Monday, June 30, 2014

And the winner of the title of the very last plant to emerge for the season is…

Sometime early this month, or honestly maybe late last month, I noticed leaves appearing in a spot that had been occupied by an Aloe striatula. Winter had killed the plant parts above ground so I’d snipped them off, not thinking about the fact I left the roots in place (they were in an area too awkward to dig). It's safe to say I was thrilled to see an Aloe return after our horrid winter cold, success!

I would have been happy if it had ended there but whaddya know? The Cordyline 'Cha Cha' is making a return appearance as well. I expect that from the regular old green cordylines but not this one, hooray!

Then just a couple of weeks ago I stared to see green tips emerging from where my (usually) evergreen Disporum cantoniense 'Green Giant' had been. Could it be? Cut back by the cold and then smashed further into the soil by the fence builders I’d given this one up for deader than dead. Nope, it makes a triumphant return! Life is good.

Earlier in the season I realized the emerging tips of Alstroemeria isabellana were doing battle with some sort of hungry creature, once aware I protected them with copper rings (assuming it was a slug?). Finally the shaggy foliage spikes developed intact.

Sadly there were no bloom spikes but I figured that was the price to pay for a nasty winter, I was happy enough that the plant itself lived. Then this happened…

Yay! The flowers are the reason for this plant so I couldn’t be more thrilled...

I am curious though, are all these random roaming stems (flower and foliage) from the original plant? Or did some of the seeds which POPPED out last summer result in new plants? Nah, I suppose that’s too much to hope for. And they wouldn't be this big.

So, all that happy success and guess what, just last week I discovered something else. The Acanthus sennii lives!

June 25th and there are finally signs of life. Lordy, that took a while! I’d left that little wishbone stick in place to remind myself there might be something showing up. But I’d long sense given up any hope.

The last week of June, who'da thought it? The winner is… Acanthus sennii.

All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

28 comments:

  1. I'm amazed too sometimes how many plants seem to wait so long to come back from the roots. Hooray for your late arrivals!

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    1. Indeed, old friends returning to the garden is a very good thing.

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  2. That...............is...............really.................slow...............! Anything that pops up at this time in my garden is a seedling. I don't think I'd even be in the right mindset to look for a thought-dead perennial!

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    1. That's why I left that little wishbone in place, otherwise I would have weeded out the little acanthus not remembering they were something I wanted!

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  3. Isn't it great when plants return from the dead. Hopefully they will also be a little tougher this time as well.

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  4. This is wonderful to read. Congratulations on so many survivors! I usually find I've given up hope too soon for at least one plant every year. I'm still crossing my fingers for a couple of missing plants of my own.

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    1. It was only luck that I hadn't ripped them out, usually I have no patience.

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  5. Amazing, isn't it? I couldn't be happier for you.

    I have a similar success story to report. My red bird of paradise (Caesalpinia pulcherrima), just a small seedling last year and easily felled by the cold snap in early December, has come back--6 months later! I'll water and fertilize it well so hopefully it will grow quickly and maybe even bloom before it gets whacked again by the frost.

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    1. Yay! And you've got me wondering about my Caesalpinia gilliesii, which I pulled out. If I had waited would it have returned?

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  6. And I now have TWO Acanthus sennii, spaced widely apart...so the mystery continues: seeds or underground happenings of which we are unaware? I like your message of hope better than FB's mood manipulation experiment.

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    1. It will be interesting to watch these plants, I'm glad I've got you to share a second experience.

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  7. What nice surprises! It's great to find that plants are more resilient than we give them credit for. I have no experience with that particular Acanthus but I've found that A. mollis is exceptionally tenacious - even digging it out doesn't guarantee it won't be back.

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    1. I hear you Kris! I moved mine about 5 years ago, and I'm still digging out tiny plants that show up in the old spot.

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  8. Wow, that's a lot of plants returning from what you thought was the plant graveyard. Fantastic. It really was a bad winter everywhere. I've got some holes in the gardens that sadly there is no emerging new growth... Time to give up on them and find something new that is a little more zone tolerant

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    1. "zone tolerant"....where's the fun in that?

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  9. The resilience of some plants never cease to wonder! Also shows once again that it is in June when most really romps away, even the ones that you've thought have disappeared and totally gone.

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    1. Today's supposed to be our hottest of the year, at 97F...some of these plants are gonna love it!

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  10. Oops, looks like my first comment disappeared...

    Anyway, the resilience of some plants never cease to amaze!

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  11. Well hello there little friends! So happy that you had so many surprise survivors!

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  12. Wow, lots of great survival stories! I'm really amazed by the Acanthus. I'm very interested in that group. Did you know there's one with blue flowers, too? Acanthus eminens. Wish I could find a US source.

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    1. Wow that's crazy! I'll be on the lookout for you too.

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  13. I'm going to take a closer look at my dried up Aloe striatula. My Cordyline is making a comeback…no signs of life with Acacia :(

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    1. My green cordylines grew about 5" during our last hot flash, who knows what they'll look like after today. Hope you find leaves by your aloe!

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