Monthly Archives: July 2009

color in the garden, flowers

Orange and Peach color in the Garden

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Enjoying a spectacular sunset on a warm evening in the summertime is one of life’s simple pleasures. Peach and orange tones bounce off the bottom of gauzy cirrus clouds as they streak across the sky. Combine these warm colors with varying shades of blue sky and you have he perfect color combo –opposites on the color wheel. We can’t help but ooh and aah,? we have an emotional response to this particular pairing of colors.

If you don’t have a vignette or section of your garden with peach, orange and blue yet, now’s the time to create one. All the tints and tones of orange warm and cheer up our gardens, no matter what the weather. And orange flowers set off every color of foliage, from blue-gray to lime to copper.

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Canna ‘Pretoria’

Here’s a short list of my favorite peach and orange flowers and foliage:
???? Orange hummingbird mint ( agastache aurantiaca ) a drought tolerant, summer-blooming favorite of hummingbirds.
???? Crocosmia – an old garden favorite with long blooming flower spikes that make good cut flowers.
???? Kangaroo paw Tequila Sunrise ( anigozanthus ) – another long blooming hummingbird favorite
???? Canna Pretoria – beautiful variegated gold foliage and orange flowers make this perennial a classic
???? Yarrow Terra Cotta ( achillea millefolium ) – drought tolerant, carefree, generously blooming perennial attractive to both butterflies and their larvae
???? Flowering Maple Tangerine( abutilon )- favorite year-round bloomer of both hummingbirds and yours truly.
???? Fuschia gartenmeister – the orange fuchsia that needs no cleaning. May still be blooming at Christmas time for your hummers.
???? Orange New Zealand sedge ( carex testacea ) – widely arching clumps of beautiful rusty grass

Other inspiring orange flowers your sure to want in your garden are calibrachoa Sunrise or Terra Cotta, gazania, lantana, dahlia, coprosma Evening Glow, orange tuberous begonias and orange daylilies

Combine with blue flowers, stir well and stand back to enjoy your own garden sunset.

 

Flowering trees

Fast Growing Trees for Shade

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Midsummer heat can be brutal. Without shade from trees, the sun can turn a garden from an oasis into a spot not fit for man or beast.  If you need to plant a tree that grows really fast and will provide shade quickly consider one of the following. They’ll sprout 2-4 feet in a single year with good care.

Tropical looking trees not only provide shade but have a look of coolness about them. Their large leaves ripple in the slightest breeze and beg you to enjoy an icy beverage below their canopy. Catalpa’s are among the few hardy deciduous trees that can complete in flower and leaf with subtropical species. Purple Catalpa has all the bells and whistles. Their huge heart-shaped leaves are 10-12 inches long. Young leaves emerge deep blackish-purple, then turn purple-toned green in summer. Large upright clusters of trumpet-shaped 2" wide pure white flowers are lightly speckled with yellow and purple and bloom in late spring and summer. This tree grows 30-40 feet in sun or light shade and needs moderate water.

What do you get when you cross a catalpa with a chilopsis tree from the desert? You get a  Chitalpa – a rapid growing 20-30 ft. tree that combines toughness with beauty. From late spring through fall, clusters of frilly, trumpet-shaped pink or white flowers appear. Chitalpa’s like full sun and need only little to moderate water.

If you want a good lawn tree that casts light shade, I have two suggestions:  Silk Tree and Golden Honey locust. Albizia – aka Silk tree- aka Mimosa grows fast to 40 ft. tall with a wide canopy. Often it is kept pruned to 15 or 20 ft so it’s pretty powder pink flowers that appear in summer can be enjoyed up close. Birds are also attracted to the flower clusters. Silk trees are especially beautiful when viewed fro an upper deck or window.

Golden Honey locust has beautiful fern-like golden-yellow new foliage which is showy against the deep green of the more mature leaves. Foliage casts filtered shade allowing growth of lawn or other plants beneath its canopy. Fast growing to 35-70 ft. This variety has few or o seed pods and is thornless.

California pepper trees are beautiful in the right spot with gnarled trunks and light, graceful branchlets. Give them room to spread away from paving and other plants. This is a great tree to shade a play area or gravel patio. Fast growth to 25-40 ft. This tree requires little to moderate water.
 
Other fast growing trees are Raywood ash, Evergreen ash, Purple Robe locust and Chinese evergreen elm.

Remember, most trees grow fast when young, then slow down as they mature. Encourage this growth spurt with deep watering and regular fertilizing.

California Native Plants, wildlife

Layering Plants for Wildlife

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I confess , I’m a lazy gardener.  In July, my idea of working in the garden consists of removing seed pods from the fuchsias and trimming a few parsley and basil springs for dinner. I don’t have to spend time spraying for harmful insects and diseases because the birds and other creatures I encourage in my garden provide natural pest control. Having wildlife in the garden saves time and money, too.

A wildlife garden doesn’t have to be messy. It just requires the right balance between form and function. Areas close to the house can look more refined because they get more attention. Spots farther away from the house can be a little more relaxed because they are seen at a distance.

Plant in layers, providing a canopy or tree layer, a shrub layer and a ground cover layer. This provides the greatest range of sheltering, feeding and nesting sites for birds and other creatures. Towhees, black-headed juncos and robins like to stick to the shrub layer but are frequently found foraging in leaf litter on the ground where they find insects for food. Warblers and chickadees tend to search for insects in the canopy layer. 

Many native plants provide essential food and foraging areas for wildlife. Plants from similar climates like the Mediterranean region also have benefits for wildlife.

Coffeeberry are a favorite for many birds. This native grows in full sun or partial shade and aren’t fussy about soil. Established plant need no irrigation but will accept regular gardening watering unlike many other natives. They make up for small inconspicuous flowers with large berries than turn from green to red to black as they ripen. Use this 4-8 ft. shrub for your middle layer.

If it’s summer color you’re after, look to Vitex agnus-caste. This large shrub can be trained as a multi-stemmed small shade tree if you like. Fragrant lavender-blue flower spikes cover this plant summer to fall. Even the leaves are aromatic with handsome lacy, fanlike leaflets. Vitex thrives in heat with moderate water and is deer resistant.

Pacific wax myrtle is another shrub to use in your middle layer as a screen.  This 10 ft evergreen can also be trained as a small 30 ft tree. It’s one of the best looking native plants for the garden with aromatic glossy dark green leaves. Clusters of tiny berries are a favorite food source for several species of birds, especially warblers.

Other natives for the middle layer include Howard McMinn manzanita, Ray Harman ceanothus, bush anemone, western redbud, snowberry, pink-flowering currant and philadelphus. Native plants for the ground cover layer would also include Emerald Carpet manzanita and Yankee Point ceanothus.

You don’t need a lot of land or a huge garden to use the layering principal. Even the smallest yard can have all three layers that offer beauty and shade for us and nesting sites, food and foraging areas for wildlife.