|
|
|
August 2015
|
Vol 5, Issue 4
|
|
|
|
|
|
Greetings from Christianson's!
|
Right about now, I start scheming about how I'm going to get back to Hawaii for a tropical fix this winter. I'm wandering through the sultry greenhouses at the Nursery, looking at all the wonderful tropical looking plants and I wish I was back on the Big Island. The landscape consists of edibles like banana, pineapple and papaya planted like we plant apple and pear trees. They are also found growing on the side of the road. The rain forests are filled with big leaf tropical plants and, as a mainlander, it's hard not to think, "Wow! Look at all the giant houseplants!"
In fact, I miss the tropics more since I went to a staff party at a colleague's house the other night. Matt had just built a greenhouse and was showing off his wonderful collection of cacti, succulents and, as a yin to that yang, tropical plants. The sharpness of the aloe's and cacti's contrasted interestingly with the softness of large-leaved elephant ears and exotic voodoo lilies. All the desert plants were in clay pots but many of the tropical plants were in the ground. He digs many of them up every fall and stores them in a protected space, which this year, will be in his new greenhouse.
Matt's yard is a contrast of interests. The far back area of the typical urban sized lot is planted with fruit trees. It's all a work in progress as he decides on his vision. I see a perennial food forest with a kitchen garden just behind the patio. There are several trees on the south side that provide a bit of shade, but the property gets a lot of sun too, especially in the fruit tree area.
We're lucky to live in a temperate climate that allows us to bring our indoor plants out in the summer. I love that I can re-pot my indoor plants in the spring and place them outside for an 'airing out' when the nighttime air temperature stays above 55 degrees. They get watered with the rest of my outdoor plants and add a tropical, lush look that feels so necessary by the time hot, dry August rolls around.
Personally, I'm an orchid fanatic and at last count have several dozen of these gems, although not as over the top as some orchid enthusiasts I've run into that have several hundred! I have transported a few back from Hawaii including Cattleyas and Oncidiums. I have acquired others out of the 'free' box, including the common Phalaenopsis species which are often discarded by retailers because they don't sell after they're done blooming. I fortunately know how to get them to re-bloom and I'm patient enough to wait for the next bloom cycle and usually have several blooming at any one time. I'll often put a lot of them outside, in bright, dappled sunlight, hanging in rings off my fence to mimic their natural environment.
|
| |
A Miltonia growing in
the crotch of a tree
|
In their native habitat, many orchids grow in the crotches of trees and are epiphytic, meaning they have air roots. Their roots are designed to hold water and hang on in a breeze. In general, epiphytic orchids thrive in high humidity, bright, dappled light (under the canopy) and good air circulation. Other types of orchids are terrestrial like the slipper orchid (Paphiopedilum), needing ample moisture and lower light levels since they grow naturally on the forest floor. Most orchids spike blooms off new leaves, so the orchid won't re-bloom until it grows a new set of leaves. The orchid family is the largest plant family in the world, containing upwards of 26,000 species and 880 genera. It's probably a good thing I don't live in Hawaii because I'd be an orchid hoarder.
Recently, I conspired with Eric, our indoor plant buyer and we brought in some unusual orchid species including Cattleya bowringiana, Habenaria rhodocheila 'Cardinal Roost', Dyakia hendersoniana, a mounted Dendrobium aceps and a vanilla orchid (yes, vanilla beans come from orchids!). We also have some lovely Phalaenopsis that are in bloom now and are considered one of the easiest orchids to grow. So, I encourage you to come in and pick up one of these amazing plants. We will be happy to give you information on their care.
Debra Lacy,
Certified Professional Horticulturist & Editor
|
|
 |
|
Where To Find Us
| |
15806 Best Road
Mount Vernon, WA 98273
Map and directions
www.christiansonsnursery.com
360-466-3821
1-800-585-8200
Summer Hours
Open daily 9 am - 6 pm
Weekly Radio Broadcast:
Sunday Mornings at 10:30 am
The Garden Show
with John and Mike
KAPS AM 660
Voted Best Greenhouse and Nursery
in Skagit Publishing's
People's Choice Awards for
2010, 2011 and 2012
|
|
Sign up for Garden Notes
Visit us on Facebook
|
| |
Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Garden, located in Papaikou
on the Big Island
|
|
|
|
|
August Specials
|
August 1 - 16
our huge selection of small to very large glazed
and terra-cotta outdoor containers
20% off
August 17 - 31
Summer Heather
hardy blooming plants
in a variety of colors
20% off
August 17 - 31
Water Plantswater lilies, floating plants, iris and more
30% off
|
|
|
Upcoming Classes & Events
.: AUGUST :.No Classes or events .: SEPTEMBER :.Saturday, September 5
Saturday, September 12
For more information visit our web site at
|
The Garden in August
by Rachel Anderson
|
Hallelujah! Let the good news ring down from above and echo in all the valleys! My crepe myrtle is going to bloom this year! Finally! After 9 years! While this may not seem "Hallelujah" worthy to some of you, it is for me and I need to share the good news because there is a cat to thank in the end.
.... Read more
To download a printable copy of this article, click here.  Thanks to her mom, Rachel has been gardening since childhood. She was part of the team at Christianson's for 13 years before deciding to strike out on her own as a full time professional gardener and continues to contribute to Garden Notes. She's a Certified Professional Horticulturist with a passion for roses and vegetable gardening. Rachel and her family enjoy gardening together and now share their urban garden with a menagerie of ducks, chickens, two cats, and a dog.
|
|
Christianson's Great Design Plants
| In hot, dry August, cool off with a tropical look to your garden. Here is a selection of plants that work well as patio plants or in the landscape:
 Brugmansia species: Brugmansia is a genus of seven species of flowering plants in the family Solanaceae. They form large shrubs or small trees, with semi-woody, often many-branched trunks. They can reach heights of 8-10 feet in the landscape, but are usually smaller in containers and can be pruned to size. The leaves are alternately arranged along the stems, generally large, 4-12 inches long and 2-7 inches across, with an entire or coarsely toothed margin, and are often covered with fine hairs. The common name "angel's trumpet" refers to the large, pendulous, trumpet-shaped flowers which are 6-20 inches long. They come in shades of white, yellow, pink, orange, green, or red. Most have a strong, pleasant fragrance that is most noticeable in the evening. Flowers may be single, double, or more. Brugmansia are easily grown in a moist, fertile, well-drained soil, in sun to part-shade. In our region, grow in a container as a patio plant and over-winter in the garage, forcing it into dormancy (it will drop its leaves). Water sparingly until the following spring, then water well, weekly for a month before placing outside. You can also keep it as a houseplant during winter in a sunny location, watering as the soil drys.
 Colocasia 'Royal Hawaiian Maui Gold': A favorite as an ornamental container plant, Colocasia esculenta is the edible taro plant of Polynesia and Southest Asia. They have been hybridized for their dramatic large, tropical looking leaves and are a must for a tropical patio plant. Maui Gold has bright, chartreuse leaves that on stems that grow 3-4 feet tall and does best in full sun to part shade. Colocasias thrive in humid conditions. They are cultivated in flooded fields so ample soil moisture is a must and burnt leaf edges are a sign of under-watering. If planting in a container, consider a self watering type with a reservoir. Larger pots will allow room for the underground corm and cormels to grow. When frost threatens, bring plants indoors to overwinter. For best results provide a southern exposure and don't let soil dry out. Wait for the last frost to bring outside. Although they are hardy to 5 degrees (F), frost will trigger dormancy.
 Hedychium coronarium: Although perhaps native to the Himalayas, white ginger lily has been widely cultivated in tropical Asia. It is a rhizomatous tender perennial that may grow to 10 feet tall in its native habitat, but more typically grows 3-6 feet tall in our climate. Features large, lance-shaped, medium green leaves (to 24 inches long x 5 inches wide). Fragrant white flowers in dense elliptical racemes (4-8 inches long) in late summer to early fall. Individual flowers are said to resemble butterflies, hence the sometimes used common name of butterfly ginger. Best grown in organically rich, medium to wet, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Likes hot and humid summers and consistently moist soils. Plant rhizomes in the ground in spring after the last frost date. Lift rhizomes in fall and store for winter in slightly moist vermiculite or peat in a cool, dry location. Hedychium also may be grown in containers or tubs which should be overwintered indoors in a cool, dry, frost-free location. Hardy to 10 degrees (F).
 Canna 'Tropicana': Tropicanas have been hybridized for dramatic, bold striped green to burgundy/orange leaves and large, bright red, yellow or orange flowers. Canna lilies in general are extremely heavy feeders that also like full sun, baking heat, and plenty of moisture during the growing season. They also tolerate coastal environments well. If your canna plants starts to look tired during in the summer, add some compost to enrich the soil. To rejuvenate, cut it to the ground in mid-summer, adding fertilizer and water. Hardy to 10 degrees, cannas can be grown in the landscape where the ground doesn't freeze hard. In our region, lift the canna rhizomes and store them above freezing in dry peat moss for the winter. It is a tough, low maintenance plant which makes it perfect as a tropical patio plant.
Hardy Perennials
 Acanthus mollis: Commonly known as bear's breeches, Acanthus mollis is native to the Mediterranean region. It is a clump-forming perennial that is grown as much for its attractive, tropical looking foliage as for its beautiful, bold flower spikes. Creamy white (occasionally pink) snapdragon-like flowers bloom in late spring to midsummer in vertical rows on substantial flower spikes that rise well above the foliage mound to 3-5 feet tall. Deeply lobed, soft-spiny, glossy, dark green leaves up to 2 feet long form a mound of basal foliage. Foliage is mostly evergreen in warm winter climates, but plants lose their leaves when winter temperatures dip below 20 degrees (F). Prefers part-shade.
 Gunnera manicata: Commonly called giant rhubarb or dinosaur food, this Brazilian native is one of the largest herbaceous perennials on earth, typically growing in a rounded clump to as much as 10 feet tall and to 14 feet wide. Huge, puckered, toothed, palmately-lobed, prominently-veined leaves (to 6-8 feet across) with rounded to reniform (kidney-shaped) blades are borne on stiff, prickly, reddish-hairy stalks to 8 feet long. Tiny, reddish-green flowers in thick, 3-6 foot club-like spikes rise up from the crown in early summer. Flower spikes are often somewhat hidden by the foliage. Flowers give way to reddish-green fruits (tiny berry-like drupes). Although botanically unrelated to rhubarb, the coarsely-textured leaves of gunnera are considered by some to be reminiscent of the leaves of rhubarb. Likes sun to part-shade, tolerates wet soil, and is hardy to 0 degrees (F).
 Hosta cultivars: Hostas are herbaceous perennial species from the Asparagaceae family. Other common names include plaintain lily and funkia. Native to Asia, the hosta genus has around 45 different species and an estimated 5000 different cultivars. Hostas are popular in Japan as a vegetable known as urui and prepared in a number of different ways including boiling in water and frying in a tempura batter. In the West they are usually grown as a leafy ornamental plant and are particularly popular for shady areas of the garden. The term hosta is named after the Austrian botanist Nicholaus Thomas Host who was a botanist and physician to the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. Hostas flourish in damp, fertile soil and will do well with a layer of compost or mulch spread around them to hold in moisture. They grow well in full sun or deep shade. They flower from spring into summer, depending on the cultivar. Although they are easy to grow, they are an exceptional favorite food for slugs, snails and deer. The cultivars with thicker, tougher leaves tend to hold up better against attack.
 Musa basjoo: Japanese fiber banana is a cold hardy species that is native to the Ryuku Islands near Japan. This is a large, fast-growing, suckering plant (technically an herbaceous perennial) that grows to 6-14 feet tall. Gardeners grow these plants not for their fruit, but for their ornamental foliage which gives an exotic and tropical look to the landscape. Plants produce huge paddle-shaped leaves that grow to 2 feet wide and to 6 feet long. Leaf sheathes overlap to form a trunk-like pseudostem (false stem). Cream to yellow flowers may appear in summer on mature plants to be followed by inedible green fruit. It is best grown in organically rich, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun. Plants tolerate and often appreciate some part shade or light filtered sun in the heat of the day. Best growth occurs with consistently moist soils that do not dry out. Fertilize plants regularly during the growing season. Site plants in areas protected from strong winds which can severely damage the large leaves. For containers, use a well-drained potting soil mix. This banana is considered winter hardy because the roots, if well mulched, will survive winter temperatures of -10 degrees F.
Woody Shrubs and Small Trees
 Albizia julibrissin: Mimosa or silk tree, is a fast-growing, small to medium sized, deciduous tree that typically grows in a vase shape to 20-40 feet tall with a spreading, often umbrella-like crown. It is native to Asia (Iran to Japan). It is noted for its bipinnate compound dark green leaves (to 20 inches long). The leaves have a fern-like appearance. Fluffy, pink, powder puff flower-heads cover the tree with a late summer bloom. Flowers are fragrant and attractive to bees. After flowering, flat bean-like seed pods up to 7 inches long form which persist into winter. Sensitive leaflets close up at night. This tree is late to leaf out and the leaflets fall to the ground after frost, producing no fall color. Best to plant in full sun. Hardy to -10 degrees (F).
 Dicksonia antarctica: Tasmanian tree fern is a species of evergreen tree fern native to eastern Australia, ranging from south-east Queensland, coastal New South Wales and Victoria to Tasmania. These ferns can grow to 49 ft tall in their native habitat, but more typically grow to about 15-16 feet in cultivation. They consist of an erect rhizome forming a trunk that is very hairy at the base. The large, dark green, roughly-textured fronds spread in a canopy of 6 to 9 feet in diameter. The shapes of the stems vary as some grow curved and there are multi-headed ones. The fronds are borne in flushes, with fertile and sterile fronds often in alternating layers. The "trunk" of this fern is merely the decaying remains of earlier growth of the plant and forms a medium through which the roots grow. The trunk is usually solitary, without runners, but may produce offsets. These ferns can be cut down and, if they are kept moist, the top portions can be replanted and will form new roots. The stump, however, will not regenerate since it is dead organic matter. In nature, the fibrous trunks are hosts for a range of epiphytic plants including other ferns and mosses. Plant in rich, moist soils in part shade and do not let it dry out. It is hardy to about 23 degrees (F), requiring winter protection.
 Fatsia japonica: Native to Japan, Japanese aralia is an evergreen shrub or small tree that typically grows to 16 feet tall in its native habitat. In an ornamental landscape, Fatsia typically grows to 6' tall and wide. This is an attractive foliage plant noted for its palmately lobed glossy dark green leaves (to 16 inches wide) that typically have 7-9 deep lobes. Small creamy flowers in umbels bloom in fall, followed by black berries. Pairs well with ferns and hostas. Plant in part to full shade in a protected area from deep freezes and harsh winds. Hardy to 10 degrees (F).
 Hibiscus syriacus 'Red Heart': Nothing says tropical like a hibiscus flower and this one happens to be hardy to -20 degrees (F). Rose of Sharon or shrub althea, is a vigorous, upright, vase-shaped, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub that typically grows 8-12 feet tall. It may be trained as a small tree or espalier. Showy, 5-petaled flowers appear in late summer and persist to early fall. Popular 'Red Heart' is a variety that has lovely white flowers with red throats and a showy, staminal columns. Palmately-veined, coarsely-toothed, medium green leaves are attractive during the growing season but produce no fall color. It is easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part-shade, but best flowering occurs in full sun. Prefers moist, organically rich soils, but tolerates poor soils and some drought. It is very tolerant of summer heat and humidity, and urban conditions. Pruning back to 2-3 buds in late winter may produce larger blooms.
 Trachycarpus fortunei: One of the few palms that can truly take our colder climate, the Chinese windmill palm is native to the mountainous regions of China, southeast Asia and northern India. It is beautifully compact, slow growing to heights of 20-40 feet. Windmill palm has a rather slender single stem that is 8-10 inches in diameter and is typically a bit narrower at the base than at the top. Trunks are usually covered with a loose mat of coarse gray or brown fiber. In older individuals the fiber sloughs away to reveal a smooth ringed surface. Leaves are arranged into a symmetrical crown that is about 8-10 feet wide. Specimens grown in hot sun and/or under poor conditions may have much smaller, more compact crowns. Windmill palm does best in well drained soils with above average fertility but it will survive in almost anything except constantly soggy conditions. It is moderately salt tolerant and can be planted behind the first line of dunes or against a structure that will shield it from direct exposure to sea breezes. Plant in sun to part-shade in our climate. Hardy to 0 degrees (F).
|
|
Primrose Antiques & Gifts
|
Book Sale!
The entire month of August
30% off all books!
Choose from a great selection of books including, gardening, cookbooks, home decorating, international style and more.
(Includes books located in the Garden Store.)
|
|
Fresh Ideas
|
Here's an assortment of interesting ideas, helpful tips and great recipes for August. Simply click on the link below the photo to learn more. We hope you enjoy this month's collection of fresh ideas! |
|
|
Garden Notes Editor:
Debra Lacy, Public Relations
Christianson's Nursery & Greenhouse
360-466-3821
|
|
|
|
|
|
