The Coastal Gardener - October, 2005
Fall Color from Foliage and Flowers
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Each morning as I drive through the canyon, I marvel at the rich palette of colors that poison oak can turn. It grows as shrub, groundcover and vine among the trees and up the sunny south facing slope. But the most colorful plants are those growing on the tree trunks. Here they are carmine, pink, orange, burgundy, bright red and purple. Each specimen takes on a uniquely different tone that can change with the weather. Cooler nights make for more vibrant tones, hot days cut short the display.
In my own garden high above the canyon, there is colored foliage as well. But it does not signal the end of the season, but a vibrant beginning. Leaucadendrons are unusual flowering shrubs from South Africa noted for their colorful terminal leaves or bracts. These colored leaves form around the actual flower which is a rather inconspicuous cone at the branch tip, often hidden by the bracts that fold over it. This month many Leaucadendrons are preparing to flower by changing color.
An excellent example is Leaucadendrons 'Wilson's Wonder', a rounded shrub to about 3 feet tall and 6 feet wide. In summer its leaves are a medium green, slightly tinged with red at the margins, but as the days shorten, they all begin to turn a deep red and the flower bud begins to form. When it is ready to open, the bracts around it change from red to yellow and those underneath go back to green. Even more spectacular is L. 'Safari Sunset' which is an upright shrub to 7 feet tall. It changes from green, through vibrant deep red to bright red with the innermost bracts surrounding the cone becoming cream. It is the most popular cultivar and well worth seeking out. It has long straight stems that make it ideal as a cut flower which last for weeks in full color in a vase.
Many other southern hemisphere natives will be showing color this month and on through the winter. These include one of my favorite groups of plants, the Grevilleas. Native to Australia, they are a widely varied clan that includes trees down to flat groundcovers. Most have vibrant clusters of 'parrot's beak' flowers in pink, yellow, red or orange. Favorites of mine include the shrubby 'Robyn Gordon' with large carmine clusters to 8 inches long and the low mounding 'Coastal Gem' with red-flushed cream blooms. The latter was introduced through the University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum via a plant selection program called "Koala Blooms". In this program, noteworthy new plants are imported from Australia for evaluation at the Arboretum, then if they pass the test for adaptability, flowering and garden performance, they are named and sent off to wholesale growers for cultivation and introduction into our gardens. These plants not only have to be good performers but pass the test of being noninvasive, a constant concern when introducing new exotics.
The Arboretum is an incredible destination to visit if you are interested in any of the plants that I have mentioned. They are located on the UCSC Campus just west of the main entrance on Empire Grade Road. Norrie's Gifts is open daily from 10 am to 4 PM and
7 PM on Fridays and stocks a wide array of plants grown in the gardens but also gifts, pottery, books and cards. Visit www2.ucsc.edu/arboretum/ .
Must have plant of the month: Rosa 'Little Mermaid.' I know it seems late to mention a rose but this miniature climber is just blooming like crazy in my garden right now. Even though it is classed as a climber it more likely to grow as a spreading groundcover to about 6 feet wide with thousands of single two-tone yellow flowers. Available at Vintage Gardens, Sebastopol, CA, www.vintagegardens.com
Under appreciated plant of the month: Epilobium 'Catalina' Most of us are familiar with the California Fuschia that sprouts out of road cuts and rock outcroppings all over the coast bearing tiny scarlet trumpets. But this wildling is a great, easy care perennial for gardens, being extremely drought tolerant and floriferous. 'Catalina' has grey foliage, red blooms and long bloom period. Available at local nurseries like Valley Hills and Sierra Azul.
Enjoy!
Dave Egbert
P.S. Big thanks to the Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade for helping make my Fire Safe Landscape segment for my new television show a big success! Please visit their website, www.bigsurfire.org to support this essential public service!
