Four New Plants, Two WTFs, And A Huh?

Four new plants from our all-too-short vacation to California's central coast, two mysteries that appeared in the garden, and a surprise.

From the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum,  Banksia marginata 'Mini Marg'.  A smaller (but not small) version of a variable shrub/tree.  Flowers rich with nectar for hummers, warblers, and orioles.  The backs of the leaves are a silvery white, which can be seen in the photo at the bottom left, on a twisting shoot.
 Grevillea 'Austraflora Fanfare'.  A draping ground cover with red flowers for the hummers.  I already have one in a less than ideal  location which has been grown too dry its whole life.  I want to try another in a more promising location, because...that foliage.
 Variegated Agave geminiflora 'Leapin Lizards'.  Cool!
 And from Sierra Azul Nursery on the outskirts of Watsonville,  Banksia ericifolia.  A tall, tough shrub with yet more nectar-rich flowers.  I'll try it in one of the spots where a Cypress was removed. 

WTF #1 came up in one of the veggie garden beds.  I remember putting various interesting seeds in this bed, but I'm drawing a blank on this plant. Acacia?  Weed? Weedy Acacia?  Trash tree?  No idea.  It's not overwhelmingly attractive.
I'm curious, though, to figure out what it is. 


 LWTF #2 is this rose, which might be the Portland 'Comte de Chambord'.  How it ended up sprouting here years after I removed all the roses from this area, I have no clue.  WTF.
The surprise is Aeonium arborescens coming up from seed on the back stairs. 
Look by the metal ruler:
A nearby Aeonium bloomed last autumn.  Seeds landed on the decomposed granite fill in between the stairs.  
 Huh.  How 'bout that? 

Comments

  1. Oh that Grevillea 'Austraflora Fanfare'!!! I've long been a fan of that plant. Hope you have much success. Could your unknown seedling be a Callistemon? It reminds me of one I had for awhile here. It wasn't hardy long term (we only get the small leaved ones to last). Yay for Aeonium babies!

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    1. Yes, that 'Fanfare'. So cool. Unknown does look a little Callistemon-ish, but I didn't plant any seeds of a Callistemon, and they are not a plant that reseeds around here. Mystery!

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  2. I'm envious of all your new acquisitions. I had rose foliage appear here a year+ after we removed a couple of magnets for rust posing as yellow roses but I'm guessing it was part of the rootstock the roses were grafted onto - it's never bloomed.

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    1. Probably rootstock rose 'Dr. Huey', which blooms on old wood only. I know it well...

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  3. Baby Aeoniums: a-*dorbs*.

    All four of the new plants are extremely cool, but leaping' lizards, that skinny agave is jaw-dropping. ("Eh, Sandy?" "Arf!" )

    Look forward to learning what your maybe-Acacia mystery plant turns out to be.

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    1. Was very happy to find that Agave waiting for me!

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  4. Mystery looks like a cross between Alstroemeria and something protea. Mystifying.

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    1. I planted a few seeds there from Calothamnus villosus, which does not look like the mystery. None of the neighborhood weed trees look like it, either. The befuddlement continues.

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  5. I love the new agave "Leaping Lizards". It looks so delicate which is not what I would normally say about an agave.
    I love to find sweet little plants self seeding in the gravel path. Of course most of the time they are weeds but lucky you finding the aeoniums.

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    1. I did think those Aeoniums were weeds and went to pull them, but then I looked closely and got a surprise.

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  6. That fabulous Grevillea reminds me of 'Ivanhoe'. Those leaves....! How exciting to find Aeonium seedlings. I can't keep them alive for the life of me, but I do drool over them in the gardens of others.

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  7. Love the Leaping Lizards! The foliage reminds me of a variegated carex that grows in my part of the country. But I also like the form and foliage of Banksia ericifolia, and I like that it produces nectar rich flowers. As for the WTF plants - It is always a fun challenge to find unexpected plants, especially when I don't know exactly what they are. Too often they turn out to be weeds!

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