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Gardener’s Log – November 2021

What a wet November it has been, making it almost impossible to get out into the garden and do anything. Thankfully, there has been plenty to do in the greenhouse as seeds have poured in from around the World (South Africa, Spain, England, Australia). The only problem, and one that every greenhouse owner faces, is that you need a greenhouse at least twice the size of the one that you have!

Dahlia Rethink

The dahlias were a real disappointment this year. The extended dry period and our soils that are so sandy that keeping moisture in them is tough, made their growth stunted and very few blossoms. The ones that did better were grown in pots out the front of the house. Those had a much more water retentive soil and while I put them in pots that were too small, they did much better. With that in mind, all of the Dahlias got lifted this year, at least the ones that survived. Several were lost, but hopefully quite a few are salvageable.

Dahlia 'Phyllis Farmer' — Dahlia ‘Phyllis Farmer’

Normally, you should cut the tops off and then wait for a couple of weeks before lifting them. That was not in the cards. We had one somewhat dry day and that was my opportunity. I dug them up with tops still attached and then spread them out under the porch so that they get some protection from the rain that quickly returned. Hopefully, that will help to harden them off a bit before I start to clean them. Then they will go into some slightly moist wood shavings and into paper bags until next spring.

Symbiosis

I read an interesting article in the latest edition of Horticulture. It talked about the similarities of the human gut and root – I know, not the most pleasant of topics. But it made the connection that both rely on a symbiotic relationship. Roots, just like the human gut, cannot actually extract the nutrients they desire. They can absorb them when they are in the right form, but they rely on something else to do that for them. In the case of us humans, we have a large intestinal flora that performs that function. Roots use mycorrhizal fungi. The fungi extract the nutrients and make them available to the roots in exchange for being provided with sugars and starches that they need for their growth. Us humans provide a nice environment for the flora to live in and they also get to take as much food as they want.

But for every rule, there is an exception. In the plant World, the rule breakers are the members of the Protea family. They evolved in soil that did support mycorrhizae. Instead, they evolved along a different path and managed to come up with an alternative way to do it. They have special root structures, called Proteoid roots, that do have the ability to extract the nutrients themselves. This is both good and bad. It means that they can live in very impoverished soils.

However, mycorrhizal fungi also perform another function. They protect the plant from phytophthora species – the main reason why plants ‘damp off’, or get crown rot. This is why many people find it difficult to grow Proteas, because once your soil has phytophthora, it is almost impossible to get rid of it. The best defenses are sharp drainage, keeping moisture away from the crown of the plant and avoiding overwatering.

Plant Hunting

Planning is well underway for another plant hunting trip down into California during December. While this may not be the greatest time of year (spring is best), we need to go down to San Francisco for a conference and why fly with unvaccinated people when you can drive! Plus, you have in effect, a very suitcase with you. The UC Santa Cruz botanical garden will certainly be on the list, along with the Ruth Bancroft Gardens, UC Berkeley and UC Davis. The latter two are new for us, so that is exciting.

Plant Patents

There is a lot of bad information on websites about plant patents. This is what I understand to be true. A plant patent protects the developer of a plant for 20 years form the time the patent was granted. This prohibits any form of propagation without permission. So, even dividing an overgrown clump is not permitted. When you buy a plant, you have a ‘license’ for that many plants, and should you need to divide your clump, you may only keep one clump and the rest should be destroyed.

Will the plant police track you down for keeping two – very unlikely, but it is still illegal. Dividing is not the only way that plants can be propagated, and some of them become even more muddied. If you buy a patented bulb that produces bulblets, in theory you have to throw them away. Buy a strawberry plant and it will send out runners – you have to cut them off and throw them away.

New Plants

There are some plants that are worth having just because they are so improbable. One such plant is Massonia. I managed to get a bulb from a Pacific Bulb Society exchange earlier in the year and it has just started to bloom.

It never gets more than two leaves and that is in a 3.5″ pot. It would appear to not like frost, so it will probably remain in the greenhouse even after it has finished flowering.

Weather

The main focus for the month was wet – 19.68″ of it. That compares to 12.17″ last year. To compensate, those atmospheric rivers or warm tropical air pushed our average temperature up 2 degrees for the month at 50.4F. The maximum was 63.7 and the low at 38.1. Winds were slightly higher this year, although last year had a 57mph gust, whereas this year, we only managed 41.2mph.

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Gardener’s Log – September 2021

The first signs of fall are here. I am sure every gardener has a few tell-tail signs that they use, but one of the plants for me has always been the cyclamens, and in particular Cyclamen hederifolum. The bright little pink flowers push through the surface, just as leafless as any of the naked ladies.

A new one of those this year is Lycoris radiata, the spider or hurricane Lily. Its bloom spikes are 10″ to 12″ and much larger. The blossoms are quite a striking red.

As for trees, the first to start turning are always the dogwoods – Cornus ‘Venus’. They start to color up by the beginning of September, putting on their orange, then red and finally burgundy cloak. The only thing that stops their display being magical is that every leaf turns on its own schedule, meaning that the tree is a combination of all colors and not a single bold display.

Start of the Rainy Season

We have still to have the first rain of the wet season and much of the garden is looking totally parched. That rain is expected later this week and they say it could be 1″ to 3″, so quite a soaker. Let us hope that it starts gently so that it can properly wet the soil, because sand resists water.

Update – the rains came and we had 2.5″ – and at least some of it soaked in, but the soil still remains quite dry.

Lots of work over the weekend got the area between the Garden of the Giants / Whimsey Way and the next-door forest area cleared and planted. Some Woodwardias have gone in along with an Enkianthus, candelabra primulas (Primula beesiana), and other plants that should provide some interest throughout the year. They were selected to provide a transition to the more natural area, rather than a last hurrah. Everything was selected as being deer resistant, but our local deer aren’t very smart and cannot read labels. Over time, their aching tummies will tell them, assuming the plants survive.

Update – the deer have decided that they like Onoclea sensibilis – the Sensitive Fern

La Nina is supposedly forming in the tropical Pacific this year and that traditionally means a cooler and wetter winter. Given the dryness this year, that will certainly be a change, and most of the Gondwanan plants will probably appreciate it. It does mean that I will have to take special care to bring sensitive plants in for some protection because it may mean some arctic blasts.

Looking Back

Talking about Gondwana, my Facebook account reminded me about a photo I posted a year ago. The rock walls were still going in. I decided it would be nice to do a side-by-side to show the plant progress in a year.

It looks as if the Banksia specioca, that I grew from seed and was doing so well in Gondwana, has very rapidly croaked. The tips of the new growth curled and then the whole plant has yellowed. I am not sure it will re-shoot from the base when moisture becomes abundant, or if that is the end of story. It will be a shame if that is the case.

The rains did indeed come, and all the plants are much happier. It takes a lot of rain to completely re-wet our soil. After 2 1/2″, one of the outdoor moisture sensors is saying that the soil is at 76% saturation and the other one remains at 12%. My guess is that most of the water ran off in that area rather than soaking in.

Seed Starting

The latest batch of seeds arrived from South Africa this week and so there has been lots of activity getting those started. Most of the seeds are for somewhat diminutive bulbs and will take 3 years before they get to a blooming size. The others are seeds of Protea cynaroides, Protea lepidocararpodendron, and a yellow hybrid Leucospermum.

These need a little more pre-treatment before sowing. Some like a hydrogen peroxide treatment to loosen the other coating and then soaking in smoke water. I am trying to germinate them in a sterile condition by having them against a damp paper towel. That way I can immediately see if they germinate or if there are any fungal problems. That can be a significant issue because they may well take 3 or 4 months to germinate.

Gondwana Extension

Gondwana got a small extension. On the extreme left side, when looking up the hill, the juniper was pushing into the Grevillea and the retaining wall behind that had never been finished. That was corrected and then the nest tier above that was partially put in and the soil dug. Getting rid of all of the Salal root is important because that has a habit of sprouting for many years to come and I don’t want to be pulling out those roots after Protea family plants are in place. Three new plants were added – Protea eximia, which I grew from seed, Grevillea ‘Robyn Gordon’, and Leucadendron ‘Jester’. The variegated leaves of Jester should provide a good tie into the red flowers of Robyn Gordon and the bright yellow of the foliage across the stepping stone path into the conifer forest.

Leucadendron 'Jester' — Leucadendron ‘Jester’

Aloe Plicatilis

What a difference a year makes. I was going through plants looking to see what needed potting up and realized how much the Aloe plicatilis has growth since I got it earlier this year. The first picture was taken in February and the second in September.

This is exciting because I thought its growth was going to be a lot slower. I am not sure if that is its first branch developing in the center.

Weather Summary

This has been the end of a long dry spell and over the last few days of September we picked up about 4″ of rain to give us a total of 5.13″ for the month. However, that still left us with a deficit as compared to last year when we had 6.90″ and 8.99″ the year before. Temperatures were cooler by 3.2 degrees and along with that, winds were considerably higher accounting and more westerly – which explains being cooler.

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Gardener’s Log – February 2021

February 2^nd

It has been a wild day today. Sun, wind, rain, hail, rainbows – a little bit of everything. It is amazing watching some of these storms out at sea and how they move and the light moves with them. Added a new plant to the collection today – Dietes Iridoides – common names include African Iris (it is isn’t an Iris, although in the same family in which Iris exists) and Fortnight lily (which it also isn’t) The ‘fortnight’ comes from flushes of blooms every 2 weeks and could potentially be blooming from sprint through winter if it remains mild enough. It is just a bunch of grass-like leaves at the moment, but will probably put it between the giant Allium bulbs.

February 11^th

Today is not only my birthday, but also the start of a plant adventure. We have 100% remained in place during COVID, but we decided we needed to get away for a few days, so long as we could do it safely. So, the plan is that we are doing a road trip down to California to visit a couple of places that are important to me and my gardening journey. Today, we start the journey and get down to Bandon just as the coldest weather in years is about to hit Portland. Then on Friday we drive the rest of the way down to Santa Cruz.

February 13th

The first stop is University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum. This is the main port in which many plants come from Australia to be tried out in the California market. The range of plants they have in their arboretum is drool worthy. It will be the first time I have seen many of these plants in mature form. They also have an extensive propagation program, and the car is going to be loaded to the gills with plants to bring home.

February 14^th

The second stop is the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek. While they do have a few Australian and South African plants, the focus here is on succulents – Agave, Aloe, Euphorbia and more. It was the work of one woman, but now is a public garden. More plants were acquired from here.

Following this was a visit to Annie’s Annuals and Perennials in Richmond. Annie’s like to specialize in the unusual, trying out plants that are slightly different to what you may find in the big box stores. We have ordered from them on-line in the past, but it was fun to look around and be able to pick out our own plants rather than row run selection.

February 21^st

The last few days has been a crazy effort to try and get as many of the new plants organized, categorized, documented and put up on the website. Priority has been given to those that we had pictures of mature plants from the Arboretum. This is also something that I need to go back and fill in photos for plants that were already posted.

Several things have been potted up in the greenhouse. In the last couple of days I have potted up 4 Grevillea ‘Molonglo’ and 11 Leucadendron galpinii that were rooted cuttings and Protea and Leucospermum that have been grown from seed. Continue to have aphid problems in the greenhouse. Each day I am checking carefully, water blasting or squishing as many as I can find. A few things that seemed to be attracting them have been moved out of the greenhouse.

Weather Report

February this year was a little colder than last year and 2″ wetter. Last year started off the month wet and then became quite dry by the end of the month. This year saw more rainfall later. The winds were also a lot higher this year, but luckily none of the plants saw much in the way of damage.

General

Breaking Seed Dormancy

Getting seeds to germinate can be as simple as showing them some soil and moisture, waiting for a couple of days and seeing fresh green sprouts. But not all seeds are this easy. Many seeds in the Protea family, for example, have specific needs that have to be met to break their dormancy. This includes subjecting them to smoke. Others require scarification, or having the outer coating of the seed removed. Some want to be soaked in water. The list of special treatments is almost endless, with many seeds requiring more than one type of treatment.

You may be wondering why I am writing about seeds and germination right before winter sets in and not in spring. Well, many of the plants that interest me do sprout in the fall. This gives them the best chance to get established over mild winters, put on a lot of growth in spring and then prepare for the harshness of summer. Plants need to have built up a good strong root system if they are going to survive months without appreciable water during the summer drought.

Find Help

I have acquired a couple of seeds recently where there are no serious suggestions for germination. One offered – we don’t know how to break their dormancy, so we suggest you buy thousands of seed in the hope that one or two may do something, sometime. They also added that it may take a few years. Another seed had the suggestion that putting it in Emu dung may help. Fat chance of me finding much Emu dung laying around in Oregon!

In both of these cases, it is not that they would be problematic in the wild. Seeds have dormancy triggers for very specific reasons. They make sure that when they do germinate, they have the best possible chance of survival. Perhaps Emu dung is a good idea. Perhaps it indicates to the seed that it has a supply of food, and that there is something specific about Emu dung that sends a chemical trigger. There are some seeds that require a particular animal or bird to have eaten it. As it passes through their digestive system, the acid probably gets rid of the outer coating and it is delivered with a food source.

Many times, we don’t understand the triggers, or have to find ways to make the seed think it has been eaten. For many years, it was thought that the Proteas needed fire, only to learn that it was in fact chemicals from smoke that triggered them. People are still not certain what chemical it is, and different plants do want smoke from different things being burned.

Experimentation

When starting plants from seeds, these are some of the challenges that we face. We basically have to conduct small experiments to try and find out what works and what doesn’t. Whenever I try seeds that are new to me, I tend to divide them up into several batches. This assumes I have enough seed. Then I can do things slightly differently for each, such as putting some of them on bottom heat or not. I may subject some to wider temperature swings by leaving them outside.

There are some other tricks that you learn along the way. For example, if a seed has a shiny, tough coat, it will not absorb water and thus the chance of success is very low in the short term. It is possible that if left long enough, that coating will break down, but that could take years. So, scarification can help. I have also been using hydrogen peroxide treatments more recently. It can really soften up a hard coating. A 1% solution for 24 hours seems to do the trick.

Another trick, especially for seeds that I expect to be slow in germination, is the use of fungicides. I have been trying two different techniques. The first is to dust the seeds in a powdered fungicide. The second is to water the plants in a liquid fungicide. The former is better when first planting the seeds. The latter really helps stop the onset of liverworts when germination takes a long time or the seeds are under mist.

Better Documentation

Both techniques are helping. I would often see dark patches forming in my nursery pots where a seed had been. Those had basically been attacked by mold. There is a lot less of that now. Results of my germination experiments will be included on the plant pages going forward, but not all of my previous attempts were properly documented.