A sunny December day in the garden…

Wednesday was a glorious (rare) sunny day with a lovely blue sky. Heck the temperature wasn't even bad, just a t-shirt and jeans with a sweatshirt over and I wasn't even cold. So can you guess what my first order of business was? I severely cut back the Creeping Wire Vine from Monday’s post. You all scared me into action, thank you! Notice I didn't say I dug it out, I’ll leave that for spring (right now it just looks too nice to get rid of in favor of bare soil). I did however cut back all the long parts and bits encroaching on other plants. In the process I learned that indeed it does root in places where the “creeping” stems touch the ground. Be afraid…be VERY afraid.

So with that chore done I wasn't ready to go back inside quite yet (even though I had a list a mile long of things that needed doing). So I grabbed the camera and lingered a little longer…soaking up the sun and getting that warm “all is right with the world” feeling that you can only get when you’re happy in the garden. It had been too long…

The leaves on the Callistemon 'Clemson' were very fragrant, the sun seemed to be warming them and releasing their scent. It was lovely.

The "Echium that ate my garden" lives on, this is the arm that didn't bloom last summer. It's roughly doubled in size, if it makes it through winter I imagine there will be a huge bloom come May. Oh and it's sprouted a coulple of arms of it's own.

I'd really like to have Sammy (the Yucca rostrata behind the Echium) be the star of the garden again. But as long as this thing keeps going I'm going to let it.

I can't believe this Clianthus puniceus (from Annie's) was just a small 4" container when it went in the ground last spring. It's almost 4 ft tall now. Unfortunately it only has two stems but they are starting to branch, it's an awkward shaped thing but I love it.

Euphorbia stygiana

Love the Loquat!

The silver leaves are the underside of the Banksia marginata...

Rubus lineatus

Love those pleated leaves!

The Tetrapanax is inching ever closer to blooming. It's a race with Mother Nature to see who will when! So far no threats of freezing in the forecast (and it's December!)...

I climbed up on the side of the stock tank to get a closer look at the buds and was able to look into the cut we made after the winter of 2010/11 knocked it back to a new growing point (two actually)...

All that brown fuzz (indumentum), don't get it in your eyes!

The shade pavilion greenhouse glows with the lower angle of the sun...

All the better for the plants inside!

Horse-tail rush (Equisetum hyemale) glows pretty nicely too.

I finally pulled a couple of the plants from the stock-tank pond in hopes of over wintering them.

The Colocasia had a baby!

Here's one of my original Yucca 'Bright Star' it was down to just a couple of leaves when I planted it in this small container. It' managed to work it's way back over the summer...

See those two tiny little plants in the lower left hand corner of the photo below?

Here's a close-up. The Yucca 'Bright Star' that I planted here died and then these appeared. Haven't grown a bit since that day in May of 2011...that's my less than successful history with Y. 'Bright Star'...so I guess technically I haven't had any die on me. Just shrink.

With that I take my camera and go inside. I think I have spring fever.

The lowly Cast Iron Plant, my favorite plant in the garden, this week…

Aspidistra elatior isn’t exactly considered a glamorous plant…

“Cast iron plant. A standard house plant for eons -- in dark British apartment buildings from Victorian times -- and often used for a tropical touch in southern and western gardens especially in areas seemingly too shady or too dark for anything but slime molds.” – Cistus Nursery

“Cast Iron Plant, famous for adaptation to nearly pitch black shade…Best in dry shade with occasional water, under stairwells, dark dry planters. Small flowers appear at the ground and look like individual slices of pepperoni. Seriously. Protect from bright sun. NOT just a houseplant-easy to grow outside.” – Xera Plants

“This is an old, reliable, tough plant for pots or beds in shady areas, or indoors” – Almost Eden

…and that’s a shame! But then again here I am finally noticing it in December. The rest of the year it was overlooked in favor of, well, just about everything else! Actually the day I paused to look at the empty patio and take this shot was when I realized just how good it was looking.

Who knows, it may have looked this good all the rest of the year too, but I had so many containers in front of it I couldn't see it…

These plants all came from our Portland Garden Bloggers exchange last spring (I believe from Ann). The Black Mondo (Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens') and Liriope are divisions from my plants in the front garden.

(I don’t remember if I've ever mentioned it but the Liriope is my oldest plant here in the Portland garden. I bought it when I lived in Seattle in the 90’s and it was a houseplant in a terra cotta urn for years. When we moved here and I wanted to release it I had to break the container to get it out. Such a silly plant to have an emotional attachment to...)

I do have another small patch of Aspidistra elatior, it’s been in the ground since summer of 2009 and has grown from 7 leaves to 18…not exactly a fast grower! Although in fairness I have probably cut off at least a dozen leaves. I’m not one to put up with a ragged looking leaf.

So while I may not have sung it’s praises before, I do love this plant. It requires nothing from me and looks good doing it...I probably need more.

A tale of two discovered gardens…

My favorite way to get around in a strange city is to walk, you see so much more when you’re on foot. I also love to take less than direct routes simply for the chance to discover the unexpected (within the parameters of safety, of course). That’s how I happened upon the Soho Square Gardens in London (or technically the City of Westminster).

It was a very rainy day and most everyone seemed to be using the park as a shortcut to wherever they were headed.

There were a few people lounging about though…

They must have very liberal public nudity laws in the City of Westminster!

There was an interesting mix of plants in this garden/park. Some quite nice.

That's a very tall Eucalyptus!

And there was even a Tree Fern!

I wonder about those voluntary contributions?

The next surprise I ran across on our way to a bookstore (bookstores, museums, gardens and nurseries...that's pretty much how we travel)...

This corner container garden was a bit of a mystery...

All that empty gravel...

Perhaps once this was part of the car park.

At least someones making use of the part of the space.

Must be concrete under all that gravel or else they would have planted in the ground. Or maybe this area is still sometimes used for cars. You can see the shadow of tire prints in the gravel. So why all the gravel?

So many questions, no answers.

Why Grow That, When You Can Grow This?

Let’s face it, Andrew Key’s new book Why Grow That, When You Can Grow This? 255 Extraordinary Alternatives to Everyday Problem Plants was not written for me. He begins by acknowledging that as gardeners the grass is always greener “in the other garden” you know...we want what we cannot grow. Sure, I hear that, Lord knows I hear that. But then he lost me.

Get this, he suggests that by matching the plants we choose to our climate, soil and sunlight conditions they’ll thrive and we’ll be happier gardeners. What? I've been going about this all wrong. I thought you were supposed to choose the plants you love and then move heaven and earth to make them happy! (you know like the work involved in growing desert plants in rainy Oregon)

Okay, I kid. As much as I love pushing what will grow in my garden there are times you just have to accept the plant you are drawn to is just not the right plant for you. Andrew helps readers through this realization by identifying plants that replicate at least three or more traits of the “problem plant,” things such as hardiness, shape, color, texture, light, and size. And as a bonus this also means if you adore a particular plant in your garden the alternatives provide ideas of how to include more of what you love. For instance as an alternative for Yucca filamentosa (evidently some people see this perfectly lovely creature as a “gas station plant” and thus an unsavory character, whatever!) he offers Dasylirion wheeleri, which I believe is a wonderful, yet  underutilized, plant.

This brings me to another point about the book; it was an education to read what some of the problem plants were and why they were seen as such. For instance everyone’s favorite hardy palm (at least here in the Pacific Northwest) Trachycarpus fortunei was said to look best “in the neighbors garden” because up close they are all trunk, oh my!

That particular Trachy (above) is in my neighbors garden, but what I wouldn't give to have a few of those trunks in my garden! (then again I have a friend who is a little repelled by the hairy trunks so I guess to each her own)

I asked Andrew about how he went about compiling the list of problem plants he addresses in the book. Here’s what he had to say…

“You might have noticed a few categories, in no particular order:

• Plants like roses that tend to be problematic because they get pests or diseases that require unsustainable inputs of time, maintenance, fertilizer, chemicals, etc.
• Plants that only have one season of interest, especially when there are underused alternatives that do something similar in one season, but do other cool stuff the rest of the year.
• Plants that aren't hardy or don't thrive in or some significant portion of North America, like agave not overwintering in-ground in really cold, wet regions (oh, how I wish it would), or peony where it's hot.
• Plants that are considered invasive species in some significant portion of North America. Scotch broom in the Northwest, for example.
• Plants that are often pegged as boring or overused, like hostas, for better or worse.
• Plants that have plenty of redeeming value but are looked down on because, say, they're so tough they get planted at gas stations. Yep, this is my beloved yucca.”

Thank god he see's beyond the Yucca's "gas station" reputation! I do love the problem/alternative section, there is so much information packed onto each page, and pictures too. The one puzzling thing is that Andrew gently urges his readers to get comfortable using a plants botanical name (and rightfully so), pointing out the confusion that can arise from the use of common names. But then the layout of the problem/alternative section puts the common name at the top of the page (prominent placement) with the botanical name appearing underneath in very small print, very small. Odd.

So did I find an alternative for a problem plant in my garden? No not right away, mainly because I don’t really have any problem plants I want to replace, after-all I collect problem plants! I was however thinking about the book the day after I took cuttings of my Blue Senecio. I walked into the back garden and instead of seeing the lovely chalky blue on the left echoing the blue of my Melianthus on the right (and in the foreground, also on the right, the Echium wildpretii)…

I saw just this, a green hole…

I started thinking about what I could plant there that would give me the same look year round. I wanted something that popped with color and had a similar shape to the chalk sticks (which are not hardy here in Zone 8). That’s when it hit me. What plant have I recently been pining over that has nearly that same powder blue, and also includes the golden tones of the Hakonechloa under the Melianthus? Yep, I bought another Yucca ‘Bright Star.'

How about another one? (this is fun!) Asparagus densiflorus (Asparagus fern) is enjoying resurgence in popularity, yet it’s not hardy to temperatures much below 25F. What plant could replicate the soft, fluffy fox-tail like spears of the Asparagus fern? How about a Grevillea that’s hardy to 15F? When posting photos of my Grevillea juniperina 'Molonglo' last week I noticed it had a definite resemblance …

So for me the best part of this book might not be the actual substitutes presented within, but the way it gets me thinking about my plant choices. And that’s a very good thing!

Want more? If you’re planning to attend the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle this February Andrew is speaking on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. No doubt he’ll be pulling case studies from the book, and something tells me he’s got a pretty wicked sense of humor too, I plan to catch at least one of his talks. Oh yes, and time for the disclaimer…Timber Press sent me a review copy of this book (yes free), but I was under no obligation to say nice things. If I didn't like it I wouldn't have written a review...

Well aren't you the little thug?

It took me awhile to decide that I liked Muehlenbeckia axillaris, or Creeping Wire Vine. But decide I did, and three plants went into the area cleared out when the Rhody was removed last spring. I thought they would make a nice, quick growing, groundcover. Ya, you can say that again...

Muehlenbeckia axillaris taking over some Sempervivum

Here’s a positive endorsement I found online… "It's the leaves' unique ability to stay in excellent condition from March through November (or later) which makes all these uses suitable, no cutting back or grooming is generally required."

Muehlenbeckia axillaris climbing up through Grevillea victoriae 'Murray Queen'

And from the same source “it quickly forms a dense mat which weeds are unlikely to penetrate.” Is it just me or does that last bit sound a little like the beginning to a horror story?

Muehlenbeckia axillaris twining around Agave bracteosa

The general consensus online (because I’m researching it now, after I planted it) seems to be that it will grow to be 24-30” wide. That doesn't sound too horrible but when you realize they’re probably talking about each and every tiny stem reaching two to two and half feet long, AND add in the “twining/climbing habit” and yikes. I think this plant could cover a car, or maybe even a house, in a couple of years.

Muehlenbeckia axillaris and Dasylirion wheeleri

I guess the name "Creeping Wire Vine" held some clues, had I paid attention. I’m hoping maybe winter will somehow keep this budding thug in check, but I’m not holding my breath. I am however holding sheers…and will use them.

There used to be a Libertia ixioides 'Goldfinger' under there, somewhere...