Xera Plants Blog

Native Manzanitas- the future is out there.

Sat, 5 Mar 2011 15:25:12 -0800

Back in November I took a day trip up to the area around Mt. Hood with my friend and superb plantsman Sean Hogan. We were on the search for hybrids between the five locally native Manzanitas. What we found was an extraordinary study in natural hybridization and diversity. Arctostaphylos uva-ursi had crossed with the other four varieties that were present as well as crosses between the other varieties. (Arctostaphylos x media, A. columbiana, A. patula
and A. nevadensis.) The plant habits and leaf colors had an
amazing range intermediate between all of the varieties. In many places so much hybridization had taken place that it
was tough to find the actual distinct species- a blur that was as much a challenge as it was fun to decode. I’m happy to say that two collections of varieties that we found rooted and we will be able to grow them. One is a gray leaved form of Arctostaphylos columbiana located east of the crest of the Cascades- very rare. It appears to be leaf spot resistant a problem that we have encountered growing that species in the nursery. Another is a striking and handsome form of the naturally occurring hybrid Arctostaphylos x media which is
a hybrid between A. columbiana and A. uva-ursi- it occurs
throughout the range where the two species intersect.
This handsome low shrub has glossy apple green leaves and forms a low spreading dome to 3’ tall and 5’ wide. The trunks and stems are a glossy mahogany red. We have
yet to see it in flower and berry. We’ve decided to name it Arctostaphylos x media ‘Sean Hogan’- for all of his contributions to horticulture in our region. We hope to have this tremendously good looking native shrub up for sale with in a year.
It is astounding that so many good forms of our native Manzanitas have not been included in our gardens. They
reside throughout the region and seemingly have gone
almost unnoticed. We hope to change that. Like their natural propensity to hybridize the possibilities are endless.

Snow storm in the offing?

Thu, 6 Jan 2011 22:37:08 -0800

This winter has been full of surprises most notably the early and severe freeze in mid-November. After flirting with winter weather and a surprisingly long but not severe freeze in the last week of December it looks like we are in for the real thing. There’s talk among weather models of a significant chance for a major snowfall in the middle of next week. To preserve greenhouses as well as plants we will be watching and waiting with baited breath.
If it comes to pass it has all the makings of a colossal battle between warm wet air and arctic air. Thats the makings of exciting weather and something to watch out for. We know that during La Nina winters we can expect this sort of thing.
We’ll have to wait and see.

Summer and fragrance are here.

Mon, 5 Jul 2010 22:00:49 -0700

Pardon the crappy photo above. I tried to shoot the picture while it was windy. Tomorrow, hopefully, when it is still I’ll get a better shot. The fourth of July always reminds me of two flowers. Both for fragrance. Nicotiana alata for its intense night perfume and Poet’s Jasmine (Jasminum officinale). Both come into their own right about now.
The (bad) picture above is of the rare double flower that I find on my Jasminum officinale ‘Affine’ every few years or so. I always get excited and hope that the entire cluster of
flowers is double (10 rather than 5 petals) but alas, it is usually just a solitary bloom. I wish I knew why this occurred so randomly within flower clusters and not as a branch sport. I’ll keep my hopes up that one day I’ll find the real thing.
Both Nicotiana and Jasmine are at their best on warm nights and it looks like we’re finally going to see a shot of real summertime heat. After one of the coolest and wettest Junes to be endured in more than 50 (yes 50) years this should be welcome, shocking, but welcome. We’re forecast to have at least four days consecutively in the 90’s starting on Wednesday. As far as I can remember this will be one of the most abrupt changes to hot weather that we have had in the past 30 years. It’ll be interesting to see how well things adapt. More promising it will allow all of the edible growers to finally transition to warm summer crops. Something they’ve been chomping at the bit to do for a while.
For those that read this blog- I’m going to be transitioning
myself to a format that allows comments. The current program that I use doesn’t allow this without a lot of complications.
If you have any questions feel free to email them to xeraplants@verizon.net.
Have fun in the heat and prepare to start watering. A lot.

The next big thing...

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:42:07 -0700

Its said that nature abhors a vacuum could it be that the nursery industry does as well?

A friend who owns a large wholesale nursery in California visited us this past weekend. He came to attend the Hardy Plant Sale, which is arguably one of the best in the country and as I’ve convinced him and as he has seen it is an ideal place to look for new plants as well as ideas. He came looking for the next big thing.

The tough economy has rattled an industry that has prided itself on endurance through such times. In the nursery business conventional wisdom holds that when times get tough people stay home and they garden and during the good times things can get even better. This hasn’t necessarily been the case in this downturn.

During the last decade it was full steam ahead, baby boomers with extra time and money discovered gardening and not just annuals but perennials and shrubs. Goaded by the housing boom many retail and wholesale nurseries expanded- big box stores became mega-garden centers. Spurred by the interest in tropical themed gardens the foliage revolution exploded. Breeders unleashed a staggering panoply of new plants each year. Gardeners were told that they could have it all, if they wanted tropical opulence in a northern climate a simple trip to the nursery provided the scene.

Foliage and flowers were merged into enough gaudy forms and colors to make a victorian blush. Gone were simple Petunias replaced by Supertunias TM (trademarked)- they did everything, practically grew themselves and provided everything that one could expect- an orgy of flowers in masses of color so vibrant that you needed sunglasses to look at a simple mixed container.

Every possible flower form, leaf texture, and color was exploited, mixed and more. Alongside, marketing grew just as massively- it was no longer a matter of just having a well grown, fresh plant- it had to come in uniquely colored pots with tags that nearly match or often exceeded the size of the plant being grown. Plants were patented immediately for every single conceivable trait. Never mind whether or not they were actually tested as good garden plants. All that mattered is that it was new. One has only to look at the once humble genus Echinacea and follow it’s evolution through the last decade from a simple daisy with an austere beauty to flower colors all over the spectrum and forms that have become unrecognizable and bizarre.

And now this party seems to be at a crossroads.
Will we view the opulence of just several years ago like tulipmannia that swept Europe? More appropriately will we call it Echinacea-mania?

Economic boom times are always followed by a bust- then a reorganization and eventually back to good times. Styles and tastes change. Trends die an new ones are born. Will we see a revolt against the gaudiness of the 2000’s? Will the opposite be an appreciation of the simple? Could there be an upsurge in interest in native plants? In not cultivars but species? Will a more modern approach lead to a simple balanced and quieter style?
There is a younger generation more interested in vegetable gardening -which is important because that is often the beginning of an interest in ornamental gardening and an expansion of tastes. Exciting new ideas about
sustainable home vegetable gardening are hip and expanding. Organic methods are at the forefront.

What is the future of gardening? Younger customers- even those my age- are accustomed to vast amounts of information at the touch of a button. Plants that were once rare and known by a few enthusiasts are but a click away as is all the information that you can digest about gardening. Will the younger generation stay indoors and play video games rather than garden?
Couples are waiting to have children at an older age, does that mean that their free time is will be later in life too?

Just like a garden, change is inevitable and exciting.

Spring detour

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 09:53:36 -0700

Spring, or winter came back with a vengence and it doesn’t look like its coming back. We should have known that we would pay for February and March. Mild is always succeeded by wild in the PNW. Plants are responding to the longer days none the less. We can only hope that our pentenence for April responds in May with dry and warm weather. The slowdown caused by the cool weather should be short lived and we’ll be back to warm or at least normal weather in the next month.