5/17/2007

How about a garden post?

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This place needs more annuals. MORE ANNUALS. With bright colors.

Let's take a closer look at what we do have.

I'm liking this area a lot right now.

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I'm particularly happy with the combination of Camissonia cheiranthifolia and Eriogonum arborescens--both natives. The color's a little off in these pictures, but trust me, it's nice. The Camissonia is silvery gray and the Eriogonum is silvery green. Nice. (The blue thing horning in from the right is Cerinthe major--the garden's most bee-loved plant of spring; the bees seriously disturb the peace on those flowers.)

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The Eriogonum will get big and make interesting flowers that last a long time, and then hang on after they've dried and continue to be interesting for a long time. I have three of them I grew from seed. I also have three of the Camissonia cheiranthifolia (common name beach suncups), purchased from Annie's Annuals. About it, Glenn Keator's fabulous new book says this:
"Sprawling, short-lived perennial creating mats to two feet across with elliptical, grayish leaves on a long succession of bright yellow, saucer-shaped flowers in late spring and summer. Adaptable to a variety of soils. Propagate from seed. Needs to be restarted frequently."

No problem! I love to collect seeds. The plant does a great job spreading and filling in. I'm very pleased with it.

You know what I think? I think C. cheiranthifolia would be a good native candidate for basket culture. I like hanging baskets, and with the deck being a huge structure in my tiny backyard, hanging baskets serve an important function. But they need so much water. A trailing beach native could be just the trick. Next year...

This is what the flower looks like...I'll have a lot more of them coming along soon enough.

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Here's another area I'm (getting) happy with.

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That pot's a temporary. Maybe a different color could be more long-term.

Anyhow, this is another CA native nook. That's Sambucus mexicana (Blue Elderberry) in the middle between Juncus patens on the left and Salvia spathacea on the right. Fragaria chiloensis grows unseen underneath it all.

We used to have bamboo along the whole fence, but I didn't like it and managed to convince Guy to let me take some of it out. (That was before I acquired executive power over the whole backyard.) The Sambucus will grow tall and fill that space with bee-attracting flowers and bird-attracting berries. And, I think it'll look good with bamboo. The juncus and salvia already do. (The trellis is a holdover from an earlier design concept; move it out, or leave it there?)

I'm using square-knotted ropes of twine as a trellis alternative for the scarlet runner beans (Phaseolus coccinea).

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The vines seem to grow several inches every day.

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I may need to tie some connections between the hanging ropes if the vines need more support later on.

Pleased with myself over here too, as you know.

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This is the Acer circinatum that will grow and become the anchor plant.

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The bright green maple foliage looks nice next to the dark cineraria leaves. And of course, the cineraria flowers will gone by fall when the the maple leaves turn red/orange, so no color clash.

I have a Japanese maple too, but I'm not sure what to do with it.

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I bought it dormant last fall for $12 and I have no idea what its fall color looks like. So it's in a pot for now.

This is another native I'm excited about, Streptanthus farnsworthianus. A new plant, I grew from seed.

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The leaves are very variable. You can see the cotyledon leaves dying on the ground, and compare them to the first true leaf and the second and the third.

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I think eventually the plant fills out considerably and whole thing turns purple and makes an erect spray of white flowers or something. Or something! I really have no idea.

Speaking of purple, loving the Mimulus pictus...

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How about some elements that I'm not entirely thrilled with? The containerized Fremontodendron 'San Gabriel' and Ceanothus 'Ray Hartman'. I had no reason to hope these deep-rooted natives would be happy in containers for very long, but I had to try something and these are two (big) plants I really want to have somewhere in the garden...

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They're hardly about to wither and die, but it's clear they would look better growing in the ground. What to do, what to do... Well, we're not at a decision point yet.

And this patch of ground I thought would be full of wildflowers by now.

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Not so much.

And this is where I thought I had rosy buckwheat, but really had clarkia that I mistook for a weed and removed and now have nothing.

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I germinated some Nemophila maculata (five-spot) that I might use in these areas.

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I'm not happy with this pot of dirt that should be resplendent with Asclepias speciosa by now. I thought it would be okay to sow those seeds outdoors; it's called milkweed after all... Sigh. Try again next year I guess--indoors.

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Enough for now?

7 comments:

JvA said...

Annuals, schmannuals. What about some pretty purple-flowered sage?

chuck b. said...

In fact, I do have purple-flowering sage. Two of them. But they won't flower for another couple of months. Meanwhile I could use some annuals.

JvA said...

Oh, OK. I thought all Salvia down south would be in bloom right now.

And I trust you (unlike the folks in my neighborhood) to choose attractive annuals. (No marigolds, right?)

Unknown said...

I am absolutely in love with that camissonia! I just googled it, though, and it says Zone 7. I keep trying to work up courage to try zone 7 plants here in protected places, but I'm not quite up to it yet. *sigh*

As for the trellis, why not leave it for a while? It doesn't look bad, and it kind of visually fills up space until the shrub starts to do so...

I love those ropes for the scarlet runner beans, btw. Definitely something I'm going to steal, I just have to figure out a place. Hmm...

lisa said...

I like the trellis, too...you could always hang a small bird house on it (nice decoration even if they don't use it, though they might). Did you eat that yummy strawberry in the 3rd picture? As for the annuals-they are nice for a shot of color...I think something with burgundy foliage would be cool, too. I like 'Husker Red' penstemon...
http://www.naturehills.com/new/product/perennialsdetails.aspx?prodid=1264&Campaign_id=69&user=shareasale&SSAID=123894
...I wonder if it would grow good for you? The foliage is gorgeous for me, and the flowers are non-stop.

chuck b. said...

Lisa, I didn't even notice that strawberry! Too funny! My plan was to let the birds have the strawberries. But do birds even like strawberries? I was sure they did. Whatever the case, they're not biting. So I guess I should pick them off. Maybe I'll have bird visitors later in the year who want strawberries.

Kim, I'm totally happy with that twine-y trellis. The scarlet runner beans twine counterclockwise. Or is it clockwise? I can't remember. Anyhow, they twine their own way, opposite of what other pole beans do. I love that.

As for the Camissonia, I strongly encourage you to try it as an annual in your garden! It's awesome! Those zone distinctions are all about winter hardiness. Why care? Perennials can be annuals in lower zones. It's easy to collect seeds and do over from year to year. You'll be the only person in Ohio with beach suncups! If it's too late for you to start them this year, there's always next year. I can send you some seeds.

Anonymous said...

You have just inspired me to start a vegetable garden! I haven't given over an inch to food crops in 9 years - I'm obsessed with ornamentals. Great plant choices you have ... I'm a fan, man...