may be my favorite big tree for planting in the city.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Tropical
Gardeners in temperate climates have been bedding out tropical plants for a long time: coleus, caladiums, impatiens, begonias, etc. Few hardy plants offered their extended season of bloom and striking foliage. When cold weather comes, adios.
Some people are uneasy with this. I hear people express a categorical preference for hardy perennials, implying they are somehow classier. Even among permissive gardeners, there is a sense that some tropicals are suitable bedding plants and some should stay inside. But that prejudice seems to be lifting, and more and more I notice monstera, crotons, asparagus ferns, colocasias and wandering jew planted with the familiar tender annuals in our summer gardens.
In New York, with our torrid summers and reliance on container gardening, these alien plants really contribute. They are a horticultural match of the city’s human diversity.
Still there’s a time and place for everything, and I don’t think I’d work a Monstera into rose garden. For the most part they belong in containers near the house. If you have the space and winter sun, you can haul them in when the time comes.
Some people are uneasy with this. I hear people express a categorical preference for hardy perennials, implying they are somehow classier. Even among permissive gardeners, there is a sense that some tropicals are suitable bedding plants and some should stay inside. But that prejudice seems to be lifting, and more and more I notice monstera, crotons, asparagus ferns, colocasias and wandering jew planted with the familiar tender annuals in our summer gardens.
In New York, with our torrid summers and reliance on container gardening, these alien plants really contribute. They are a horticultural match of the city’s human diversity.
Still there’s a time and place for everything, and I don’t think I’d work a Monstera into rose garden. For the most part they belong in containers near the house. If you have the space and winter sun, you can haul them in when the time comes.
Angelica gigas
The big black Korean Angelica is a sinister curiosity. Usually you see a lone specimen towering among extreme annuals, the way castor beans were once grown.
Yesterday at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden I saw a whole colony of it. Under the shade of a big Pin Oak, its dark umbels were silhouetted against a sunlit hill of grass. Stunning and unexpected, it was the uniting element in a garden composition. Hats off to the gardeners who planted this.
I was surprise was how well these were doing under the oak, which casts almost full shade and must have competed with the angelica for water.
This plant is a biennial that I gather is a little tricky, as cultural instructions vary from source to source. I believe those at BBG have self-sown, as outlying plants were strewn around from the main clump.
Yesterday at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden I saw a whole colony of it. Under the shade of a big Pin Oak, its dark umbels were silhouetted against a sunlit hill of grass. Stunning and unexpected, it was the uniting element in a garden composition. Hats off to the gardeners who planted this.
I was surprise was how well these were doing under the oak, which casts almost full shade and must have competed with the angelica for water.
This plant is a biennial that I gather is a little tricky, as cultural instructions vary from source to source. I believe those at BBG have self-sown, as outlying plants were strewn around from the main clump.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Wire Vine
The Wire Vine, unexpectedly, is hardy. I thought it was tropical and expected to tear out a dead crown last spring, but it was breaking growth, so I cut it back hard. Now it’s going full steam.
Wire Vine is of the genus Muehlenbeckia. I think the one I have is M. complexa. Its leaves are a rich green, and its stems are indeed wiry. Some of the little oval leaves are held out above the plant in an effervescent halo. People find this plant adorable because all its parts are so tiny and neat. They fall into the voice they use with puppies.
I’ve seen wire vine trained on topiary frames, but it doesn’t twine or cling closely. It sprawls in a miniature way and needs to be tied in. I intend to experiment with this plant. I can imagine it among paving stones, in raised containers on a terrace, or trained as bonsai. One day it might be among the workhorses of terrace gardens.
Sun, moderate water and fertilizer: no special needs. I usually see it being sold as a houseplant.
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