Seeing Red

It tricked me once before, so I wasn’t going to fall for it again. Nope, I was just going to ignore that little splash of red I kept seeing out of the corner of my eye. Until I couldn’t any longer. And no, I'm not talking about the canna bloom, look toward the middle of the photo...

It's this red, on the Fascicularia pitcairnifolia that's got my attention. A little red appeared on a single leaf earlier in the summer, but closer inspection showed the leaf was cracked right where the red color was, so I figured that was the cause.

Whatever the reason was for that episode, this is taking it to a whole new level! A level that would seem to indicate a bloom is immanent, but for now there's no bloom happening (unlike what Mark & Gaz discovered on their Fascicularia bicolor subsp. canaliculata recently).

These photos I took of a Fascicularia bicolor/Fascicularia pitcairnifolia (I will not be addressing the confusing name issues in this post, leaving that for another day or another blogger) in the Alpine House at Kew Gardens (in 2012) show multiple blooms...

Maybe the red bits on my plant are the beginning of something similar?

Switching to a different plant entirely, here's a Bromelia balansae at the Huntington Botanical Garden. I took these photos in 2012...

Some plants were just starting to bloom nnd others were further along.

Seeing the various stages was wonderful. I really must look into how/if Bromelia balansae and Fascicularia pitcairnifolia are related (and confuse myself even more).

Meanwhile I'll be keeping an eye on my Fascicularia, who knows what it's got planned?

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

I am the happiest girl in the world!

Well okay, not really. If I were the happiest girl in the world I would have just found out that I own a home in Santa Barbara (paid for) with an ocean view and an unlimited plant budget. So I guess I am really the second happiest girl in the world. But you are probably wondering why? Because Cistus Nursery has joined up with plant lust! And earlier this week I was invited to step inside one of their “off limits” greenhouses and visit a million happy warm little succulents. Heaven. So many beautiful things!

I seriously considered causing a distraction, grabbing this Agave victoriae-reginae, and running for the door. I’ve been hunting for a good size one of these for quite awhile. But I quickly calculated the pros of getting the desired agave with the cons of not being able to ever visit the nursery again. I’m still thinking about that Agave though.

Back out in the nursery it was time to do a little wandering and shopping (you didn’t think this would be all business and no play did you?). It was a crazy stormy December day with drenching downpours and even a few dramatic claps of thunder adding to the drama and resulting in us having the nursery all to ourselves.

Since they are in full-on winter mode you can see where the inspiration for our shade pavilion winter greenhouse came from.

Minus the propane tank (they scare me).

Look at the plants all huddled together, warm and dry.

With the plants grouped for warmth your eye was able to take in more of “hardscape” of the nursery. Like this simple yet beautiful table.

A little festive holiday green and red.

And spiky stems and twisted rebar.

It seems the magic of Cistus even extends to their Echiums…still alive and beautiful!

And because it’s a time honored tradition that I leave Cistus planning for my next visit I am now completely infatuated with this Dion edule (the Cycad dead center in this photo). It’s only hardy to the lower 20’s but when have I ever let that stop me?

Even though Jim, the knowledgable fellow we were meeting with that day, told me the name of this plant (again) I can never remember it. Maybe Sonchus acaulis “Cerraja”? Or I can just call it a Dandelion on a stick like he did. (**update it is Sonchus canariensis**) I’m also still in love with the foliage of the Begonia luxurians, but so far I’ve managed to resist its pull.

Of course there was a little purchasing done…remember earlier in the week when I vowed to get a Fascicularia pitcairnifolia v. bicolor? Well I did. And remember the fabulous Nolina growing at the Whole 9 Yards? It’s a Nolina ‘La Siberica.’ And I got one of those too.

The View from Great Dixter: Christopher Lloyd’s Garden Legacy, or why I’ll be buying another Fascicularia bicolor as soon as I find one.

I’ve enjoyed all the recent blog posts on the best 5 books for gardeners, and I’ve even picked up a few titles to add to my library hold list. My timing for recommending this book is purely coincidental; I’m not listing 5, just this one. And I’m not suggesting you give it to anyone on your gift list. No, The View from Great Dixter: Christopher Lloyd’s Garden Legacy is a book you deserve for yourself!

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up this title, but I was very pleasantly surprised. As I read the first few pages I found myself regretting that I’d never have the opportunity to meet one of the world’s greatest gardening personalities, but then by the time I finished the book I realized I felt as though I had.

There are so many wonderful stories and remembrances shared throughout the book. Themes reoccur (the Dachshunds were frequently out for blood…you always had a notebook handy when touring a garden with Christo) and pictures form in your mind of the many meals enjoyed among friends.

There are also (of course) many mentions of plants and the gardens, but these are not the focus on the book, merely incidentals. However one of them spoke very loudly to me: “Christo proudly showed me a clump of Fascicularia bicolor strapped into the guttering at the back of the kitchen and said, “It’s an idea Fergus and I are trying out. Most people grow Fascicularia in pots or in the garden, but they are really epiphytes in the wild. All they need is an occasional soaking with fresh water. They’ll certainly get this when it rains, but they won’t become soggy and rotten. I think we’ll see more people trying to grow them in this way in the future. A new type of pinecone perhaps.”
- quote from Ian Hodgson (editor of RHS magazine The Garden)
- photo credit to Jonathan Buckley.

I’ve been toying with the idea of trying a second Fascicularia bicolor ever since my first one melted in the extreme cold of 2009. This little story is all I needed…the next time I see one I’m buying it. I doubt I’ll actually be mounting it to our gutter but I will be experimenting with a less earthbound planting scheme.

Sharp Gardening

Since I can’t be outside cleaning up the garden I’ve been rediscovering some of my favorite garden books, like this one, Sharp Gardening, written by Christopher Holliday and published by Timber Press our local Portland, Oregon, gardening book resource.
I purchased Sharp Gardening when we first moved into our house back in 2005 and I was planning the front garden. With chapter titles like “Swords and lances”, “Spiky rosettes”, and “Spiky flowers, spires and straps”, I felt like it was written just for me!
In the introduction the author starts by defining The Sharp Palette: “Sharp Gardening is based on the use of spiky, sword-leaved plants, many of them evergreen, including large specimen exotics with an architectural profile. These are complimented by low-maintenance perennials with flowers or foliage that echo or contrast with the forms of the larger structural plants; and ornamental grasses complete the look with their contrasting forms and bristle-sharp pointed tips.” And then paints the Sharp Picture: “Well-designed gardens owe their success to contrasting shapes and sizes and this is no less true in the case of the sharp garden.”
And finally on to Creating the Sharp Look…where as a new Portland gardener this must have been the first place I read the words that experience has proven to be so true “Since plants from arid areas of the globe can withstand temperatures below freezing only if kept dry, where rainfall is high in the winter months – which in a temperate climate it normally is – a combination of wet and cold can be disastrous. Too much rainfall and frost reduces some barbed spears to mush” (so sad and so true!) “The odd night of frost in dry conditions may not do too much damage, unless the plant is half hardy or frost tender. But more often than not, it is prolonged wet weather followed by a burst of frost that deals the hardest blow.”
Yikes! He’s describing our Portland winters exactly. Yet for some crazy reason I keep forging on with my spiky obsession! In fact he even goes on to issue this warning…”If you are gardening in an undrained frost pocket, in deep shade or on leaden clay soil, be wary of pursuing sharp gardening! However, if you are without or can improve on these problems, the possibilities for enjoyment are endless!” Clay soil? Check.
I guess I paid more attention to the next bit of advice….”By choosing the right plants and giving them the appropriate growing conditions, the sharp garden look is yours for the asking. You won’t get it right the first time, but you should have a lot of fun exploring possibilities.” Yes the exploring (and buying) is very fun!

I learned so much about the plants I love from this book. And now upon my second reading I am discovering things I had forgotten, like my first introduction to Astelia, Fascicularia pitcairniifolia bicolor, and Puya would have been in reading Sharp Gardening.
The chapters that follow introduce the sharp plant palette along with detailing the plants needs along with plenty of design advice and fabulous pictures (all photographs by Jerry Harpur, scanned and used with permission of Timber Press). So many exciting sharp plants to fall in love with!