Epiphyllums: More Detail

Not to beat the epiphyllum topic dead, but I finally dumped my camera (it's been since June) and found this pic from last month. I think this one looks like a fire works display. The flowers on this plant last a few days.

As opposed to the paltry 12 hours for the one Lin gave me, but the flowers are twice as big...

From what I read, it took years before folks hybridized colors other than cream or pale yellow. The pink below is an inherited plant. It must be at least 30 years old - I've had it for 10 years; it came from Claire's Aunt Lillian when she passed away. We had literally 50 blooms this year lasting almost 2 weeks. Amazing.

Epiphyllums are REALLY easy to propogate. Just cut a "leaf" to the base, if that's what you can call those spiny things, let it set for a few days, and then pot in fast draining potting soil. You don't need any kind of "special" soil as in orchid or cactus. I like clay pots because they dry out fast after watering. I line the bottom and top with rocks.

They prefer bright shade. Mine are on a covered bench with the tillandsias, a native orchid, and a venus fly trap - just to give you an idea of who else is happy in this light. I tend to clump plants into micro-ecosystems. Our entire backyard is shaded by the umbrella of a 70 or 80 foot deodar cedar, so we've really gone for that rainforest feel, inspired by hikes through the redwoods and the great abundance of readily avilable central american salvias and fuschias that we are blessed with in the Bay Area. I water about 2 or 3 times a week.

Primary pests are aphids and snails. I use my fingers and spray with soapy water to combat the aphids and throw Sluggo in the pots for the snails. Sluggo is a non-toxic mineral that desiccates the snails in their shells.

katydid this and katydid that

Doug found a katydid on one of the cymbidiums this morning. I thought they like to eat leaves, because I've seen cut holes where I've seen a katydid - on the camellias of all things - but wasn't sure so looked them up online. There are 1000's of species around the world in a whole array of colors, sizes and shapes - flourescent pink to bark tones and up to 4.5 inches long. Some eat snails and lizards!

I found there are two species roaming around Northern California, the Microcentrum rhombifolium and Microcentrum californicum. A member of the grasshopper and cricket family, kaydids are distinguished by antenna being longer than the body.

But I didn't find any that look like the ones in our garden until I saw a picture of a nymph angle wing. The clue is there are essentially no wings and distinct brown spots on the body. I think this one is a female because it has a hook off the abdomen.

Epiphyllum from Lin

Doug took this shot at 8:30 this morning, and the bloom was already closing. By 10:00AM, it was completely shut and wilting. But oh! what a magnificent 12 hours it has!


Just for scale, here's a shot with Doug's hand - and his hands are quite large!

We have 2 other epiphyllums. They are totally bizarre man-made creations with 1,000s of hybrids available, though I've never seen one for sale; all my plants come from friends. My mom has quite a nice a collection too.

They like bright indirect light, basically like an orchid or epiphyte, and fast draining soil.

The UC Botanical Garden added some to the Arid House entry a couple of years ago, though I've not seen its bloom. My first encounter was at the San Diego Wild Animal Park which had rows of huge specimens handing in basics in a screened house. Love at first sight...

Kenai

This is my baby girl, Kenai Peninsula Ty, better known as Booga. Kenai has a four layer coat; she blows the under coat 3 times a year. Right now, she looks about 20 pounds heavier than she did a month ago, and it's all winter down.


Here's another one of Booga coming out from under the Tequila. Kenai loves rolling in scented things: Salvias, fine perfume, Doug's hair, fertilizer, and - unfortunately - cat poop.

Kenai will be 10 years old on Valentine's Day.

Indian Summer

As much as I hate the heat, I'll take hot days in September/October any day over hot days in June/July. Indian Summer is the typical Bay Area weather pattern, as Doug reminds me every year, so no surprise when it comes.

So how hot is it? The past 2 days got up to 93 - 95 in Hayward and Oakland - just in time for Stevie to start at his new school. And, of course, I've been going east each day after drop-off. It was 105 in Livermore at 1:30 on Wednesday; 101 in Pleasanton at 11:30 on Tuesday.

What's a gardener to do? Water! It's okay to put a little extra down and save your plants. Some just can't handle the stress. In our garden, the salvias are fine but the fuchsias and impatiens go limp in hot dry weather. Although I've been getting by this summer with watering twice a week, I'm watering everyday until the hot spell is over, especially the new plants my It's Fall! excitement put in the ground last week; the chamomile lawn started to look like cooked spinach on Tuesday. And of course anything in a pot will dry out faster than a plant in the ground.

Watering is one of those "things". Jo says you should never water after 10AM, but she's a rose lady and is always in battle against mold. With a busy work and family schedule, I have no qualms about watering in the evening on a hot day (sometimes any day); I accept the columbine tends to get moldy and nasty. My Mom's friend Arlene lives in Fairfield which is crazy hot all summer; she waters the balcony garden (all pots) twice a day.

So why the inconsistent posts of late? We just set up a new computer; it screams ^_^

ps - after emergency watering the back and side, I remembered a couple of other points. This spring, Jo was kind enough to take me on the East Bay MUD Bay-Friendly Garden Tour; we hit about 7 houses. It was fascinating! Especially as so many of the gardens we looked at could hardly be termed "water-wise".

However, one house really stood out in terms of excellent plant selection and...harmonious design. It just looked lovely (yes, lots of salvias). After complimenting the owner on a marvelous garden, I asked how she managed watering, and was delighted to confirm the entire property was hand watered; I've been mildly embarrassed that irrigation is the last priority on our list.

This was their second garden. The first time around, they layed irrigation, planted, and a year later discovered things didn't grow exactly as expected and ended up re-doing a major portion of the system. Having learned that lesson, they were giving this garden 2 years and then put in the lines. (They water once a week.)

I have an ancient sprinkler system in the front and hand-water the back and side. Frankly, I like to hand water: it's relaxing, I can hose down the plants eliminating dirt and bugs, gives me a chance to get in touch with what's happening with individual plants and whether communities are working, meditate on blog entries, etc. The water is directed exactly where I need it without waste.

I would hand-water the front, but the spigot is currently buried in a mound of Mexican Bush Sage. That's going to change!

Orb Weaver Spiders

It's about the time of year when the orb weavers start to gain awe inspiring girth and size - of the oh my god proportions of Aragog or Shelob. They come in all different colors - blond, red, black with white - but always have the same crab like shape to the abdomen. This cutie is from my Mom's garden around October 2002.

And this is Goliath, the mother of all spiders in our garden, or at least I like to think so. I'm certain we had them before, but this is the first one we noticed (Sept 2001). She is hiding in her nest in the walnut leaves; don't ask what all the greyish crud is. This is not her web; the web has a distinctive spiral shape hence the name orb weaver. Being opportunistic hunters (waiting for something to fly into the web), they don't move around a lot, which is something I sincerely appreciate as these spiders get HUGE.

The eggs hatch from a sack about the size of a small golf ball in spring (I relocated one from the shed to the walnut); you really don't notice the babies until June-ish? They seem to come and go through out summer, actively hunting for a couple of weeks, disappearing, and re-appearing bigger than ever each time. The abdomen on the female swells so large it literally swings the spider to the left and right as they fly up and down the drag line from nest to web.

Until one day, they look kind of slower than usual, and then they seem to be gone come November. I was very sad when Goliath departed. But then I saw the babies next spring and realized this is their way.

This year, we have one in the bamboo Lin gave us and another in the leather fern.

Fall is Here

Having just begun pulling antique impatiens in earnest, yet being bereft of appropriate photographic images due to a multiplicity of factors, I find myself still in need to share the fact that Fall is Here.

Aside from the fact that it smells like Fall, I had a strong need to cut back the Salvia Hot Lips hard. Then I spied leaves shed from the tree above Janet's house in my small pocket garden and gathering along the wall. Today was so cold, I turned on the heater (not that we don't have plenty of time for Indian Summer).

And just now, I pulled an entire bank of antiques impatiens as they are done for the year, all shriveled and yellowing with hardly a bloom. The bed is so stark without them; I forget what it looks like and then suffer surprise, only to remind myself - This is the way of the seasons. Many plants and critters awaken in spring to die or fall asleep in fall.