Freeze damage

How to Handle Freeze Damage

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Frozen deep golden ginkgo leaves at the base of my trees wasn’t what I had in mind as I watched my tree develop that beautiful fall color last week. I watched them land with a soft thud on the frosty ground this morning. When we get a really hard frost some plants do get nipped that normally would be fine in a light frost.  Here’s how to deal with frost damage.

Don’t be tempted to rush out and prune away the damaged parts of the plant.  This winter will have more cold weather and the upper part of your plant, even if damaged, can protect the crown from further freezing. This applies to citrus trees, too.  If a perennial like Mexican bush sage froze and is now gooey and black, cut the plant down to the ground. It will re-grow come spring from the root system. If the old, dead foliage and stems are not gooey, leave them until after the last frost next spring. They provide an extra degree or two of protection for tender new buds and shoots coming along for next year. This advice applies to all your perennials. And the best part, you don’t have to lift a finger until next year. One last tip: if you do have plants that need covering in a frost, use a blanket, towel or other type of cloth and not plastic.  The cold will go right through plastic covering and damage the plant.
 

winter color

Color in the Winter Garden

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‘Tis the season… to enjoy your garden from inside on a wintry day when the weather is cold and blustery. Why not dress up your entrance with winter blooming plants to welcome you home or place them where you can see them outside a window? Besides bedding plants like primroses, violas and pansies, there are colorful shrubs that bloom during the winter. Here are some good additions to your garden to brighten things up.

Yellow is always a cheery color in the garden at any time of year. The deep golden flowers of Mexican marigold or tagetes lemmonii  are carried on branch ends sporadically all year, peaking in winter and spring. Finely divided leaves are strongly fragrant when crushed and smell like a blend of marigold, lemon and mint which is why deer avoid them. Prune them lightly to control shape and size. They grows  3-6  ft tall and as wide.  Another shrub that blooms all winter and has yellow daisies is euryops.  They, too, are deer resistant and grow to about 3 ft.    If you have a little more space, try ‘Rose Glow’ leptospermum near a ceanothus ‘Concha’.  The contrast between the deep red flowers of the tea tree with the bright blue flowers of the California lilac will certainly get your attention. These larger shrubs reach about 6 ft tall and as wide.

Camellias are another great shrub that start blooming in the winter.  Actually, Camellia sasanqua start flowering in the fall and some like the popular  red ‘Yuletide’  bloom right at Christmas time.  ‘Chansonette’ is another beautiful  variety with rich pink flowers.  Sasanqua camellias can tolerate a little more sun than the more common camellia japonicas.  They come in a variety or forms from compact shrubs to open vining types that can be espaliered.   If you don’t have any of this variety they would make a good addition to your garden.

has been the standard in U.S. and European gardens since the 1800’s when they were introduced from China and Japan.  Their flowers range from formal types like my favorite, ‘Nucchios’  Pearl’   to anemone form, rose form and peony- like flowers .  Their flowering season can be early (Oct-Nov.), midseason (Jan. – March) or late ( March – May ) which is why it seems that camellias are always blooming.
 

Mexico plants

The Gardens of Southern Mexico – Part 2

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What would you plant if you lived in a flat area with very poor drainage? Where the landscape is shaped by limestone or dolomite bedrock? Where the shallow soil is filled with carbonate rock?  Where there is limited surface water and no above-ground rivers?  Where lakes and swamps are present, the water is marshy and not palatable for drinking? Where you have two seasons-  6 months of rain and 6 months dry.  Oh yeah, did I mention you get 100" of rain during the wet season?

Last week I talked about the gardens and plantings I encountered in the mountain areas of Chiapas in southern Mexico. I’m now in the heart of the Yucatan peninsula in eastern Mexico where extensive underground rivers collect in thousands of deep, cave pools called cenotes. More than 3000 sinkholes of  mineral-rich, clear, turquoise water dot the landscape. The held the cenotes sacred, believing them to be entrances to the underworld.

Short and tall tropical jungles are the predominant natural vegetation although the forests are suffering from extensive deforestation. Orchards of papaya, maize, bananas, sweet and sour oranges, mandarins and limes are planted in cleared areas of the jungle.The soil is rocky and requires a lot of preparation before an orchard can be planted.  It is interesting to note that oranges were originally brought to the area from Spain in the 1700’s.

Over half of Mexico’s resources are found in the Yucatan peninsula. Oil, plastics , bananas, mango, sisal are just a few of the exports of this area. In the 1600’s Captain Morgan repeatedly attacked ships off Campeche on the Gulf of Mexico. The ships,heading back to Spain, contained not gold and silver from Mexico but cocoa, corn, citrus and coconuts that were unknown in Europe.

Perhaps the mild, tropical weather contributes to a lifestyle where people decorate the area around the house more here than in the mountain regions.  Bare dirt is swept clean of fallen leaves and debris. In the mountains, the residents planted more edible crops rather than ornamental plants. Here in the Yucatan, flowers and container plants are common.

Many dwellings are made of gypsum plaster and stucco as they have been since ancient times.  Merida is even called ‘the white city" due to the color of this common building material. In the villages, small branches are imbedded in the plaster for strength and thatched roofing is most often used as it has been for centuries. This is an effective way to build weatherproof roofing with materials at hand. As experts in this type of roofing they know the best reeds are harvested during the winter as standing dead material, ensuring that another reed plant will grow in it’s place the following year for maintaining the roof.

Loquat trees and coconut palms shade houses from the sun and spiky sisal agave plants are planted as effective barriers around the perimeter of the yard. Sugar cane and corn crops are typical. Front yards are small but back yards are very large filled with tables, chairs, hammocks and a clothes line.

Many small houses had rusted gallon cans planted with flowering vines and hung from the roof.  I saw larger cans planted with ficus trees and bright, reddish-orange zinnias, a favorite nectar source for local butterflies. Fried pig skins are very popular and some side yards were used for a 50 gallon drum of hot oil to produce this treat. I have to confess, I passed after seeing the product before the cooking process.

People of the Yucatan peninsula from Merida to Celestun on the Gulf of Mexico to the shores of the Caribbean enjoy their gardens whether they live in small homes in rural areas or in more traditional residences in the city. My trip was amazing and I’ll never forget the gardens of the Maya people.
 

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