Leucospermum Archives - Oceanside Garden

Becoming a Plant Collector

I admit, I am not a traditional gardener. While I share some common motivations with other people, like finding gardening to be therapeutic, relaxing, a reasonable level of exercise, excuse for getting out of the house, etc. – I also see gardening as a challenge.

Gardens around the World have often seen the garden as man exerting control over nature – the more formal, the more controlled, the better. That is not me.

Gardeners are often corralled into using certain plants because that is what everyone else uses, so they are plentiful in the garden stores and that creates a self-fulfilling circle. That is not me.

Do I like a challenge – certainly, but not in the manner of trying to fight nature. I do not want to spend hours and dollars trying to modify my soil as we are told to do all the time in books, magazines, and TV programs. Oceanside Garden has very sandy, impoverished soil that holds almost no water.

Becoming a Collector

I have become a plant collector, but what is the point of a collection if it isn’t somehow special or has a certain level of difficulty associated with it? Perhaps no one initially expects to be a plant collector, but when you become hooked on something, it becomes a passion.

I am a believer in giving nature every opportunity to survive in a World of climate change. Nature evolves on its own. Plants can either move slowly towards the poles as the climate warms or seek out higher elevation. They can also become more tolerant of the changing conditions. But that takes time and climate change is moving at a pace never before seen on this planet. Evolution, quite frankly, doesn’t stand a chance right now. I can help with that.

Many of these factors drove me to look at a family of plants from South Africa. They have a climate very similar to mine on the coast, the plants are very happy in the type of soil I have, they are difficult to find in this country and plants from South Africa are under extreme threat right now. Not only climate change but also development of their habitat.

South Africa is one of the seven floral kingdoms of the world and the number of species in that kingdom exceeds the total number of species in the whole of the Northern Hemisphere. Those plants can’t gravitate towards the pole because there is only sea between it and Antarctica. Could they survive and thrive in Oregon? They grow in California and Hawaii, but they are both much warmer climates than here on the Oregon Coast.

I did have a few proof points. They do grow in San Francisco that tends to much cooler than most of California. There are some that exist in botanical gardens as far north as Seattle, but I am sure they are highly pampered. Then I found a nursery in Portland that did have a few members of the family in the genus Grevillea. That got me started. They not only survived in my garden – they thrived.

The Start

How perfect – a plant that loves impoverished soils, blooms almost year round, doesn’t need watering in summer, doesn’t need to be fertilized, highly attractive to birds, bees and other wildlife, disliked by deer, and very pretty!

That is when the collector in me kicked in. I wanted more. Not just Grevilleas but the other members of the family – all the way up to the amazing Protea. If you have ever seen one of these flowers you will know what I am talking about.

I started to import seed from South Africa and Australia, New Zealand and places in Europe that had similar climates. These are not easy seeds to germinate, and plants take years before they get to blooming size. That did not deter me. I did manage to find a few somewhat mature plants available online and gobbled those up. Earlier this year, I also discovered that UC Santa Cruz had an importation program with Australia to bring some of their hybrids and cultivars into this country for trials in California. I was a gardener in a plant store. You have never seen a car packed with so many plants heading up I-5.

But through all of this a few big questions remained. Does my garden have enough heat to get some of these plants to set flower buds? I also do not have any plantable areas that have full sun in Winter. Neighboring trees cast a lot of shade when the sun is not that high in the sky. When I asked in online forums, they were skeptical.

Early Success

One of the genera, Leucadendron, can be grown purely for their leaves, which are often multi-colored or variegated. Many of the Leucadendrons I have were cuttings obtained from florists stems. Just after Easter I noted that one of them had a single flower on it. Leucadendron’s actually have very small flowers and are surrounded by large bracts. That means they tend to be “in flower” for a long period of time and that one blossom is still on the plant in June.

Leucadendron floridum 'Pisa' — Leucadendron floridum ‘Pisa’

About a month ago, my Leucospermums started to put on their growth spurt for the year. Lots of buds started to form on them. It is often difficult to tell at first if they are growth buds or flower buds, but as they developed it was clear that on two of the plants, there were two different types of buds. I still didn’t want to get my hopes up because Protea are well known to drop their buds if they don’t like the conditions. Now, at the beginning of June I am the proud gardener of Leucaspermum ‘Scarlet Ribbon’ in bloom.

So, I can grow them, and I can get them to bloom. Two important members of the family have yet to tell me they can bloom here – the Protea and the Banksia, but I am now much more hopeful than I was. Now I know I am safe to collect more plants and that they will be quite happy here.

Calendar

Gardener’s Log – June 2021

June 2nd

Yesterday started out looking none too promising. The marine layer was lapping at the house and garden. While mesmerizing to watch, it doesn’t make for a great gardening day. Undeterred, I decided it would be a good day for some land clearing, and to build the last “wall” that will surround the fairy garden. The main focus is a stained-glass window, acquired about 5 or 6 years ago from an antique store in Aurora. It was created at the turn of the 19th century. It was originally mounted in the structure where Jesse and I got married, but with that house soon to be put on the market, it needed a new home. Now it lives in Oceanside Garden.

Garden Art - Stained Glass Window — Garden Art – Stained Glass Window

I am also highly excited by a plant that is beginning to open its first two blossoms. It is Leucospermum ‘Scarlet Ribbon’, a native to South Africa and a species that I was not certain if I could get to bloom in Oregon. ‘Flame Giant’ is also looking hopeful. Many plants require a minimum amount of heat before they will set bud. So now I have successfully managed to get Grevillea, Leucadendron and Leucospermum to set bud. Still waiting for Protea and Banksia to complete the set. There is a Protea ‘Red Baron’ that is about to bloom in the Garden of the Giants, but those buds were set before the plant was purchased – so they don’t count.

June 30th

I know I haven’t been filling the log in much this month, but it doesn’t mean that nothing has happened. We have been spending a lot of time getting the other house ready for sale and that has meant sorting through a lot of stuff. The good news is that much of the garden art has now moved and is finding its place in the garden.

Children’s entrance into the Fairy Garden

One construction project was finished. This is the children’s entrance into what will be the fairy garden. I can still get through it, so at least for another few years I count as a child. The bed in front of it is planted with:

Farfugium japonicum ‘Shishi Botan’,
Impatiens arguta,
Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’
Mimulus naiandinis ‘Mega’ – commonly called Spunky Monkey Flower!

I was happy to get a collection of 12 Opuntia cuttings a few days ago. All potted up now. I am very happy that I didn’t get a single glochid in me! People are aware of how sharp the spines on many Cacti can be, but Opuntia’s have two levels of prtection and the glochids are even worse. Glochids are full of easily detached, barbed spears that embed themselves in the skin causing irritation. They can persist for a long time causing some severe skin issues. Use a magnifying glass and tweezers to remove them or place duct tape over the infected area and hopefully many of them will come off with the tape when removed. Alternatively, use hot wax and gauze to remove them in the same manner that unwanted hair is removed.

Weather Summary

June was another month for the record books, and we saw an average temperature increase of 2 degrees compared to last year. That also goes along with a 101.8F high compared to a high of 73.8 last year. Rainfall was also well down. Last year saw 4.79″ of rain for the month and this year was only 1.93″, with almost nothing in the latter half of the month. While the majority of the rain was in the first half of the month last year, the latter half was not dry.