Rocking the Garden

Recently I've been exploring the meanings of certain species' names, referring to certain traits that they convey. There's a lighter side to the use of names in the nursery business and that shows up mostly in Common names or in Variety names. I once thought of doing a feature article on categories of these names and one of them was on Rock n Roll or musical references. So, here's a few to amuse you (and maybe to bring back memories of your favorite groups or songs). In no particular order, here are examples with the botanical name followed by the musical reference:
Impatiens sodenii 'Madonna.' "Lady Madonna" by those Liverpool lads.
Ceanothus 'El Dorado.' "El Dorado" (album + song) by Electric Light Orchestra.
Platycodon 'Sentimental Blue.'  "Sentimental Blues" by Ray Charles.
Nicotiana 'Only The Lonely.' Someone had a Ray Orbison fixation it seems ...
Adenanthos sericeus. Commonly called Wooly bush. "Wooly Bully" by (who else) Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs.
ZZ Plant (I won't bore you with the botanical name as it's a mouthful). ZZ Top. As they say, too easy.
Geranium 'Rozanne.' All right, all you Police (or Sting) fans, sing along -- "Roxanne."
Syringa 'Miss Kim.'  L'il Kim. Fitting that both plant and person pack a big punch in a small package.
Sedum 'Angelina.'  "Angelina" by Hall & Oates.
Ipomoea 'Sunrise Serenade.' "Sunrise Serenade" Chet Atkins.

Okay, that's wot I got for the moment. I'm sure you plantophiles could come up with more.
And now the photos ...

Stachys albotomentosa. The 7-Up plant is famous for that distinctive scent but the flowers are also pretty.

Tricyrtis variety. Not only are the flowers exceptionally pretty but the stigma are pretty cool too.

This fern was incorrectly ID'd as Adiantum 'Ocean Spray' but in any case it's unusual and lovely. Didn't quite get this in focus but thought I'd include it anyway.

Hydrangea quercifolia. One of my favorite four season plants, it's run wild in my tropical corner bed. Here's a simple shot of a flower panicle just beginning to open.

Tradescantia 'Sweet Kate.' Tradescantias, being so common, are often overlooked. This variety has the deepest purple flowers plus interesting stamen.

Tecoma x smithii. This vining shrub is called Orange Bells for the lovely tubular orange flowers. Now, I have to find a nice sunny spot for it ...

Lilium 'Black Beauty.' I love the green "ribs" on this showy lily.

This aforementioned Wooly bush (Adenanthos sericeus) has slowly taken over my Aussie Natives bed. Its common name owes to its super soft foliage. Love the color too!

A bit shaded but here's my Petunia 'Phantom.' One of if not my favorite petunia and it's also an homage to a nursery cat we lost two years ago.

Eryngium + honey bee. Just a cool shot, made more so by the contrast in color and species between the purple flora and the golden fauna.

Felicia amelloides variegata. This 'Blue Daisy' is simple but oh so charming.

Another shot of my new Echinacea 'Harvest Moon.' Love the peachy-golden hue.

Dahlia 'Bishop's Children.' Once again, umm, aren't bishops supposed to be celibate? That aside, this dahlia features the darkest foliage and red flowers (shown off nicely when backlit).

I'm not generally a fan of annual type verbenas but this Lanai Peach is quite lovely.

One last shot of my red Painted Tongue (Salpiglossis). It's made itself at home in the bed beside the Dicentra scandens and Daphne odora 'Marginata.'

Here's a better photo of my newest rave, Ipomoea 'Sunrise Serenade.' Extravagant!

Finally, one last shot of my exuberant Canary Creeper nasturtium. Here the individual flowers look like little yellow flames dancing down the stem.

Summer Adornments

I'm going to take a break from introducing the meanings of species terms and just go for the wow, the pop, the cool, the ahh of garden photos. Here are a few shot today, old favorites mixed with new additions.

Crocosmia 'Emily MacKenzie.' Here I got a wonderful feeling to the backlit shot, creating a soft focus image that looks more like a watercolor painting than a photograph.

Azalea 'Little John.' Thrips almost killed this ornamental azalea but it appears to be recovering. The feature is the downy, red-kissed foliage. Not sure what the 'Little John' is in reference to.

Split-leaf philodendron. I have to keep cutting off the largest leaves of this hardy & vigorous philodendron or they overwhelm the path. It has sent top roots sprawling like scrambling snakes.

Kerria japonica. Listed as a sun lover, I've found that mine burns in the sun. So I moved it (fortunately it was in a pot) and it's happier in morning sun. For sheer cheerfulness, it's hard to beat the pom-poms of Kerria.

Campanula cochlearifolia 'Alpine Breeze.' If you're wondering where the species name comes from, I believe its common name -- earleaf bellflower -- is a clue (cf cochlear implant). In any case, this spilling bellflower is exceptionally pretty.

Another shot of my favorite new shrub, the aptly named Abelia 'Kaleidoscope.' It's still small but will soon fill in the bed that runs along the side of the main house.

Caryopteris incana 'Hint of Gold.' Actually, this shot is just as much for the pot as it is for the lovely & showy Caryopteris. It's a burnished golden orangy-red and I liked it so much I bought two. When I came across the Caryopteris, I knew I had the perfect plant for it. They greet garden visitors at the base of the front walkway.

Echinacea 'Harvest Moon.' I can't believe I once scorned coneflowers. I now love them and keeping finding new ones, like this peachy-yellow variety. And of course the bees love 'em!

An orange-flowering Alonsoa?!  Yes, indeed. Annie's is growing it and, well, I just love its color. I tried to grow it in too much shade last year but I'm not making that mistake again. It's full sun now for this groovy little guy.

Got blue? You do, and lots of it, if you grow this Clerodendrum ugandense.Nicknamed 'Blue Glory Bower,' it certainly is blue and glory-ous. Now I have to find room for it and remember to prune it regularly.

If Datura 'Blackcurrant Swirl' seems like a name somebody who loves ice cream just made up, well who knows that may be true! But yes it does exist and here it is getting ready to unfold. It's a double, pleated datura that is too gorgeous to describe. And since the flowers only open for less than a day, I'm crossing my fingers I'll be ready with camera in hand when it does open.

Swainsona. This Swan River pea is right up there with borage as a must-visit destination for bees. And because it's in bloom eight months of the year, the bees are always around.

Asclepius 'Apollo Orange.' Okay, it's just an Asclepius but it has just enough orange (rather than red) to make it stand out. It's still very small; when it fills out it's sure to be a  passersby attraction.

Lilium 'Scheherazade.' I'd like to see some wise-ass kid in a spelling bee get this right! The flower makes up in beauty what it lacks in pronounce-ability.Umm, is that a word?

Plectanthus coleoides. The species name may sound like a horrible disease ("I'm afraid you have coleoides, sir") but this ground hugging plectranthus is one of my faves.

Not Dusty Miller as you might first think but Centaurea gymnocarpa. It's such a great silver, so much so that I don't even let it flower. It's on year three and showing no signs of slowing down.

Canna species. Cannas do indeed have lovely flowers but sometimes it's all about the foliage.

Gazania variety. Gazanias may be one of the most common (and tough) plants out there but that doesn't mean they aren't beautiful. This red form looks similar to the red form of G. krebsiana, which hails from South Africa.

Ipomoea 'Sunrise Serenade.' A fab new morning glory from Annie's. And if this photo makes you want to run out and buy it -- and it should -- good luck. They did a very limited run and there may not be more. A one of a kind color, a double form, frilly. About the only thing it doesn't do is sing ...

There's a law in my garden. I'm forced by contract to post a photo of my Hebe evansii every six months. Unlike just about any large-leaved hebe I've seen and that wine-red color plus the shiny leaves make it a standout.

Shaggy dog begonia? Sort of. This Begonia 'Wild Pony' (okay, I give up, where the heck did they come up with that name) is a new addition. Haven't seen it bloom but the foliage is just so weird that I couldn't resist.

Euphorbia mammilaris variegata. 'I knew that' you say. This guy is too cute, especially with the "pink heads."

This corner of my Japanese garden was clothed in partial shadows and I liked the look.

Mimulus Jelly Bean Orange. It's a Sticky Monkey flower so it's already cool. Add in Jelly Bean and that creamy orange color and what's not to like?

Petunia. Okay, just a common flower but I love the double form and the color.

Pelargonium. The same might be said for this common pelargonium. I just love the swirl pattern.

Latin redux

In my last post I shared that I had become fascinated lately with species terms that have a generalized meaning. That is, the species term is used to describe a certain quality that a plant has (and that it shares with other plants). I started off with a dozen species terms and gave examples. Here's a few more. I'm also posting photos of my garden for those who want to skip ahead to those.

"greggii"  -- named after Dr. John Gregg who discovered it. Main example is the great many Salvia greggiis that are widely available. Glad to have that question answered!
"heterophyllus" -- with variable leaves. ("Phyllus" always refers to leaves). Notably the CA native penstemon, P. heterophyllus.
"hirta" -- hairy. One common example would be Rudbeckia hirta, which has pronounced hairs on the stems. I suspect that hirta also gives us hirsute.
"humilus" -- low growing. The first plant that comes to mind is Sarcococca humilus, the lower growing species of Sweet box.
"laciniatus" -- deeply cut into tapered lobes. Thus Rudbeckia lacianata, known as cutleaf rudbeckia.
"latifolium" -- wide-leaved. I have a Eriogonum latifolium in my garden, the lovely silver leaves indeed being a bit wider than other species.
"maculatus" -- spotted. Brings to mind one of my favorite native annuals, Nemophila maculata, also known as Baby Five Spot for the purple spots that dot the perimeter of each leaf.
"mollis" -- soft or with soft hairs. Thus Alchemilla mollis, also known as Lady's Mantle, and which features downy foliage. Also, Hamamelis mollis (Chinese witch hazel), which has softly hairy leaves.

Okay, now the photos! My garden is definitely in mid summer mode, with a mix of summer annuals, summer blooming shrubs and the beginning of summer/fall vines.

Gold stars all around for anyone who recognizes this flower. It's Centaurea 'Black Sprite,' a montana cultivar. Pretty fab and yes that's no optical illusion, the flowers really are that black (okay, deep, deep burgundy). Took forever to bloom but I expect a summer long show.

One of the Haiti metal sculptures made from recycled oil drums. This photo doesn't really capture the detail as much as I'd like (brown background + sun) but it gives an idea.

Trachelium caerulea. One of my favorite plants, this guy began blooming two weeks after I planted it (not showing even any buds). A real fave for butterflies. For purple lovers only!

It's Rudbeckia season and here's a rust-colored hirta hybrid called Autumn Colors. Those of you who read my column know I just did a column on perennial rudbeckias but there's nothing wrong with enjoying these annual types.

Dorychium hirsutum. Speaking of the meaning of species names, here's a variation of hirta. That's obvious with the softly hairy leaves of this trailing perennial. And that grayish-green foliage is simply lovely.

Rudbeckia 'Prairie Sun.' This Black-eyed Susan has one of the biggest flowers and a lovely two-tone of orangey-gold and chartreuse.

Crocosmia. Weed or welcome guest, you choose. This vigorously self-seeding bulb will pop up everywhere and will, just for good measure, produce tons of little bulbs at its roots. Here the bright orange tones contrast nicely with the refreshing and tropical foliage of Alpinia 'Zerumbet.'  That would be Shell ginger to you and more photos of this, my favorite foliage plant, will follow.

Grevillea 'Moonlight.' Still not widely known among gardeners, who may rightly be drawn to all the other fabulous (and more colorful) grevilleas, this is still my favorite. Huge flower cones and that indescribable cream color make it very showy in my mind. Now in its second year in the ground, it looks to be ready for a spectacular show this year.

Salpiglossis 'Kew Blue.' Don't know about the 'Blue' part but the royal purple tones of this Painted Tongue are hard to beat.

I was recently up in Nelson B.C. (highly recommended) and came across a shop that had all manner of interesting little garden nicknacks.  I found two stones, including this one, that made me laugh so I bought them. It's nestled among my Yerba Buena.

I don't think the plant here, the vigorous Stachys albotomentosa (better known as the 7-Up plant for having that fragrance), needs any encouragement to grow! Good sentiment and a thought we've all had, if not yelled, at certain recalcitrant plants!

Bromeliad. Love the spotting on this bromeliad, which makes it easy to enjoy even if it never flowers.

Begonia Angel Wings. Or so the tag said but I think the grower was confusing the type of begonia (Angel Wing types that typically have spotted leaves) from the actual variety. No matter, here the close-up of the simple flower seems to dangle in space in front of the spotted leaf behind it.

Oakleaf hydrangea. Among the many fabulous things about this plant, almost too many to list, there's also the matter of its lovely orange stems.

Canary Creeper. Here's a close-up of the lovely nasturtium with the distinctively shaped flowers, said to resemble a canary. As in other years I've trained it to grow in and out of some lattice board. 

Plumbago auriculata. Can you say Robin's egg blue, boys and girls? I knew you could. And yes I'll drag out that old chestnut, "so many plumbagos, so little space ..." That said, be prepared for a battle if you ever need to dig this out, which I'll eventually have to do.

Hibiscus cisplinatus. One of my favorite hibiscus, in part because of the delicate pink veining and then the large, vivid stamens.

Begonia sutherlandii. Sweet and charming and that color, sort of an orange creme, adds to this low growing begonia's charm. Thanks to Sherrie at Cal Flora for introducing me to this guy.