Plant Notes

February 2008 Plant Notes

ACACIA sp. (FABACEAE)

Grown by Betsy Clebsch in La Honda: Acacias are coming into full bloom this month and Betsy brought us a pair from her garden. Both are tough, deer resistant, drought tolerant, and fast growing. Both bloom with fragrant, golden, ball-shaped puffs. Neither does well with windy conditions.

A. boormanii (Snowy River Wattle) is a large, suckering shrub or small tree to 15ft with long, narrow, gray green phyllodes. It is a profuse bloomer and tolerates clay soils.

A. pravissima (Ovens Wattle) grows a little taller. Its drooping branches are densely foliaged with roughly triangular, gray green, nearly sesile phyllodes. Betsy finds it challenging to prune. A 1ft x 20ft prostrate form is also in cultivation.

Arabis ferdinandi-coburgii "variegata"

Arabis ferdinandi-coburgii "Variegata"

(BRASSICACEAE) Rock Cress. Grown by Kerry Barrs in Woodside: This evergreen perennial forms a 3" x 16" mat of green leaves with wide yellow to cream margins. It may pick up pink to purple tones in winter. Milky white flowers bloom in May and June in racemes held above the foliage. Given full sun to part shade and excellent drainage, it makes a good, drought tolerant ground cover or rock garden plant.

Euphorbia X (EUPHORBIACEAE)'
Grown by Betsy Clebsch: Ginny Hunt spied this handsome but unique Euphorbia in Betsy's garden and decided that it is probably the offspring of Betsy's E. myrsinites and E. rigida. It is evergreen, drought tolerant, growing in full sun with fast drainage, and blooms February into March.

		Euryops virgineus "Tali" (ASTERACEAE) Honey Euryops. Both Patricia Knight and Liz Calhoon are growing this in Los Altos Hills. This is an evergreen South African shrub with upright stems densely set with tiny leaves that give it a heath-like or fern-like look. The stems are topped with clusters of small, sweetly fragrant, yellow daisies from Nov. through April. It has reached about 3ft x 3ft for Pat. Grow it in full sun and give it moderate water, though it will tolerate drought and neglect.
Euryops virgineus "Tali"

.
Farfugium japonicum (ASTERACEAE)
Grown by Dick Dunmire in Los Altos. Evergreen, rhizomatous perennials native to streamsides and seacoasts in E. Asia, they form loose, 2ft x 2ft clumps of wide, glossy, leathery, kidney-shaped leaves held on long stalks. Though grown for gorgeous foliage, they do put up loose clusters of yellow, daisylike flowers in winter. Give them moist woodland conditions in part or bright shade. Surprisingly, slugs and snails donít eat them. Dick brought 4 cultivars. "Argenteum" has broad, irregular, creamy white margins. "Aureo-maculatum" (Leopard Plant) has random, irregular yellow spots. "Crispatum" (Pie Crust Plant) has gray-green leaves with crisply ruffled edges. And there was an "unknown" that popped up in his garden with a thin yellow margin.

HELLEBORUS Sp.

Helleborus argutifolius
Helleborus argutifolius (Corsican Hellebore) This plant is being grown by Patricia Knight. This is the most sun tolerant hellebore and, at up to 3ft is also the largest. Its leathery, sharply toothed, pearly gray-green leaves bring great texture and color to the garden. In late winter, it blooms with long-lasting, nodding, pale green flowers. Patricia likes to use it for flower arrangements, just not on the dining table, (a bit smelly!). In our area, it prefers dappled afternoon shade and moderate water but it will tolerate drought.

H. lividus "Pink Marble" a stricking new hellebore was bought recently by Barbara Worl. It has trifoliate, blue-green leaves with pink-tinged, silvery veins. The flower stems are purply-pink and the leaf undersides, round flower buds and petal backs and dusky pink. The petal faces are pale green. It is evergreen and hardy here and will grow to 15" x 18".

Knowltonia cordata (RANUNCULACEAE) South African Hellebore.
Grown by Kerry Barrs: Don Mahoney of SF Botanic Garden grew this little South African native from seed. It has leathery, dark green, trifoliate leaves and umbels of small, pale, greenish-yellow flowers with many narrow sepals instead of petals. Its bruised leaves will blister skin; and, like many toxic plants, is used medicinally in its native range.

Montanoa grandiflora (ASTERACEAE) Daisy Tree.
Grown by Dick Dunmire: This is a giant, shrubby daisy from Mexican fog forests. Within one year, its thick, cane-like stems can grow to 18ft tall and wide. In late fall, it is covered in large sprays of yellow-centered, white daisies that smell like freshly baked cookies. Large, deeply lobed leaves make a perfect privacy screen. Dick swears that you can cut it back completely after flowering and it will be big enough to give total privacy by the time swimming weather rolls around. It wants full sun, cool temperatures, and regular irrigation. While it is hardy well into the 20's, the flowers may be damaged by early frosts.

OSMANTHUS sp. (OLEACEAE)
Grown by Carol and Barrie Coate in the Los Gatos Mountains:

	Osmanthus aurantiacus

O. aurantiacus with orange flowers is the most fragrant of the 5 plants Barrie showed us. It will grow into a 20 ft multi-stemmed tree. Barrie thinks any other form, especially a sheared hedge, is an insult to this plant.

O. decorus "Baki Kasapligil" named for a UC Davis professor, is a 6ft shrub with arching branches. It is tolerant of dry shade and its white, fragrant flowers are in conspicuous clusters.

O. x fortunei "San Jose" is a hybrid of fragrans and heterophyllus and is tougher than either parent. It will easily reach 20ft with an upright habit and bronzy new foliage.

O. heterophyllus "Rotundifolius" is a compact, neat, 6ft to 8ft, shrub with small, leathery leaves with rounded tips. It can be a sheared hedge; but, again, Barrie prefers it unsheared.

O. h. "Variegatus" has creamy yellow leaf margins and, if you want to grow a 15ft-tall, variegated holly look-alike in the dark recesses under your bed, Barry says this one will do it for you! All of these are tough, adaptable, low-water-use shrubs and all are very susceptible to oak root fungus.

Pyrrosia lingua (POLYPODIACEAE) Japanese Felt Fern, Tongue Fern.
Grown by Dick Dunmire: Large, dark green, leathery, undivided fronds with beige felted undersides rise about 1ft and spread benignly by slowly creeping rhizomes. It is hardy for us and evergreen. It prefers afternoon shade, good soil, and regular irrigation but it has tolerated clay soil and some dry conditions for me. This Pyrrosia is native to China and Japan and many cultivars have been selected for unusually shaped and marked fronds. Dick also brought a sample of "Cristata" with its terminal fan of sharply cut lobes.

Rohdea japonica "Miyako No Jo" (RUSCACEAE or LILIACEAE) Sacred Lily
Grown by Dick Dunmire: This is an evergreen, woodland perennial native to Japan and China. Grown for the strong structural interest of their sword-shaped leaves, these tough plants are hardy to about 10F and adaptable to any soil, low water, and dense shade. Dick's cultivar has white leaf margins and, at 2ft high, is a little taller and more upright than most.

SALVIA sp. (LAMIACEAE) Sages

S. apiana, Bee Sage or White Sage. Grown by Betsy Clebsch: Insects and birds love this native sage and it was used medicinally, religiously, and culinarily by Native Americans. It is a large, 5ft x 5 ft shrub with very aromatic, pale gray-green foliage (beautiful in a moonlit garden) and lavender-tinged, white flowers in summer. It wants a sunny, dry site with good drainage. "Compacta" is a half-sized form for those of us with small gardens.

S. madrensis, Forsythia Sage. Grown by Richard and Bracey Tiede in the east hills of San Jose: This is a large, impressive Salvia that starts producing 3" to 7" tall spires of soft yellow flowers in September and, obviously, can continue through some frosts. It likes light shade, tolerates full sun, and needs regular irrigation. From the Sierra Madre Oriental range in Mexico, it is cold hardy for us.

S. spathacea "Avis Keedy", Hummingbird Sage. Richard and Bracey are also growing this new introduction from Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. It has whorls of large, lemon yellow flowers that age to creamy white in lime green bracts from December to May. It still has all the great qualities of the original magenta-flowered native. Yerba Buena Nursery had it the last time I was there.


Jackie N. Doda

References: Am. Hort. Soc. A-Z Encyclopedia, Botanica, Flora, Sunset Western Garden Book, and various websites.