Plant Notes

May 2008 Plant Notes

WHS Plant Notes for May 2008

Agapetes serpens (ERICACEAE) 
Grown by Cheryl Renshaw in Santa Clara: 
These are tough, easy epiphytes from the Himalayan foothills. Sort of gangly, arching, 3' stems grow from a large, woody tuber. They're lined with opposite pairs of small, glossy leaves. The new growth is bronzy pink. From late winter through spring, five-sided, 1" long, red urns with dark red chevron markings dangle from the leaf axils. After many years, mine has started producing pretty, light purple berries. It prefers bright shade but tolerates some sun. An excellent container plant, it can be grown in the ground if you can give it very good drainage. Be sure to leave the top of the tuber exposed. These are growing from the tops of the columns just outside the Hall of Flowers at SF Botanic Garden.

	Alstroemeria 'Third Harmonic' (LILIACEAE) Peruvian Lily

Alstroemeria 'Third Harmonic' (LILIACEAE) Peruvian Lily
Grown by Dick Dunmire in Los Altos: 
Dick's beautiful lily has slightly gray foliage and large clusters of big, yellow/gold/peach flowers with dark markings and deep orange tepal reverses. It's ever blooming and evergreen in frost less areas with moderate summer temperatures. Blooming slows when the soil warms in summer and heavy frost may take it to the ground. It quickly re-grows, however, from the fleshy tubers that are hardy into the teens. Being a sterile hybrid ('Peach Harmony' x A. aurea), it makes no seeds but is a very vigorous grower. Dick's has made a 4' tall x 3' clump after only a year. Here, Alstroemerias prefer full sun or some afternoon shade. Too much shade makes them floppy. Customary deadheading doesn't work for Alstroemerias. To keep them blooming, grab the spent flower stems and pull them out to the ground. This can cause contact dermatitis if you're allergy prone, so be careful.

Buxus ssp. (BUXACEAE) Boxwood
Grown by Michelle Bond in Redwood City: 
Michelle is a boxwood lover and she showed us a couple that she got from Nancy Schramm. B. sempervirens 'Angustifolia' has dark green leaves that are narrower than the species. It's a dense, tidy shrub that has a soft look when left unsheared, which is the way Michelle prefers her boxwoods.  Eventually it can become an erect, graceful, 10' tree. Michelle's is growing about 4" a year so it'll be a while.

		B. microphylla 'Curly Locks' is a sport of 'Compacta'. It makes a very pretty, open, 1'-2' cushion of curled, pale green foliage on twisty shoots. It's a nice Bonsai subject.
	Buxus microphylla 'Curly Locks'

We mainly know boxwoods for withstanding relentless pruning, but they have pretty wood that ancient Greeks actually used to make small, carved boxes. They're not picky about soil as long as it has reasonable drainage and fertility, and will grow in full sun though they're better with some shade. Their inconspicuous spring flowers are very attractive to bees and Kerry Barrs says that deer don't browse them. 

Hatiora rosea (CACTACEAE) Easter Cactus
Grown by Dick Dunmire: 
Dick brought in an impressive specimen hoping we would strip out enough propagation starts to lighten it up for him. Like other holiday cacti, it's native to Brazilian rain forests; has flattened, jointed stems; and can grow in bright shade, some sun, or as a houseplant. But the Easter Cactus flowers are starry, flared funnels of bright, mauve-pink with darker throats; and, most years, they're in bloom during their namesake holiday. It should be hardy for us during most winters.

Rosa spp. (ROSACEAE) Rose

	Rosa gallica "Versicolor".

R. gallica 'Versicolor'. Grown by Virginia Kean in Redwood City: 
R. gallica 'Versicolor', or Rosa Mundi, is an ancient rose mentioned first in 1583. It's a sport of R. g. officinalis, the Apothecary Rose. In May-June, it blooms with very fragrant clusters of 2", cupped, semi-double, pale pink blossoms heavily flecked and striped with crimson. They are followed by large, round, dark red hips. It's pest and disease resistant and tolerant of shade and any soil. It's a 3'-4' tall, rounded shrub that fits nicely in small gardens-and, I guess, large ones too since Thomas Jefferson planted it at Monticello.
R. 'Mme. Hardy' (1832, French Damask) Grown by Kris Montague in Los Altos: 
R. 'Mme. Hardy' flowers in spring with very fragrant, pure white blooms that are beautifully quartered and cupped. Some rosarians think it's the most perfect 0ld Rose; but Kris likes-no, actually prefers-the rootstock. It has a delicate look with small leaves and many large clusters of up to 20 small, single, white flowers. Kris lets its long, sprawly stems sucker from Mme.'s base. Our more serious rose growers were concerned that it will outgrow and weaken 'Mme. Hardy', but Kris was not. In fact, it seemed that Mme. will be lucky if Kris doesn't start to think of her as a threat to the rootstock's life. R. 'Violetta' (1984, Floribunda) is a vigorous, small bush that is better known now by the less lovely name of 'International Herald Tribune'. It blooms continuously with 2", open cups with about 20, deep mauve petals that shade to white at the base. 

Salvia spp. (LAMIACEAE) Sage
Grown by Betsy Clebsch in La Honda: 
Betsy brought a sampling of outstanding California salvias and a Mediterranean one. All are hardy, evergreen shrubs, tolerant of any soil with decent drainage, moderately to very drought tolerant, likely to be deer resistant, and very prone to hybridization as you'll see. Bees and hummingbirds love the flowers and small birds love the nutritious seeds.

	Salvia brandegeei 'Pacific Blue'

S. brandegeei 'Pacific Blue' (Santa Rosa Island Sage) is a great introduction from Santa Barbara Botanic Garden that may be a hybrid with S. munzii. A profusion of branched spires hold tiered whorls of small, mid-blue flowers with darker calyces in late winter and spring. The narrow, glossy leaves have pebbled tops and downy, white undersides. It's a  4' x 6', durable, fast-growing shrub for sun and any soil.
S. lavandulifolia (Spanish Sage) is from Spain and Algeria. It's a compact, dwarf, 1.5' x 2' shrub with narrow, downy, gray leaves. It blooms with sparse whorls of pale, violet-blue flowers from late spring into summer. Much stronger in flavor and aroma than regular sage, this is the one preferred by cooks in Spain.
S. leucophylla 'Amethyst Bluff' is a very impressive, wild collected sage from the Point Sal area. It'll grow to 5' tall x 8' (or even up to 15') wide. It has silvery foliage topped with 1', mauve-tinted stems with whorls of vivid purple-pink flowers from spring into summer. A good bank cover, plant it where it can sprawl and give it some summer water if you don't want it to go drought deciduous.
S. mellifera x S.? 'Shirley's Creeper' is not a creeper but a dense, 6' x 6' mound of grayish green foliage and whorls of white flowers in spring. It's a great bank cover that can take some shade. Very drought tolerant and very deer resistant.
S. x 'Bee's Bliss' is a S. leucophylla x S. clevelandii or sonomensis hybrid that occurred in UC Botanic Garden. It's an outstanding 2' x 8' ground cover with beautiful, light gray foliage and 1' stems of whorled lavender-pink flowers in spring. It can be prone to mildew during cool weather but it disappears when the weather warms.
S. x 'Starlight' is a S. apiana x S. mellifera hybrid that occurred in the wild. It's a large, robust, 4'-6' tall shrub with tall, branched inflorescences of small, white, distinctly apiana-like flowers in un-apiana-like whorls.

Jackie N. Doda

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