Tree encounter

Last week strolling around the city I found this beautiful, still small, blooming Bauhinia or Orchid tree...
Such a welcome change among the sempiternal maples and purple plum trees! 

  

Have some fun in the veggie garden!

We're definitely heading towards autumn - it's official by now! I'm not particularly happy about it, but there is a good side to it too: the new seed and plant catalogues we start to devoure voraciously until we make our next planting choices.
I do not grow vegetables myself -( I do grow lots of herbs) and yet I cannot but feel a sort of childish curiosity and wonder for this unusual fruits and vegetables! If I'd had a real garden and lots of space I would definitely try some of these garden weirds just for the fun of it.

Cucamelons or Mexican Sour Cucumbers

 Lemon Cucumbers

Asian Winged Beans ( No idea how to cook with them, but there should be plenty of tips in the huge Internet sea)

Pretzel Beans

 Parisian Round Carrots - probably pain carrots, but aren't they just cute?

Honey Queen Raspberry

Hungarian Black Peppers

 Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes

 Watermelon Radishes

Now there is definitely no excuse for not eating up the vegetables!
You can find the seeds at the heirloom seed producers.
Check out this site if you are looking for heirloom seeds: http://empowured.com/seed-saver-sources-organic-gmo-free-non-hybrid-untreated/

Plant Profile: Watsonia

It's been an awful long time since I have been posting... work and a truly rotten season, due to facade renovation works, which brought my plants to the verge of mere survival, have kept me away from my appointments with you, my virtual gardening friends!

Now, a couple of days before holidays, things have become a bit more relaxed and I can dedicate time to my writing.

So, do you know the Bugle Lily? The first time I have seen Watsonias, those truly beautiful South African plants, has been at the Barcelona Botanical Garden. They were planted in fat clumps on a mild slope and the sight was really of the most lovely. The blooms in shades ranging from white to dark pink were forming generous bunches.

Watsonias own their name to the 18th century British botanist, Sir William Watson and are a member of the iris family.

Though endemic in the South African fynbos, they happily adapt to the Mediterranean climate, but some can cope with a wider range of conditions, mainly continental climate with summer rainfall. . An easy and uncomplicated perennial, the Bugle Lily has been neglected by mainstream nurseries to favor the much better known Gladioli for reasons which I honestly don't understand. Their erect growing habit, not needing any staking or support makes them a far better acquisition to any garden, unless you dislike plants that bloom without fuzz for weeks on!

 The species grows from corms. It is dormant in summer and grows in winter, which is the rainy season in its native habitat. It has tall strap-like leaves growing in a fan arrangement. It may grow up to two metres tall.

It flowers for up to 4-5 weeks in spring, which makes it a really interesting plant for perennial borders.

 

The most commonly cultivated species is the pink-flowered Watsonia borbonica and its white mutant 'Arderne's White'. These were crossed with Watsonia meriana and other species in the early 20th century by breeders including John Cronin in Australia and Luther Burbank in California to produce a wide range of cultivars.

 W. Wedding Bells (Lamble Nurseries)

W. Marginata Alba

Plant Profiles: Lotus Berthelotii

Although this year spring is not quite willing to install itself in many parts of Europe and winter  seems not to loose its grip, we all are already thinking about our summer plantings and can't wait to assault the local nurseries, planting schemes at hand, in search for the new plants.

Well, if you like me, are not into pot geraniums and plain daisies there is a plant worth knowing : the Lotus Berthelotii, also known as Coral Gem, Parrot's Beak, Cat Claw and Pigeon Beak.... In spite of all this animal related names, the Lotus B. ( no relationship whatsoever with the Nelumbo - water Lotus) is a very interesting plant originate from the Canary Islands, Tenerife and Cabo Verde.

A member of the Fabaceae Family, the Lotus is not fully hardy and stays green only in mild Mediterranean areas. In colder climates it is grown as an annual. It has a trailing growing habit and if it pleases itself in a spot, it can grow to impressive dimensions.

Parrot's beak is a trailing tender perennial or warm weather annual vine that grows to 8" tall but spreads to 2-3' wide or more. Where not winter hardy, it is grown as an annual in containers or hanging baskets. It features soft silver-gray leaves and sharply-contrasting, pea-like, crimson flowers. Leaves are divided into needle-like leaflets (each to 1" long) that are spaced along the stems in attractive whorls (3-7 leaflets per whorl). Stems will spread to 2-3' long or more. 

Its claw like flowers come in two colourings a orange yellow or deep velvety red ( which I prefer). Foliage is very light, a nice glaucous and mate blue grey. This was actually the main reason I bought it a couple of years ago. I came across a tiny plant which looked not very impressive at all. But since I was looking for a silvery leaved plant - I decided to give it a try. And boy, what a surprise!

Tiny and frail it seemed at the beginning, but once comfortably installed in a generous pot at the feet of a very young bougainvillea, my Lotus took it very serious and in one season covered the entire container, draping itself graciously over the borders. Mind you this was only one plant!

The grayish leaves were pretty on their own but quite early in the season it covered itself entirely with blooms! It went on blooming for month to end, demanding not more than a sunny spot and generous watering - but this was quite acceptable since it was performing in a pot.

All I can say is that my Lotus was a very hard working plant, easy to live and healthy as a fish. No bugs, no fungus, nothing to be bothered with. 

When it eventully started to sprawl on the terrace floor, I gave it a nice trim and it all started again. 

So I did after the first winter, when it started to look a bit raggy, but the lotus does not seem to mind the scissors either.

I kept my first lotus for three years, after that it started to battle with the Bougainvilea for living space...

Growing conditions:

Full sun, well drained soil ( the Lotus dreads heavy, soggy soil in wich case it my rot), moderate watering ( remember it grows on the Canary Islands) and an occasional organic fertiliser will perfectly do the game.

It is a great and unfuzzy plant for covering ugly walls or balcony borders and is an interesting solution as an original ground cover.

Plant Profiles: The Caviar Lime

Oh dear, we thought we have seen (and grown) it all... the Buddha Hand Citrus( Citrus Medica Digitata), the Kaffir Limes ( citrus Hystrix) and the fashionable Meyer's Lemons! But alas there is a charming little newcomer trying to get into our botanical homes. The Caviar Lime or Finger Lime, Citrus australasica (syn. Microcitrus australasica).

Totally unknown to most gardeners and fruit lovers, this citrus species starts to make its timid entry on the European and US market.

We are talking about a relatively tiny, very thorny shrub or small tree of lowland subtropical rain forest and dry rain forest in the coastal border region of Queensland and NSW in Australia.

The plant is 2–7 metres in height. Leaves are small and glabrous, 1–6 cm long and 3–25 mm wide. Flowers are white, flushed with purple, with 6–9 mm long petals and not very showy. 

 

"The seven species of Citrus previously known as Microcitrus are the result of millions of years of slow evolution from a primitive ancestral types. This type may have resembled C. warburgiana, the New Guinea species, which has small leaves and small, nearly spherical fruits. From such an ancestral form, one line of evolution produced the so-called native orange, round lime, or Dooja (C. australis), that grows to a large tree and has subglobose fruits much larger than those of C. warburgiana, with long, slender, pointed, more or less twisted pulp-vesicles. Another line of evolution culminated in C. inodora and C. maideniana, highly specialized forms showing adaptations to tropical rain forests, with large leaves and paired spines; a third line of evolution led to the small-leaved species C. australasica and C. garrawayae, both with long-ovoid or very elongated cylindric fruits.

Distribution

These remarkable citrus fruits are extremely interesting, in that they show how evolution has proceeded in regions isolated as Australia and New Guinea have been during the last twenty or thirty million years since they were cut off from all other land masses. The evolution of other citrus fruits is not so easily followed, since Citrus, Fortunella, and Poncirus did not originate in regions that were geographically isolated in definitely dated geologic eras. The group contains seven species, five of which are native to Australia with the other two found in New Guinea. The Australian species occur in rainforests and their margins from Cape York Peninsula south to the northern rivers of New South Wales. They produce small, round or finger-shaped fruit, with a pleasant but very acid juice. 

Uses

They have a close relationship with conventional citrus fruit in the genus Citrus. Australian native citrus species are able to hybridise with a range of other citrus species. This ability, along with  drought and salinity tolerance and disease resistance, has long attracted the interest of citrus researchers and breeders. Improved selections and hybrids of native citrus also have potential in their own right for commercial production. Fruit is used in a range of sweet and savoury processed products, such as marmalades and sauces, and is in demand by chefs producing ‘Australian Native Cuisine’ dishes. Traditionally most fruit has been harvested from the wild. Commercial orchard production  began in the last decades of the twentieth century ."

 

source: http://users.kymp.net/citruspages/australian.html#finger

 

The fruits though are real fun! Cylindrical, 4–10 cm long, sometimes slightly curved, coming in different colours and they look like fingers or tiny sausages.The skin can be green, orange, yellow or purplish red, depending on the type and has a distinctive bush aroma.

The fun comes when you cut the fruit  and discover the juicy, round pearls which are similar to caviar in size and texture. The colour of these pearls ranges from white to pink, lime green and yellow. When you bite into the finger lime pearls, they burst in your mouth, releasing their tangy lime flavour.

For more information about the Microcitrus and other types of citrus trees you can browse these excellent pages: 
Vivaio Oscar Tintori: http://www.oscartintori.it/
Pepinieres Bache: http://site.plantes-web.fr/baches/1292/boutique/49819/citrus_australasica.htm
Jardin Botanico Mundani from Mallorca: http://jardin-mundani.com/

Citrus Pages: http://users.kymp.net/citruspages/home.html
                        http://users.kymp.net/citruspages/australian.html#finger

Plant profiles: The Grass Tree

Call me weird, but I have never fancied garden sculptures... I mean anything besides really antique ones in historical gardens. I love old fountains and really withered urns, but this is it.

In change I really like plants with a very sculptural, plastic shape. A huge blue agave can make a real statement and so do giant cactus - provided you can afford and grow them!

Another such a sculptural thing is the Australian native Xanthorrhoea australis or Grass Tree.

The origin of the name is Greek - xanthos meaning yellow and rheo  flow, a reference to the resin that is obtained from these plants.

Particularly sculptural and perfectly trimmed Grass Tree - Australia

Grass Trees are related to the lilies, but are placed in the separate family of Xanthorrhoeaceae ( now that is a spelling challenge!). They are close relatives with the sagg (Lomandra longifolia). 

They are very slow growing, with some elderly specimens being amongst the oldest living plants on a worldwide scale, surviving for many hundreds of years.

In their natural, wild habitat old examples are survivors of wild fires and develop into architectural masterpieces. Wild fire can cause their blackened trunk (1 to 2 metres) to branch into two or even more heads. These consist of thick, rough corky bark, surrounded by long, wiry leaves of green silvery colour - especially the Xanthorrhoea glauca spp angustifolia . The leaves form a round "crown" or mop which is very decorative.

 Grass Trees at the Botanical Garden, Barcelona

Being an Australian native, the Grass Tree is extremely drought tolerant and hence a real value for a dry garden in hot climates. It can survive occasional minus temperatures but should be protected from frost and yes,it stays a plant for warm climates. Apart that it is a tough boy which does not require any care or treatment.

The individual flowers are white or cream and very small. They are clustered together in a spear-like spike which can tower 2 metres or more above the top of the trunk.  Flowering occurs in spring but it may not occur annually.The flowers are followed by fruits containing a few hard, black seeds.

 Grass Trees in their natural habitat

The Grass Tree, like the Cycas has a reputation of being a real slow grower, but although I have never grown a Grass Tree I did grow Cycas and can tell you that given a minimum of care, mine produced to splendid rows of leaves per year! So everything is relative in the garden too!

If there is something negative about the Grass Tree is the fact that you can only seldom find it for sale and if you do find it, you might be scared of the price!

Yet if you are a patient and experimental gardener you might try to grow it from seed. It germinates reasonably well without pretreatment, although growth is slow and seedlings take many years to develop into large specimens. They do, however, form attractive small garden plants in 3-4 years.

Plant Profiles: Ilex Verticillata

A shrub for many Merry Christmas decorations and for feeding the feathery friends through the long winter month.

Counting the days till Christmas, one is thinking about all lovely, bright red winter berries which make all the lovely wreath and garlands.

Besides other better known Ilex types there is a rather less known ( at least in Europe) Winterberry called Ilex Verticillata.

Ilex Verticillata,
http://www.gardeners.com

Ilex verticillata is a 1–5 metres (3.3–16 ft) tall shrub. It is one of a number of hollies which are losing their leaves in the fall. In wet sites, it will spread to form a dense thicket, while in dry soil it remains a tight shrub. The leaves are glossy green, 3.5–9 cm long, 1.5–3.5 cm broad, with a serrated margin and an acute apex. The flowers are small, 5 mm diameter, with five to eight white petals.
The fruit is a globose red drupe 6–8 mm diameter, which often persists on the branches long into the winter, giving the plant its English name.

 Ilex Verticillata " Red Sprite"

Hollies are dioecious plants – male and female flowers grow on separate plants. It is necessary hence to have a male plant nearby for the female plants to produce the highly desirable fruit.
It is a tough plant which is easy to grow, with very few diseases or pests. Although wet acidic soils are optimal, the winterberry will grow well in the average garden. Numerous cultivars are available, differing in size and shape of the plant and color of the berry. At least one male plant must be planted in proximity to one or more females for them to bear fruit.

Concerning the growing conditions the American Winterberry requires sun to partial shade and a range of soil types (dry, wet) but prefers moist, organic soil.
It is hardy in zones 3 - 9. 

Besides being a gorgeous plant for winter decoration purposes, this Ilex is a wonderful food source for bees during the flowering period and later for birds , with its copious load of fruit.

 

Check this link for a list of cultivars, described acurately: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/trees-new/cultivars/ilex_verticillata-table.html

Rosa Hemispherica

Folks it's rose planting time again - you certainly do not belong to those who buy their roses in spring when they get tempted by forced blooms and mainly week shots (God forbid) you see at dubious plant stores! Oh no! Rose buying is a very serious matter that should happen after long and deep pondering, miles long lists that get revised each time we open yet another catalogue. 

Those who have a deep passion for roses go directly to the High Rose Olympus - the Beals/Austin/Lens/Delbard breeders without missing a beat... Then there are quite a few exquisite nurseries which offer the above cited Roses plus a respectable lot of ancient beauties.

 

Since making a choice is inevitable ( oh we would love to grow them all, but alas, even those blessed with a huge playing ground have to make choices!), I would like to talk about one of my favourite roses. Its name is not at all poetic - Rosa Hemispherica Persiana, a close offspring of the Rosa Foetida Persiana ( stinky - can you believe that!!) 

Rosa Hemispherica is a pure sulphur yellow rose. It is in fact one of the parents of all modern yellow roses we grow today! But in my opinion the shade is deeper and brighter than all modern ones. No burning or fading out in bright sun and at the same time a soft and solar colour that does not scream of modern neon!

In fact R. Hemispherica was one of Redouté's pet roses, one he painted like no one else.

The blooms. as the name indicates, are fully double and right out half ball shaped. Round, cupped silky balls of petals bloom en masse on fine, very thorny stems and small gray green leaflets.

When in full bloom, R Hemispherica is a real show and even if fragrance is not one of its features, it certainly does not stink in any way!

Alas as most ancient Roses it does bloom only once and quite early in season. But for true rosarians this is no handicap. After all peonies also bloom for two weeks - if lucky, and I would not be without them for any reason in this world.

I would plant it among masses of silver gray foliage - lavender (I know this one is quite obvious, but still a lovely combination), Artemisias, Stachis and Santoline, Festuca Glauca and a dash of deep blue of your choice...

Rosa Foetida - the less cupped parent of R. Hemispherica.

Both roses are not very easy to find, since they are not extremely hardy and get quite upset if grown in wet and rainy climates. Since the petals resemble more to light chiffon they tend to get soaked and miserable under pouring rain - after all they long for the hot climate of their ancient home - Persia!

I would like to close with this amazing picture of a R. Foetida, taken by Roger Roses. It is a hundred year old specimen, or better said WAS since as he indicates, this marvelous rose has been killed, weeded out, by truly insensitive people!
Apart this truly sad note, it gives us the idea though of how tough this rose can be - even if left completely alone.

If you should fell under the spell of Rosa Hemispherica, here are a couple of nurseries where you can get it:

http://www.rogersroses.com/
Museo delle Rose Antiche, www.museoroseantiche.it/ 
Vivaio La Campanella,  http://www.vivaiolacampanella.com
http://www.davidaustinroses.com

Chrysanthemum delight

November is almost on the door step and there is an overflow of Chrysanthemums everywhere. Sad enough the noble plant - so dear to the Japanese, is destined to embellish our cemeteries and this is it...

Especially in the Mediterranean area, this versatile plant is so deeply associated with graveyards that it is an offence to bring someone a bunch of the un-nameable creature...

But if you happen not to be superstitious and you dare take a closer look at the Chrysanthemum family you will discover that there are plenty of interesting shapes and colours which look pretty sophisticated.

Look out for the very elegant cactus shape, with fine and elongated petals. I particularly fancy the anise green ones, but there are amazing double face ones too, like the bronze and yellow or pink and yellow ones.

Then there are the huge cabbage shaped mums which I find lush and sumptuous and the globe shaped ones too...

Before consumerism hit the horticole production and Chrysanthemums hit the florist shops just in time for All saints, mums where at home in each and every peasant garden, cheering up those sad November days with their bright colours and puffy blooms - gay as a broad child's smile. They are brave and sturdy plants, sometimes a bit prone to mildew, but otherwise they will brighten up the garden for years on and on...

The only advice is to pinch the young shots quite mercilessly in order to encourage side shots and give the plant a bushy shape. Otherwise they tend to grow quite leggy and need stalking in order not to flop over with the first autumn rain.

I don't know you, but I think the Japanese are right to call it the Imperial flower!