Grevillea Archives - Oceanside Garden

LA County Arboretum and Botanic Garden

The words Arboretum and Botanical describe a broad range of gardens. They span scientific collections, to display or demonstration gardens, to public green-space. The LA County Arboretum and Botanic Garden is a pleasant mix of all of them, but not fully any of them. It is an attempt to serve multiple functions in an area that desperately needs every piece of green-space they can save from an ever growing population.

How it started

Back in the late 1800s, Lucky Baldwin built his lakeside home in what was to become the City of Arcadia and he its first mayor. The plot of land basically controlled the water in the area. Over time he sold of parcels of his huge estate for city development. On the land he grew fruit, nuts vegetables, grains, and all kinds of animals. After his death, the State of California purchased 111 acres for the foundation of the arboretum. Construction started in 1947.

Australia and Africa

It has an extensive Australian and African section, comprising about ½ the Arboretum. This is what attracted me to this garden. The Australian section specialized in Eucalyptus and Acacia and had many fine specimens with lots in bloom. It was still a little early for many of the Acacia, but just give it another couple of weeks for the peak display.

Hybrid – Eucalyptus torquata x E. woodwardii

One Acacia really took my eye, not for the flowers, but for its protection from predation. Acacia giraffee has a wicked pair of thorns. They are about 3″ to 4″ long, with a tender green shoot emerging from the collar between them. The branches create a zig-zag pattern because it bends about 45 degrees at each node.

What I did find strange is their almost lack of plants from the Protea family. These are plants that almost symbolize both of those countries. We found 2 Banksia, neither of which looked healthy, a few Grevillea, and interestingly ones that I would not have expected to find there because they were species that we can easily grow in a much colder climate. I would have thought they could have grown the much showier ones. There were no Leucadendrons, or Leucospermums, no Protea – but they did have a couple of fine looking Macadamia trees which are in that family. I have to assume that their soil conditions were such that they did not perform well.

Aloe

But perhaps the star of the show were the Aloes. Huge drifts of them in full bloom. To say the least – they were breathtaking. Syrupy nectar was oozing out of many of them, which surprisingly few critters were enjoying.

On the other side of the garden, they have a fabulous collection of ancient plants, Cycads, Dioone, and many others.

Within this part of the garden are some of the original structures dating back to the late 1800s. We did not get to fully explore this side of the gardens, but it had areas that were more naturalistic, as well as other areas that were more formally laid out, such as the rose garden and citrus orchard.

Final thoughts

I would gladly go back and spend more time in this garden, especially at different times of the year. The plants are reasonably well marked, with most of the paths easily navigable (although at times the only indication that we could walk in an area was a sitting bench sited within it.) It is clear that they have been designed to be enjoyable year-round, not that difficult to do when you have such a favorable climate.

Calendar

Gardener’s Log – December 2022

They say that every year appears to go by faster, but that has not been the case this year, thanks to the increasing pain in my leg. This has reduced my ability to make progress, especially over the past couple of months, but I remain hopeful that this will be resolved in the New Year. It has also been a year of unexpected surprises from the weather. No longer can we claim to be a marginal zone 10 garden, not even a 9B. In fact, we were book-ended by bad weather – cold early which killed a lot of plants, and a major storm in the past few days that left the whole region without power for a day, and for us – almost two days. Thankfully, it appears that no significant damage was done by the wind and rain that came with that.

Garden Progress

Having said that, some major changes did happen over the course of the year, making it a very productive year. The new growing benches out front have made life a lot easier and are full to overflowing. Much less bending, plants not attempting to root into the ground, and making it a lot easier to get organized for watering and feeding. I also sold plants for the first time this year on ebay – all of my excess Protea venusta plants (it bloomed for the first time this year), many Grevillea, and a few other plants that I had excess of. I should have many more this spring to put up.

Progress through the year

In the main part of the garden, progress happened in three main areas. The new Winter garden, the Mediterranean garden and progress on the Fairy garden. Also made a start clearing out a lot of the Holodiscus from what will be the Native area of the garden. While the Holodiscus are natives, I don’t need the whole area filled with them and it will make room for native Vine Maples, native Rhododendron, Mahonia and others. I also have a batch of Trilliums going for ground cover.

I am not sure if I should be proud or embarrassed about the number of plants that have been purchased over the course of this year. A total of 341 new plant entries have been made in the catalog. If it is any consolation, it is a few less than last year that came in at 375. Many of those are bulbs, with a lot more reticulata Iris being included this year, after they brought so much joy last year. There has also been a concentration of plants that can take a little more shade. Dry, shade, sharp drainage is a difficult set of requirements, and then you add on top deer resistant. A lot of the plants are experiments to see how well they do.

Iris reticulata 'Harmony' — Iris reticulata ‘Harmony’

What’s in Bloom

Winter is time when many of the South African and Australian bloom, although it is still early for most. Crowea ‘Poorinda Ecstasy’ has started early this year and started putting out the first blooms early in the month.

Crowea 'Poorinda Ecstacy' — Crowea ‘Poorinda Ecstacy’

Many of the Correa’s have started to put out a few blooms and that will intensify through winter. Correa glabra ‘Marian’s Marvel’ is one with slightly more pastel colors than some of the others.

Correa 'Marian's Marvel' — Correa ‘Marian’s Marvel’

Grevillea lanigera ‘Coastal Gem’ has really come into its own this year. It has spread nicely and has been holding its buds for a couple of months now.

But there are other more Northern Hemisphere plants that are also blooming. Helleborus x ericsmithii ‘Winter’s Song’ is the first of the Hellebore’s to bloom for us. I gave it a good hair cut a month or so ago meaning that the blossoms are really visible this year. It will soon put on new leaf growth.

Outstanding New Plants for 2022

There have been three plants that I acquired this year that have really blown me away. Two were from UC Santa Cruz arboretum (Norries) and the third from Half Moon Bay Nursery. They were all acquired in July and were blooming at that time. What is amazing is that all three of them are still blooming! The number of blossoms has changed, and the Ceratopetalum cheats a little bit because it is the bracts that are the most colorful and they last much longer than the actual flowers. But it is still putting out a few and with that, it keeps coloring up the leaves.

Grevillea rhyolitica

Leptospermum scoparium ‘Snow White’

Ceratopetalum gummiferum ‘Fairley’s Coral’

Weather Summary

For weather this month I am cheating a bit. First, we had another sensor go out on our array, meaning we had no record of rainfall during the last week of the month. A new array is on its way. Also, during the large storm at the end of the month, we were without power for most of two days, whereas Netarts, just a mile down the road, was out for a much shorter space of time. I have thus “borrowed” the data from them.

The average temperature for the month was 1 degree warmer than last year. The high was 59.4 and low of 27.7, compared to 55.9 and 29.1 last year. Last year’s winds were 29.8 and gust of 51.4. This year, thanks to the late storm winds clocked in at 70, gusting to 85.7. No wonder the entire county was without power.

Weather - December 2022 — Weather – December 2022

Yearly Summary

January and February were quite delightful months with lots of sun and low rainfall. March, April and May made up for that. Then we went into a long dry summer that extended into October. The final two months were somewhat average apart from the big storm in the last week of December. That was the worst since we have lived here. In total we had 105″ of rain this year, that was highly concentrated into 6 months. That is a little bit above last year at 98″.

2022	High	Low	Average	Rainfall
Jan	63	30.6	46.5	14.3
Feb	72.7	22.5	44.7	7.4
Mar	64.8	36	46.9	10.35
Apr	66.2	32.5	46.3	10.81
May	66	38.8	50.3	13.22
Jun	90	45.1	56.6	6.88
Jul	79.3	47.8	58.8	0.44
Aug	80.4	50.7	60.5	0.51
Sep	94.6	48.6	59.4	1.51
Oct	89.8	43.5	54.6	6.55
Nov	64.6	34.7	46.1	17.71
Dec	59.4	27.7	43.9	15.16

Calendar

Gardener’s Log – November 2022

November is an interesting transition month. The last remaining plants of the year continue to put out a few blooms, although they certainly fade from their former glory, but taking over from them are the early harbingers of spring. Already, the first snowdrops are blooming and the Mahonia flower buds are coloring up, letting you know that they are ready to take on winter. In my garden, there is another layer that adds color through the winter. Many of the South African and Australian plants bloom during winter, and the Grevillea ‘Coastal Gem’ has been covered in a mass of red buds for over a month now. It is just waiting for the right moment to burst open. Other Grevillea are also blooming, but not with the same kind of flower density.

A new beginning

This is also the month when seeds and bulbs come pouring in, creating a temporary frenzy of activity. Many of the bulbs already had their location picked out when they were ordered, but each year I try out a few new things and I like to keep those in pots for the first year so that I can see them up close and under more controlled conditions.

Seeds are more difficult to obtain these days due to restrictions or conditions that were put in place during Covid. South Africa remains in a state that can only be described as close to collapse. Their mail system is no longer trustworthy and seeds from there have to wait for a courier to take them out of the country to somewhere like England, and then they are mailed form there. That is a tough journey for some of these seeds. Australia has put in place a lot more restrictions and many of the companies I used in the past no longer entertain international orders. But still – I have lot of things to try and germinate. With many of them, it will be years before I really see the fruits of my efforts.

Garden Progress

Little progress has been made this month, primarily due to a continuing medical condition. But there has been progress on the stream bed and waterfall. It starts in what will be Nature Island and ends up in the Fairy garden. The bottom part of it was nearing completion, but the upper stream bed was non-existent. The ground has now been cleared. That meat getting up a number of mature Sword Ferns and moving those along to the property border. My experience has been that these ferns are tough as nails when it comes to this kind of relocation.

The land has been contoured, and most of the underground pipework is in. Now it is a matter of working out where I can put in some small margin and bog areas, building the sides and then mortaring everything in place and sealing all the joints. The mortar is necessary based on my experience with raccoons. Once they damage a butyl rubber liner, there is almost no hope of every fully sealing it again, especially if it is in an area that is not totally flat.

What’s in Bloom

Out with the old

These are a few of the plants that continue to bloom. Fuchsia and Salvia hang on with fewer flowers than they used to have. Plus, it is easy to forget some of them, like the Rosemary, that are almost always in bloom.

Rosemarinus officinalis 'Huntington's Carpet' — Rosemarinus officinalis ‘Huntington’s Carpet’

Toad lilies (tricyrtis hirta) come in some amazing colors and patterns. This is one I grew from seed.

And the Hesperanthus just refuse to give up.

Hesperanthus coccinea 'Oregon Sunset' — Hesperanthus coccinea ‘Oregon Sunset’

In with the new

These are the first harbingers of spring. This was the first snowdrop of the year.

And the Mahonia media ‘Charity’ getting ready to bloom

Not blooms, but great anyways

There are many plants that have insignificant flowers, but have other ways to put on a wonderful display. Here is a Leucadendron ‘Hawaii Magic’ that has colorful bracts.

Weather Summary

To look at the averages for this year, you would think that it was very similar to last year. This year, the high was 64.6, low 34.7 and average 46.1. Last year the high was 63.6, low 38.1 and an average of 50.4. Rainfall this year was 17.71″ versus 19.68″. But behind the numbers is a very big difference. This year we went two weeks with no rain! It didn’t feel like November at all, with the sun shining. The clear nights meant that it was a little colder and that is what accounted for most of the lower average temperature. Last year saw some rain almost every day. I would certainly take this year over last year, even though at one point I had to go out and water some plants!

Calendar

Gardener’s Log – October 2022

What a month of extremes. The first two thirds of the month thought it was July. Almost no rain and for two days we almost hit 90F. Then the weather broke. We very rapidly descended into the type of weather that is more typical for this time of year. Rain and much cooler temps. While there was no hope that we would finish with anything like average rain for the month, it is certainly tried to make up for lost time!

Garden Progress

Marginal construction progress this month. There were a few areas that got finished off, or tidied up. One example is the pathway to the compost bins. Sand can be very messy when the ground is wet and there was a short area between the emergency supply dump and the compost bin that was unpaved. Wet sand sticks to your shoes and then gets tracked into the house, so this area was finished off. That also means that the very top portion of the staircase down on this side of the house was started.

While many people see this as being the end of the gardening year, it is also a beginning. It is when all of the bulbs arrive. While parts of the garden are being put to bed, others become part of the great anticipation of spring, making the garden the bridge between the past and the future. We garden for the anticipation of the future and the glory of today. This can be on many time scales. When we plant a tree, we are anticipating what it will look like 10 years, 20 years or more down the road. When we plant a bulb, we are anticipating what it will look like in a few months.

Bulb Planting Time

This year, one of the new garden areas was clamoring for bulbs – the winter garden. For this area, I wanted all of the earliest of bloomers I could find. In went daffodils that are normally considered for indoor forcing, such as paperwhites, along with what I think are the harbingers of early spring – Iris reticulata and histrioides. I bought several new varieties for this year – half of which were planted in pots to be displayed by the front door as they start blooming in January and February, and the other half in the Winter Garden.

Gardening Values

I am often asked about my gardening philosophy. Am I an organic gardener – well sort of but not quite. How about a naturalistic gardener – nope, environmental gardener – yes, but with reservations. I try and be a responsible gardener, but I am not resolute about any of them. Let me explain.

Organic is perhaps the easiest. I do not use chemicals in the garden where there is a suitable alternative. I have never used insecticides, apart from natural ones when I have an infestation that I cannot control in the greenhouse. Same with herbicides and fungicides. Fertilizer becomes a little more difficult. Proteas require a very specific fertilizer regime which is absent of phosphorous. That eliminates most natural fertilizers with the exception of kelp fertilizer – which I use a lot, but the analysis on this is 0.3 – 0 – 0.6. It is a tonic and useful for seedlings but not really a fertilizer for mature plants. I find a need a slow-release chemical fertilizer suited for this purpose.

I love to attract wildlife to my garden, so long as they don’t do too much damage. That means I attempt to exclude deer, but do everything I can to attract birds, bees, butterflies- even when they eat the plants. Do I only plant native plants – no, although I do have an area of the garden that is reserved for natives. Even then, I may go for a cultivar rather than the species, meaning that I am restricting the DNA distribution of the plant. Many of the plants I do grow are the opposite of native and in many cases are endangered plants in their natural habitats. I do try and make sure that there are critters here that can enjoy them and given the choice between two similar plants – I will generally pick the one that provides the most value to wildlife.

Being a Good Citizen

I want to be a good citizen of the planet and to me that means first and foremost – doing as little harm as I can while enjoying the little piece of it that I can influence and derive pleasure from. My attitude on this has changed over time. I would never plant something as bad for the planet as a lawn today – which I did in the past. But I perceive the planet has many needs, and it is my choice how I choose to respect those needs – I hope she agrees that I do try and show respect.

Visits

One thing I do enjoy at this time of year are the clearance sales at the nurseries. Who doesn’t love a bargain? That meant a few Mangaves at great prices, as well as some more shade loving plants, such as ferns, Pulmonaria, hellebore and more.

What’s in Bloom

The shimmery, silky pink of Hesperanthus ‘Sunrise’ has been a delight this year. This is another South African plant, but it does require a little more moisture than is available in Gondwana. The plants I tried there have fizzled, but those in pots that get more summer water have done really well this year.

The autumnal bulbs have been putting on a grand display. Autumn Crocus, Colchicums and Cyclamen have been adding pops of color all around the garden.

One plant I picked up in the nursery sales is a new one to me – Lisianthus. The blossoms look something like a rose although it is on a succulent type of growth. These are apparently somewhat difficult to grow, so I may be treating it like an annual, but it sure has put on a marvelous display for 3 weeks now and is still going strong.

In addition to plants that are in bloom, many of the Grevillea are packed with buds that are bursting to open. ‘Coastal Gem’ is one such example that is becoming a beautiful carpet in the corner of Gondwana. It is difficult at times to believe that this plant is only 2 years old. I am sure it will look even better as it cascades down over the rock wall.

Weather Summary

As I said in the opening paragraph, it has been a month of two extremes. The high this year was a lofty 89.8, compared to 67.8 last year. The lows and averages were comparable. We did manage to get 6.55″ of rain this year in a little over a week. That compares top a much more even rainfall last year that totally 12.5″