TNTT = too new to tell
PITG = planted in the ground
October 2015 updates in bold
This post records predictable failures and unexpected success, and the "what was I thinking?" missteps of Plant Purchases 2014.
Aloe alooides -- small but growing; TNTT slow but growing
Aloe burhii -- small but growing; TNTT ditto
Aloe fosteri -- settling into the ground and growing; TNTT 10/14: blooming
Aloe petricola -- small but growing; TNTT slow but growing
Aloe tomentosa -- small but growing; TNTT slow but growing
Agave x romanii 'Shadow Dancer' ?? TNTT some growth; looks good
Agave albopilosa It's grown almost 2" in width. Wheee! now at 4"
They've grown. No, really! They have!
Agave 'Blue Flame': grown. Note to self: plant in the ground. In ground, growth; looks good.
Aloe broomii -- iffy; what does this Aloe want? Sun? Shade? Water? Drought? I don't know. It doesn't seem 100% happy. 10/14 large gall mite infestation; died
Aloe 'White Fox' -- surviving in the vertical planter. I'm not sure the vertical planter provides sufficient root space. Note to self: inspect the drip irrigation in that thing. Some plants are happy, some are not. some growth and several blooms
Aloe 'Rooikappie' -- divided, PITG, and growing, no sign of gall mite yet--I'm ready with systemic, just in case. 10 individual clumps; several flowers, growing well. pleased!
Agave gypsophila 'Ivory Curls' still swooning, soooo gorgeous!
PITG still swooning. what a beauty!
Agave 'Snow Glow': ditto. ditto.
Agave pumila has grown(!). Only half an inch, but hey, it looks good in its glamorous pot, where it can live for a long, long time because it is so slow. growing; doing fine.
Alstroemeria 'Rock And Roll' far exceeded all expectations. The plant surprise of the year. Gaudawful gaudy at the garden center, elegant in the ground. Never would have expected that. fading away--not enough water?
Anigozanthos 'Christmas Cheer' died before Christmas got here. I think it will be a plant I admire in other people's gardens.
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi 'Woods Compact' I killed it, darn it, by not checking to make sure its dripper was properly dripping. I carefully set up and placed a dripper for it and then didn't twist the thing to make sure it was actually dripping.
It was soooo pretty!
All my fault. Dude, I am so sorry.
Arrrgggh! Coprosma 'Pacific Sunset'. Growing well, love it. wants to revert to more basic colors; good growth and vigor
Coreopsis 'Early Sunrise' -- purchased to accent the yellow edges of Agave desmetiana marginata--and it worked! went kaput due to drought
Cotyledon orbiculata var oblonga 'Undulata' -- black aphids attacked, it grew; currently overwhelmed by a rampant Graptoveria 'Fred Ives'. Note to self: rescue it. alive but not good looking
It's in there somewhere:
Dahlia 'Trader Joe Special' -- sudden death. Note to self: skip TJ Dahlias from now on.
Digiplexis 'Illumination Flame' --bloomed like crazy from mid-spring until the last day of summer; now what? It has mealies, and bare stems...threw it out. Mealy bug magnet
Echeveria 'Imbricata' variegated killed it--my fault--maybe.
Echeveria harmsii 'Ruby Slippers' doing okay-ish. It was swallowed up by Salvia 'Wendys Wish' all summer. very slow grower
Welcome back to the light:
Erigonum rubescens 'Rosy Cushion' -- ??? Not thrilling, so far, but also not dead despite being planted in high summer. TNTT bloomed heavily in spring of '15, then died suddenly.
Fatsia 'Spider Web' -- no webs, darn it! Not a one. It's GREEN. Not cold enough here?!? Is that why it never got sold in Southern California? got disgusted and thew it out. my bad.
Furcraea foetida variegated -- TNTT died.
Heuchera (native) -- surviving terrible neglect, shame on me. Note to self: plant it! fading away. not happy here.
Hunnemania fumarifolia -- vastly exceeded expectations. I've been throwing seeds around in hope of more vastly exceeded expectations. Seeded but not a lot, still very pleased with it.
Grevillea 'Austraflora Fanfare' -- TNTT killed the original with insufficient water; replacement is doing well.
Grevillea 'Moonlight' -- exceeded expectations great plant, non stop flowering, fast growing.
Iochroma 'Purple Queen' -- four inches (10 cm) to ten feet (3 m) in six months. big and happy despite drought; hummingbirds feed on the flowers
Lavender given away at the Portland Fling: establishing, pleased so far because although there are no flowers yet, the foliage is very fragrant. never bloomed; died suddenly
Leucadendron salignum 'Blush' --slow, but apparently good. Unperturbed about being planted in July. growing well, great plant
Leucadendron how-could-I-forget-the-cultivar? ditto. growing well, great plant. prune to increase bushy-ness; stems make great cut decoration.
Leucospermum Yellow Bird: more growth than I expected, and hasn't died, even though it is a Proteaceae. Growing like a weed. Its 5' across as of 10/15
It's that undistinguished green blob at the top left:
Lotus jacobaeus: I still don't have a clue how to take care of this uncommon plant, but it is growing, and has bloomed, and I'm becoming enamored of it. nice plant but dainty, needs frequent water
Magnolia stellata 'Royal Star' I bought because it was 75% off.... TNTT; still alive. lots of beautiful fragrant flowers spring 2015. very slow growing.
Ozothamnus 'Silver Cape' -- sudden death due to heat wave. Native to New Zealand sand dunes, so it likely doesn't love heat, as I discovered...
I prefer to remember it likes this:
Rosa 'Ascot' --a German rose and therefore wrong for So Cal?; very few flowers the whole year; shoveled 1 of 2 plants due to root gall. Must move the survivor--it wants to be a climber. Not a single flower in 2015.
Too much of this...
...not enough of these:
Salvia 'Blast' -- so-so, so far. still meh
Salvia pulchella x involucrata finally got a few (gorgeous) flowers of an intense saturated deep magenta. All is forgiven. struggled in drought; dumped it.
Salvia 'Love and Wishes' superior color to the superb 'Wendys Wish', growing just as well. gorgeous color; like it.
'Wendy' on the left, 'Love' on the right:
Selenicereus anthonyanus --enough growth to satisfy; TNTT grew a new leaf
Stachys 'Bello Grigio' -- sudden death, darn it! It was so beautiful.
It was fabulous until it wasn't. got two more spring of '15, and they both died, too.
Stapelia TNTT growing, has flower buds 10/15
Tillandsia xerographica -- serious plant crush still in progress; TNTT loved it, killed it, damn it.
Trichostemna lanata -- uhhh...hasn't died, and it did bloom...grew quite a bit, bloomed for several months. no complaints.
There you have it. Some exceeded expectations, some failed, on many the judgement is yet to come.
I bought a lot of plants this year. There is much more to gardening than buying plants--all too easy to forget when encountering the Thrill Of The New.
I never thought to keep track of the plants that I buy. I really should journal it this next year...
ReplyDeleteA coreopsis similar to 'Early Sunrise' was one of the first plants I ever purchased. Long gone now, but I really should get these back into the mix!
I think in the long run it will be helpful, and it will be fun to someday have a huge Hercules and be able to look back on it when it was in a 1 gallon pot.
DeleteAn 'Early Sunrise' was one of the first plants I ever bought also. I still have a piece from the original out front somewhere. Good value for the $. :)
You took the words right out of my mouth "you bought a lot of plants this year!"...thanks for compiling the report, always interesting to see how others purchases do.
ReplyDeleteIn my defense I think most of them were the 4" size--and the 4" size doesn't count, right?
DeleteThese posts are so helpful, for you, for us. I did see that fatsia a couple times and passed because it looked off somehow -- even when thriving in the PNW it can be mistaken for a spider mites infestation. Speaking of mites, I didn't know we were terribly worried about mites..though I have pruned off big chunks of aloe infested with scale in their folds. I prefer Salvia L&W to WW too, and it seems just as much of a grower. Stachys BG did that to me too. And love that selenicereus!
ReplyDeleteThank you, D. I wonder if the BG problem was that it had been grown in a big wad of sawdust--wrong culture from the start? Never had long-term success with any Stachys here, though.
DeleteYou're braver than I to face facts with this kind of review. I do keep a spreadsheet of my purchases, although I'm perpetually behind in entering new purchases, much less updating their status. I'd also have to add a category "KBBR" (killed by blasted raccoons). My most troubling losses were 2 Leucadendron ('Golden Tip' and 'Rising Sun'), both of which died suddenly and, in 1 case, in less than 3 weeks of planting. However, L. 'Blush,' 'Jester' and 'More Silver' are doing fine so far. L. 'Pisa' showed some signs of stress after its move from its former home in a pot into the ground but my fingers remain crossed it adjusts to the change. My Digiplexis are in the same shape as yours and I'm wondering if I should try cutting the main stalks to the ground as Alison of Bonney Lassie did (but I thought I'd wait to see how her experiment turns out).
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping the analysis will make me a better gardener. Time will tell.
Delete"KBBR", oh dear. Sorry to hear that. Surely getting rid of your lawn will help?? The neighbors here have big lawns and that is where the Raccoons spend their time.
I was thinking about cutting down the Digiplexis also--I'm watching Bonney Lassie's experiment, too.
Interesting report...Coreopsis are one of those bullet-proof plants, that just needs to be used well...with that agave you did it. But the Coteledon orbiculata...wow!
ReplyDeleteI did go rescue the Cotyledon today and planted it elsewhere. I felt really guilty about letting it get covered up by the Graptoveria. Now we are both happier.
Delete