Friday, April 13, 2018

Friday randomness: updates, discoveries and a reminder

Remember the sad Ligularia dentata 'Othello' I shared back on April 4th? (here) It had accidentally been deprived of sunlight, with a cinder-block placed over the top of it's container. It's made quite the recovery, with its leaves now looking like a smaller, glossier, version of normal.

The stems are still on the pink side, but also looking much better. Here's hoping it will continue to recover.

Another update: back on March 20th (here) I shared the news I was thinking of eliminating my Grevillea australis. Well, it's gone.

The nearby Nolina 'La Siberica' instantly looked better.

Before

After...
I was afraid the hole left by the Grevillea would have me regretting my decision, but it did not. I love the change, and the Grevillea didn't just end up in the yard waste bin, a friend dug it out in an effort to save it. Sadly it came out of the ground bare-root but he immediately potted it up and watered it well, fingers crossed it survives.

This little number will be planted in it's place (along with perhaps a couple of containers moving in, cause you know....cramscape!). What is this cutie?

Yep, pretty cool eh?

Now we're flashing way back. I was given a flowering stem of Globba winitii last September and featured it in a "Vase on Monday" post (here). Months went by and the stem still looked good. I finally pulled it out of the vase and discovered roots, a lot of them. I intended to pot it up but kept forgetting to do so. It wasn't until early February that I finally did. Here's what it looks like now.

That little nubbin might be new.

And the little green bits at the bottom of the bloom definitely are. I'll be keeping an eye on this and once I see definite signs of new growth I'll pot it up again and let it spend summer outside.

This vase full Alternanthera Little Ruby cuttings has been sitting on my kitchen counter since last fall. The vase is full of roots, I really need to pot them up. I bought the original Alternanthera in Washington DC, at last year's Garden Bloggers Fling. I loved that dark foliage but knew the plant was toast once winter hit. I accidentally discovered how easy it was to root cuttings (another Monday Vase post) and have three other plants already thriving in containers in the basement. Yay! One plant makes four...and I hope to never be without this one again.

Those who follow me on Instagram saw this image after I rescued a bunch of Echium wildpretti at a friend's house (on March 23rd).

This is what they look like now. Sad, but not dead!

They're gonna pull through just fine.

These plants have such a long tap-root it's nearly impossible to get more than a piece of it.

But since I've done this before (the plants below were dug from the same garden last summer) I knew they'd pull through, and my garden is gonna be Echium-riffic this summer!

Here's a shady corner of my garden, behind the garage. It's become a holding area for plant purchases that I haven't gotten in the ground yet.

Another shady area, under Clifford — the Magnolia macrophylla. I could stare at this vignette all day long.

There is some bad news in there though. Something (I suspect cutworms) has been eating the base of several of the Syneilesis aconitifolia, just cutting them down.
Munching is also occuring on my Symphytum × uplandicum 'Axminster Gold'. I have tried looking for the culprit but come up empty.
Not so here! A (formerly gorgeous) Verbascum seedling had turned into Swiss cheese. I got lucky when I went to cut off the offending foliage and discovered not one, but five cutworms in action.

The little bastards went on an all-expenses-paid vacation in the yard waste container. Anyone have advice on dealing with cutworms?

This discovery was of the positive kind. See those little bits that look like corn kernels?

They're seeds from last year's fallen Poncirus trifoliata fruit. I have no idea if that slug has helped to strip away the skin and pulp or if mother nature has done that with the weather. I'll be curious to see if I get any Poncirus babies (but I'm not holding my breath).
One last thing Two last things before I wrap up this rambling, random, post — a reminder. This weekend is the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon's spring plant sale, Hortlandia. It's at the Portland EXPO Center and you really should make plans to attend if you're in the area. More info here, hope to see you there!

And if you're in the Los Angeles area stop by a sure-to-be-fabulous pop-up shop some friends of mine are having. I'll try not to be jealous you got to visit...

Weather Diary, April 12: Hi 51, Low 42/ Precip .15"

All material © 2009-2018 by Loree Bohl for danger garden (dg). Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

24 comments:

  1. Fun post, quelle suprise. I've been wanting to study a couple of your beds & see if it can inform me on where to put all there plants I bought. You're so very talented at cramscaping.
    Also heartened to see you gave that nice Grevillea the boot. I've wanted to kick a couple of my plants, but I'm afraid there's some posse out there who will cast a pall upon my garden. Seriously, love this post--like all of them. Thx.

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    1. Thank you! And get rid of them! Life's too short (and gardens too small) to keep plants you're done with.

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  2. Riz mentioned about the Hortlandia that he’ll be attending, sounds like that’s set to be a fun event indeed! Have a great weekend!!

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    1. I missed Riz at dinner the other night, having been hit with a raging headache I headed home while the others were headed out. No doubt I'll see him today at the event and maybe later at Sean's.

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  3. I seem to be having good luck applying beneficial nematodes. I started using them last year when I had a terrible flea outbreak. This year i haven't seen any nasty grubs or cut worms.

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    1. This is good to know Matthew, thank you. I need to get serious.

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  4. So that's what your pot ghetto looks like! I hope the Grevillea that you gave away survives. I tried moving one a few years ago, but it was later in the season and it didn't survive. I just moved a small tree a few days ago, got most of the roots except had to cut off some of the really big fat ones (otherwise I would have had to dig a hole that was at least five feet around). Keep your fingers crossed for me. Sorry I have no advice on cutworms that I know for sure works, other than dicing them up with my pruners when I see them. I have heard that surrounding the growing nubs with metal works, but I've never tried it.

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    1. The pot ghetto just got a little fuller too, with a day of plant shopping on Thursday with friends in town for Hortlandia.

      I really thought that Grevillea was going to come out of the ground with great roots, he dug a nice hole around it.

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  5. That was a jam-packed post! Your Alternanthera cuttings look better than the plants I have in the ground. Mine flowered (a LOT), which I think depleted the plants' energy. I finally cut them all way back and have my fingers crossed they recover.

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    1. Sending positive vibes to your Alternanthera! I hope mine never bloom...

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  6. Great post. I really enjoy seeing and hearing about all the stuff that's happening off camera. I love the Ligularia as a little houseplant. The shot of the pink stems looks like a Cyclamen plant. That vignette is definitely stare-worthy. Is the dark leaved plant a Podophyllum? I like the airy look of the little Syneilesis leaves even it is the result of problems. Never have had cutworms to my knowledge. Hope it stays that way.

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    1. Oh the Ligularia is definitely not a little houseplant. It's in a large container, out in the shade pavilion greenhouse where it can ease into the light. As for the vignette, yes, that's a Podophyllum 'Red Panda'. The cutworms have only munched a few Syneilesis, and at the base, rather than the leaves. Knocks the whole stem down.

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  7. Lots to be excited about in this post, except for the destructive cutworms. Love that podophyllum vignette! Damn, girl, even your pot ghetto looks tidy and stylish.

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    1. The pot ghetto is busting at the seams!

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  8. Loved this post, and especially thrilled that you were talking about your Echium wildpretti. Panayoti from the DBG just did a FB post this week showing a grouping of tall containers w/3 maturing Echium wildpretti's. They took my breath away!

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    1. The image of him standing among the E. wildpretii? I loved that!

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  9. UGH...cutworms are the worst

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  10. Loree, you are too nice! Thanks for the shout-out. I had something chewing my verbascum, not a cutworm, which I bisected with secateurs. No foolin around with verbascums!

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    1. I've got a stash of four beautiful Verbascum I want to plant out in the front garden, but I'm afraid to!!!

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  11. Ha! It's amazing how big that Nolina looks when it's not smooshed against a Grevillea. I can't believe the bracts on that Globba still look so good! Urgh, I hate cutworms. You have my sympathies. I had some success with Bacillus thuringiensis powder, but wasn't consistent in applying it. Thankfully my cutworm population seems to have dwindled. I credit the many, many birds visiting my garden with that, though they can make a bit of a mess digging around.

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    1. The little boy across the street made a cutworm feeding station for the screech jays. He and his mom were planting up a raised bed and everyone he found he added to the alter. I thought about carrying mine over to add but didn't want to risk them making it back across the street...

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  12. First a arrangement producing beauty in a vase, then the beauty producing a rooted plant--coolest thing ever!

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  13. I've not tried nematodes but have had some success with Bt for cutworms. Helps to mix in a few drops of Dr. Bronner's for better adhesion. Going out at night with a flashlight/headlamp works too.
    I have a seedling of Poncirus! It can totally happen!

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