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Hebe 'Silver Dollar' Calendar

Gardener’s Log – February 2022

February has been both cruel and kind. Let’s start with the kind.

The dry, relatively warm weather has enabled significant progress on three areas of the garden that are under development. The bench/seating area in the fairy garden now has a bench and work is progressing on the slate flooring in there. Black pebbles will fill in the major gaps under and behind the seating, and then Herniaria glabra will be planted in the gaps. A half flat of these has been growing from cuttings in the greenhouse over winter.

The second area is the extension to the upper woodland and surrounding area. I had to start work on this so that there was a temporary place for some of the pots, but more about that in a minute. Along with the clearing, the location for the new path that will go through that part of the garden came into focus. Thanks to a delivery of rock, I was able to start building the retaining walls for this.

Winter Garden

When I started thinking about what plants I had available for that area, I decided that a secondary theme for it should also be a winter garden. I had seen a couple of episodes of Gardener’s World that featured these and decided that it was something I could easily do in that area. The first addition was an Acer palmatum ‘Sango-kaku’, more commonly known as the Coral Bark Maple. Along with plants already in the collection, I will probably also try and acquire one of the more interesting colored twig dogwoods to go in there. Daphne, Hellebore, Winter flowering heaths will join them.

Below the walkway, and along the main pathway will be a Mediterranean garden. This will take on a somewhat pastel color tone and double as a bee/butterfly garden. Along with Lavender, a number of other perennials have been ordered to create a significant splash of muted color. I am planning the build some bug hotels at the bottom of this and in Nature Island – an area of the garden that I am leaving to fully native plantings – just like it was when I started the garden.

Contemporary Garden

The final area under development is in the front of the house and comprises what will become the contemporary garden and the new and improved area for plants in pots. The old Escallonia hedge is now fully removed, stumps out, and the structure for the fence is built. Pickets will be painted and installed as weather permits. The first of the new benches has also been constructed and is now housing plants from the Protea family. A smaller and lower section will be added to the end of it later. I also managed to acquire a stainless-steel bench that will be a small work area in the pots area.

Garden contemporary and pots
Garden contemporary and pots

Cruel Cold

Now on to the cruel. After our lowest recorded temperatures last month, that whacked a few plants, we dipped another 8 degrees colder than that for a couple of nights. We got down to 22F – that is a full 10 degrees below the lowest we have recorded before this year. It broke records in other areas along the coast set back in 1960, so perhaps this is a once in 100 year event, but with global warming, I am getting to think that it just means that both our highs and lows will become more extreme.

With those temperatures, many things have died. It is still not possible to know the full extent of the damage yet, but some major plants appeared to be gone. Like the Echium “Pride of Madeira” was about to come into bloom after growing it from a tiny plant for 3 years. Several Grevilleas, including King’s Fire and Superb look as if there is nothing left. Many other plants look as if the leaves have suffered but will have to see if the crowns survived. I had thought we were a safe 9b or even a 10a with some protection, but after this year 9a is the best we can reliably hope for. That will change some of my plant selections in the future.

February Bloomers

A number of things have been blooming this month. The Hellebores continue with ‘Double Peach Blush’ entering the fray.

Helleborus 'Double Peach Blush'
Helleborus ‘Double Peach Blush’

A number of the Correa are blooming, including Ray’s Tangerine.

Correa 'Ray's Tangerine'
Correa ‘Ray’s Tangerine’

A new little charmer is Viola odorata ‘Comte de Brazza’

Viola odorata 'Comte de Brazza'
Viola odorata ‘Comte de Brazza’

In the Iris collection, Iris histrioides ‘Sheila Ann Germany’ takes over. Isn’t she an absolute charmer. I hope to add more dwarf Iris for next year.

Iris histrioides 'Sheila Ann Germany'
Iris histrioides ‘Sheila Ann Germany’

In the more unusual flower category is Isopogon formosus. Thankfully, it seems to have survived the cold snap.

Isopogon formosus
Isopogon formosus

And Leucadendron salignum ‘Winter Red’

Leucadendron salignum 'Winter Red'
Leucadendron salignum ‘Winter Red’

February Weather

As already stated, February has been a month of extremes. The highs of 72.7 was wonderful, but the lows of 22.5 was not. We also had by far the strongest winds we have ever recorded at 54.6 mph with a gust of 111.8mph. Shortly after this, the anemometer stopped working, so we do not have wind speed for the second half of the month.

Last year, the high was 54.5 and the low was 32.7. Interestingly, the average temperature was almost exactly the same, meaning that this year was lots of extremes on both ends. Rainfall last year was 11.48″ and this year we only managed half of that, coming in at 5.73″ and 3″ of that has been in the last two days.

An interesting evening

After I took the measurements for the month, things got interesting. Not only did we have a lot more rain, at one point, I noticed we were up to more than 4″ for the day, but then the lights started to flicker along with bright flashes in the surrounding hills. Each time the power came back – until it didn’t and was replaced by several fires shouting up into the sky. Thankfully, the rain and our great volunteer fire department took care of everything. Thanks folks.

Isopogon formosus Calendar

Gardener’s Log – January 2022

What a glorious month and perhaps somewhat deserved after a total bust that was fall. It has enabled a very productive gardening month and allowed me to catch up on many of the tasks not completed last year – like doing all of the weeding. It feels good to be on top of them, although I am sure there will be many more spouting as soon as I look away.

Junuary

The month of June is often called January because it can be one of the worst months of the year on the coast. In April and May, spring gets going and the sun gets higher in the sky. Temperatures warm and the rains decrease and then along comes June and the onshore winds kick in. It becomes cold, cloudy, windy and just like we expect January to be.

But this year we have had the opposite. You could be forgiven for forgetting that it is January because it is behaving like a real June. We have been dry for over two weeks. While nighttime temperatures have been cold, the days have hardly had a cloud in the sky. Temperatures between 50 and 60, no wind – absolutely glorious. I don’t think I have even managed to garden as much in a January.

Microclimates

We often here the term microclimate, but rarely do we see it exhibited as much as we have this month. I probably wouldn’t have known if not for the temperatures sensors we have around the house and garden. Our main weather station is on the decking of the main floor of the house. This is a good 20 feet above ground level. We also have a sensor on the Portal, which is probably about 50′ away and 30′ down in elevation.

I always suspected that the Portal would be a degree or two cooler because cold air flows downhill and there is nowhere really for it to go once it gets there. For the past week the air has been very still. While the tops of the tree are moving, the air is completely stagnant down in the lower part of the garden. That has resulted in a continuous temperature differential of between 5 and 10 degrees, both day and night, between those two points. That is basically a whole USDA zone difference.

Escallonia removal

Escallonia is one of those plants that is a deer magnet. We had a whole hedge of it in front of the house. Half of it was removed to make way for the greenhouse. Now it is time to deal with the other side. It is not uncommon to catch the deer munching on the hedge. While I don’t mind, the problem is they trample over my can yard to get to it. Many plants have been crushed, pots broken or tipped over. It is good to be rid of it.

Escallonia be gone

The plan is that this area will become a contemporary garden filled with grasses and display pedestals on which plants of note will be placed. These will be rotational. Plants may find they place here because they are architectural, bizarre, or just looking especially good at that moment.

Next month, the roots will be coming out – hopefully. That means all of the pots that were out front had to be moved. That means I had to clean some other ground and set up a temporary area for some of the pots. It is not ideal that they are in front of the heat pumps, but it should only be for a short time.

Temporary Plant Storage

What’s in Bloom

Some things have certainly been hurried along this month. The first Iris of the year have been blooming, but then they often do start the bloom season. Iris reticulata ‘Katherine’s Gold’ is usually the first followed by ‘Harmony’.

The Hellebore ‘Winter’s Song’ has been blooming all month and certainly brightens up the pathway leading to the Tea House. Up in the pots, a few plants have been putting on a show. First up is Isopogon formosus. The common name for this plant is drumsticks and you can see why from this photo.

Isopogon formosus
Isopogon formosus

Several of the Correa have a few blooms on them right now, but ‘Dawn in Santa Cruz’ is in full bloom. The pink and yellow trumps certainly like to celebrate the new year.

Correa 'Dawn in Santa Cruz'
Correa ‘Dawn in Santa Cruz’

One plant that is not meant to be in bloom at this time of year is the Crowea ‘Poorinda Ecstacy’. It doesn’t have many blooms, but they are still very welcomed.

Weather Summary

Sometimes, averages tell you nothing. When comparing this January against last year using the average figures, you would think that last year was the better of the two. The high temperature last year was 65.3 and only 63 for this year (not that anything over 60 isn’t wonderful in January.) The low last year – 34.2 against 30.6 for this year – the first real frost we have ever had here. It was colder down the bottom of the garden. Rainfall was less this year, clocking in at 14.16 inches versus 19.55″ last year.

Winds were a little higher this year compared to last, the same with the gusts. The big difference comes with how the rain was distributed and you see that long dry spell, starting from the 20th almost to the end of the month. Last year, it dribbled a little bit almost every day, so the skies would have been grey and that also explains the higher average temperatures because we had cloud cover at night.

Lachenalia (aloides) quadricolor Calendar

New Year Bloomers

With an increasing array of South African and Australian plants in the garden, the number of plants that we can expect to bloom at this time of year is significantly increasing. I just dodged the rain showers to take stock of what is blooming today.

The new year starts of with Grevillea ‘Neil Bell’ continuing to bloom, as is the Correa. Both of these plants appear to want to bloom year round. Some of the other Grevillea really want to open up, but they will probably wait for a warmer day to do that.

In the greenhouse, a newly acquired bulb has started blooming – Lachenalia quadricolor. This is such a delightful little plant and I hope I can get them to increase over time.

Also blooming in the greenhouse is an unknown variety of Echeveria. (looks like it might be Echevaria shaviana)

Echeveria
Echeveria

A couple of Hellebores have started their display ‘Winter’s Song’ and ‘Snow Fever’. Other Hellebore are getting ready, but these two have already been at it for a couple of weeks.

Down in the Tuxedo garden, the Leucanthemum continues to put out cheery blossoms. A few other plants that should have died down continue to have a few blooms, such as the Gaillardia, and some of the Fuchsia. The rosemary also believes that the entire year is the right time to bloom.

The first of the Galanthus woronowii (snow drop) has just opened up. The common name for this is the Green Snowdrop. I know it looks white, but when it open up a little more, it should have a green trip inside. No page for that one yet, but stay tuned. Also putting on a display at the moment is a silver leaved Cyclamen of an unknown species.

Galanthus woronowii
Galanthus woronowii

Well, that’s the list unless there were things that were hiding from me as I did my rapid walk-around. Happy New Year everyone.

Weather for Oceanside Garden - Jan 2020 Calendar

January 2020

After a very dry period from October through December, January became a catch-up month when it comes to rain. With just a few hours left to go, we have recorded a hair over 20 inches of rain for the month and that misses a couple of hours of rain one night when power was lost.

Back at the end of October 2019, the interior of the greenhouse was still coming together, but as soon as the propagation bench was in and operating, I couldn’t resist taking some cuttings. I scoured the garden for anything that looked like reasonable semi-hardware material and prepared some Lavender Silver Anouk, Grevillea Pink Lady and Neil Bell, Callistemon Dark Red, Woodlander’s Hardy Red and Veridis, plus a few other things like some fuchsias that I wanted for baskets next year. With all of the cuttings I used a rooting gel in a peat/perlite mix. Did some wounding on the stems.

While they had bottom heat, the mist system was still not installed, so they got daily misting and a transparent storage box placed over them to keep as much humidity around them as I could.

So far, the Lavenders have rooted with 100% success and are potted up. Yesterday I did the Callistemon Woodlander’s Hardy Red and they were 100% as well. Today I potted up the Pink Lady Grevillea and was very pleased to have 5 out of 7 cuttings rooted. This is plant that the nursery I originally bought it from has had difficulty with over the past year and they didn’t get many of their cuttings to set. It still remains to be seen if I lose any from the transplanting and they will need one more potting up then before they would be planting size, but I love that they have some new growth buds on them already.

There are signs of rooting in the other Grevillea and Callistemon as well, but will leave them a little bit longer before potting those up. To say I am pretty pleased in an understatement.

1/14 Temperatures have dipped to almost freezing (the low was 33.6 at just after 9am this morning). We have had rain, sleet, snow and hail. It has been cloudy and sunny. We have had a rainbow, and a wind gust up to 38 mph. All in all, an interesting day this is certainly not normal for these parts.

I built and installed a mist system in the latter half of this month. While It isn’t really necessary at this time of year, I wanted to get it up and running so that the greenhouse is somewhat self sufficient while we are away for a week in February. I had all of the bits, but needed to connect the water supply up to the greenhouse and get it built. One thing I learned is that with the recirculation fan running, a lot of the mist gets blown away from where it is necessary, so I need to install another relay to turn off the fan while the misters are operating. I think that should do the trick. The relay has arrived, but I have been hobbling around a bit for the past week, so it hasn’t been done yet.

Seeds

There are lots of seeds popping up this month. There are signs of life from Arisaema ciliatum (Cobra Lily), just today, the first Banksia baueri poked through (Possum Banksia), Banksia spinulosa (Birthday Candles), Crassula coccinea, Fuchsia procumbens (Creeping Fuchsia), Grevillea eriostachya – another one showed itself just today (Flame of Orange Grevillea), Grevillea nudiflora, Hakea francisiana (Red Spike Hakea), Leptospermum scoparium (New Zealand Tea Tree), Leucadendron discolor, Leucadendron salignum, Protea scolymocephalon -yet another new one for today, Protea venusta, Watsonia meriana var Bulbillifera (Bugle Lily) and Watsonia borbonica (also know as Bugle Lily).

Plants

One by one the Hellobores have been bursting into bloom this month. It started with Winter’s Song, that actually started to bloom in the last week of December, and now the others are either in bloom, or the buds are opening up. The unknown white heather has been a mass of blossoms all month and Grevillea Neil Bell has been providing sporadic flowers all month. Grevillea Pink Lady is full of buds and that will be a mass of bloom before long. The Camellia (Nuccio’s Pearl) is getting ready to open.

The Weather

High Low Average
Temperature 63.0 F 33.3 F 46.5 F
Dew Point 54.9 F 26.4 F 44.8 F
Humidity 99 % 28 % 94 %
Precipitation 20.02 in — —
Wind Speed 38.3 mph 0.0 mph 3.6 mph
Wind Gust 54.8 mph — 5.3 mph
Wind Direction — — SSE
Pressure 30.27 in 29.19 in —

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