Plant Notes

WHS Plant Notes for September, 2008 

Aristolochia gigantea (ARISTOLOCHIACEAE)

	Giant Dutchman's Pipe, Pelican Flower:

Grown by Mary Kaye in Los Altos:
The impressive flowers are actually calyces adapted to trap flies, hold them captive overnight, and let them go in the morning to take pollen to the next flower. They feed the fly a delicious supper so it's willing to tolerate repeated  entrapment. They have a bright, golden yellow throat in the middle of a 12" x 6", flared, maroon hood with ivory markings that make it look like a chunk of well marbled steak. This species doesn't have the really foul odor of many of its relatives though. It flowers anytime from spring to fall with the best show during August and September. It's native to moist forests of Panama and Brazil and is evergreen in warmer climates. We are just on the edge of its cold tolerance, so it will probably be deciduous here (as it has been for Mary) except, perhaps, during our mildest winters. It's a twining vine that will grow quickly to 15' or more. It takes full sun but appreciates some afternoon shade in the summer.

Clematis tangutica 'My Angel' (RANUNCULACEAE)
Grown by Barbara Worl in Menlo Park:
This is a small, hybrid clematis that grows 6' to 9' and blooms summer into fall with 2", nodding bells.The petals are red-purple on the outside with cream edges and yellow-orange inside. These beautiful flowers are set off by purple stems and gray-green leaves. Barbara also brought:  Dahlia 'Wildcat', a 4", semi-cactus with red tips that shade to yellow bases and Dahlia 'Edinburg', a 5", dark red, formal decorative with white tips; Rosa 'Mrs. Dudley Cross', a nearly thornless, old Tea whose blooms open yellow and age to darker and darker shades of pink; Rudbeckia triloba, a very nice Brown-Eyed Susan that's native to most of the US east of the Rockies; and a beautiful sampling of the Asters blooming in her garden now.

Colchicum x 'The Giant' (COLCHICACEAE or LILIACEAE)

	Autumn Crocus- The Giant

Grown by Judy Wong in Menlo Park:
Colchicums are related to lilies while crocuses are related to irises, and so not to each other in spite of the resemblance. Both are from the Mediterranean region. Judy's bulbs had just come into bloom and she brought us a few of the huge, lilac-pink blossoms. They've rebloomed for 4 or 5 years near a faucet where they get an occasional, accidental splash of water. Colchicum bulbs are famous for blooming anywhere with no soil or water, and even blooming in their shipping containers with no light. The daffodil-like leaves make their appearance from spring to early summer and tolerate some shade but prefer full sun. The bulbs are very toxic and the source of colchicine which is used in plant breeding, genetic research, and medicine. Judy also showed Orostachys iwarenge, a cute succulent from Annie's Annuals that produces cone-shaped inflorescences that give it the common name of Dunce's Cap.

Eriogonum giganteum (POLYGONACEAE) Saint Catherine's Lace
Grown by Liz Calhoon in Los Altos Hills:
This is the largest of the over one hundred species of eriogonums that grow in California. It's a woody, ever-gray shrub that can be 6' x 6' when in flower; and it's in flower from spring until hard rains break down the brittle flower sprays. In May, it begins to cover itself with tiny, cream flowers in flat sprays up to 2' wide. In September, they take on beautifully subtle shadings before the whole display finishes rust red. They're great in dried arrangements and will hold whatever color they were when removed. The shrub will grow happily in heavy clay with no irrigation. Snapping off the brittle, old flower stems is the only grooming it needs. I've never met an eriogonum I didn't love and want to grow. Small, seed-eating birds and most native butterflies and bees love them too. You can't truly have a butterfly garden in California without an eriogonum or two-or twenty. Liz's bouguet also included the bright scarlet flowers of Epilobium 'Catalina'  that provide hummingbirds with their favorite late summer food, Heteromeles arbutifolia, and Prunus ilicifolia with its ripe cherries. 

Farfugium japonicum 'Giganteum' (ASTERACEAE) Giant Leopard Plant
Grown by Kris Montague in Los Altos:
This is an herbaceous perennial with dramatic, thick, very glossy, rounded leaves up to 18" across. Each rises from the ground on a 3'-4' stem in clumps to 3' wide. In fall, the foliage is topped by yellow daisies on branched stems. It's from stream banks and moist meadows in Japan and eastern Asia so it prefers moist, woodland conditions. It'll take full sun but needs lots of water to do so. Very hot weather will wilt it even if the soil is wet. More water won't help; it will recover as soon as it's cooler. It may die to the ground during winter but quickly regrows from roots that are hardy to 0°F. 

Iochroma spp. (SOLANACEAE)
Grown by Dick Dunmire in Los Altos:
The two species Dick showed are fast-growing, soft-stemmed, evergreen shrubs native to Andean South America. Their lax habits and pendant flower clusters over a long blooming season make them excellent subjects for espalier. Give them full sun to light shade and average irrigation. They should be hardy  into the low 20's and Dick thinks they may go to 15°. I. cyaneum has large, felty leaves and will grow to about 8' x 8'. It blooms most of the year with large, pendant clusters of up to 25 dark purple-blue, 2"-long trumpets. I. fuchsioides is similar but may grow a little bigger, has glossy leaves, and the flowers are bright scarlet with a yellow throat. Dick also showed us Cymbidium Golden Elf 'Dixon', a small, Chinese orchid with very fragrant, butter yellow flowers and Lysionotus pauciflora, a gesneriad from southern China where it grows on old, moss-covered trees. Its pendant flowers are usually pale lavender and look like small Chinese Foxglove flowers.

Stapelia sp. (ASCLEPIDACEAE) Starfish Flower
Grown by Elizabeth Garbett in Los Altos Hills:
Another fly pollinated plant. This one is a stem succulent from arid regions of southern Africa. The fleshy, 4-ridged stems are 6"-12" tall and form 2'-4' clumps. They're green with a little red shading if grown in some sun and feel like soft, fine suede. Tooth-like structures on the ridges are actually dried, rudimentary leaves. The flowers vary in size but can be 10" across-huge considering the stature of the stems. They can also vary in color. Elizabeth's are dark maroon, 5-pointed stars with a fringe of long, fine, maroon hairs on the petal edges and a network of ridges running across them. It wants light shade or a little sun and does well as a houseplant. It  needs to be dry in winter. It may not be fully hardy here but mine lived throught last winter on a very protected covered patio. 

Urginea maritima (LILIACEAE)

	Sea Squill

Grown by Betsy Clebsch in La Honda:
These flowers are considered a harbinger of autumn around the Mediterranean. The 5' tall flower stems grow from basketball-sized bulbs that weigh up to 15 lbs. They bear a long, dense raceme of starry, white flowers. Buds open from the bottom or the raceme up. The spent flowers don't drop or wither. The tepals simply close around the developing seed pod and resemble a bud again. This gives the interesting impression of a raceme of buds with a moving band of open flowers somewhere in the middle. Broad, strap-shaped, slightly undulate leaves will come after fall rains start and will stay until late spring. There's an impressive list of toxic compounds that have been isolated from the bulbs. Some are used medicinally, some to kill rodents and insects. Juice from undried bulbs can cause skin blisters. I hope you're being careful Betsy.

Jackie N. Doda

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