Late Bloomers & Bulbing Fennel

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Bart Arenson

Clematis ‘Hyde Hall’

I could have just as easily named this post repeat bloomers, bloom redux, unexpected fall flowers, or even bloom happy.

Who would have guessed after our extended Pacific Northwest drought of a summer, we would enjoy spring in mid-October.

A number of my plants, garden stalwarts, are unconvinced that Fall officially began on September 23rd.

In the courtyard, as of October 18th, a Choysia and Clematis mimic late Spring.

Choysia ternata (Mexican Orange) and Clematis Hyde Hall on an October 18th afternoon

While just a few yards away — right on schedule — Asters are blooming in the rain garden.

I never expected this Lewisia to be blooming with Asters, considering it bloomed first in the Spring and then later in the summer. (It’s always been a reliable re-bloomer if spent stems are dead headed, but this year is a record).

Lewisia cotyledon blooming on October 20th, 2015

Another Clematis, growing in a pot under the shrub Brachyglottis greyii (AKA, Senecio greyii or Daisy Bush), climbs through the silver grey leaves which support the vine.

The Daisy bush hails from New Zealand, is reliably hardy here, and provided nice cooling shade all summer for this red Clematis.

Just a few days after starting this post the temperature dipped and Fall was definitely in the air. Yet this Hardy Geranium was still sporadically flowering.

While all of the above late bloomers are unexpected pleasures, over in the vegetable garden, seeds of the ‘Romanesco’ variety of Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum (bulbing fennel) were intentionally planted in late August.

Bulbing fennel likes cool weather and the semi-sweet licorice flavor improves when soil or mulch is mounded around the base of the plant. I pulled up my first plant yesterday.

Had I cut the plant at the base of the bulb and left the taproot in the soil, the plant would continue to send up shoots of the delicate (and tasty) foliage until frost. But the best tasting part of the plant is the bulb. This crunchy veggie with its light licorice/anise taste is superb when sliced thinly and tossed with a good olive oil and a bit of salt.

Luma apiculata ‘Glanleam Gold’

Posted on June 3, 2015 by Bart Arenson

L. apiculata ‘Glanleam Gold’ Click picture to enlarge the view

A couple of years ago I picked up this variegated Chilean myrtle tree in a gallon pot at Robinwood Nursery here on Vashon Island.

Robinwood, a wholesale nursery founded in 1991, has recently opened their nursery to the public a few times a year.

Visiting Robinwood Nursery is definitely worth a trip to Vashon. They have a couple of events scheduled for this June, and the annual fall open house at the nursery is in early September. They have a fine selection of plants including some shrubs and trees whose origin is South America, specifically, Eucryphia nymansensis, Azara micrphylla variegata, Ugni molinae and L. apiculata ‘Glanleam Gold.’

Click photo for a closer look

L. apiculata is a native of Chile and naturally I include it in my “Zonal Denial” category. I’m growing it in a pot and I’ve over wintered it in my “cold” greenhouse, which has supplemental heat only on the coldest winter days, keeping minimum temperatures above 38° F.

It has responded by blooming heavily for the first time since I purchased it . The small white blooms invite close inspection, especially against the backdrop of the variegated foliage.

These flowers are about three-fourths of an inch wide, consist of four cupped-shaped, white petals, surrounded by a puff of numerous filigree like stamens. I’m looking forward to adding a photo of the small berries, which appear in the fall and are a deep purple-black.

The following description is from the website of the BlueBell Arboretum & Nursery in Leicestershire, England:

Unusual, evergreen aromatic shrub which has dark green leaves with attractive golden edges and clusters of pretty white flowers summer. Luma apiculata ‘Glanleam Gold’ is a handsome yet slow growing shrub, the original plant at Glanleam, on the west coast of Ireland, is only 2 – 3 meters tall after many years growth. Luma apiculata ‘Glanleam Gold’ is best planted in a warm position in sun or light shade, with plenty of shelter from cold winter winds. Unless you have a very warm garden, Luma apiculata ‘Glanleam Gold’ usually grows best in southern areas of the U.K., in particularly Devon and Cornwall.

For almost everything else you need to know about Chilean myrtle, check out this post by Seattle tree maven, plant expert and writer Arthur Lee Jacobson (be sure to scroll down for the pictures).

“Shot on iPhone 6”

Posted on May 23, 2015 by Bart Arenson

You’ve probably seen the adds on billboards, in magazines or in other media. Apple is promoting the iPhone 6 camera’s leap in quality. In my case I was heading across the elevated highway that connects West Seattle to Seattle proper when I first saw this photo on a huge billboard.

“Shot on iPhone 6”

I’m pretty sure this is the photo on the billboard — I lifted it from Apple’s own website. You can sample more of the photos from the add campaign’s website here.

As for me, for all the picture on this blog I’ve been shooting with my used (and slightly beat up) Cannon G10 camera.

Note the crack in the upper left of the LCD viewfinder

It’s a great little point and shoot camera with lots of flexibility and options. But just this past week I decided to give the iPhone 5 in my pocket a shot at photographing my garden. That billboard on Seattle’s Spokane Street viaduct had the desired effect, percolating in my consciousness every time I drove into the city.

So while it’s not a “6,” my iPhone 5C produced all the following shots taken in the last few days of glorious May weather.