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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Monday, February 16, 2015

Foliage Follow-Up February 2015 - Mystery Yucca and Others

This is possibly my favorite yucca in my garden.  It was purchased in a five gallon pot at a nursery that's now been out of business for eight years. (Edgewood Flower Farm.)  I'm thinking that it's been in place for at least ten.  It is an extremely slow grower.  It's perhaps a foot taller than it was when I put it in but two feet wider. (now about 3 feet tall and perhaps five feet wide) and has beautiful coloration that's almost as pale as Y. bright star and without that rust spot problem.  Of course it had a tag but somehow it got lost.  Any ideas?  I don't think it's Y. recurvifolia 'Banana Split' or 'Margaritaville'  but it could be.  Did I mention one foot of growth in ten years?

Another favorite foliage plant, this one for shade, is Azara macrophylla 'Variegata.'  "Arching branches bear clusters of tiny, intensely scented spring flowers, exuding a white-chocolate like fragrance.  Orange berries follow for late summer and fall interest.  An outstanding choice as a small tree, effortless espalier, or container specimen." (Monrovia website.)  I've not noticed fragrance or berries yet but even without those, the evergreen foliage and graceful form brighten this shady corner of my garden.  It's always moving with the breeze which is why I've yet to get a good picture of it. (My excuse and I'm sticking with it.)

Syneilesis palmata foliage emerging from the soil is a favorite spring sight. They pop up like this and open like little umbrellas.  I have no luck with this in the ground as my beds are too full of competing plants that push it out.  Last year, I got the idea to plant it in a pot and plunk it on top of the thugs.  It has worked beautifully!  O.k. it looks good in the summer when the foliage covers the pot.

With evergreen foliage and gorgeous peeling bark, Lyonothamnus floribundus ssp aspleniifolius is a gem of which Sean Hogan says, in his book Trees for All Seasons  Broadleaved vergrns for Tmerate Climates, "Truly one of California's most handsome natives...A fabulous small garden specimen...the species tends to  late-summer purge of leaves which drives even the less compulsive among us to clean the canopy; the brown seed clusters are unsightly as can be."  I purchased mine at Cistus a number of years ago and it's grown rapidly.  The phormium killing winters killed some parts but it has rebounded nicely.  Sawing/pruning dead branches after those winters made it very clear why the common name is Catalina ironwood!


Some more foliage and a tip:  If you're going to plop a pot of hosta in a summer dark area of  the garden, you might want to remove it again when the foliage no longer hides the red pot in an otherwise turquoise - pot area. Or you could just avert your eyes until the plant re emerges.  
Foliage Follow-Up is hosted by Pam Penick at Digging on the day after Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day to remind us of the important role of foliage in our gardens.  Click here to visit her blog and see foliage that is grabbing the attention of other gardeners at this time of year.

20 comments:

  1. The red pot is not distracting at all ;) whatever that Yucca is, it's a beauty! First though I had though was 'Margaritaville'...

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    1. It may just be 'Margaritaville' as that one has a slow growth rate and doesn't get very tall. It's a beautiful thing whatever its name.

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  2. That's a beautiful Yucca! I should check and see if my Syneilesis is up. One of my Chinese mayapples is already poking its nose up.

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    1. I love it! since I removed the huge tree in that spot, the zebra grass next to the yucca has taken on quite a bit of height and obssures it from view through part of the year. Perhaps it's time to move the grass.

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  3. That Yucca is a beauty. Does it bloom?
    Lyonothamnus has nice leaf formation. I wondered about the seed clusters being "as unsightly as can be". Really?
    Regarding the question (from yesterday's post) about cutting off hellebore old foliage: I was debating the same thing myself yesterday: after a harsh winter they look awful and it's an easy decision, but this mild winter left them looking good still. I left most of mine for a while longer...

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    1. The Yucca hasn't yet bloomed in the 10 or so years it's been there but it probably does. I've never seen seed clusters on my Ironwood but it just bloomed (nothing to write home about) for the first time last year.

      Interesting that we're both debating the same question about the hellebore. The leggy stems have blooms at the end so I certainly wouldn't cut them now and by the time the blooms are gone, the new foliage will have covered the bare legs of the old. Doing nothing is probably the best course of action.

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  4. A few plants that are new to me, the Azara is a cracker, isn't it? I don't mind the red pot, it compliments the brick path.

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    1. Azara is indeed a cracker! Because the pots all have plants in them during the growing season (podophyllum, hostas, ferns) that are in the pots to protect them from our beautiful native thug, oxalis oregana, which grows up and covers more of the pots, the bed with naked pots is not aesthetically pleasing to me. However, during the season when the interesting plants are elevated a bit from the carpet of green, I'm happy with the look. I will now employ your idea, "it compliments the brick path" to justify my laziness in not moving the pot.

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  5. Beautiful foliage! I love the ferny foliage of Catalina ironwood. I just realized it reminds me of Comptonia peregrina, sweet fern.

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    1. The added bonus of the ironwood is that it's evergreen while the sweet fern is deciduous. I had a sweet fern for a while but it didn't like its increasingly shady dry spot and died after several years. The ironwood is thriving in it's sunny, exposed very dry, awful soil position in the parking strip.

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  6. What!? You've already got Syneilesis palmata coming up? That's crazy. Your mystery yucca does look a lot like my 'Margaritaville'...

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    1. That Syneilsis palmata is in an ebony plastique pot above ground so it's probably heated up faster than those planted in the earth. The other one I have in a pot last year, a natural cross between S.palmata and S.aconitifolia with swoon worthy leaves has shown no signs of life yet.

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  7. My mystery yucca and yours both look a lot like Margaritaville. Mine did finally bloom last year, and now the form has changed completely, with the top leaves no longer open but very congested. The form is no longer vase shaped but dense at the top, like a dragon tree -- makes me want to strip the lower leaves now!

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    1. Must be Margaritaville! I never see that one in the nurseries here and have admired it in other gardens so I'm pleased that I already have this treasure!

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  8. I agree with your other readers that your mystery yucca looks a lot like a 'Margaritaville'. Where's Jimmy Buffett when we need him? I'm really digging that Azara -- those pale leaves! The native tree is terrific also.

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    1. Margaritaville it is then! J.B. must be too busy to sing for our yucca. The Azara is way cool!

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  9. Fun fun fun....I love how the little Syneilesis palmata look like new born aliens : ) The yucca is lovely and reminds me of my color guard yucca's with out all the hairy bits!

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  10. Isn't it fun how so many plants look like aliens when they first emerge from the ground?

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.