The Garden in May

Spring in the Palo Alto garden

It's been an interesting Spring, filled with April showers and mini-heat waves. We should be past the coldest nights here in Palo Alto, though, so I finally felt safe pruning my grapes and hydrangeas. (Although I was a bit late cutting down the grasses, so I won't be expecting great things from them this year.)

Those late rains gave us a nice extension on getting woody perennials, shrubs and trees into the ground; the soil moisture is still good but not so mucky that it's difficult to dig. But don't get complacent! Check now to be sure your irrigation system is functioning optimally — the soil dries out quickly and you don't want it to go hydrophobic while your new plants are establishing.

I failed to keep pace with the weeds this Spring. I'll be hoeing out as much as I can over the next couple of weeks, but I think my negligence has earned me seven years of weedlings. It's incredible how long those seeds can stay dormant in the ground, then pop! as soon as they get a bit of sunlight.

This is a great time to get all sorts of color planted: annuals such as impatiens and marigolds, long-blooming perennials such as Achillea, Coreopsis, Echinacea, Gaillardia, Limonium, Rudbeckia and Scabiosa, and even fall bulbs like Crocus speciosus and Colchicum autumnale. For the former, you simply can't go wrong with seeds from Renee's Garden, or young plants from Annie's Annuals; and for the latter, I have never had anything less than extraordinary results from Brent and Becky's Bulbs (who seem to be offering an early order discount at the moment!). 

It's also the season when the landscape designer's phone begins to ring again, with optimistic voices on the other end hoping for a deck by spring, a pool by summer. And somehow, with the sun shining on our faces again and last year's perennials resurging at our feet, somehow it all seems possible.

Legends of the Fall

One of the things I hear from clients who have moved to California from other regions of the country is, "there's no fall color here." And while I'll grant that the Bay Area is no New England, I have to say that this autumn the trees seem particuarly brilliant.

While lots of factors influence fall leaf color, what I've noticed this year is that [a] we had a fairly mild summer, so fewer leaves scorched and departed early; [b] the cold nights arrived with a vengeance right around the autumnal equinox, giving the trees not one but two cues (light and temperature) that it's time for dormancy; and [c] the dry summer has persisted into fall, stressing trees into withdrawing their green chlorophyll earlier and more quickly (thereby revealing the natural anthocyanins and carotene colors).

Some trees with legendary fall color include Acer freemanii (Red Maple), Ginkgo biloba (Maidenhair Tree), Quercus coccinea (Scarlet Oak), Acer griseum (Paperbark Maple), the native Acer circinatum (Vine Maple),
and of course the reliably fluorescent Pistacia chinensis (Chinese Pistache) and Liquidambar styraciflua (Sweet Gum). From a drive around my Palo Alto neighborood this morning, I've posted photos of these and more at my Flickr site.

To my eye, the colors peaked late last week, so as you're out and about over the next few days, I hope you'll make it a point to notice and appreciate the colors before they come back to earth. If you see something particularly stunning, feel free to send it in. And if you have favorite autumn plants of your own, please share!

Landscaping Small Spaces, Part 2

As much as I love the possibilities afforded by designing larger estate landscapes (as in, trees! I actually get to spec trees!), small gardens hold a special place in my heart as well. Here's the second of five bite-size tips to make the most of bite-size spaces:

Be colorful. Knowing that bright colors seem to advance toward us, and dark colors seem to recede, create depth and dimension in small spaces by choosing appropriate hues. Use dark paving on patio floors. Stain perimeter fences dark brown or olive green, or cover them with dark green vines such as Hardenbergia 'Happy Wanderer'. Fill the foreground with variegated or chartreuse foliage, including Heuchera 'Key Lime Pie' and Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola' or 'All Gold'. Then bridge the front and rear spaces with textures, not colors — grasses or succulents look great en masse, with a specimen pot, fountain or statue as a focal point.

Next, I'll write about my third tip for landscaping small spaces: Think big.

Right on Cue

In case you missed it, autumn is officially here. Some tree species seem to get the memo sooner than others; Callery pear, Liquidambar, Chinese pistachio and one of my favorites, American ash (the aptly named 'Autumn Purple' cultivar is pictured here) are already showing their true colors.

Among shrubs, you'll start seeing autumn colors soon on heavenly bamboo and viburnums; and some grasses such as 'Haense Herms' switchgrass are equally brilliant.

I'm not saying these are necessarily the best plants for fall color, just some of the earliest. If you like autumn to be a season in your garden, not just a page in your calendar, they're worth a look.

What are some of your fall favorites?

Fall into Winter

Foliage-wise, this has been one of the best autumns I can remember. And now that all those lovely leaves are coming down to earth, we're reminded that winter is just around the corner (here it comes at about 10:08 pm Friday night).

The gorgeous displays of reds, oranges and golds is especially striking this year because [a] it's been a very cold and dry season, both of which stress trees into withdrawing their green chlorophyll earlier and more quickly (thereby revealing the natural anthocyanins and carotene colors), and [b] the lack of rain and wind has left those vibrant leaves on the trees longer. Now that the storms are arriving, we're getting more of what we're used to:

Autumn gardens are among my favorites, not only for their foliage colors but because of the way the winter light plays on details such as leaf margins and seed heads, such as the tall Miscanthus and Calamagrostis grass plumes that look splendid all golden and backlit. Other specimens, such as the coral-bark Japanese maple and the river birch, start showing some of their best assets that are hidden, or at least overshadowed, most of the year. But there's no denying that colorful foliage is the star of the season, especially when set against a backdrop of dark evergreens such as pines, redwoods or even magnolias. Some of my favorites include:

Pyrus calleryana (Callery Pear) — different varieties have different colors and forms

Ginkgo biloba (Maidenhair Tree) — venerable forest giant with clear yellow to gold color; leaves all seem to drop within a few days

Lagerstroemia hybrids (Crepe Myrtle) — a three-season star, with gorgeous winter bark and bright summer flowers to complement fiery autumn foliage

Viburnum cultivars — small to large shrubs with bright red to purple fall color

Hydrangea quercifolia (Oakleaf Hydrangea) — orange to red leaves even as the flower panicles hold on

Blueberry cultivars — yes, the edible blueberry bush will give an amazing fall show if you dare withhold water for a while

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (Dwarf Plumbago) — Fast growing, shade tolerant ground cover colors bright crimson; a nice surprise at ground level

Vitis californica 'Rogers Red' (California Wild Grape) — A great choice to slipcover a garage or obliterate a fence within a few seasons, stops traffic when it turns wine red

As you're out and about over the next few days, I hope you'll make it a point to notice and appreciate the colors before they're brought back to earth by the rain and winds. If you see something particularly stunning, feel free to send it in. And if you have favorite autumn plants of your own, please share!

Hey, I know that guy!

For a sneak preview of the class I'm leading next weekend, check out the cover story of this week's Palo Alto Weekly. (You can also download a PDF of the issue, with photos.)

For another angle on the same topic, you can also see my thoughts in a recent MarketWatch article.

But don't stop there: sign up today to attend the class, because I've got a LOT more to share!

Color Counts

This little vignette is on display right now at Gilroy Gardens, not only home to the well-trained "circus trees" but also a dandy theme park that will keep the tots (and hort-geeks like me) entertained all day.

What caught my eye here was how much attention has been paid to the details: the lamp post and building trim match (or at least coordinate with) the blooms of the Lagerstroemia (crepe myrtle). And for good measure, the "garlic bulb" rides to the left are also streaked with violet, just like a real garlic bulb.

Is there a color in your garden that inspires you? Bring a bloom to a good paint store — they can match the color, or at least get this close. Now: did you also notice the Stachys, Lavandula and Helictotrichon down at ground level? These cool silvery tones are a terrific complement to the warm violet. On a color wheel, these two colors aren't quite opposites (think of blue and orange, purple and yellow, red and green) but neither are they adjacent (such as a violet-red-orange combination). Rather, the red-violet and blue-green are two legs in a triadic combination. The third leg of the triad would be yellow-orange; the closest we'll get is the exfoliating cinnamon-tan bark of the Lagerstroemia.

Perhaps because one of my favorite childhood toys was a set of translucent color paddles, I'm able to visualize color combinations pretty readily. But if you're not, pick up a color wheel and keep it on your desktop… pretty soon you, too, will see these subtle (or not so) color combinations that are all around you.