Refugees

The small, temporary, plastic greenhouse is starting to fill-up. So far, it is mainly occupied by Ensetes (bananas), Aeoniums and Colocasias. There are a couple more Colocasias to be dug-up and these will join the refugees but I had hoped to dig-up and add some more of the large Ensetes but I fear there is no more room for them. They will have to take their chances outside but will almost certainly not survive. Things will not be that great for the plants that have managed to win a place in the small, temporary, plastic greenhouse. It is a damp and overcrowded refuge at best but it will also be cold, the electric heater is set just to avoid frost. Today I will wrap the large Musa bananas in fleece, fill the crowns of the Tree Ferns with dry fronds and/ or fleece and cover the succulents with plastic propagator lids.

I wish all my plants good luck over the forthcoming winter and hope to see them safe and well next Spring!

 

 

 

Left: The refugees of winter

Aeonium ‘Voodoo’

In the Spring I described a group of plants I had bought online from Amulree Exotics. Amongst them was an Aeonium variety called ‘Voodoo’. It is easiest to quote Amulree’s description of the plant:

AEONIUM 'VOODOO' A new cross between A zwartkop & A undulatum, similar at first glance to zwartkop but instead of black heads these are red/purple and get 3 times the size and up to 5ft tall! Full sun will intensify the colour.

Certainly, when I took delivery, the plant looked very similar to ‘zwartkop’ but not so intense in colour. It has now grown, not so much in height, but in breadth. It must be nearly a foot across its head.

It’s quite eye-catching and a lovely colour. As Amulree says, the colour does intensify according to the amount of sunlight it gets.

I always think I have a tendency to over-water plants and worry that I might particularly over-water drought-loving plants. However, I’ve also come to wonder if I don’t water enough and I know that Aeoniums can take quite a lot of water in the growing season. I’ve noticed that this Aeonium has grown a lot in the last month and can only guess that it has liked the wet weather. This is also the second year that I’ve noticed plants like Echeverias growing bigger and faster in late summer / autumn. I will experiment with watering more in the summer months next year. I’ll probably kill everything!

Salvia microphylla ‘Cerro Potosi’, Aeonium ‘Zwartkop’ and Humulus lupulus 'Aureus'

Salvia, Aeonium and Hop (left to right). Picture taken this morning.

At the risk of continuing to be boring . . . . . Salvia ‘Cerro Potosi’ . . . . what a fantastic plant / shrub! I keep trying to get a decent photo, I can do OK on getting a good shot of individual blooms but can’t seem to get a shot of the entire shrub that does it justice. Above is yet another attempt! The plant pictured is in a large pot just outside the backdoor which means that you brush against it, releasing the scent of blackcurrants from its leaves. It grows in other parts of the garden plated in the soil and is very, very hardy. It flowers from April to November and only requires some pruning to stop it becoming too scruffy.

Also in the shot are Aeonium ‘Zwartkop’ and the yellow-leaved hop, Humulus lupulus ‘Aureas’.

The strong winds have abated and there has been some warm sunshine. Everything is growing with vigour!

For the first time for many years, I’ve treated the back lawn with weedkiler. The lawn has large amounts of moss in it and since treatment the moss has turned black. I now have a sort of black lawn! Think I may have made a mistake!

Backdoor

The wind has dropped to nothing, it’s very overcast but not cold. I wandered around the garden this evening with camera looking for inspiration for this blog. I took some photos of hostas, of bamboo and some more ‘general’ shots. The low light made the photos look a bit gloomy and not very sharp so I gave up and retired inside for dinner and wine.

Sitting at the dinner table, I gazed out upon Salvia ‘Cerro Potosi’, an Aeonium (or two) and hops (Humulus lupulus ‘Aurea’) clambering up the trellis outside the window / door. I think it’s the yellow/green leaves of the hop and magenta flowers of the Salvia that made the scene look a whole lot brighter than the gloom of the rest of the garden. The almost black rosettes of Aeonium ‘Zwartkop'’ added contrast.

So I took a photo! I should be sitting in that chair enjoying a warm summer evening – maybe soon!

As I’ve said before Salvia ‘Cerro Potosi” is a fantastic plant, flowering from Spring to Autumn and happy in virtually every situation and completely hardy. I like to plant it where one is forced to brush against it, releasing the scent of blackcurrants from its leaves. I have to control the hop otherwise it would smother the Salvia and the Aeonium.

By the way – How many spellings of ‘Zwartkop' (as in Aeonium) are there? I’m currently using this spelling but it doesn’t feel right.

Technorati Tags: Salvia microphylla,Aeonium,Humulus lupulus 'Aureus'

Aeoniums

As yesterday I potted-up a few Aeonium cuttings (actually my daughter did the potting), I thought I would share with the avid readers of ‘Musa’ some words of Aeonium wisdom.

I grow 2 varieties: 'Zwartkop' (sometimes spelled Schwarzkopf) which is the one with deep purple rosettes and a pale green variety which is, I think, ‘Magnificum’. Aeoniums are easy to grow but won’t stand any frost which means overwintering in a greenhouse or bringing indoors. Strangely, for a succulent, they like quite a lot of water during the summer.

I’ve found that one can grow ‘Zwartkop’ quite tall and I have one plant which reaches about 4ft. I always knock branches off it when moving it to and from the greenhouse in autumn and Spring but the broken pieces make good cuttings.

I grow the 4ft specimen in a pot against a sunny wall with its branches tied to trellis for support. It shares this space with a rampant, yellow leaf hop: Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’ and a now large Salvia: Salvia microphylla 'Cerro Potosi'. I think the colours of the Aeonium, the yellow/green leaves of the hop and the Salvia’s magenta flowers probably clash. Certainly I’ve never really been able to get a good photo of the group and I’ve put this down to the strong contrast of colours. This is one of my better shots:

This is a great plant for an exotic garden and looks particularly eye-catching if grown big. Below is a photo of a rosette of Aeonium ‘Zwartkop’ after the rain:

 

In a future post I will write extolling the virtues of Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’ and Salvia microphylla 'Cerro Potosi'

Technorati Tags: Aeonium