the long history of its development and stimulate the interest of gardeners and landscapers. Those who have the pleasure of gardening in large spaces can be tempted to collect large numbers of A. palmatum cultivars.

For most gardeners, however, even one Japanese Maple can be rewarding. Even very small gardens, including balcony gardens, can be enhanced with one of these trees, which range in mature height from the dwarf varieties (three-to-six feet) up to twenty-five feet. They grow well in containers, and will ”self-stunt” when their roots are confined. This characteristic makes Japanese Maples popular with bonsai artists.

acer-palmatum-unknown-cultivarThe accompanying picture shows one of my Japanese Maples as it begins to show its fall color, which is the typical seasonal variation of these trees. It has grown to about eight feet, with distinctive red twigs, but sadly I have lost track of the cultivar name.

Many gardeners will locate a Japanese Maple as a garden feature or focal point, where the color or leaf form of the selected variety can be appreciated. With this in mind, once you have become interested in adding a Japanese Maple to your landscapes, consider where it would be best located. This decision should involve envisioning the tree in several spots in the garden, and from different perspectives. This process draws upon the most creative work of gardening. Think of your new tree as a living sculpture.

Also, keep in mind that Japanese Maples prefer part sun or indirect light, good drainage and consistent watering. They like a slightly acidic soil and do not like cold winds or salt air. Plan to provide regular watering during the first year after planting.

A Japanese Maple or several of these small trees could enhance your landscape during future years. Right now is a good time to decide on the best location, explore the range of cultivars and choose a fine selection to install in your garden before the start of winter rains. Continue reading

Seasonal Succulents

Succulent plants, like all plants, have seasonal growth patterns. Plants in this category come from numerous genera, and have a wider variety of forms, textures, and colors, but they can be divided into just two principal growth patterns: Winter Dormant (“summer growers”) and Summer Dormant (“winter growers”) (see lists at the end of this page).

It would be comforting to find that Winter Dormant succulents are native to the Northern Hemisphere and Summer Dormant plants are from the Southern Hemisphere, but it’s not that simple. It could be that growth patterns sometimes reflect a genus’s adaptation to its adopted environment.

In any event, a succulent plant’s growth cycle affects its need for water and its bloom period. These plants require minimal watering during their dormant period and will produce blossoms during their growth period.

If you have a large and varied collection of succulents, a good practice is to cluster separately the Winter Dormant and Summer Dormant plants, to simplify watering.

Except for their blossom periods, many of which are delightful but rather brief, succulent plants are favored mostly for the shape, texture, and color of their foliage, which changes little through the seasons, except for size.

Most popular plant genera have very specific annual cycles. Shows and sales of roses, irises, dahlias, tulips, daffodils, and amaryllis, for example, are very seasonal events. Succulent plant shows and sales, however, could occur at any time of the year.

In contrast, California’s cactus & succulent societies hold their sales during the period from April through September. These sales offer the greatest variety and best prices, but gardeners can find at least the more common plants at their local garden center throughout the year.

For local gardeners, important dates for cactus & succulent sales include the spring and fall events organized by the Monterey Bay Area Cactus & Succulent Society. These occur each year in late April and late September or (this year) early October.

Another noteworthy occasion is the Succulent Extravaganza, presented with free admission by Succulent Gardens, a commercial entity. A highlight of this year’s event, on September 23 & 24, was Debra Lee Baldwin’s talk on “Bulletproof & Beautiful Succulents for your Garden.” Ms. Baldwin, called the Queen of Succulents, described a variety of attractive plants, emphasizing various forms of the genus Echeveria. I brought home an unusual and rare carunculated (warty) hybrid, Echeveria x Barbillion, which is shown by the accompanying photograph.

echeveria-x-barbillion

During our brief conversation, Debra Less Baldwin and I exchanged stories about “midnight acquisitions” of succulent plants from both public and private gardens. I’ll write on that topic in another column.

The next important opportunity for gardeners to build their succulent collections is the Fall Show & Sale of the Monterey Bay Area Cactus & Succulent Society. This event offers opportunities to talk with other gardeners who are enthusiastic about these plants and choose from an amazing array of small, inexpensive plants. There will also be a display of exceptional specimens, which you can vote on for a People’s Choice award, and a selection of unique containers that are right for artful presentation of succulent plants.

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