C

Calibrachoa  nice hanging basket  as landscape perennial    Callie Dark Blue   Callie Rose   Callie Scarlet   Callie Sunrise   Callie White   Callie Yellow  closely related to, and sometimes classified as Petunia, they differ slightly from that genus by chromosome number (18 versus 14), habit (trailing versus upright), and texture (rubbery and durable versus relatively brittle). These prostrate tender perennials or annuals produce carpets of flowers under long day conditions. They are mounding to heavily trailing in habit and make great hanging basket or landscape groundcover subjects. They are great for attracting hummingbirds, at least the mounding varieties or any form when used in baskets. They need less fertilizer than the other new “super” trailing petunia strains, which are shameless hogs, but do want consistent regular feeding for best performance. If you feed them and they are still yellow, they probably need more acid soil and/or iron treatments. Most plants do show yellowing due to iron/soil problems eventually, and the easiest and quickest treatment is using soluble chelated forms. Grow them in full to at least half a day's sun in good, rich, well drained soil with ample watering. Treat them as tender perennials or annuals. South America. Solanaceae. rev 2/2010

Calliandra californica  BAJA FAIRY DUSTER  closeup  natural espalier in part shade, coastal garden  a light textured, open, rather wispy upright shrub to about 6', with very fine textured, grey green to blue grey, delicate mimosa-like leaves to about 1" long. It usually grows with a very vertical habit but there is considerable variation from seed and some individuals are compact and spreading, plus bluer or greener, finer or coarser, etc. Small, puffy, globular heads of bright red flowers (actually, their showy stamens) to about 1" across are produced from spring through fall and are great favorites of hummingbirds. This is a great plant for use against walls for its zigzag branches and leaf color, and in addition it is self-espaliering to some degree since the branches tend to stay where you bend them. It also makes a great container plant when older. It is good subject for hotter areas, like low-desert hot, being more substantial than the sparser but better known C. eriophylla, our native California species. It also grows well in very cool coastal areas, but is slow until established. It survives in my Santa Cruz yard in complete shade and looks very nice, but doesn't bloom almost at all. Sun to part shade, little summer watering except in hot areas, good drainage, frost hardy to probably around 20°F. Baja California. rev 3/2009

Callistemon viminalis ‘Little John’  BOTTLEBRUSH   flowers & foliage  very dense, compact growth to 3’ tall and wide. Short clusters of blood red flowers with prominent golden stamens appear in fall, winter, and spring against blue grey to grey green foliage. Shows a very neat, regular spiral pattern of dense, oval, blue green leaves along the stems. Damaged below 25°F.  Myrtaceae. rev 2/2010

Calocedrus decurrens  INCENSE CEDAR  Washington Street   fine strapping young specimen near Spring Street  an evergreen tree that is usually seen in cultivation as a narrow to broadly pyramidal shaped specimen to 60’ or more, with age. It is almost always multicrowned, with several to many upright leaders but almost always retains a narrow top. It has attractive reddish brown, deeply furrowed bark and the sprays of foliage exude a spicy, pungent scent that always reminds me of hot summer days camping in Sequoia National Park. It grows at about 1-2' per year. This tree is very tough, likes full sun to half sun exposures, needs soil of average drainage or better and needs little or no summer watering when established. It is not as bothered at low elevation by various nefarious twig and needle borers, cankers, and blights as many other "soft" foliaged conifers (Thuja, Chamaecyparis, etc.) from colder winter regions. Frost hardy up to the Fir Belt of the Sierras (about 6000'). Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada. Cupressaceae. rev 3/2009

Calocephalus brownii  CUSHION BUSH   starting to flower   fine plant, West Cliff Drive   another fine plant, West Cliff Drive  a dense, mounding evergreen shrub to 2' tall by up to 6' wide, growing as a wiry mass of silvery white stems. Small silver balls appear all over the top of the plant in summer and produce a respectable show of light yellow flowers. This is at its best along the water just because of its look, but also tolerates inland conditions well since it ranges around a large part of Australia's eastern, southern, and western coastlines. It can take wind, lots of salt spray, and extensive drought after it is established. It looks great contrasted against other plants, mixed with large rocks, as a combo element, or by itself in a container. It can be pruned hard if it starts to reach or die out. It will take frost to 25-20F before it starts to look even more silvery grey than normal. But it is also is much like Corokia cotoneaster in that it can be dead for a while before you notice because it still looks so good and that is definitely my kind of plant. We grew this years ago and dropped it but have  resurrected it for quarts. Sun or almost all sun, average drainage, takes alkaline soils. Sunset zones 8-9, 14-24/USDA zone 9. rev 10/2009 Compositae/Asteraceae.

Campanula ‘Blue Gown’  flowers  spreading to trailing evergreen or semideciduous perennial is similar to C. poscharskyana but more restrained and neater looking. Dense crowns of foliage break into sprays of bright blue flowers, each with a white eye. Leaves are often very hard, dark green, somewhat hairy, and with a conspicuously frilled margin. Tends to retreat to a relatively tight clump after spring bloom, then flush again in fall. Sun to mostly shade, presumed frost hardy. Campanulaceae.

portenschlagiana (muralis)  DALMATIAN BELLFLOWER  flowers   masses of flowers   nice planting  mounding to trailing deciduous perennial to 6" tall, spreading with age. Dark purple blue, bell shaped flowers to 1" long appear most of the year, heaviest in late spring and summer. Sun to part shade, average watering. Adriatic Mountains.

‘Resholt’  flowers  darker purple flowers that are a little more towards violet, larger, slightly more tubular, and more heavily produced on the first flush of spring bloom. Leaves are a little smaller and growth is a little more compact.

Canna  evergreen to deciduous rhizomatous perennials grown for dramatic foliage, flowers, and form. They have really been rediscovered as part of the new appreciation of foliage as a primary design element. Most do best in full to part sun, and in my experience they sulk if they don't get direct sun during cool springs. Dramatic as specimen container plants, especially against a wall. They are tough and will survive on little watering when established but for superior leaf quality, vigor, and bloom irrigate deeply and regularly. USDA zone 7/Sunset zones 4 and higher. rev 4/2008

‘Australia’  flowers and foliage  luminous burgundy-black leaves in full sun, lighter glowing red color in more shade. Flowers are bright orange. To about 5-6' tall. Very good as a large scale mixed container item. rev 7/2004 
‘Cleopatra’  flowers and foliage  generous, broad green leaves with irregular maroon breaks as well as on the stems. Even the flowers can be half red, half yellow. Striking and very unusual. rev 7/2005
'Intrigue'  flowering  the foliage is narrow and an enticing light smoky maroon in color, with a little bit of green showing through. It has a silvery, glaucous character that is difficult to describe but quite noticeable and highly attractive. The coral orange flowers fade to intense salmon pink and are a great combination with the leaf color. To about 6' tall, narrow, with a strongly vertical leaf presentation as well. rev 11/2008
'Pink Sunburst'  flowers and leaves  this is a hot new introduction that only grows to about 2' tall. It has coral, blonde, and green striped leaves that go great with the light salmon pink flowers. Vigorous, easy. A natural for foliage or tropical landscapes and great is a blooming perennial as well.  rev 11/2008
‘Pretoria’  flowers and foliage   foliage landscape   backlit  one of the premier variegated clones, with fine green and blond yellow stripes on the leaves. To 4-6', with orange flowers. Stunning against a dark background. rev 7/2004
'Stuttgart'  foliage   flowers   habit, at Cabrillo College   this narrow, upright grower is a highly desirable form because of its clean variegation, well-complemented flowers, and habit. It is at its best against a dark wall and also with some shade. It is inordinately prone to leaf margin burn, for unknown reasons, and I have heard it suggested that this might relate to magnesium or calcium deficiency. Nevertheless  everyone who tries to walk away with our stock plants always says "It's okay, I don't care. I know it always looks like that, I still want it." Limiting sun to half a day definitely helps with the problem. Limited quantities in 2009. rev 9/2009 *NEW for 2010!*

Carex  SEDGES  evergreen to deciduous grass-like plants, many native to wet places or able to take seasonal inundation. Some have quite striking form or coloration, many can be used en masse. They can make striking container plants, either as individual focal point specimens or combined with other colors and textures. Cyperaceae. rev 4/2003

buchananii  mature clump   container  one of the "dead sedges," it forms tight clumps of dull, very stiff coppery brown leaves to 3’ tall, diverging only slightly from vertical until older. The leaves age to a blond color, the tips splitting and curling as they weather. Like most sedges, excellent in containers. Tends to be short lived. All of the taller sedges can be cut back hard as older foliage begins to dominate the clumps. Sun for best color, average watering, good drainage. Frost hardy enough for almost all of California. This was named in honor of Buchanan, so pronounce this byu-CANNON-ee-eye. Just my opinion, since there weren't many Buchanan's back in Roman times and all the original Latin speakers are dead now anyway. But I always default towards preserving the root words in the names. New Zealand. rev 3/2009

conica ‘Marginata’  nursery plants  dwarf clumping perennial bears relatively short dark green leaves with ivory white stripes. Seems to be very stable and non-reverting. Sun to part shade, average watering, frost hardy. Japan, Korea.

dipsacea  Mills Garden  a very upright green sedge, eventually arching somewhat, with olive tints. Reaches 18-24" tall and has attractive black seed heads. This one tolerates very wet conditions and will like at least regular watering. Winter deciduous, and therefore very frost hardy (USDA zone 8/Sunset zones 4 and higher?). New Zealand.

divulusa ("tumulicola")  BERKELEY SEDGE  typical amazing stand, Sierra Azul Nursery   abused Pacific Garden Mall specimens   Sierra Azul lawn, with Jeff's feet  everything sold under this name in California is actually C. divulusa, a non-native. The true native C. tumulicola is a smaller species which has a completely different appearance, is apparently not in cultivation, and is probably not nice enough to ever make it into cultivation. This is the best of the grass-like sedges for using to emulate a native meadow. It can be grown in full sun to quite a bit of shade and is quite drought tolerant when established. It is tough, durable, and always seems to find a way to survive. It forms a green groundcover to about knee high when mature, and should be planted 12-18" apart for solid cover on a large scale. It can also be clustered in smaller numbers for use as an accent plant, against rocks, in container, etc. or you can go the other way and plant it as solid cover from small plugs and mow it to form a lawn. You can see a good example of it used as turf at Sierra Azul Nursery in Watsonville. USDA zone 8? rev 8/2005

dolichostachya ‘Gold Fountains’  foliage detail, nursery  a very fine textured evergreen sedge with bright green leaves that are edged and striped with light yellow. The overall color is a warm golden green. Habit is very relaxed and wispy. To about 12" tall, 2' wide. Sun to mostly shade, average watering. rev 7/2005

flagellifera  clump  not stiff like  C. buchananii, this species has greener juvenile leaves which are eventually much longer, to over 6’ on mature specimens. The leaves are glossier, much darker bronze, and once over about 2’ long the blades fall horizontally. The leaves also tend to hold their color longer. This can look like a gigantic head of long, flowing, brown hair. Sun for best color, good drainage, average to occasional summer watering. Frost hardy enough for almost all of California. Excellent in containers. Inclined to be short lived. New Zealand.

morrowii 'Ice Dance'  garden  an almost Liriope-like sedge with 1/2" wide, heavy textured, dark green leaves that are cleanly edged in white. It is a strong, dependable grower with ascending to arching leaves that can reach about 12-18" in height. Faint white streaks can be seen in the center of the leaf, but they don't detract from the otherwise clean variegation. Sun to half sun, average watering needs. Frost hardy for all of California, and usually evergreen. Cut back in late winter to renew ragged foliage if necessary. rev 4/2003

oshimensis ‘Evergold’  Strybing Arboretum garden   wonderful container  a very nice, neat, lush sedge with fine, glossy leaves with a creamy white central band. The leaves arch all the way over to form a rounded dome of whitish foliage to about 12" tall. This variety is desirable for its superior center variegation and its small habit. It has a formal appearance and its variegation is very stable. Evergreen in our area, frost hardy to USDA zone 5 but deciduous. Likes at least some water all year. rev 2/2009

'Gold Strike'  young nursery plants   similar to 'Evergold,' with green leaf margins and broad, blond-gold, almost white central banding of the leaf, but about twice the scale in leaf width and length, and habit. A larger scaled version of variegated Carex. One of the very best varieties. rev 2/2009

phyllocephala 'Sparkler'  at Strybing's Entry Garden  a striking, cane-stemmed, upright form to a foot or two high, with broad, medium green leaves brightly edged with cream and a spiky habit. A distinctive and different sedge that is great in containers, as part of the perennial garden, or perhaps best as a focal point or accent plant. Sun to mostly shade, average conditions, Sunset zones 5-9, 14-24/USDA zone 7. rev 8/2006

praegracilis ("pansa")  CLUSTERED FIELD SEDGE  texture  a species that grows wild from the Yukon through California, the Great Plains, Midwest and Atlantic Coast states and only stops at Texas and the Southeast. It has become entrenched in the California landscape trade as C. pansa, another native species of much more restricted distribution (coastal strand dunes only) and little garden adaptability. This will grow as a low (under 1'), matting to spreading clump that will take some foot traffic but not mowing. It has a meadowy look and can serve as a lawn substitute unless you have pets or kids that want to play on it. It can be used over large areas and is aggressive enough to exclude most weeds, needs little (but some!) watering when established, and is frost hardy enough to be grown in, well, the Yukon. It is salt and alkaline tolerant if those are issues. rev 1/2010 *NEW for 2010!

secta  NEW ZEALAND ORANGE SEDGE  plant   nursery foliage  to 30", evergreen, frost hardy, olive green in the center and orange on the outer, weather exposed portions of the leaves, especially in cool weather. A more upright variety, like  C. buchananii but with a wider leaf and not looking so dead. Sun to half sun. One of the very nice things about this species is that it is very persistent from one season to the next, unlike some of the other, short lived species. Evergreen, frost hardy to 10°F. New Zealand. rev 3/2003

testacea  Edward D. Landels New Zealand Garden at UCSC Arboretum   mostly shade  to 2’ tall, with very soft, wispy, glossy light green leaves, becoming coppery orange as they mature, splitting to hair-like threads at their tips, and continuing to grow to 4-8’ in length. Makes a dramatic mass planting, container plant, or focal point specimen. Sun to half sun, good drainage, occasional watering. Frost hardy to around 10°F. May be short lived. New Zealand. rev 11/2007

Carpenteria californica ‘Elizabeth’  BUSH ANEMONE  closeup   young plant  evergreen shrub to 8’ tall, 15’ wide. Relatively formal, dark green leaves form a nice backdrop for the profuse terminal clusters of white flowers, to 2" wide, with showy yellow stamens. This is an improved form, with noticeably larger flowers and many more flowers per cluster than the average seedling. Named for Elizabeth McClintock, of the California Academy of Sciences. They look somewhat like small, single camellia blossoms. Sun to part shade, little or no summer watering when established. Needs good drainage. Sierra Foothills. Introduced by Saratoga Horticultural Research Foundation. Saxifragaceae.

Caryota  FISHTAIL PALMS  striking, large scale palms from the tropics and subtropics, with large feather fronds that have fan-like leaflets shaped something like a fish's tail.  My favorite palms, including what is possibly my favorite plant of all plants, C. gigas or its hardy equivalent, known as "King Kong," "hardy Thai mountain giant," "black stemmed form," or any combination of the preceding terms. Mostly known as clustering tender house plants that are prone to mites, the outdoor versions are generally tall trunked, majestic species with striking outlines and exotic foliage. Several are hardy enough to be used in California, and a select few can be tried in Northern and Central California. But don't have unreasonable expectations; the cold hardy strains and species are still being tested and it would be rash to suggest they will be truly dependable in most areas or situations north of Santa Barbara. These are definitely plants for the connoisseur's connoisseur, the elite of the discriminating elite, the wheat and not the chaff. You have to be enthralled enough with their amazing foliage to put up with their primary fault, that is that they are monocarpic. This means that your huge, house-dwarfing foliage plant, with herringbone-patterned leaves 20 feet long, is going to flower then die and eventually fall over on you or your house if you don't cut it down. Nevertheless, nothing does what a Fishtail Palm does except a Fishtail Palm, and you will be the talk of your neighborhood if you have one as well as the being envy of all the local members of the Palm Society. All like rich soil and at least average watering, but when mature they will withstand drought at the expense of fast growth. Most are understory plants when young and are substantially faster and greener if given shade the first few years. Good mature examples of several species can be seen at the San Diego Zoo as well as Huntington Botanic Gardens. Palmae/Arecaceae. rev 3/2005

Ceanothus  WILD LILAC, BUCKBRUSH  California native shrubs loved for their fragrant deep blue flowers and drought tolerance. They grow as low spreading groundcovers to tall shrubs or small trees. All Ceanothus varieties need average to good drainage, sun to part shade, and little or no summer watering when established. When evaluating varieties for deer resistance, remember that certain smooth leafed species of Ceanothus are critical survival items for deer in many California habitats in winter and early spring. The closer the foliage is to ‘Ray Hartman’ or ‘Sierra Blue’ the greater the chances of being browsed. Rhamnaceae. rev 2/2003

‘Dark Star’  blooming plant  to 4-6’ tall, 6-8’ wide. Small, rounded clusters of dark blue flowers appear in spring from light burgundy buds. Almost identical to  C. ‘Julia Phelps,’ but apparently somewhat more compact, with darker foliage. Small, warty leaves grow to only 1/2" long. Moderately deer resistant. rev 2/2010

gloriosus ‘Anchor Bay’  like the regular form of C. gloriosus, but with denser growth, larger, coarser leaves and slightly darker flowers.  A groundcover to 18" tall, 6’ or more wide. Very lavender blue flowers fade to pale pink. Glossy, dark green, toothed leaves tough, hard, deer resistant. Best in moderate summer climates. rev 2/2010

griseus horizontalis  CARMEL CREEPER  flowers   some habit   commercial  very fast growth to 2’ tall, 12-15’ wide, with large, rounded, glossy green leaves. Flowers are light blue, moderately showy, lightly fragrant, and appear in late winter and early spring. Best used in mild summer areas. Needs summer watering inland. If not planted with sufficient elbow room, this plant can mound quickly to 4’ or more. Deer love all varieties of this species. rev 2/2010

‘Yankee Point’  flowers   typical use  like C. griseus horizontalis, but taller (to 3-5’), and showier, with richer, darker blue flowers. Leaves are slightly narrower, more triangular, slightly more deeply veined, and darker green. A little more adaptable. rev 2/2010

‘Julia Phelps’  closeup   another closeup   typical habit  medium to dark blue flowers in short, rounded clusters. To 4-6’ tall, 6-8’ wide. Forms a solid mass of flowers when in bloom. Often starts to bloom as ‘Ray Hartman’ finishes. Deer resistant. rev 2/2010

‘Ray Hartman’  glorious spring day   originally called 'Blue Skies'  the most commonly grown tree or large shrub variety. Rarely grows to less than 15’ tall in part shade, but often makes a broad shrub to 10’ tall, 15’ wide in full sun with restricted watering. Light burgundy buds appear in late winter and early spring, turning to spikes of medium blue flowers with a slight dusty or greyish cast. They are lightly but quite pleasantly fragrant. Smooth, rounded leaves form excellent browse for deer. Formerly known as ‘Blue Skies.’ rev 2/2010

Cedrus deodara  DEODAR CEDAR  new growth   mature stand  an evergreen tree to 60’ or more, slow when young. Has deep green to blue grey foliage, with weeping branch tips. Shows considerable variation from seed, with gaunt, open, fast, pale individuals through dark blue green, compact, weeping variants. Blue grey forms are especially attractive. This is also a wonderful variety for use as a clipped hedge. It is also heavily used for bonsai. Grows best in sun to part shade, with average to almost no summer watering. Frost hardy for Sunset zones 3, grows well there through zones 10, 14-24. In its native wet Himalayas, this tree looks quite similar to our native Sitka spruce in general character. Pinaceae. rev 11/2007

Centranthus ruber  VALERIAN  mixed   roadside   light coral red   rose pink that ages to lavender pink   pure white   Front Street  a tough evergreen perennial to 30" tall bears rounded spikes of tiny flowers in dense clusters in spring and summer. Naturalizes readily, and can reseed itself happily in gardens, along old fences, against buildings, in rock walls, or in cracks in the sidewalk. Commonly seen in untended situations. Sun to part shade, little or no summer watering, hardy to around 15-20°F. Mediterranean. Valerianaceae.

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides  DWARF PLUMBAGO  closeup   park planting   winter color  deciduous perennial to 18" tall, spreading by underground rhizomes. Dark blue flowers cover the plants in summer and fall. Plants are briefly deciduous, with dark burgundy maroon fall color. An excellent medium size ground cover. Sun to part shade, average watering, frost hardy. Western China. Plumbaginaceae.

Cercidium floridum   BLUE PALO VERDE    Mojave Desert    there is no logical reason for a nursery in the coastal fog belt to be raising a plant characteristic of the lower Mojave Desert, but there you go. I tried this on a whim just because gosh darn it I like the plant and we had some room in our glasshouse. I have learned from talking to other growers it can grow stupidly fast given enough heat and water, to 10' tall by 15' across from seed in three years in West Texas, for example. You grow it because you like the wispy blue green leafless stems, with a whitish cast under very dry conditions, displayed against a stark background, or no background at all, just like you see in the desert on the way to Las Vegas. It wants good drainage, mineral soils, sun, heat, and water until it is well established. The roots tend to not even hit the sides of the can, they just drop straight to the bottom and form a mat. It will flower in spring with nice yellow flowers to about an inch across. It is tougher than any garden situation it is likely to encounter as long as it stays away from cold, wet soils and probably cold, foggy summers. Sunset zones 10-14, 18-20, try it in 8-9/USDA zone 8. Southwestern US. Leguminosae/Caesalpiniaceae. rev 3/2009 

Cheilanthes argentea  SILVER CLOAK FERN  nursery plants  a small, charming, tough, clumping fern with dark green fronds that have silvery undersides. You can stamp your hand with the white spores on the undersides for a free wonderful temporary tatoo just like you do with our native Gold Back Fern (Pityrogramma). For high light areas, but will tolerate mostly shade. Likes average watering, good drainage. It can go completely dormant under very dry conditions. Easy, good in containers. Northern and Eastern Asia. Polypodiaceae. rev 4/2007

lanosa  HAIRY LIP FERN  nursery plants  now there's a strange thought. But the fern itself is nice, a rather more open and airy form than some of the other in its genera, that is slightly golden grey green and minutely tomentose. It is another East of the Rockies form, to about 12" tall, and tolerating either regular watering or deep drought. This species probably likes warmer temperatures and is a little tougher to grow.  rev 1/2010 

sinuata  nursery plant  a robust, drought tolerant species with soft textured, and soft looking, furry, grey green fronds with whitish undersides, growing as a mostly erect rosette to 8-10" high in a short amount of time, but vigorous 2' tall eventually. With age it can get to be rather plump and spread to form nice colonies. It can grow in full sunlight with reflected heat. If it goes drought-dormant it will revive with rainfall, but it can also tolerate regular garden watering. This is a nice small to medium sized subject to tuck into a rock wall or even a succulent garden, or enjoy as a small container specimen, or grow in the shade. The leaves can be used like Gold Back Ferns to make spore imprints on your hand. Native to dry shrublands at mid elevations in the Rocky Mountains of Mexico and the adjacent US. rev 1/2009

tomentosa  nursery plants    UCB plants, full sun, rockery  another of the extraordinarily tough species for the hot, dry rockery. In shade the leaves are lusher and softer but still quite nice. It can dry down considerably in summer. Evergreen in mild winters. Relatively easy and tough. Eastern and Southern US, northern Mexico. rev 1/2010

wrightii   nursery plants   a small species native to rock ledges of the Southwest and adjacent northern Mexico, growing in chaparral. To about 10" high, vertical and compact in habit, with dark green fronds bearing short pinnae. May be short lived. This is probably best used in smaller containers or combo'd up. Sunset zones 5-24/USDA zone 8. rev 1/2010 

Chimonobambusa marmorea  MARBLED BAMBOO, HAN ZHU  container plant   Mills garden   Huntington Botanic Gardens  a fast running bamboo of tall, thin texture with dark, narrow, mahogany brown stems that are unbranched and arch over gracefully at the top. The light tan sheaths are retained, for a distinctive and classy look, and alternate with the color of the dark stems which shows between joints. The hard, whippy culms only reach about 1/4" across. The foliage is fine textured, light green, held rather upright, even on arching stems, and arranged in dense whorls. To about 6-8', striking and very good in containers, this one makes a great clipped hedge or screen plant IF CONTAINED. If not contained, it makes a great large scale planting, and an even more effective screen. The new shoots are small but supposedly taste extremely good. Find more info on bamboo in general here. China. Graminae/Poaceae. rev 3/2006

Choisya ternata  MEXICAN MOCK ORANGE  flowers closeup   nice planting, Strybing Arboretum   mass bloom  an evergreen shrub to 6’ tall, 8’ wide bearing clusters of fragrant white flowers in winter and spring, sometimes again in summer. Sun to part shade, average to little summer watering, damaged below 20°F. Mexico. Rutaceae. rev 1/2006

‘Aztec Pearl’  flowers and leaves  has very narrow leaflets, a strongly vertical, rather open habit to over 6' unpruned, and a heavy show of fragrant flowers. The hardiest strain, easily surviving in Portland (zone 8b). Its open growth can be effectively used against walls. rev 2/2003

Chondropetalum tectorum  at Dave LeRoy's house before he so callously ripped it out    typical mature specimen, UCSC Arboretum   jointed stems   nice effect, Aptos    females blooming    females very close    male flowers    male flowers very close   this was the first member of the very ornamental grass-like family Restionaceae to appear in the trade in any quantity. It is one the most adaptable varieties. This beautiful species grows as a clump of thin graceful round leaves, with sheathed, jointed stems, to 4-6’ tall by 8’ across. Brown-black seed heads appear at the end of each leaf in summer and last through winter and spring. Use it as a dramatic, large scale grass-equivalent in the back of a border, as a focal point planting, or as a very dramatic container plant. A real nice feature of this plant is that the stem sheaths pop free with a clear "snap" as they shed. Sun to part shade, average watering, barely frost hardy below 20°F. Jeff Brooks says it takes a long time to come back from 18F. It comes back, but slowly. South Africa. Restionaceae. rev 9/2009

Chrysanthemum hosmariense  flowers    landscape  evergreen perennial forms a dense, compact mound of silvery foliage, to 8" tall by 2’ across, topped with large white daisy-like flowers with wide yellow centers. Blooms heaviest in winter, with some flowers almost all year. Sun, average to little summer watering. Survived 20°F in containers without damage, and reportedly hardy enough to be used on the East Coast. Morocco. Compositae/Asteraceae.

x superbum ‘Aglaya’  SHASTA DAISY  closeup  deciduous perennial forms clump of green foliage topped with full, "shredded" double white daisies in summer. Sun to part shade, average to occasional summer watering, frost hardy. All of these tall varieties are excellent for cutting.

‘Esther Reed’  closeup  to 30" tall, with double cushion centers.

Chusquea coronalis  foliage closeup    why you grow it - 7' tall in Richard Josephson's yard    nice container   an elegant, graceful, gracile, tightly clumping bamboo to 12’ that bears tight, dense whorls of small, oval, light green leaves along arching golden culms. It has an attractive, distinctive habit and is one of the most highly sought-after bamboos. The culms often arch over all the way to the ground and overall it has a very fine texture. It is highly desirable but has faults: it tends to be slow, appreciates heat, likes food, and takes a long time to recover from a hard freeze, sometimes years. It is also at least partially winter deciduous with any amount of sustained cold, even if it doesn't go below freezing. This is one bamboo that is definitely better in Southern California unless it has a well-sheltered position. Otherwise you must be willing to put up with the lengthy damage rehabilitation from the 10 or 25 year freezes that occur in Northern California. Sun to part shade, but best in warm semi-shade. In cool foggy areas give it full sun. Responds to average to generous watering and regular liquid feeding. Likes rich, humusy soils. Flowered but did not die, or even die back much, in Richard Josephson's Santa Cruz garden several years ago, but others weren't so lucky. Damaged below 28°F, especially when young. Zones 9, 16-17, 21-24 or with good protection up against a house elsewhere/USDA 9. Find more info on bamboo in general here. Central America. Graminae/Poaceae. rev 2/2010

sp. aff. culeou  at Cistus Nursery, Portland   stem sheaths   a clone of uncertain exact identity, close to the "true" C. culeou, but differing in having darker culms and spreading a little faster. This form is usually found as a shade plant in the Southern Beech forests of the Andes. It is a relatively loose clumper, with very long leaves that form a dense mass of deep green foliage against dark green culms shaded maroon, and with contrasting light sheaths. The culms persist for years. Flowering is estimated as occurring at 45 year intervals. This species does not do well planted in hot, dry sites, as its native habitat would suggest, looking quite wretched in fact. It really starts to smile in shady spots, especially those with acid soil and at least average watering. It makes a very good container plant, much better than C. pittieri, which tends to shed its older culms. This species is quite frost hardy, to 0 deg F, and should survive in all but the very highest and coldest regions of the Sierra Nevada and Modoc Plateau. The shoots are edible and considered choice. rev 2/2010

pittieri  foliage closeup    cool stems    large clump at Blue Bamboo Nursery    smaller clump, more restrictive conditions    arching growth      this is a medium to large scale clumping bamboo, to 50-60' in nature though I have only seen it to about 20'. It's culms can reach 2" in diameter. It features dense plumes of very long, narrow dark green to blue green leaves in lush clusters and wants to be somewhat scandent if there is anything close by to lean on. It tends to droop over, even to the ground if there is room. It is somewhat like Otatea acuminatum aztecorum but on a larger scale. One peculiarity is that in production the old culms tend to die out as fast as it makes new ones, making division problematic. This doesn't seem to happen when planted out, though it does cycle culms faster than many other bamboos. It is a wonderful, dramatic subject, like many species being introduced in this genus. The sheaths of the new culms are burgundy colored and covered with coarse, intimidating, dark hairs. Give this one room to spread, or crowd it and make it go vertically, it doesn't matter which. Size varies depending on soil quality, nutrients, and watering. In full sun, poor soil,  and with restricted irrigation, this is a medium size bamboo. On river bottom soils with full sun, watering, and feeding it can be quite large. Damaged at 26°F, probably can be grown well in Sunset zones 8-9, 15-17, 21-24/USDA zone 9. rev 6/2006 

sulcata  at Strybing Arboretum    at Blue Bamboo   originally described in 1940, this native of Chiapas has recently been introduced to this country and we received our plants from Don Mahoney of Strybing Arboretum. It grows as an exceptionally dense, lush, bright deep green fountain of luxuriant, soft, long leaved foliage to 6-10' high by about 10' wide under cool, part sun conditions. When young it has a tight, dense shaving brush habit but it leans over and become softer in presentation with age. It makes a great container plant. Our plants are seedlings or divisions of seedlings. Given its native origin I wouldn't expect it to tolerate temperatures below 25-20F. rev 2/2010 

Cistus  ROCKROSE  evergreen shrubs, mounding or upright to prostrate and spreading groundcovers. All have single flowers, often with contrasting centers or petals marked at the base. They are found across the Mediterranean region. All Cistus can be raised in full to part sun, need average to good drainage, and need little or no summer watering when established. Most grow quite quickly to near their ultimate size. Cut them back, if needed, in late fall or early winter before begun to push. All are frost hardy for almost all of California. Cistaceae.

    Many species have resinous foliage, pleasantly fragrant on warm days, and they are worth planting for this feature alone. One of my earliest memories is the smell of  C. purpureus foliage outside of The Green Frog, a funny small neighborhood grocery store in San Francisco back in the 1950's. The foliage smelled just like the Rainbow Popsicles that I loved. Whenever we went in I would smell them on the way by, and ask my mommy if I could please, please have a popsicle today. To this day, when I walk by Cistus and smell that fragrance I am immediately transported back to when I was three years old and had to stand on my tiptoes and struggle to pull myself up to see over the top of the freezer case, with its chrome trim and glass top frosted with ice, to see those wonderful pink, white, and blue twin-stick Popsicles neatly lined up inside just waiting to be eaten. rev 9/2009

ladanifer (maculatus)  LAUDANUM  closeup   at Chabot Museum   another mature plant  upright shrub to 4-6’ tall and wide, with dark green, somewhat glossy foliage. Large white flowers to 3" wide. Petals have large crimson spot at base, showy stamens are bright yellow. A resin is extracted for use in perfumery.

x purpureus  ORCHID ROCK ROSE  flowers   very close   typical plant  spreading shrub to 4-5’ tall, 8’ wide. Bears deep pink flowers to 3" across, with a crimson spot at each petal base. Can be used as a tall ground cover.

salviifolius  flowers   habit  low, spreading shrub to 2’ tall, 6-8’ wide. Bears white flowers, 1" wide, with yellow centers. Another good groundcover with a very dense habit.

x skanbergii  closeup   flowers   mature plant  mounding growth to 3’ tall, 8’ wide with narrow, silky grey green foliage and small clear pink flowers to 1" wide. Another RHS Award of Garden Merit winner.

‘Sunset’  flower   habit  dense, compact mounding growth to 3’ tall, 8’ across. Bears wide, soft grey green leaves with a little bit of a point at the tip. The dark magenta pink flowers make a heavy show in spring, then appear intermittently over an extended blooming period. Probably another product of a  C. albidus cross or selection.

‘Victor Reiter’  closeup   another   Mills Garden  compact upright growth to 3’. Bright salmon pink flowers. Faster than ‘Doris Hibberson.’ Blooms about three weeks later than most other  Cistus varieties.

Citrus sp. and hybrids  haul  Walt Steadman and the CRFG 2006 Lindcove tour  trees and shrubs, the most commonly recognized varieties apparently originating in Asia as three root species, the citron (C. medica), mandarin (C. reticulata), and pummelo (C. grandis or C. maxima). These hybrids then radiated over thousands of years into the spectrum of hybrids and selections we now enjoy. All common citrus (exclusive of limes) appear to be hybrids and mutations of these original three types. Some, such as the mandarins, have been sold commercially for over 2300 years, while evidence of citron cultivation dates back to Babylonian times (~4000 BC). We offer a range of common as well as new and quite rare types.

     We don't carry a large inventory but since we only serve independent retailers and those landscapers with the most discriminating taste we like to think we raise just the right amount. I personally have always been interested in citrus, as a grower and consumer, and have previous experience buying and selling them in a retail setting as well as growing them in my own garden.

     One of the nicest things about citrus is that they are very low care fruit trees compared to stone fruits. They need essentially no yearly pruning except for size control, if desired. Some, primarily mandarins and their hybrids, will need fruit stripped every other year when heavily loaded to lessen their often strong tendency to alternate-bear, but that is about it. Most varieties will also benefit from having fruit stripped after the primary bearing season is over or there will be a tendency (sometimes an extremely strong tendency!) to reduce the crop for the following year. Andrew Nieman from Windmill Nursery in Carmichael, for example, merely recommends his customers make a yearly check to see whether or not ants are working the tree, planting scale or meaylbugs. If not, then almost nothing needs to be done except to water and fertilize and harvest the fruit. The reward/effort ratio is extremely high with citrus. It has been estimated that a single mature 'Minneola' Tangelo tree can ripen over a thousand properly sized fruit.

     Classification

     In general I follow the UCR classification system, with my own spin. I like to keep it simple since citrus is such a complicated group. As far as some of the interesting new hybrids coming available, I am often asked by retail nursery buyers "So, is this a grapefruit? Or a mandarin?" Many of the most interesting new developments don't fall into these older, more established classifications. For example, 'Cocktail' is a wonderful and mostly unknown hybrid of Siamese Sweet Pummelo by Frua Mandarin. It is thus both a pummelo hybrid and a mandarin hybrid. But it is really its own thing, and so calling it "hybrid citrus" doesn't get you any closer to forecasting what it will taste like. It is clearly not a pummelo, not a mandarin, and certainly not a grapefruit, which it is often called. So approach citrus with an open mind and be prepared to judge a variety on its own merits and shortcomings, not by its name or what you remember about whichever group it happens to be listed with.

     For more information on citrus varieties UC Riverside maintains a wonderful website (http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/index.html) full of information. Another excellent, exhaustive and exhilirating site is Jorma Koskinen's 'Citrus Pages' (http://users.kymp.net/citruspages) which is easily the most thorough compilation of information I have seen yet. Jorma has consolidated information from a large number of print and personal sources. Be forewarned that much of what Jorma features will not be available as certified for sale in California. However his site is well worth checking for anyone interested in pursuing citrus to any degree. A chef, Robert Lambert, at his name dot com, offers an intriguing range of reduced syrups and marmalades, including some interesting and creative blends. The very best way to enjoy your own marmalade is to give your fruit to someone known for making marmalade, tithing them proportionately for the honor of receiving such a treasure. Or even more simply, you can just order it directly from Robert.

     Flavors and Aromas

     Citrus display an amazing range of variation of flavor. They are inherently genetically unstable, and are known for the regular production of branch sports and other spontaneous point mutations. Apparently all citrus carry a gene for "redness," for example, and so you can find red variants of lemons, oranges (blood oranges), pummelos, etc. popping up on a regular basis. Flavors and essences are subject to this spontaneous mutation effect as well.

      Often the flavors and fragrances are complex and elusive. In many cases these aromas only become evident when the citrus is consumed in some other fashion that fresh and out of hand. For example, Calamondins make the very, very best marmalade in the universe. I know. I have tasted it.

     Citrus are members of the Rutaceae (Rue Family), distinguished partly by oil glands on the leaves, stems, and fruits. They exhibit an impressive range of fragrances, ranging from floral (Bergamot', to the full range of familiar citrus (grapefruit, mandarin, lemon, lime, orange), to the exotic (Ginger Lime, Mato Buntan, Indonesian Curry Lime). When hybridized the resulting progeny can exhibit completely novel fragrances unknown in existing cultivated types. They also exhibit modest variation in physical appearance, with many being outstanding ornamentals for either fruit (consider the Meyer Lemon, or Kumquats) or form and foliage (Variegated Calamondin, Bouquet de Fleurs Orange, Variegated Pink Eureka Lemon).

     Besides being used for eating fresh, made into marmalades, for juices, and as bath scents or oils, many varieties are used for making syrups, by drying the rinds then grinding and using as a spice (Mexico, Japan), for candied peel, as a starter or adjuvant for drinks (Mexico), or added to vodka (US, world), or added to rum (Teresa Sanchez' living room). There are a number of creative ways to use the fruits and leaves and your potential applications are limited only by your imagination.

     In general the struggle with citrus is always over sweetness. As Gene Lester so aptly puts it, "The natural condition for citrus is acidic." That is how they started out, that is what all the wild citrus are, and most selection has been directed towards raising the levels of sugars, the size of the fruit, and the intensity of color.

     Rootstocks

     The primary rootstock we use is some form of trifoliate. In general, C-35 (citrange) is usually more dwarfing, Carrizo (citrange) is larger, and Troyer seems to be indistinguishable from Carrizo. Volkameriana (Volkamer Lemon, C. volkameriana) produces the fastest growing and earliest bearing trees, and Rich 16-6 trifoliate is larger also and considered good for colder climates. Sour orange, which is another larger rootstock, is in rapid decline commercially due to susceptibility to Phytophthora. 

     But we aren't dealing with apples here, where M26 or M111 will produce essentially the same relative results on almost all varieties. So shed the idea that you can know how a rootstock performs unless you can keep all the best rootstock/scion combinations for all the varieties straight in your head. Because C-35 and Carrizo can produce different results or incompatibilities just within a group, such as the Mandarins, or even within a subgroup, such as the between various Satsuma Mandarins. The climate, soil, understock, variety interactions are exceedingly complex and often unpredictable. Sometimes a single variety will be incompatible with a rootstock that performs great on all the others in its class. The best combinations are the result of years of observation and experience.

     I have personally walked mature demonstration blocks several times, and can verify that keeping it all the hundreds of citrus rootstock/scion results exactly straight in your head is a job for either a Vulcan or someone with way too much time on their hands. What we do offer will usually be marked on the tag. We know that the budders, whose livelihoods depend on the results, have used understocks that give the best results. If several understocks are used it is most often because they all work well and that the differences, either on mature size, fruit production, or soil/cold adaptability, are minimal. Remember that what commercial growers want in a tree is often what homeowners want: small size for ease of picking and maintenance, good production relative to space, and good health and vigor.

Climate and Nutrition

     In general, the hotter the better, they want it hot. Heat equals production of sugar, plus conversion of acid to sugar. So the acidic citrus, meaning lemons, most limes, the limequats and lime substitutes, don't need it very hot because they don't get sweet. They are relatively easy to grow in a cool-summer climate. But if you want sweet citrus, either live in a hot-summer climate or be ready to choose your variety more carefully. Sometimes you can compensate for lack of heat by planting varieties that will hang longer until ripe, other times looking for the lower-acid varieties will be the right direction. 

     When some fruit are picked, such as bananas, starch will convert to sugar and the fruit will become sweeter. With citrus this doesn't happen. They have all the sugar they are going to have when they come off the tree. What does happen is that acidity levels fall, and that will make fruit seem to sweeten as they afterripen. Some varieties should absolutely be afterripened, some should never be, and the rest show varying amounts of tolerance or response to being held after picking.

     A striking characteristic of hot summer/cool winter areas is that the fruit on trees grown there is substantially redder in color. Oranges in the thermal belts of the Central Valley are a redder orange, whereas along the coast they barely go beyond yellow. And some citrus, such as 'Indio' mandarinquat, or the "Golds" ('Shasta,' 'Tahoe,' and 'Yosemite'), and many of the mandarins are almost downright red, about the same color as a Cinderella Pumpkin. I really feel this ornamental aspect of the fruit is overlooked in most discussions of growing citrus. Calamondins, 'Meyer' lemons, pummelos, mandarins, and many hybrids are first class ornamentals just for their showy fruit.

     Citrus are regular and rather heavy feeders. I saw when I worked in retail that it is very hard for the average home gardener to translate the recommended commercial feeding rates (2.5 lbs of actual nitrogen, per mature tree, per year) into home gardening equivalents. That 2.5 lb. recommendation means about half of a standard 20 lb. bag of ammonium sulfate lawn fertilizer. 

     So what is "mature size"? Is that for standard or semidwarf size? Where do you put it, under the canopy or more spread out? All at once or in split applications? What form of nitrogen? How do you calculate 2.5 lbs. of nitrogen? I would get customers who would put that half-sack of fertilizer on a little newly planted 5 gallon can plant, no joke. They were just following instructions! Needless to say, that is far too much.

     I have been growing plants for about forty years, and commercially for over thirty years, and I still use dissolved fertilizers (Miracle Gro, Peters, etc.) on all my small and medium size plants. The solution-applied formulations are a degree of magnitude safer, work much more quickly, and can be repeated monthly or bimonthly. They are the most forgiving of errors. The only drawback is that it starts to get expensive with large plants. When your plants do start to size up you can start to try dry formulations, slowly. Go to your local high quality independent nursery or garden center for quality advice from someone who knows the story.

     The second most common problem is trace element deficiencies, usually iron but closely followed by zinc in many soils. Zinc deficiency is not uncommon in California, as is sulfur deficiency. If you are using acid forming fertilizers it will drop the soil pH and make all those metals that citrus needs (iron, zinc, molybdenum, copper) more available. The sulfates in those fertilizers will help with sulfur needs. The best way to avoid a problem in the first place is not to use a fertilizer with any phosphate (or at least as low an analysis as you can find) because the phosphate ion is extremely efficient at tying up all those metals that citrus crave, and almost all soils in California have adequate phosphate. Should you follow that advice and still need a trace element treatment be sure to us a complete or balanced formulation which supplies all micronutrients at the proper ratio. By applying only one you can mess up the rest, because they often interact with each other.

    One reason to have both rich and mild citrus varieties in your collection is to account for yearly weather variation. In cooler years your milder citrus may shine and in the hotter years your more intense varieties may be at their peak. I have noticed quite obvious variation in flavor even in the Promised Land (Sunset Zone 9), where one would think every year was perfect. Using the AHS Heat Zone map, the city where I live (Santa Cruz) is AHS Zone 2 (Maine!) but in Visalia they are AHS Zone 9 (Gulf Coast, Florida down close to Miami). But even there I find my tasting standouts changing from year to year. So spread your bets. rev 2/2010

'Flame' (Red Flame)  on Carrizo, twelve years old   on the tree   sectioned  a seedling of 'Ruby Red,' and relatively new, discovered in 1973 and available only since 1987. It is a large grower, offers the dark red coloring of the difficult 'Star Ruby' and also is more cold hardy and easier to grow. Fruit ripen in winter and early spring (hot summer zones only!!) and holds very well on the tree much later, though internal color fades. They tend to be smaller in size than other grapefruits but usually seedless, and the trees are precocious and heavy bearing. The fruit hang more under the canopy of foliage and are a little better protected against freezing than some other cultivars. 2/2010

'Indio Mandarinquat'  on C-35 at Lindcove, 12 years old   fruit close up  this is a rather large, attractive and evenly shaped tree that produces far more kumquat-type fruit than you are ever going to eat. Thus it is useful that the tree is such an attractive ornamental, and very cold hardy to boot. This is the largest of the kumquat-type fruits, and the mandarin genes express themselves in the form of larger, redder fruits and larger foliage. This variety bears fruit to over 2" long by 1 1/2" wide (about three times the size of a typical kumquat), pear shaped with a small, distinct neck, deep red orange, profuse, and well displayed on the outside of the canopy. Suzy Brooks says her plant was just beautiful at Christmas, with a dark green, round canopy completely covered with brilliant fruit. She calls it "irresistible and heartwarming. Natural beauty at the right time of the year." This tastes very close to the sweeter of the two basic kumquat types ('Meiwa') but are even slightly sweeter, with low internal acidity (for a kumquat!) and a sweet rind. It does have a noticeable, slightly musky/bitter rind element from its Mandarin parent. They are also substantially redder than 'Meiwa,' which is really orange to golden orange depending on climate and maturity. I found this fruit to be at least as sweet at Gene Lester's (ocean side of the Coast Range) as it was at Lindcove (Visalia), and just as red. Under Gene's cool conditions the plant at twelve years was just 6' high by 7' across, and very even and dense. It was sweet enough, as a completely untended, unfertilized bush, to be considered a nice little mandarin in its own right. If you can grow a kumquat properly plant this last. If you are marginal for kumquat heat you will be much happier with this. rev 2/2010 

'Meiwa'  closeup   tree, about 10 years   fruit  a separate species from 'Nagami,' actually, Fortunella crassifolia.  This is a slower grower and I think needs for high heat conditions. It is very slow along the coast, but it will grow, and very importantly, most importantly, the fruit will hold until ripe. In cool areas this means they will eventually ripen instead of falling before ready. Fruit which hang until ripe also tend to ripen over a very long period so you don't get buried all at one time. Suzy Brooks has been harvesting her 'Meiwa' fruit from March until this September. 'Meiwa,' like 'Nagami,' and like all properly cold-hardy plants, it is a highly seasonal grower, showing almost no buds or stem extension until the onset of long days. This will lead to substantial rootstock overgrowth when very young in most cases. So if you have a kumquat examine the bud union carefully and if possible hit it with colored latex paint when you buy it, then strip off everything below that has leaves that don't match. The fruit are sweeter than 'Nagami' but some attribute this to a thicker skin, which carries more of the sweet rind oil. The centers are still acidic and moderately seedy like 'Nagami,' but the skins are slightly darker orange and the shape is more rounded. Personally I like this variety much more than 'Nagami,' and feel the interiors are sweeter and more richly flavored, but it is noticeably less productive. Watch for chlorosis, as with all Kumquats and their hybrids, especially in clay, under less acidic conditions, or in especially cold, wet areas. This variety is exceptionally cold hardy for a citrus, but reported to be a little less hardy than 'Nagami.' rev 2/2010

'Nagami'  mature, on C-35  closeup  Fortunella margarita. The most common variety, the one sold in stores. It has a moderate level of vigor but will still get the same size as more familiar citrus such as oranges, it just gets there more slowly. It has attractive, rather narrow, lance shaped leaves. It bears a heavy and quite ornamental crop of light orange fruit to about 1" long, maybe slightly longer, with conspicuous oil dots in the rind. The rind itself is sweet, full of orange flavor. The sections are sour, and the experience is all about the play of sweet against sour, with aromatic orange flavoring suffusing everything. For the best experience let the fruit afterripen off the plant and lose more of their acidity. It bears better fruit inland where it gets proper heat. Few seeds. Very frost hardy, to around 20F. rev 2/2010

Lemons and Lemon-like Varieties, Citrons, Hybrids, or most anything sour and yellow  ornamental wall shrub, Filoli  lemons themselves seem to be descended from a citron, native to the foothills of the Himalayas, crossed with a sour orange. So there is really no such thing as a "true lemon." Just a "true citron." But that's okay, we know what you mean anyway. Extant varieties appear to be mutations of previous strains. They are tender, and don't take much frost, except for 'Meyer,' which is likely a hybrid with a mandarin or orange anyway. Lemons are probably the most responsive citrus of all to fertilizer. They will let you know if they want more and they will let you know if they are happy. They also all have noticeable, large, fragrant flowers with a scent that carries well off the plant. Lemons are always afterripened before being brought to market, to allow breakdown of pectins, resulting in juicier fruit.

     It is easy to take lemons for granted in California. You have to hear a Brazilian citrus grower wax on poetically about how much he loves lemons, how intrigued he is by them, how much he loves everything about them, to appreciate the difficulty of being able to grow a good lemon. They need it warm, but cool at night, a cool winter, but almost no frost, and relatively dry air most of the time. These conditions apply to a very small fraction of the Earth's surface. You can't grow them in the tropics, it is too hot and they get all kinds of leaf and fruit diseases. And they are famously frost tender. So only the warmer Mediterranean-climate areas can produce them well. In the tropics 'Bearss' ('Tahitian') lime is the substitute, being acidic and yellow at maturity, especially in tropical heat. It is not well regarded by those who lust after lemons. But that is why they call it "limon" in most of Central and South America, and accounts for much confusion.  rev 3/2010 

'Seedless' ('Seedless Lisbon')  mature plant, never pruned, 13 years old on Carrizo   fruit   sectioned  usually sold as 'Seedless Lisbon' but not actually derived from 'Lisbon.' The fruit and tree are so close you would think so though. All the same fine flavor and growth characteristics, but without the seeds. Strongly acid, high fragrance, on a robust and fast growing plant, a shameless 12' tall by 15' across at full maturity. Determined pruning can keep it at half that size. Like 'Lisbon' it can take a year or two to settle down and start producing fruit. Produces fewer lemons than the regular 'Lisbon,' but that is still certainly a peck more than you can ever use anyway. rev 2/2010

'Variegated Pink Eureka'  mature plant, zone 9   foliage   fruit   sectioned  this interesting sport of 'Eureka' bears highly variegated foliage, with leaves broadly margined in ivory and splashed and streaked with ivory and light jade green. It also bears quite ornamental fruit, striped yellow and green when young, with salmon pink interiors. It isn't quite a clean enough pink to make proper Pink Lemonade by itself, but it is a start, and it has "true lemon" flavor. The acidity and flavor are substantially weaker than on a regular lemon. The tree's highly attractive color and form weigh heavily in making it a superior garden subject to the regular 'Eureka,' which is a gawky, difficult-to-control, vigorous grower. It doesn't produce quite as heavily but since it still provides probably a factor of ten times more fruit than the average homeowner can use anyway, its ornamental qualities makes it much more valuable. The variegated foliage tends to restrict branch growth and this variant is a handsome and shapely subject, much smaller than the straight green 'Eureka.' This variety is really a valuable landscape item in its own right, citrus or not. It is clean and striking and pleasant to view. The deep purple new growth makes for a tricolor effect and it is really good in containers too. As you can maybe tell, I like this variety a lot. The fact it produces such interesting and worthwhile fruit is just glazing on the lemon tart. rev 2/2010

Limes and Green Lime-like Varieties  "true" limes are somewhat of a puzzle, since their parentage isn't fully known. They are likely mostly of separate derivations. They are the only class of commonly available citrus that appear to have at least one ancestor outside of the three primary original species (mandarin, citron, pummelo). Limes may be a citron-lemon hybrid or be a hybrid of a citron with one of the wild lime-like relatives. The best feature of limes is their higly perfumed rinds. 'Mexican' ('Key') lime is tops for this, all others are measured against it for quality. rev 2/2010

'Bearss' ('Persian,' 'Tahitian')   sectioned   fruit on the branch    semidwarf, 12 years old    Gene Lester's  this is probably best known as 'Persian,' because Bearss didn't really have anything to do with its origin. But then again neither did Persia, except that it passed through there on its way to Tahiti. And in some tropical countries, 'Persian' lime equals a different, acidless, sweet eating selection ("lima") so it is all very confusing. As mentioned in the Lemon subject header, this is what is raised in much of the tropics where lemons can't be raised, and it is often refered to as "limon" because it is yellow at maturity, and sour. It probably originated near Tunisia. This is usually sold here primarily as a 'Mexican' lime substitute, and it can serve for that. In my moderate experience it is variable, but defiintely most lime-like early in the season. Compared to 'Mexican' lime it has a more delicate, sweet flavor, is less acidic, is shiny green to yellow green as it approaches maturity, then pale yellow when ripe, has seedless flesh (it is a probable triploid), is larger (to 2"), and is slightly hardier to frost. It can be green to pale yellow inside at maturity. This fruit will hold until fully ripe, then fall. Some people incorrectly assume this is a hybrid between a lemon and a lime, and they aren't far off as far as to where aroma, flavor and acidity can fall. For some this is a perfectly acceptable lime substitute, larger and more substantial than 'Eustis' Limequat, and truer in flavor than 'Tavares' Limequat. It even supports a commercial industry in Southern California. If it is big, and shiny, and green, and it is in a store, it is almost certainly this. The sweetened juice is pretty good, but nowhere near as floral and impressive as that from Mexican Lime. Makes a decent container plant but gets large, so needs regular pruning. This variety inherently carries a genetic disorder called Wood Pocket, and starts to decline after about 15 years. If you have the climate to grow "true" lemons, you can grow this lime. rev 2/2010 

'Eustis Limequat'  sectioned   10 year old plant   on the branch  I am keeping this where it should be properly considered, not with the kumquats. This is an enormously useful little dynamo, almost completely ignored and definitely under-appreciated. They are passable as a kumquat, but with acid lime/sweet lime rind flavor as opposed to acid orange/sweet orange in true kumquats. And honestly, the rind never gets as wonderfully sweet as it can in kumquats, nor as fragrant as 'Mexican' lime. But its true value lies in application as a lime substitute: it may be the best lime-type citrus you can grow after 'Mexican' lime, which is iffy or worse in most of California for frost reasons, as well as a gigantic plant even on dwarfing rootstocks. I consider this one of the best citrus of all for home gardens, because it produces so much fruit from such a small plant and it can be tucked in almost anywhere. It bears clouds of small, 3/4" - 1" wide by 1" - 1 3/4" long fruit, almost as big as Mexican limes, that turn medium yellow at full maturity. When used as they just start to turn from green they have a good, true lime flavor, with about equal acidity in cooler areas and only slightly less where summers are very warm. Seeds are minimal. It can take about as much frost as a kumquat, which is lots (24-25F?) and keeps on producing, though it will lose fruit below 27F. It is equally at home on the coast or inland. By all rights it should be wildly popular: it is climatically adaptable and cold hardy (grows pretty near anywhere), it fruits heavily and consistently and year-round, it is pale green inside (never underestimate the importance of color on perceived flavor!), it tastes as good or better than a real lime, it has a similar, wonderfully spicy, almost allspice-like true lime rind aroma, it has few seeds, it is small and dense and attractive and willowy, and it can be grown handily in almost any size container. About the only drawbacks are that the fruit are small and they lack the true  heavy floral/bubblebath rind fragrance of 'Mexican' limes. It makes good limeade, quite intense, and equally killer Margaritas. You just need to mix equal amounts of lime or limequat juice with Tequila, add a splash of Triple Sec to taste, and then ice. Chris Hall recommends Cointreau instead of Triple Sec because it is a truer source of real orange essence. Once you taste one of those you are going to need a long row of these useful little trees. Another of its higher uses is in my favorite Chardonnay, called Gin and Tonic. I sold quite a few of these plants when I worked in retail, and I never once had a dissatisfied customer come back. In comparison, consider the competition: the 'Rangpur' is just a really sour orange, interesting for other uses, and acidic, but lacking any true lime flavor. 'Bearss' is probably a better lime subsitute for those who can almost grow real limes. But it is still very  tender, and in cool areas the lime flavor goes lacking. 'Tavares' limequat is slightly larger, but often the wrong color (yellow orange at maturity, yellow inside) and has stronger orange/kumquat flavor that tends to overwhelm the lime essence. Zones 8-9, 13-24. rev 2/2010

'Mary Ellen'  SWEET LIME, LIMA  sectioned   closeup   5 years, C35  a sweet lime, more properly an acidless lime, since under very cool conditions they have neither aicidity nor sweetness, and therefore taste "like a drink of water," as Gene Lester so perfectly describes it. However even near the coast these can develop enough flavor and lime essence to satisfy the craving in those who say they will just die without this fruit. This includes Mexicans and other Central and South Americans, Middle Easterners, Indians, and Southeast Asians. This fruit is so popular with our workers that they will cut slits into our plastic stock plant greenhouses and steal the fruit. As far as many of them are concerned, this is the bestfruit of all on Earth. This grows as a large, rounded plant to about 7-8' high and can be extremely heavy bearing. It is somewhat more frost tolerant than Mexican Limes, but not much. This is a seedling selection of Mexican Sweet Lime, the similar Palestine Sweet Lime is essentially identical but has a sweet (as opposed to bitter) rind. That shouldn't be a major point of distinction, since our own seedlings were about half sweet, half bitter rinds.  These sweet limes aren't true limes at all, but according to genetic analysis belong in a weird twilight zone hybrid grouping that was formed by the unnatural coupling of a sour orange with a citron. Zones 8-9, 13, 16, 19-24. rev 5/2010

'Mexican'  MEXICAN LIME, KEY LIME   sectioned    C35 and Carrizo, 16 years old   Mexican Limes have the best flavor of all limes. The rind aroma is quite floral in nature (but also righteously bitter), almost perfumy (their diagnostic feature), the flesh is strongly suffused with lime essence and is highly acidic. In the tropics they will mature to green (as will most citrus, including oranges) but in California they color more strongly (cool nights) to a light, blond-yellow when mature, though the interior will be light green. Heaviest fruiting is mid winter but they are mostly everbearing. When the December-January crop is ripe it will positively rain off the tree. This is the small, usually yellow, dull, lumpy, humble thing you often find sold by the bag in ethnic markets, or even large supermarkets where there are lots of Central American or Asian immigrants. It is superior in almost every way to the bigger, much greener, shiny, beautiful looking limes ('Bearss') that most shoppers gravitate to. Try using 2-3 fruit squeezed into a glass, with at least a tablespoon of sugar for each fruit, and 2-3 drops of vanilla extract, for a killer limeade. Use it in Margaritas. Make real Key Lime Pie using these real 'Key' limes (not 'Bearss'!) then bring me some because that is probably my favorite dessert! (Zones 9, 13, 16, 19-24. rev 5/2010

'Mexican Thornless'  MEXICAN LIME, KEY LIME  sectioned   C35, 13 years old   The main problem with Mexican lime is that it is the most tender citrus, along with citrons. The second biggest problem is that they are depressingly thorny. The third problem is that they grow very large. A large, tender, thornless lime is better than a large, tender, thorny lime, except that it grows about 25% larger than the thorny version and bears about half as much fruit. But since the fruit tend to come off the plant heavily (heavily!) in late winter I can guarantee you will have far more than you need anyway. Zones 9, 13, 16, 19-24. rev 5/2010

'Palestine Sweet'   sectioned   shape, 22 years on standard rootstock this is functionally identical with 'Mary Ellen,' but it has a sweet (edible) as opposed to bitter rind. It is of Middle Eastern derivation as opposed to Central American origin, but most likely we are talking about the same plant. Like 'Mary Ellen' this fruit will turn deep gold, almost light orange when fully ripe, often shows a large, rounded, distal nipple, and can hold on the counter for a couple of months after picking, becoming even sweeter and more flavorful. This can bear very heavily. I have seen a tree so completely packed with fruit the branches were splitting the main trunk. It tends towards a spreading habit. Like 'Mary Ellen,'  this sweet limes isn't a true lime at all, but according to genetic analysis belongs in a weird twilight zone hybrid grouping that was formed by the unnatural coupling of a sour orange with a citron. I have seen specimens undamaged by a freeze that cut back Mexican limes and citrons. Zones 8-9, 13, 15-16, 19-24. rev 5/2010  *NEW for 2010! 

'Purut' ('Kaffir,' 'Kuffre,' 'Makrut')  fruit   young leaf detail   mature foliage   mature plant (left)   Citrus hystrix. Sold as "Kaffir" lime by most. But the word "Kaffir" is known mostly as an offensive slur, Afrikaans, refering to colored peoples, and here the name was probably applied through confusion with one of its Thai names, Kuffre. Best used is the name from one of its countries of origin, Indonesia, where it is called  jeruk  purut (je-rook puh-ruut, with jeruk meaning citrus) according to our wonderful Indonesian interns. The attractive mature-phase leaf is large, broad, rather strange and tropical looking, being divided into two almost even pieces, a proximal petiole lobe and larger distal blade lobe. It has value as a foliage plant as well as for culinary use. The leaf itself and fruit are used as a spice in cuisines of Southeast Asia, primarily Thailand and Indonesia. The leaf smell is distinctly and strongly lime, cleaner and less musky than the foliage of 'Mexican' Lime. It bears knobby, convoluted, deep green fruit with green interiors, from 1 1/2 - 2 1/2" across, that ripen to lemon yellow, often borne in clusters but not produced very heavily, at least in our climate. The fruits are quite attractive and ornamental as table decorations, especially when mixed with a variety of other citrus. The rind has more of the intense aroma. The fruit is sour and authentically lime in flavor, with a touch of grapefruit, moderately juicy, seedy, and intensely and persistently and quite memorably bitter, leaving the inside of your mouth coated with an obnoxious oily residue that doesn't go away for hours if you make the sad mistake of tasting the rind. Supposedly the juice is quite good at removing leeches, or for treating hair lice. I believe it. My interns say the fruit is used in Indonesian cooking as well as the leaves, and Joe Schulz (India Joe) says in his extensive Southeast Asian culinary expeditions he often found whole fruits being used in various dishes, just grated or ground up into whatever was being prepared. It is a large, somewhat open, ropy grower if unpruned, to 6-8' tall, sprawling, and mature foliage gets at least 6-7" long, with a tough, leathery texture. This is a tender plant, and it and the citrons will be the first varieties harmed in a hard freeze. A plant did survive at Gene Lester's during the freezes of 1998 and 1990, with temperatures at 25F and 20F (or lower!) respectively. Zones 8-9, 13, 16-17, 19-24. rev 2/2010 

Limettas   a small group of slightly strange citrus, comprised of three commercially available variants, all of which are noticeably different from each other in terms of acidity. Often lumped with limes or lemons, they actually form a small but discrete cluster that is interesting to the fruit enthusiast, breeder, cook, and collector. They all have large, round, distinct, recessed distal nipples and very interesting and useful rind fragrances. rev 5/2010

Mandarins and Hybrids (Tangelos, Tangors, etc.)   C. reticulata, one of the three basic root varieties of citrus. Also generally known incorrectly as "tangerines," a term properly reserved as a trade name for 'Dancy' Clementines imported from Tangiers. Mandarins are usually small and basically orange-like, but are almost always very sweet, intensely flavored, and heavy bearing. Gene Lester observes, "There are hundreds of mandarins, and they are almost all very good." The one drawback common to almost all mandarins, allmandarins, is that they will tend to fall into an alternate bearing pattern. One way to handle this is to have two varieties, and strip one tree the first year and the second tree the next. That way you always have one tree with a crushing level of production while the other is saving its strength. With single trees you must thin. Also important is stripping old fruit before next year's flowering because held fruit will strongly inhibit bloom. In its most severe form, known as "Murcott collapse" after the outstanding and extremely heavy bearing 'W. Murcott' variety' that is particularly prone to this malady, the entire tree just dies from carbohydrate exhaustion. It puts everything it has into one fantastic, ultimate, blow-out, mother of a branch-breaking fruit party, then has nothing left, and so dies. Mandarins have a distinctive odor, hard to define, complex, a mix of several critical essences, but variously musky, orangey, wine-like, and often rue or caper-like as well. The varying levels of these aromas are what make them such an interesting group by themselves and for breeding. rev 2/2010

'Dancy'  TANGERINE   have a slice!   heavy crops    nice tree  a medium size fruit of American origin grown for its rich flavor, ease of peeling, intense color, and the fact it was ready for the holidays. The seedling tree was of fruit from trees originally from Tangiers, and hence the name, whch has become loosely synomymous with "Mandarins." A tangerine (Clementine) is a mandarin but most mandarins aren't tangerines. This is a typical Clementine with sweet flavor, low acidity, round shape, soft texture, very juicy flesh, seedy interiors, and early ripening period. One difference is that it has a slightly pine-like flavore, similar to Retsina, as an undertone. This was formerly a very important commercial variety but it has been replaced recently by less handling-tender varieties. A medium size, dense plant, it produces flattened round fruit, and very small neck and indented base. The tree is compact and quite showy when in full fruit, and is a typical alternate bearer. This variety is best in the hottest areas and like other Clementines it tends to be acidic in cool, coastal regions. rev 6/2010  *NEW for 2010! 

'Daisy'  whole    sectioned   box    big (your eyes say 4" across, easy but the ruler says just over 3 1/2"), deep red orange, almost round, but slightly flattened. The sections are filled with large textured, firm vesicles that are moderately juicy. This is a large, moderately strongly flavored mandarin-type hybrid that should be intense enough to please the citrus pro but not so much that it overwhelms the amateur afficianado (me, you). It is more mild when fully ripe, especially when afterripened (cured), very juicy, with strong mandarin flavor but also good sweetness, and with a faint and pleasant mandarin bitterness. It can be successful in near coastal-environments, growing and ripening well for Gene Lester in Watsonville. The section membranes tend to be a little tough in homage to its pummelo parentage, but is is low in seeds. This is a good one to eat sliced into vertical sections. UCR says this is a hybrid between 'Fremont' and 'Fortune' and better than either parent, and having tasted all I would agree. The rind has vanilla, pineapple, tangerine fragrance and a faint, pleasant musky undertone close to that of soursop or other Annonaceous fruits. It grows as a large plant, with large leaves. rev 5/2010 *NEW for 2010! 

'Fallglo'   fruit   5 years, Carrizo, at Lindcove   this large (an honest 3" across), slightly flattened mandarin matures to a light, almost yellow orange color. It has a very interesting, wine-like flavor,with a touch of lime, and a hint of typical musky mandarin on top of the usual "tangerine" flavor we expect from mandarins. It is very sweet, moderate to low in acidity, and moderately seedy. The fruit are very heavy and the skins fill well. Due to its mild impact we could probably sell lots, since low/moderate intensity citrus are so widely popular. The name comes from the fact that supposedly you can begin to harvest it in October. I haven't had it before January, and it was pretty good then, so I wonder how acidic early fruit is going to be. The tree is a quick grower and is about the same size on either C35 or Carrizo. It is dense, fine textured, evenly shaped and makes a good ornamental. rev 2/2010 

'Gold Nugget'   sectioned   fruit   12 years old, unpruned, C-35   this is a relatively new UC Riverside breeding program release (1999), bred from two obscure parents ('Wilking' and 'Kincy'), that is small in size (to about 1 1/2"), round, medium orange to yellow orange, with  coarse, poorly defined vertical ribs, seedless or almost so, even in mixed groves, has an intense flavor, high sweetness, and an excellent sweet/sour balance. The originators state that taste test panels rate it "one of the very best flavored citrus in the world." I like it but I don't think it is that much better than many other mandarins. I can personally report that what is most enjoyable about this variety is that it is a nice, smallish size, it is easy to peel, it is of only moderate acidity, the orange-tangerine essences are quite intense, and it has the distinct, additional sprightly flavor of pineapple. The skin is low in Mandarin muskiness. It is usually identical in size on either C-35 or Carrizo, somewhat large in hot summer areas and substantially smaller in coastal inland valleys. It is very heavy bearing, and heavy fruit set on long branches can induce a semiweeping habit. It is quite useful also since it ripens beginning in March, which is very late, and holds well on the tree until May or June in Riverside and probably much longer in cooler Northern California climates. rev 2/2010

'Honey' ('California Honey')  sectioned    peeled    mature tree   at the Lester Estate   heavy fruit set in Watsonville  this thing needs a new name because it gets confused with the other citrus that stores sell as "Honey," which is actually straight 'Murcott,' not to be confused with 'W. Murcott,' which is different. Got that? So this is best known as 'California Honey.' This is an almost round (instead of flattened), 2 1/2 - 3" fruit that is light yellow orange, with a rough skin (instead of smooth, and shiny, and often mottled green) that is thick and easy to peel, sometimes coming off in one piece. Inside are segments with large vesicles that are almost chewy, have a low juice content, and an almost bland, almost straight orange flavor. In flavor and texture the two "Honeys" are actually rather close. The pummelo influence is clearly evident in the vesicle size and lack of juice and the lack of acidity. This is a good variety to try in coastal areas just because it starts with low acidity, and so should be a little more tart and interesting in cooler areas. rev 3/2009

'Kishu Seedless'  four years, C-35   closeup  sectioned  this is currently a heavily promoted and quite popular variety. Its positive attributes are that it is heavily productive, moderately sweet, of very low acidity, has a moderately strong orange flavor, is easy enough to peel that you can do it with one hand, and can be eaten by the armload. The puffy skins on the small, 1-1 1/2" wide fruit sometimes are so loosely filled by the segments that they are baggy, and look stepped on. But inside there is a little round fruit rattling around that you can easily pop into your mouth in one bite. This is being recommended as a great fruit for children since it is seedless and so easy to peel and not that intense or overpowering in flavor. And you don't have to bite into it to start to peel it and thus irritate the edges of your mouth with rind oil. Its one big drawback, that it will neither fall nor hang. It starts to rot from the stem end when it has passed maturity, and sometimes you won't know it until you open it. However if you are hitting your tree hard at harvest time they will likely be coming off as they deepen in color, and so staying too long on the tree will never be a problem. If you don't eat all the fruit right away the old pieces should be stripped from the plant. A compact grower, slightly larger on Carrizo. rev 2/2010 

'Minneola'  fruit   on the table   sectioned   12 years old, C-35  one of my personal favorites, a hybrid of a grapefruit ('Duncan', the very best flavored, though very seedy) with 'Dancy' tangerine. It isn't new, it was developed in the 1930s, but it has only risen to produce market prominence relatively recently. It often develops to a deep red orange color, though the interior is always medium orange, and has at least some kind of defined neck, though other tangelos can also show this last characteristic. There really is no equal to it when picked perfectly ripe, raised in a properly hot climate  (easy in Sunset zones 8-9, 14, 18-21, with a little more time in 15-16 and 22-24, adequate but appreciated in 17), and properly fertilized to dark green leaf color. When perfectly ripe it has a good balance of sweet and sour, with heavy, tangy pummelo and mandarin flavors, hints of chardonnay, and a slightly musky aroma. It tends to be very soft at full maturity. Many citrus only have the potential to reach limited quality, even at perfect ripeness, but this one can be exceptional. My first experience with a GOOD 'Minneola' was at Bob "The Pecan Man" Winters' home orchard, on sandy loess soils on the north side of Fresno, on the way to a Sierra morel collecting trip in spring with Dave Arora and Ed Aguilar, back in the late eighties, if I remember the date correctly, and I seldom do. Bob walked up to his tree and carefully looked the fruit over, then selected one and handed it to me. Then he stood back to watch my reaction. I peeled it and tried a section and right then and there everything just instantly stopped. I heard harps playing, and the sun shone on golden clouds against a pure sapphire blue sky, and for about thirty seconds I was overwhelmed with the powerful flavor and with the realization of just how good citrus can be when they are done really right. Then the hands of the clock began to move again and I came back to reality and there was Bob standing there, grinning at me. The primary problem with 'Minneola' is that it is inconsistent. As often as you find good fruit in the store you find mediocre or bland fruit. Even worse is when it is underripe and acid, because it can be memorably acidic if it isn't ready. In the home garden it will vary more than most citrus from year to year. But at least there you can let it hang to full maturity for best results. And full maturity rarely comes before February or March and can extend into April, even in the Central Valley. I tasted Bob's fruit on a morel hunting expedition to the Sierras when snow was melting at around 6,000'. Avoid early fruit, and choose those that are heavy, with very smooth skin, where the pores have almost disappeared. This variety is often recommended paired with a pollinator, which is a waste of time for most home gardeners. Though the plant sets more fruit with a pollinator, in fact it sets too much and then it just needs to be thinned for proper size and sweetness. Plus the pollinator initiates seeds, because it is seedless if planted in relative isolation. The fruit will be bigger with seeds, but again you are probably going to have more than enough anyway. Avoid the pollinator. It makes a reasonably good variety for zone 17, though it will always be a little more of what they call "sprightly," but just let it hang and hang and hang and it will continue to sweeten. With experience you can intercept it before it gets overripe (segments dry and puffy), and thus it makes a valuable addition to the limited list of varieties suitable to cooler areas if handled properly. Also, being half pummelo, it definitely benefits from afterripening to lower the acidity and bring out the more subtle flavors.  rev 2/2010 

'Nova'  fruit   16 years Carrizo (front) C35 back  really, really good, consistently one of my favorites. This is a wonderful hybrid of a Clementine ('Fina') with 'Orlando' Tangelo. It is a very intense, moderate acidity-high sugar level-high essential flavors fruit, mostly orange-flavored in nature but with a good, sprightly mandarin bite. It is usually mostly seedless, unless grown in highly mixed blocks, and characteristically very firm, to the point of being almost hard, but dissolving into lots of juice when eaten. There is something very satisfying about the hard nature of this fruit coupled with the intense flavor. It is the opposite of a citrus that is quite soft and wet in nature and thus dissolves into a mess of juice all over yourself when you try to peel it. It is small, medium to deep orange inside and out, mostly round to somewhat flattened, 2 - 2 3/4" across, with a slightly indented base and a miniscule neck when very ripe. It is very easy to peel once you get it started. It also does well cut into vertical wedges. I have had high quality fruit grown in relatively cool conditions and it does even better in hot summer climates. The fruit appear to hold well until ripe. They also hold extremely well after picking due to its partial pummelo heritage. I have had excellent fruit up to two months after picking, and they will last even longer than that in a cool location than sitting on my kitchen counter like my fruit did. This is an excellent home garden variety. Grows the same size on either C35 or Carrizo rootstocks. According to Lance Waldheim, it often does not produce really good fruit until several to five years old, and Gene Lester reiterates this. rev 3/2010 

'Orlando'   beautiful sections   Ken Brizzi and Keith Miner help out an overburdened tree  a mandarin/pummelo hybrid (tangelo) with a strong, tangy orange flavor and just a hint of mandarin. It is strongly flavored, and sweet, and most importantly I have had fruit from relatively cool locations that has been of very good quality. This would be a good orange substitute, or another mandarin for those looking for varieties for near-coastal regions. The fruit are small, not over 2 1/2" across, deep orange, with a flat bottom and a vestigal navel. Sometimes have they have ridges, and there is a puckered top but no neck. It is very "wet" (juicy), moderately seedy in mixed blocks, and tough to peel. That's okay, because I eat almost all citrus sectioned vertically into eighths, being the fastest and most efficient way to go through a bag of fruit. It is easier to remove the seeds and involves the least amount of chewing effort. rev 3/2010  *NEW for 2010! 

'Ortanique'   fruit   typical yield   untended tree at Gene Lester's  this is a compact, very nice looking tree that arose as a presumed natural hybrid in Jamaica, classified as a "tangor," or tangerine (Mandarin) x orange hybrid. It produces medium size fruit, with a short neck, that has a very good, strong, rich, intense (i.e. both acidic and very sweet at the same time) and distinctive mandarin flavor, and is very juicy. Late in the season it is low in acidity, high in sugar, and very juicy. It is a little difficult to peel, and of variable seediness (depends on its neighbors), so my favorite way to eat it is to cut it into vertical wedges. It is late ripening, February and March in Central Valley and Southern California locations. This is a fruit I had heard about for years and never tried until last year in Gene Lester's garden. I didn't expect much, thinking it would be just another sour, tangerine-like thing. Was I wrong - I was quite impressed. This is a very good variety! Especially since the fruit I tasted was raised in a heat-challenged area. I don't know why this fruit isn't offered in stores very often except that there just isn't room on the produce shelf for many of the great citrus hybrids out there, and when it is offered it is often under another name. The fact that it is hard to peel and has seeds probably relegates it to second rank in the produce world, but this should be a great home garden variety. The tree looks good (compact, dense) and bears heavily. rev 2/2010

'Pixie'  fruit    heavy bearing     12-14 years, C-35  This is a usually average size mandarin, to 2" across, or a little less, of medium orange color, very sweet, seedless, and quite easy to peel. It gets good after the first of the year and achieves a very high sugar-acid ratio and so is very popular. It is very, very good but not what you would call "intense," just very sweet. It has high consumer appeal and there is a message there. It can also hold on the tree into summer. It produces heavily, on a large tree. This is a UCR development released in the mid Sixties. rev 3/2009 

'Ponkan'  fruit    28 years old, trifoliate   big fruit!  this is a wonderful fruit, the most popular variety in the home of the mandarin orange, China. The relationship to the Satsuma group is clear, with its mild, subacid flavor and loose, baggy skin. It is a substantially larger, more open grower than any Satsuma however, and quite vigorous. It is also heavy bearing, with gobs of shiny light orange fruit hanging off it. The fruit on young trees is also larger, large enough to fill your hand. The skin is light orange, characteristically baggy, dimpled, puckered at the top, and with a short neck. The base is indented. When you section it horizontally it shows a distinctive star shaped center. It has a few seeds. It is quite sweet, with excellent, high quality flavor, and after eating about a shopping bag's worth at one sitting I understood why it is the most popular mandarin in China. Fruits are best eaten peeled and sectioned. The tree shown was stumped off in 2008 and had partially grown back at the time of my visit in 2009. The fruit were not very numerous because of that, but they were about twice as big as those borne by the previous aged canopy.  In China this is very much valued, and it has been used in breeding in an attempt make use of its superior sweetness and size. rev 3/2009 

Satsuma  The root strain of this Japanese mandarin seems to go back to 550 A.D. according to James Saunt's excellent "Citrus Varieties of the World." The modern range of selections and variants all emulate the original US introduction, 'Owari,' but differ mostly in bearing time. A few show small differences in flavor, especially sweetness or sweet/sour intensity, or peeling qualities. In its original country fruit from trees less than ten years old is considered clearly inferior, and I can personally attest to the increase in quality as trees age. Growers here also notice that their best Satsuma variety is often the one that is the oldest tree, though Owari usually shines over the "improved" varieties for cooler areas. There are some new introductions that may offer improved cold hardiness but they haven't been properly evaluated yet. Semidwarf rootstock yields plants in the 8-10' range at old maturity, unpruned. They are usually clothed in broad, ornamental foliage held on somewhat long, weeping branches. rev 2/2010

'Owari'  on Troyer, 12 years old, Lindcove  The standard since the Sixties, and the most familiar variety to nursery personnel and homeowners. Recently it is being replaced commercially by close derivations, many of which maintain higher acidity levels under the hotter conditions found in the commercial production areas or, mostly, vary slightly in bearing period to help spread out the crop. Rather light colored, with a distinctively loose skin, mild mandarin flavor, and low acidity. Dependable. Ornamental. Sweet. Good on the coast, good inland. Frost hardy. Usually seedless. Beloved by children. Beloved by adults. Ornamental. Compact. Large, dark green leaves with a beautiful pendant habit. Do I need to keep going? The fruit can be somewhat bland some years in very hot climates, but in the coastal inland valleys and directly along the coast our cooler conditions maintains higher acidity. And while less sweet the fruit have more character, plus they are always juicy. This is one of the types you plant if you are someone who finds some citrus just too intense and overwhelming. The fruit can be up to 2 full inches across, but almost always smaller in home gardens, somewhat flattened in shape, with either tight or loose, almost baggy skin. This is one of the very easiest to peel citrus on the planet; often I can do it with one hand. The drawback is that they tend to pull a hole in the top when you try to get it off the plant, and so should be cut (Lysol those clippers first!) if you want them to hold for a while. In all climates this will be one of the first of all citrus to ripen but will hold reasonably well in coastal climates, much less so inland. In Santa Cruz my tree produced from December through March and they never got puffy and dry because we ate them all first. This is the variety that trained my son and daughter to love citrus. To 5-7' after many years on semidwarf rootstock, unpruned. One of the best for containers because of its attractive foliage and habit, and slow growth.  rev 2/2010

'Shasta Gold'® PP 15,461   fruit   Carrizo rootstock, 17 years, with Maya  Another UC release, this one TDE-2 (they go in order, and 1 hasn't been released yet). Deep red orange fruit have an attractive, knobby appearance. Fruit are somewhat flattened, 3" across ("Mammoth" in the California Mandarin standards), deep orange inside, seedless or almost so due to being triploid, quite juicy, and heavily produced in an alternate bearing pattern. They are easy to peel and section and are best eaten that way as opposed to being sliced into vertical wedges or horizontally because the segment skins can be tough and chewy in the center. The flavor on this one is solid, very sweet, with only moderate acidity at full maturity, and with a noticeable and quite pleasant flavor somewhat like pineapple. It is almost seedless. Fruit holds very well on the kitchen counter. The plant resembles all the others, with broad, deep green leaves and a somewhat pendant, compact habit. It is relatively thorny. Gene Lester, growing in a "warm" coastal environment says his fruit is ready 3-4 months after that of Lindcove, so figure cooler areas will be even later. rev 2/2010

'Tahoe Gold'® PP 15,461  Carrizo rootstock, 15 years    fruit sectioned   should be called "Tahoe Red." Another new, upcharged UC release (1992), used to be TDE-3. Quite similar to 'Yosemite' and 'Shasta,' (and also TDE-1, the only unreleased seedling) being a high intensity, high acidity/high sugar fruit with a large (to 3") deep reddish orange, shiny, flattened exterior, with orange, almost seedless interiors that are very juicy. The fruit is heavy for its size, and heavily produced on a compact, spreading plant . Like the other two Golds it is best used in hot-summer areas since I have only heard one opinion from someone west of the inland coastal valleys (Gene Lester) who said it was "just okay." I have tasted it at Lindcove and liked it quite a bit, but then I had also tasted about 75 other citrus that day and the exact memory of this fruit eludes me, except that it was excellent, quite intense, and similar to the other Golds. When I tasted it again during a photo shoot I decided I like the vanilla/coumarin flavor of this one very much, along with the strong, strong mandarin flavor and even grape-like tones. I also like the lack of segment membrane toughness found in the other Golds. It ripens in January and February in warm climates and doesn't hold long, but it lasts well after picking. One very striking aspect is how red and shiny the fruit are. This tree makes a first class ornamental if you have the climate (read "high summer heat" and "cool winter nights") to redden the fruit properly. Like all the Golds it will want to alternate bear. Gene Lester says his variety does the poorest for him of the three "Golds." rev 5/2009  

'Temple'  interior   on C35, thirteen years old  a large, very deep red, very strongly flavored hybrid, technically a "tangor" or tangerine (mandarin) x orange hybrid. It is definitely a warm-climate grower, needing both less frost and warmer growing conditions than most mandarins. When well grown, and even as importantly well cured (stored after picking), the acidity levels drop, the relative sweetness increases, and the fine quality of the intense flavor components is evident. The fruit are very fragrant, with vanilla (coumarins), musk, and floral aromas quite evident. When grown in cooler areas, if at all underripe, or if eaten too soon after picking, it is what we refer to as "highly zingy." It has been used as a parent for the excellent UC "gold" series, contributing size, interior and exterior color, and flavor. It grows as a moderate size tree with large leaves, ornamental fruit, and compact habit. Zones 9, 13, 16, 21, 23. rev 6/2010  *NEW for 2010! 

Oranges  the result of a mandarin crossed with a female pummelo, ancient. Californians are mostly familiar with just two oranges, Washington Navel and Valencia, which are both excellent, excellent varieties. As Gene Lester says, "They don't make a bad navel orange." There are also other Sweet Oranges, but all are basically the same in flavor.  If you have tasted one sweet orange you have tasted them all, and all are good. There is little difference in flavor until you get into the bloods and pink oranges. Most variations on Valencia and Washington marketed today revolve around differences in ripening period. Oranges are also valued for their large and highly fragrant flowers. rev 3/2009

Blood Oranges  a generic term, includes 'Moro,' 'Tarocco,' 'Sanguinelli,' 'Ruby,' and 'Red Valencia.' The individual varieties are treated alphabetically here, with all the other oranges. Blood oranges arise spontaneously in all oranges, just as red variants can in most citrus. Many claim they taste better than regular oranges. Never underestimate the value of color on perceived flavor. Personally I find blood oranges to be a little more acidic than regular oranges, and a little bitter, but then I often like bitterness. The berry-like flavor might come from the fact that berries are mostly colored and probably flavored by the very same anthocyanin pigments. Claimed health benefits for these pigments will jump start their commercial availability and popularity. Be ahead of the trend for once by planting one now! Now! Good for your brains and good for your veins! Personally I love Blood Oranges and buy them whenever they are available, which is much more often recently.The industry has struggled to find a descriptive label to market them under besides "blood." Lately they have just given up and either sold them under their varietal name ("Moro Orange") or as plain old regular Blood Oranges, where they sell perfectly well. rev 2/2010

'Cara Cara'  fruit  sectioned   12 years, C-35  a pink navel, but not a true blood orange, because it isn't pigmented by anthocyanins. This coloring instead comes from lycopenes, the same ingredient tinting watermelon and grapefruit. It is deep salmon pink, quite attractive, and a better eating experience just because of the color. Never underestimate the value of color on perceived flavor. But most say they taste different from orange navels. Most people prefer Cara Cara to straight Washington Navel. Kids will eat them by the armfuls. In spite of not being new (1976) it is widely unknown and mostly unknown among the general public. It still is not widely available commercially. This was named for the Caracara Ranch in Venezuala, where it was found. A Caracara is a crested omnivorous bird found from the American Southwest through northern South America.  rev 3/2009

'Fukomoto Navel'  12 years old on C-35   reddish fruit   sectioned  a Japanese import via UCR, this is about a month earlier than the industry 'Parent Washington,' fall to early winter in commercial districts. It is a real nice looking tree, lush, dense, compact, dark green, with noticeably redder fruit, substantially darker in rind color than any other navel oranges I had ever seen around, at least as long as they have high heat/cool night conditions. Never underestimate the value of color on perceived flavor. One problem with this variety is it seems picky about rootstocks. Typical outstanding Navel Orange flavor. rev 3/2009 

'Jincheng'  12 years, C35 rootstock   sliced   this is the most popular sweet orange in China, good for both fresh eating and juice. The American variety it most closely resembles would be Valencia, but it is mid-season bearing (December-February) instead of late bearing (March-summer). It is oblong, often with a slight neck, usually with one or two thin, vertical longitudinal ridges, typical in coloration inside and out, and with minimal seeds. The first time I tasted this variety it was noticeably and pleasantly distinct from the other sweet oranges I tasted that day, with an extra lift from some component I couldn't quite identify. Pineapple? Mandarin? Anyway it was different enough that I made a note to try a crop if available, and it was, so I did, and here it is. Subsequently I have not found it to be noticeably different from other sweet oranges but I have also been tasting it much later, which leads me to believe it is possible that distinctive flavor is more evident early in its ripening period. I have noticed it ripened very well in a container here at our nursery when other varieties failed to adequately sweeten, so it very possibly could have application for cool-summer climates. There should also definitely be a strong ethnic interest in this variety that can be exploited by those retailers alert enough to feature it. Like almost all oranges it makes a really nice looking large shrub or small tree.  It keeps for a very long time on the counter. rev 2/2010 

'Lane Late Navel'  sectioned   fruit   14 years old, Troyer rootstock  this import from the Australian industry was selected because it ripens four to six weeks after 'Parent Washington.' It holds well on the tree. Otherwise it is just about identical except it has a smaller navel. rev 3/2009 

'Powell Navel'  this is functionally identical to 'Parent Washington Navel' except it bears later. An Australian import. Typical dense foliage and attractive habit.  rev 3/2009 

     Besides being gigantic many varieties are quite sweet and almost acidless, valuable traits if you want to cross with highly flavored but small or acidic partners. They are all moderately ornamental due to their often quite large foliage but many varieties I have seen have been gawky, somewhat uneven growers, and mostly low to spreading or rounded in their habit. Some are more attractive. Still the fruit is of only spotty availability in stores, and the best types aren't offered commercially, or are only found at a handful of local farmers' markets. If you want the best, you are going to have to grow it for now and the foreseeable future, since citrus imports from where the best kinds grow well (tropical Asia) are likely to continue to be out of the question for disease reasons, and rightfully so. Most of what are sold in stores as "pummelos" are actually grapefruit hybrids and more closely resemble the grapefruits Americans are accustomed to.

     I love pummelos. I have found from experience the best fruit quality for almost all varieties comes after they have been allowed to afterripen on the counter for a few to many weeks after picking. This characteristic holds true for all hybrids with pummelo background as far as I can tell. You should wait until the skin becomes sticky outside, if you can stand it that long, and the rind stays indented when you press your fingers into it. At this point acidity is lower and many of the more subtle flavors and aromas are at their strongest. Also pectins have broken down and the fruit are considerably juicier. This advice applies to pummelos purchased from the store as well. In fact one Chinese variety reportedly will keep a year if well wrapped in paper. Every pummelo I have tried so far except one, which includes Chandler, Reinking, Thong Dee, Kao Phuong, Kao Pan, Hirado Buntan, Ban Peiyu, Sarawak, and Tahitian have all increased in quality with time on the counter. I have held all those varieties as long as three months after ripening and I would say all were better than when freshly picked. The main problem is controlling yourself and being able to wait that long to eat them. The only exception I have found so far is Mato Buntan, which is so low in acidity that it becomes a different fruit with counter time, but not necessarily better. 

     When they are ready, cut off the ends flat, then score the rind vertically and shell it away, then section the fruit vertically into four quarters. Shave off the inner core where the segments meet in the center, then peel back the thin translucent membrane which encloses the actual vesicle mass and flick away any seeds that are visible. Then just eat the exposed vesicles. Repeat. The process is part of the experience, just like eating an artichoke. After you have eaten a few you will probably become an addict like me. If pummelos aren't my very favorite group of citrus of all they are very high on the list. rev 3/2010

'Chandler'  sectioned   tree   fruit  a California hybrid of 'Siamese Sweet' and 'Siamese Pink' produced in 1961. It has a wonderful, sweet, almost acidless flesh that has a light, fragrant aroma. The pulp is an attractive pink color. Holds for a long time after picking. In California it has one main winter harvest. I have had fruit ripened from a warm coastal climate; they were edible and just okay. They might have been better with more hang time but you could tell they were never going to rival those grown in the Central Valley. This is one variety that can be found in stores. rev 3/2009 

'Mato Buntan'  fruit  a large, light yellow variety with whitish to pale yellow or yellow green flesh. The flavor is exceptionally mild, resembling pear trending towards vanilla lime. The most notable characteristic about this variety though is that its fruit are highly fragrant, and when ripe give off the intense aroma of vanilla, either in the field or in your kitchen. I always smell the fruit before I see the plant. This variety is completely unavailable in stores or farmers' markets and is yet another undiscovered treasure of the UC Lindcove Research Station. It is quite large, pear-shaped, with a long, thick, slightly puckered neck. Enjoy them fresh or wait 2-4 weeks after picking to allow the minimal acidity to fall even further and the more subtle flavors to emerge. It will last several months after picking. The plant is low, with large, dark green, tropical looking leaves on a compact plant (for a pummelo, at least). Sound good? If you want it, you gotta grow it! Fruit are ripe when they detach at the slightest touch, or wait for them to fall before collecting. "Buntan" means "pummelo" in Thai, so this is simply "Mato Buntan," not "Mato Buntan Pummelo," which would be redundant. This variety is a big deal in Taiwan and Japan, where pummelos are rightly treasured. To about 5' tall, 8' across. Sunset Zone 9, 16, 21-24/USDA zone 9-10. rev 2/2010

'Melogold'   sectioned   3 years, Carrizo rootstock   halved   on the tree   a sister seedling of 'Oroblanco,' for some reason it is much less widely known. Every time I have tasted them when grown side by side this variety has been sweeter and generally more desirable. It is slightly darker yellow, slightly smaller, just as heavily productive.Culture and history notes are the same as for 'Oroblanco.' Sunset zone 8-9, 16, 21-24, USDA zone 9. rev 7 rev 7/2010  *NEW for 2010! 

'Oroblanco'  four years old, Carrizo   sectioned   on the plant  all one word, notice. This was originally promoted by UCR as the best thing for commercial citrus growers since they invented ammonium sulfate. The reality was that it has mostly been a commercial disappointment, partly because fruit was shipped unripe and got a bad reputation, and partly because it has physical characteristics that make it difficult to use as a true, sliced grapefruit or a true, peeled out-of-hand fruit. Also the skin tends to be thick. The intent was to create a less acidic grapefruit that would let California growers compete with the South. Didn't quite work, but we home growers reap the benefits. It was created in1958 but not released until 1980, and I well remember the anticipation surrounding its arrival. It still has great application in the home garden, since other grapefruits really only ripen properly in southern Texas, where the heat, especially nighttime heat, and winter heat, and humidity levels are all about perfect. If you aren't in southern Texas this is almost certainly one of the best grapefruit-type varieties for homeowners, and if you are away from the coast at all you can get very good quality fruit. It is pale yellow inside and out, and is a Siamese Sweet pummelo (almost acidless) crossed with a white tetraploid grapefruit. It has a sister seedling, 'Melogold,' which is almost identical and probably a little better under all conditions, but less well known. Both are large, often upright growers, and bear their 3-5" light yellow to yellow green fruits in winter, though they both hang very well (good thing!) to ripen longer under less than perfect conditions. I have tasted fruit from rather near the coast and if everything is perfect, full sun, good fertilizer and trace elements, long hang time, it is not bad, but not great. Move to the next valley in from the coast and it is very good. Sunset zone 8-9, 16, 21-24, USDA zone 9. rev 7/2010 

'Reinking'  sectioned   15 years, "standard" (Troyer) rootstock  this is actually a yellow pummelo hybrid, with a slight neck, and sweet, yellow flesh. Like all pummelos it is seedy. The flavor is like sweet grapefruit, mostly acidless, with a distinctly lemony, vanilla musk fragrance when allowed to afterripen to perfection on the counter. It is substantially better at this stage than earlier. It holds pretty well and hangs until ripe, which is good if you are trying to grow it outside the optimal pummelo zones. It makes a more shapely plant than many other pummelos, rather even and compact, with vigorous growth. It originated at the UC Indio Research station as a seedling of 'Kao Phuong' ('Siam,' 'Siamese', Thai group) and Shamouti orange. It behaves like a Thai pummelo, meaning it can set several crops a year in hot climates. This is the second variety that can often be found in stores. rev 3/2009 

'Tahitian'  sectioned   typical plant  closely related to 'Sarawak' pummelo, my very favorite citrus of all. They can almostbe considered synonomous,  and are unfortunately confused in the trade. This is just a seedling of 'Sarawak' (Borneo), grown on in Tahiti, but it varies slightly, being a little larger and stronger flavored but also very slightly more acidic. Very large, quite fragrant, pale yellow green, quite seedy like all pummelos, and tastes like Stewart's Classic Key Lime Soda - intense, sweet, vanilla-lime.  The best way to eat it is to just stand over the kitchen sink with a sharp knife and eat it like an animal because it is extremely juicy. It can also be skinned and shelled and eaten politely with company. You can't buy them in a store, but you might occasionally find some for sale if you happen across the very few farmers' markets that sell them. If you do, buy them. Buy many. Buy them all. They will keep for a very long time. They are not easy to find and I wouldn't expect that to change any time soon. The only reliable way to get your proper fair share of this incredible fruit is to grow it yourself. Luckily I have recently found from Clark Magruder that he ripens this and 'Sarawak' in Santa Cruz, but it takes letting the fruit hang for two years to mature. Not all pummelos will ripen this way. In late winter of the second year you will find the ripe fruits starting to fall by themselves, or detaching when you barely touch them, and this means they have ripened as far as they can on the tree and the quality will be high. Let it afterripen (see pummelo notes, above) for at least 2-4 weeks. Then try one and make sure everyone hears that the fruit is very sour, and bitter, and of poor quality. Then enjoy the fruit secretly without competition. It forms a highly ornamental, short, spreading bush to about 5' tall by 8-10' across. Its tropical looking foliage is quite attractve but it needs shaping or else it can look a little rough. The very large flowers are heavily scented like gardenias. rev 2/2010

'Thong Dee'    fruit properly afterripened    shelled, sectioned, ready to eat    11 years, Carrizo rootstock    a classic, large, rounded pummelo with a slight pear shape, to 5-7" across in California. This is the third pummelo variety I would raise because it is very good, and distinct from what you can buy in a store. It has a flavor between 'Chandler' (more grapefruit-like) and 'Tahitian' (sweet lime and musky vanilla) but also has a distinct, pear-like flavor much like Mato Buntan. It is also about halfway in between for juiciness, not as dry as many pummelos but not dissolving into juice when afterripened like 'Tahitian'/'Sarawak'. The rind has a moderately strong vanilla/coumarin aroma, especially when afterripened, and becomes a deep golden yellow, almost orange, when ready to eat. I don't know how this one will ripen in cooler areas. Gene Lester grows it in his mostly-coastal influenced garden but can't remember how it does. Don't blame him, he has several hundred varieties in his amazing collection, it is okay if he loses track now and again. He promises to get back to me. But it obviously will do fine in zones 9, 16, and 21-24. I have enjoyed fruit kept two months (so far!) on my kitchen counter that showed no signs declining quality. rev 3/2010  *NEW for 2010!  

Australian Finger Lime Microcitrus australasica  ripe fruit   open   15 year old plant, cool climate   Mary with mature plant, UC Riverside CCPP plot  don't confuse this scientific name with M. australis, because that is the Australian Round Lime, another form of ozzie "bush tucker" that is quite good and also the subject of investigation and development. This particular species grows as a small, tree-like shrub or small tree to about 6-8' tall and 5-6' wide, compactly and slowly. It is easily recognized by its very dense, twiggy habit and tiny, tiny, glossy green leaves closely set along the thin, rather whippy, prickly stems. Flowers are small, pink, and are scattered along the branches. Its fruit are composed of four skinny segments wrapped in a thin, leathery skin, about the thickness and length of your little finger, and green aging to red brown when ripe. The fruit don't hold long after ripe, they will drop after a short while. You split the skin and the tiny, very firm, caviar-sized vesicles pop out, so you eat it like you do caviar, popping little round flavor kernels shelled from the thin, leathery, membranaceous skin that normally encloses the segment. It is sour and lime-like, comparable to pummelo or grapefruit in some strains, with a rind odor that is heavily lime-like with a strong pine fragrance thrown in. Marketing types keep trying to incorporate "caviar" into the common name somewhere and once you try it you can see why. Much of the joy of eating this wonderful little fruit comes from the spritz of flavor that comes from crushing each hard little vesicle, the rest comes from keeping your fingers occupied. The small fruit sell for $1.00 each in Australia right now they are in such high demand. When fully ripe the fruit detach easily and the flesh becomes pinkish in the commercial strain available in the US, though in the wild it varies all the way back to green. It mostly flowers in spring and bears in late fall to early winter, but it tends to flower and have some fruit almost all year. Those irrepressibly spunky Australians have planted thousands of seedlings and selected a number of amazing cultivars, like giants, red or black skinned varieties, lemon flavored ones, etc. It offers the most interesting possibilities as a hybridizing parent. The small plant in one photo is at Gene Lester's and bore over 100 fruit in 2006. It survived the 1990 frost temperature of 18F. rev 3/2009

'Bergamot'  fruit   plant  this has recently been a highly confused issue, since 'Bergamots' (there are at least three closely related strains) can look like lemons and are often called that. I even got conflicting info from UCR and our commercial propagator for the first iteration of this section. This is its own thing, neither a lemon nor an orange, but a separate hybrid between a sour orange (juiciness, flavor) and very likely an acid lime or limetta (distinctive floral aroma). This highly fragrant fruit is used for its rind oils, which were the basis for the original 'Eau de Cologne' and are the flavor and smell that make Earl Grey tea so distinctive. They are wonderful for just putting on the counter so they scent the entire room. I tried 'Bergamot' lemonade on a tip from Axel Kratel and it was fantastic. It was so good I would plant one in my yard just for the juice, and that is a strong statement since I have lived with a mature Lisbon lemon and found making lemonade to be hardly worth the trouble. Good, but nothing special and barely different from what comes frozen out of a can. The second time I tried with 'Bergamot' was with younger fruit from a different location, and it was the most bitter citrus I have tasted yet, and that is another strong statement because I have tasted everything that has crossed my path in the interest of saving you the trouble, and believe me there has been some memorably bitter fruit. This time I got four long hours of horrible, clinging aftertaste. I have found that the secret is that you have to make sure you don't get your oily fingers into the pulp when making the juice or it carries that bitter essential oil into the drink. Slice it cleanly, once, and just juice the pulp, and 'Bergamot' lemonade is probably the best citrus drink I have tasted of all. 'Bergamot' fruits are quite distinctive, being mostly flattened and round to dumpy pear-shaped, often with characteristic, rounded, longitudinal ridges and a persistent, post-like calyx remnant at the distal end. These characteristics are easily recognized even in old paintings and woodcuts. They get  large, to 3" across. The aroma is flowery, perfumy, intensely lemony, and complex, herbal-like. When sectioned the fruits are well filled, slightly grayish at the center, and very juicy.  The plant is upright, dense to open, with an attractive, full shape. It can be quite ornamental, with broad, glossy, dark green leaves that have characteristic winged petioles. Moderately heavy bearing, almost completely thornless. rev 2/2010

'Calamondin'  fruit   tree, about 10 years, at Berghuis Nursery   more properly we would call this Calamonci, or Calamonding, which is the way most Filipinos know it, and where it is native to. Sometimes listed as a hybrid species, C. (x) madurensis,  this is thought to be natural hybrid of Chinese origin, probably representing a kumquat-mandarin cross. This is a highly ornamental citrus, growing as a compact, small textured, dense, upright, mostly narrow shrub to 5-8' tall unpruned. The fruit are small, to about an inch long and across, deep orange inside and out, smooth and shiny outside and somewhat seeded inside. This makes a wonderful landscape shrub with very shiny, show fruit well displayed on the outside of the plant, whether or not its fruit are used. It flowers and sets fruit all year, and tends to color strongly, making it an ornamental worth considering. It is extremely valuable as a container plant because of its dense green foliage, clean habit, and fruit display. Add enough sugar to the juice and it makes a nice orange-flavored drink. It finds more interesting application in Filipino or other styles of Asian cooking because of its highly complex rind flavors. The fruits most notably make the very, very best marmalade of all citrus according to Robert Lambert, Gene Lester and me. I have also had good success using Calamondins as kumquat substitutes, in spite of warning that they were too acidic for such use. I find that if you wait until they are very ripe before cutting them off the plant, then let them afterripen on the counter, they are about as sweet as true kumquats. But the much thinner skin is much less oily, slightly and pleasantly bitter, and with a much more interesting flavor. I detect essence of ginger, pineapple, curry, rue, and more. Just wait until they are beginning to show a little drying of the rind if the fruit are too acidic when you first try them. I have even had decent quality fruit from Gene Lester's cooler, "mostly coastal climate" garden, which is important since the list of interesting citrus for cool areas is always short and every addition is appreciated. The skin is very tender though, and tears a hole if you pull the fruit off, so make sure you cut the stem and handle the fruit carefully while harvesting. rev 2/2010

'Variegated Calamondin'  at Martin Berghuis' Nursery, Woodlake   closeup  quickly recognized by its wonderfully variegated foliage and neat, clean habit. They are lightly striped when young, orange when mature and quite attractive against the ivory and green foliage. It tends to repeat bloom/bear throughout the year. Gene Lester complains it hardly bears for him but Karen Runyon of Monterey told me her tree is always so completely loaded with fruit it might as well be considered a weeping plant. Same great fruit uses and flavor as the unvariegated form. Overall a very interesting and useful plant. rev 3/2009 

'Chironja'   sectioned   20 years, on Yuma Ponderosa Lemon rootstock  this is a very interesting hybrid, found wild as a seedling in Puerto Rico (and so should probably be pronounced "chironya") and thought to be a hybrid between an orange and a grapefruit, or more likely a pummelo. This is currently the closest thing I have found to the concept of a lemon sweet enough to eat fresh like an orange. It is a modest sized plant, with large, dark green leaves, dense foliage, and a compact upright habit. The fruit are large, larger than an orange but smaller than a grapefruit, dark yellow to almost yellow orange in color, and with a deep rich gold flesh. It has a wonder sweet-sour, lemon flavored taste, but is very mild. I can eat a lot of these. The fruits are also highly ornamental either on the plant or on the table. They are easy to peel, with a thick, rather loose skin. The fruit can be eaten sectioned or sliced. They are moderately seedy but their primary fault is that they suffer from tough inter-segmental skins. For now there is no better alternative for the niche they fill, so if you want to add something quite distinctive and very good to your yard this is still an excellent choice. It is quite rare and I guarantee you will probably be the only person in your city or even county to own one unless you happen to live in Riverside County (home of the UC Riverside Citrus Collection) or Tulare County (home of the Lindcove UC Citrus Collection). It is probably about as hardy as an orange. rev 2/2010

'Cocktail'  12 years old, C-35   fruit sectioned   in clusters  Siamese Sweet Pummelo by Frua Mandarin. This is usually called a "grapefruit" because it is close to the original grapefruit cross (pummelo x sweet orange) and has a similar musky, vanilla scent to the rind. It also has some of the intersegmental membrane bitterness of a grapefruit. But it is yet another of the citrus often thrown into a jumbled category bin labeled "hybrid" because it represents a new direction for taste or other characteristics. It is large, usually growing to 3-5" across, almost round, with shiny, deep golden yellow to light yellow orange skin. It has a wonderful vanilla-grapefruit rind aroma that I would suspect would make great marmalade, candied peel, or syrup. To be completely "hip" (sixties lingo, means "aware of current trends") you would cut a nice, curled piece of that rind and drop it into vodka for a flavored version you can't buy off the shelf at any price. For fresh eating it is superb. This is one of the fruit I like to give to people with the comment, "This is a sample of the things coming in the New Age of citrus varieties." Peel it and section it and enjoy the interiors, which have rather large segments with a moderate number of large seeds and lots of sweet, very mild, almost acidless, fragrant, vanilla-pummelo flavor. Luis Marquez says “you expect it to be sour, but it fills your mouth with warm friendliness!” After consideration I have come to the conclusion that this tastes the closest to an Orange Julius of any fresh citrus I have tasted. It is very soft textured and extremely juicy. I enjoy it best eaten like a pummelo (see instructions, but in short you shell out the moist vesicles) because the only drawback is that membrane bitterness, which I actually enjoy sometimes. If you hate grapefruit, try this but don't eat the segment skin. It is quite easy to peel the fruits, the thick rind is very soft and comes off easily. It is quite productive, bearing its fruit in clusters, with large textured foliage and a very compact, dwarf habit to just 5-6' tall in twelve years on C-35 and 6-8' on Carrizo. The fruit hold very well on the tree so it is growable in cooler areas, where it hangs until it is edible but closer to a grapefruit in eating experience. Fruit from container trees here at our nursery were of good eating quality. With more heat they would have been even better. rev 2/2010

'Sudachi'   sectioned   mature fruit     another "Ichandarin," this one much juicier and much less seedy than the more commonly recognized and currently-in-vogue 'Yuzu.' It's rind odor is  more towards pummelo and less towards lemon or grapefruit. It makes a pretty good juice, close to Meyer Lemonade in flavor if sweetened with sugar. It is much more cold tolerant than Meyer Lemon. It is used exclusively for its juice in Japan, and is harvested green, though I liked the fruit at full maturity. At Gene Lester's the fruit reach about 1 1/2" across but several references call it "marble sized." In warm summer locations it can bear a very heavy crop of the deep golden yellow fruit (at maturity) and makes an attractive ornamental shrub or dwarf tree. It is extremely cold tolerant for a citrus and also disease and root borer resistant. It will get 6-7' tall by twice as wide and is acceptably shapely.  rev 2/2010

'Wekiwa'  5 years, Carrizo   doing well at Gene Lester's   sectioned   clusters  also known as 'Lavender Gem.' A hybrid of a grapefruit and a tangelo, this unusual fruit is small (2 1/2" across by 2" tall), light yellow, and quite pale inside. The rind has a pleasant arome of vanilla-grapefruit and lemon. Suzie Brooks described it as "another fruit in a citrus body, peach maybe." Fruits are very heavily produced on a chunky, very compact, very dense, naturally dark green plant with small, glossy leaves. This is a very attractive bush! It will stay quite small, to only about 6' tall in many years. The firm fruits peel easily, with a thin skin and almost no cotton. Eat it like an orange, cut into vertical wedges, or sliced horizontally. Segments are buff yellow, faintly blushed pale salmon. The flavor is very mild, low in acidity and not intensely sweet, but sweet enough. This is a fruit you can eat a great deal of because it isn't a lot of work to prepare and isn't a strong experience. I like this one very much along with 'Cocktail,' some of the acidless limes, and Satsuma/Kishu mandarins, as very good fruit for people who find most citrus too intense to enjoy. It is usually almost seedless (1-2 very small seeds per fruit, more sterile remnants) even under the heavy pollination pressure found in mixed blocks. I have had fruit from near-coastal environments and found it to be of good quality, and even fruit from cold, underfed, left over containers here at our nursery are quite good but suffer from very bitter rinds. The trees maintain good color even in cool soils. Gene Lester reports it makes very good marmalade. rev 2/2010

'Yuzu'  sections   fruit on tree   untended tree  an "Ichandarin," a name give to a series of crosses of a what may be the very hardiest true citrus, a Papeda-section species (Citrus ichangensis,  syn. C. cavaleriei), crossed with Sour Mandarin, C. reticulata v. austera. "Yuzu" is actually the common name of the fruit, not a true varietal moniker, but we will use it as such anyway. It is a very cold hardy lemon-like fruit grown and favored by the Japanese, and mostly used for cooking, where rind and sometimes juice are called for. Other interesting Japanese  Ichandarins are Iyokan, Sudachi, and Kabosu. Its juice tastes close to a 'Lisbon' lemon but has a few minor fragrances that set it apart, principally that it can have a pleasantly musky, pummelo smell under certain conditions and an almost spicy herbal fragrance under others. Of course to the Japanese nothing else compares, who use it in a number of ways including drying the rind to use as a spice. It can be tried in almost any recipe calling for lemon. The fruit tend to be very seedy though, so fleshy sections are going to be problematic. For juice it will be fine except you will need many since you only get about a teaspoon per fruit, plus lots of seeds, plus it tastes more like lemon-grapefruit juice, plus it has a distinct bitterness. This fruit can be dropped into your bath, after you poke holes in it, as a kind of aromatherapy, especially for your traditional winter solstice bath. Makes you smell lemony fresh! It is mostly grown because it is very cold hardy, and would make a better lemon substitute than 'Meyer' if you aren't a 'Meyer' fan or if you are in a very cold area like Oregon. It ripens in late winter in California. This is another potentially interesting vodka flavoring candidate. Do a search for "yuzu recipes" and you'll be amazed at how hungry you will get.  rev 2/2010

    Clematis pruning is usually presented in an unnecessarily complicated fashion, most often using groupings of hybrids/species, with instructions for each group. The simpler method is simply to observe how and when your plant blooms, and use the environmental parameters that preceded bloom, along with noting the type of wood the flowers occur on, to dictate how and when your plants should be cut back. In all cases you will need to know something about flower initiation, or the sets of conditions needed to form flower buds. Once you have practice sorting out Clematis, you can apply these same techniques to plants throughout your garden, and stop cutting back plants at exactly the wrong point in their annual cycle.

    For example, some varieties are described as needing mature wood plus a cold period. The flowers don't form on the mature wood until a cold period, they swell as winter ends, and they burst into bloom as the shoots emerge. A good example of this would be  C. montana, which blooms only once, on mature wood formed during the preceding year. Another example would be a lilac, or flowering plum. You wouldn't want to cut such a plant back in winter, or even fall, because you would be pruning off all the mature wood that would then vernalize (initiate flower buds) over winter. Such varieties should be pruned immediately following bloom until no later than mid-summer. By recognizing that  C. montana only blooms one time in early spring, you can deduce that it certainly needs a cold period. Experience tells you that immature wood will not form flower buds. So it must be cut far enough in advance of dormancy for the new growth to mature and harden.

    Some varieties will only flower under long-day conditions once the branches are old enough to flower. Such varieties are often casually described as blooming "spring, summer, and fall," which isn't really accurate. What really happens is that as soon as the days have enough hours of sunlight (usually more than 12, around March 21st), and the wood is mature enough, the branches will form buds. The actual appearance of flowers will depend on temperatures, size of flowers, actual number of hours required for initiation, and other factors. The result is that flowers appear from four to eight weeks after initiation. If buds initiate, but the plant then goes dormant for winter, those buds will flower as soon as the plant breaks dormancy. Thus, the plant appears to flower, then "rebloom" as the new wood matures under the long day conditions. Such plants should be cut immediately after spring bloom, or in winter if you don't mind losing the first flush of old initiated buds.

    A few, especially older varieties, require mature wood, AND very-long-day conditions (usually 14 hours or more of daylight). In addition, they appear to need a long time for flower buds to form after initiation, or perhaps very mature (lots of leaves) wood. In our latitude, this means one late spring/early summer blooming period followed by a second lighter bloom in late summer or early fall. Such varieties are ‘Ernest Markham,’ ‘Niobe,’ ‘Henryi,’ ‘Hagley Hybrid’ and ‘Ville de Lyon.’ Usually these varieties have newer counterparts that offer similar features but have more generous initiation requirements, and we have tried to drop the old varieties in favor of the new ones. If you are looking for an old favorite and we don't have it, try asking for a similar replacement. You will probably be pleasantly surprised.

    The last type of Clematis flowering requirement is also very-long-day but with a faster/easier development period. Such plants need no chilling, but will instead flower on any wood mature enough as soon as days are long enough, and will continue flowering essentially unabated until late fall. Such varieties would be  C. viticella strains and C. ‘Jackmanii.’ You have to wait, but you are well rewarded.

    In the next rewrite of this section, I will begin adding the flower initiation requirements for each variety.

hybrids  deciduous vines, ranging from 6-20’ tall, bear large flowers in a range of colors. Sun to part shade, average watering for most, all prefer shaded, cool roots. Many make excellent container plants.

‘Comtessa de Bouchard’  flowers  mauve pink, 5", summer to fall. A heavy bloomer. rev 9/2003
‘Elsa Spath’  flower  mid blue, to 6-7" across. Long and free flowering, good as cut flower. Award of Garden Merit.
‘Ernest Markham’  flower  magenta red, to 7". Summer. Old, reliable variety.
‘General Sikorsky’  flowers  dark lavender blue, to 6". Strong grower, good bloomer. Good as a cut flower. Award of Garden Merit.
'Hagley Hybrid'  flower   single light plum pink, darker stamens, with variably darker pink bars. To about 5" across, in clusters. rev 10/2009
‘Miss Bateman’  flower  white flowers to 8-10", with attractive, black stamens. Good for cutting. Very compact, free flowering plant, good in containers. Attractive seed heads. Late spring through fall.
'Multi Blue'  flower  older  deep blue to lavender blue, doubled centers, 5-6". Reblooms in summer. rev 3/2005
‘Rouge Cardinal’  flower  free flowering velvety crimson, to 7". Late summer.
‘The President’  flower  dark purple blue, to 12". Relatively compact growth. Blooms freely from late spring until fall. Makes a good cut flower, also has seed heads.
‘Warsaw Nike’  flower   more flowers  rich purple, described as “needing a light background to show off flower colour.” Long day.

viticella ‘Polish Spirit’  flowers  a new, very free flowering dark purple form. This species grows as a vigorous small deciduous vine, and is very effective scrambling over and through shrubs as well as on trellises. All forms are resistant to Clematis Wilt. This variety bears rich dark purple flowers, with yellow anthers, in summer, and is a good bloomer. It resembles C. ‘Jackmanii’ (which was hybridized from C. viticella), but has smaller, more profuse flowers and is even tougher. This species begs to be used with mixed beds of perennials. Eurasia. rev 6/2005

Clerodendrum quadroliculare  leaf undersides   starburst flowers  a "tropical" foliage plant, except that it grows fine under cold, wet, miserable conditions and doesn't seem to die back until it gets hard, direct frost. It does need gobs of heat to develop the wonderfully fragrant pink flowers in rounded terminal heads, but that should be no problem in zones 9 and 21-24, or even 8 and 14-16 where it has overhead protection. I have never seen the flowers in real life, being that we are so cool and constantly cut our plants for propagation, but from pictures they are like Gilia blossoms; long, narrow tubes with narrow, flared, star-like petals at the ends, and rosy pink towards the base. The flowers attract butterflies. For me the real value is in the wonderfully dark, rich maroon purple leaf undersides and dark olive green foliage, which displays well against that wall under that protective overhang. This is a very good color/texture item that does very well in a container as well. Grows to 1-5' for us but listed to 15' in the tropics, where it can be dangerously invasive in hot, humid, frost free climates. Part sun to mostly shade, average watering. Sunset zones 15-17 (overhead protection), 21-24/USDA zone 9. My two plants were killed completely in Santa Cruz, on a north facing wall with overhead protection in the 25F degree freeze of 2007. Verbenaceae.  Phillippines. rev 8/2008

'Brandonii' PPAF  foliage  the same black green leaves backed with maroon, but this time broadly and irregularly edged with light golden yellow above, and apricot tones below. Slower and more compact. 11/2007 

Clivia hybrids  LADY CLIVE LILY  flower cluster   more flowers   beautiful seeds   more flowers   nice container plant   large planting at Strybing Arboretum  a series of hybrids mostly involving C. miniata. Also commonly sold as “Belgian Hybrids” or “French Hybrids,” these broad-leaved strains were developed in Europe near the turn of the previous century. The mix is now so varied that the original meaning of those more exact terms is lost and in reality everything in the trade is all mixed up. In addition, other species have recently been added to the mix, such as C. nobilis, C. gardenii and C. caulescens, so the situation is getting even more complicated.

     These are wonderful clumping evergreen bulbs in the Amaryllidaceae, with luxuriant leaves to 3’ long. Stalks up to 3’ tall bearing round clusters of large flowers are produced from late winter through early summer. Color ranges from pale yellow to pale pink and salmon orange through deep orange and dark red orange. The flower stalks can last weeks when cut. Clivia can repeat bloom in cool summer areas since most plants can produce a flower stalk about every four or five leaves and bloom initiates when the plants experience about 55°F, which happens regularly throughout the year at night near the coast. Seeds are quite colorful, ranging from yellow (in the yellows and pinks) to dark red. Variegated plants have circus-like green, red, and yellow striped fruits.

     Plants are found across wide areas of South Africa, but this species is from the summer rainfall areas as opposed to the Mediterranean-climate winter rainfall areas, which are the source of many other familiar South African plants such as Agapanthus. Hence it does not like our cold winter rains, though it will tolerate them. It naturally experiences a dry winter, flowers in late winter or early spring, then puts on considerable growth during the warm season when it encounters regular moisture. Following these clues, Clivia will be most happy where they have some protection from fall/winter rains, which tend to arrive on southerly, southwesterly, or southeasterly winds. These can produce orange-spotted foliage and ruin or rot flowers, especially when the stalks are still trapped down in the foliage, just starting to emerge. They don't want very much frost though they will survive a hard freeze. Below about 25°F expect them to lose their current season's growth and flowers but come back from below. And give them plenty of warm shade and water from spring through fall. They like good drainage, will tolerate extended drought, and generally make very tough, durable landscape subjects, even in commercial situations.

     Clivia often prompt comments from garden visitors. They have a bold presence with luxuriant foliage and luminous flowers. They are effective by themselves or planted in masses (nice large scale plantings can be seen in Golden Gate Park). They are used as houseplants in colder climates and do very well in the dry interior air and reduced light. Clivia will actually tolerate very dark conditions, probably as well as the famous Apsidistra elatior, the Cast Iron Plant. It looks especially good when underplanted with Baby's Tears, which provides a wonderful contrast of color and texture. They make outstanding container plants, and should be tried as subjects in more complicated mixed foliage plantings too. In fact, since they only bloom for 3-6 weeks (unless they repeat), I would argue that leaf quality and presentation is more important than flowers, and they should be sited primarily for their striking form and dramatic foliage.

     Clivia is perhaps the most variable plant I have ever worked with. Every observable characteristic that can be described will vary noticeably. Leaf length, width, thickness, texture, ribbing, cross-checking, and color all vary. There are tall plants, there are miniature plants. Flower size, flower color and combination (solid, bicolor, etc.), petal size and shape and conformation, number of flowers per head, conformation of the flower head, bloom vigor, all vary. Even the stamen shape and brittleness varies from plant to plant. And on top of every class is the additional potential for variegation, and then again even type of variegation.

     There are flowers with wide, blunt petals and flowers with long, elegant, lily-like petals. There are reds, bricks, “Hawaiian Punches,” soft pinks, and clear oranges. There are plants with leaves over three feet tall, very narrow, and robust. There are plants with incredible stiff, hard, almost plastic-like leaves, very short but incredibly wide, dark green, and glossy. Some have leaves that bleach to blond or almost white and make a striking background for the flowers (especially reds) but are fantastic just grown for their foliage alone. Some plants are quick to increase and divide, others maintain a mostly solitary habit.

     They can be selected for almost infinite combination of characteristics, which leads to problems if you are breeding or selecting. Once you have selected your ultra compact, wide petaled, early blooming, corrugated-veined, hard-leaf-textured red bicolor, you will notice some have green throats, so you select those out for yet another class, and the breaking-out of new categories never ends. In the end I think Clivia enthusiasts, both commercial and hobbyist, will need to choose to pursue only certain directions in breeding and selecting, much as orchid growers have had to specialize in the face of diversity in their class of plants. The alternative is to suffer madness as the result of trying to pursue everything. Keeping track of all the data regarding possible permutations and combinations becomes a crushing job in itself.

     Our selection of plants is quite diverse and our seedlings can be expected to show a wide range of variation. In the future we will be offering named varieties from division but will have only limited numbers at any one time. rev 3/2006

Little Charm  blooming  orange, smaller flowers, thinner leaves. rev 3/2006
orange  as shade garden foliage   blooming   dark shade  commercial setting container   open garden situation  light to medium orange.
orange variegated  blooming   another   another  foliage   even the seeds are nice  with leaves striped yellow to creamy white. A handful of yellow variegated are available, inquire. rev 3/2006
salmon  nice individual  light salmon orange flowers.
Solomone hybrids  flowers   some more  a strain with flowers ranging from deep to pale yellow.
Yellow Charm  blooming  small yellow flowers, thinner leaves. rev 3/2006

Coleonema pulchrum  PINK DIOSMA  closeup of flowers   short hedge  upright to spreading shrub, 6-10’ tall and wide, with soft, fragrant, bright green foliage and heavy show of pink flowers in spring and fall. Sun to part shade, little or no summer watering when established. This plant is probably misnamed, and the proper species name is probably “pulchellum.” As originally described, C. pulchrum has leaves 1-2 cm long, whereas all material we have seen in the trade is more like .8-1 cm. A South African botanist described and named the garden material  C. pulchellum in 1881. If this analysis proves correct and is accepted, we will change the name in the future. South Africa. Rutaceae. rev 8/2005

‘Compact Form’  closeup   habit   with mixed perennials  compact growth to 3’ tall, 6’ wide, somewhat more open than the upright form. Much like C. album in habit. Showy flowers are lighter pink than regular species, and tend to be clustered at the branch tips across the top of the plant. MBN INTRODUCTION-1996

‘Sunset Gold’  habit   peak bloom, closeup   at Sierra Azul Nursery   as groundcover   unpruned shrub  a spreading shrub or groundcover to 2’ tall, 6’ wide. Golden yellow foliage greens somewhat in winter but generally holds color well and can be quite bright in summer sun. Needs at least a half a day’s sun for good foliage color but it can take considerable shade if it has to. Flowers are pale pink, darker in cool weather but still lighter than the standard form of Pink Diosma. I have seen this used with Verbena tenuisecta 'Tapien Purple' and the effect is hypnotic and blinding at the same time. rev 8/2005

Colocasia  TARO, ELEPHANT EAR  evergreen to facultatively deciduous tropical and subtropical foliage plants used for their usually huge, lush leaves. The leaves tend to be held vertically hanging down so they show the entire, gigantic leaf face from the sides. The roots are edible after preparation and form a staple starch in some tropical countries. They spread slowly by either clumping from their bases or by short snaky surface stolons. The clumping varieties need wetter conditions than the much more adaptable stoloniferous types. Colocasias in general are better adapted to less than tropical climates than their close cousins the Alocasias. Flowers are small, Spathiphyllum-like things, usually interesting but not showy. Plant in full sun to part shade with average drainage and water as needed. They can usually tolerate very wet soils but don't require them. Tropical Asia. Araceae. rev 2/2005

esculenta  TARO  streamside, Escalona St. in Santa Cruz the roots of this species are edible after preparation and form a staple starch in some tropical countries. The normal green agricultural form of this species has been mostly replaced in the ornamental market by more colorful forms. Contains both clumping and stoloniferous species. Frost hardy to USDA zone 8/Sunset zone 8.  rev 6/2005

'Black Beauty'  leaves  a darker mutation of 'Illustris.'  rev 7/2006
‘Black Magic’  foliage   Deco Square  deep, smoky purple black leaves and stems, lightening and greening somewhat as the leaves mature. Very popular, to 5' or more, but slowly, and definitely better in consistently warm regions. Clumping growth habit.  rev 2/2005
'Elena'  foliage  this is a compact, clumping form that has a glowing lime green leaf shading to golden in bright light. In shadier conditions it looks like a regular light green taro but it really shines in full light, where it becomes a study in gold with contrasting green. The red stems and veins add definition. It clearly likes heat. rev 8/2008 
‘Fontanesii’  BLACK STEM TARO  blue sheen   flowers   Quail BG water garden   deep shade  deep olive green leaves against purple black stems. The upper leaf surfaces have a shiny, bluish, coppery turquoise metallic sheen almost like Raku pottery. This one will darken in full sunlight to become almost black at times. It also does well in almost full, bright shade. Striking, easy, to 6' tall or more with heat and water. Small, narrow, hooded creamy yellow flower spikes are produced in winter, under the leaves and close to the base. I have heard reports from growers who have seen them over 9' tall in the Pacific Northwest! It has proven to be one of the best growers in my garden, needing only average watering and showing enough vigor to break out above the dense billows of foliage on the shady north wall where it was planted. This will be one of the most reliable performers. Extremely frost hardy, and tends to stay evergreen until leaves are frosted back. Easily our most evergreen variety. A vigorous stoloniferous grower. rev 5/2005
‘Midnight’  BLACK TARO  41st Avenue, Capitola   at Quail Botanic Gardens, Encinatas   Richard Josephson's water garden  a sport of ‘Black Magic,’ smaller and much darker black. Also a slow grower, and slow to propagate, and therefore available in limited quantities only. Clumping growth. rev 2/2005
‘Red Stem’  nursery plants  striking rhubarb-red stems contrast with medium green leaves. Fast, tall, vigorous, easy to grow, highly sought after, and in short supply. Clumping growth habit. rev 2/2005

Convolvulus cneorum  SILVER MORNING GLORY  flowers   groundcover at Strybing Arboretum  shrubby perennial to 2’ tall, 4’ wide bears beautiful silvery foliage and small single white morning glory flowers in summer. Sun, good drainage, little or no summer watering when established, hardy to around 20°F. Mediterranean. Convolvulaceae.

sabatius v. mauritanicus  CREEPING BLUE MORNING GLORY  closeup   habit   clouds of flowers   in a rockery  a creeping perennial, usually evergreen in California, that bears cute light lavender blue morning glory flowers to 1" across, from spring through fall. Can bloom right through mild winters. Sun to part shade, little or no summer watering when established. A good groundcover for small areas. Atlas Mountains, northern Africa. rev 9/2007

Coprosma 'Pink Splendor'  CORAL MIRROR BUSH  winter foliage detail, sunset   nicely use of color   container  a coral tinted hybrid involving C. bauerii, this is a wonderful, neat foliage plant where temperatures don't go below 25F most winters. It is often used nowadays against a colored wall, say charcoal, steel blue, or terra cotta, and looks great combined with other foliage plants such as variegated or blue toned grasses (Miscanthus, Helictotrichon), agaves, or phormiums. It also makes a striking container plant. Sun to mostly shade (less coral there), average drainage, average watering requirements. Sunset zones 8-9, 14-24/USDA zone 9. Rubiaceae. rev 10/2005

'Evening Glow'  foliage color   Rogers Gardens landscape   interemdiate leaf size, coral, yellow and green colors. Medium size growth. Another one that really glows as cool weather intensifies color. rev 8/2007 

Cordyline australis  the proper incorrect common name for this plant is “Yucca Palm,” doubly attractive because it is doubly incorrect, not a yucca and not a palm, but yet it does look like a yucca and does act like a palm. And perfect because everyone knows exactly what plant you are talking about. In New Zealand they are known as Cabbage Tree or Cabbage Palm, though this more properly refers to the true C. indivisa, which looks like a giant, thin-leaved cabbage when young and a Phormium on a stick when mature. This species is a tough, adaptable Agave relative, growing to about 15' tall with an 8' spread at the crown at maturity. This form has broad, bronzy leaves. Mature trees tend to have an enlarged base and narrowed waist, then be spreading above. It is a moderate, reliable grower that often develops buttressed bases and a picturesque top. Flowers are tiny and borne in terminal sprays in late spring and summer, but they are not very showy. The clusters hang on after they die and need to be groomed in formal settings. Also, the leaves will shed when old and drop to form a thatch below the plant unless they are raked or picked up. The colored foliage forms make a dramatic statement when used as focal point plants, or even when massed. They also look great against pale pink/buff or creamy white adobe walls or red tile roofs. If cut back regularly to sprout from the base it can even stand in as a Phormium substitute without the reversion problem. It also makes a tough, trouble free container plant. For sun to part shade, watering can be erratic, not fussy about drainage as long as it isn't boggy. Fastest under rich soil, regular watering conditions, but you may not want it to be fast. Listed as frost hardy to USDA zone 8/Sunset zone 5, 8-14. I have seen them take 20°F without damage. Liliaceae, Agavaceae, or even Asteliaceae. New Zealand.

     In remodeling our 1915 Craftsman home have come across many original photographs of new homes built in Southern California where the green seedling form of this plant was used in landscapes, often as scrawny, sparse single young specimens randomly dropped around a sparse yard like they fell out of the sky. They look like exotic exclamation marks, attractive because of their minimalist appearance. One way to use them similarly would be to stump mature plants off if they started to get too big and regrow them as a narrow single trunk specimens. rev 8/2008

'Cappucino'  coffee lightened with a bit of cream. Reversions of 'Pink Stripe,' and a nice color in its own right. This could be considered just a standardized, clonal form of the seedling bronze strain of the species, not as dark and intensely colored as 'Dark Star,' 'Red Star,' or 'Red Sensation.'  rev 6/2007 
'Pink Stripe'  young  mature  also known as 'Kiwi,' this is a medium dark bronzy form that displays bright pink striped leaves when young, with almost no bronze, then matures to a somewhat more somber tone with the zone of high color concentrated in the new growth. Leaves are narrow and grassy, like 'Red Star.' This is Cordylines 2.0, with foliage colors and variegations arriving that will rival those of Phormiums. rev 6/2007 
'Paradise'  first crop  a brand new color, with somewhat shiny leaves striped coral salmon red. Distinctive, unique.  rev 9/2007 
‘Red Sensation’  young plants, Mills Garden   more juvenile nursery foliage  dark coppery bronze foliage, wide leaves, somewhat glaucous cast to the leaf surface. rev 4/2006
‘Red Star’  glossy nursery foliage  deep burgundy red leaves. This is a much grassier, more gracile, slightly lighter colored variety than ‘Red Sensation,’ and the leaves are glossy as opposed to being dull. rev 9/2003
'Southern Splendor'  young plants  hot pink to dusty salmon pink against bronzy grey green, a great combination. Luminous. We will be the only ones to have this for a while, of course. rev 6/2007 
'Sunrise'  first gallons sold   this is it, the hottest, darkest pink variety released yet. Leaves are margined deep magenta pink. This is a slow columnar type that can be cut back to come from the base if you want the color down low. It would be a good thing to try in hot areas as a Phormium sub or alternate. Of course it will be superb as a container combo element if  you want to use it like that. rev 11/2008
'Torbay Dazzler'  foliage   young trade show plant  leaves striped with white and at maturity featuring a reddish stripe along the midrib, in contrast to 'Sparkler,' which has thinner white edge stripes and lacks the red coloring. We will be the only ones to have this in any quantity for a while, as usual. rev 10/2007 

hybrids  cross a bronzy australis (columnar) with a pumilo (green, clumping, and stemless) and you get these. Hardy to around 15-20F, better in the heat than Phormiums. They can be used en masse as groundcovers or even lawn substitutes, and make completely stunning container specimens, especially mixed with contrasting foliage. rev 10/2007

'Cardinal'  New Zealand commercial landscape   flowers  dark bronzy red, shiny, broad leaves on a branching, low, Yucca Palm-type plant to perhaps 3-5' tall. rev 1/2010 
'Crimson Star'  almost indistinguishable from 'Cardinal,' perhaps a bit darker in color. rev 1/2010 
'Electric Pink'  check it out  name says it all. A pink variegated 'Crimson Star' type. The hottest plant introduced in the country this year, easily. We are one of the first to carry a brand new item, again, by a wide margin. Again. Sometimes I amaze ourselves. rev 1/2008 

'Auntie Lou'  foliage  deep burgundy red, broad blade. rev 8/2007 
'Black Magic'  nursery plants  huge, broad green leaves, over 4" across by up to 2 1/2' long, turn deep bronzy brown, almost black in more intense light, with occasional broad salmon pink strokes splashed on the new growth as well. A fast, very robust landscape type, possibly with the largest foliage of any Ti Plant. rev 11/2006 
'Bolero'  leaves  compact, with broad olive green leaves, reddish veins, and featuring a magenta rose edge. rev 10/2007 
'Bolero Bicolor'  foliage  leaf is split coral pink and bronze. Broad blade, moderate size. rev 8/2007
'Dr. Brown'  foliage   luscious, wide, dark chocolate maroon on a compact but vigorous plant. 3/2009
'Exotica'  foliage  light green leaves emerge white flushed strongly with rose pink. Striking and different. rev 10/2009
'Florida'  foliage  this might just be a generic name for a variety widely found in landscapes in Florida. Bronzy green to maroon, with streaks and splashes of fluorescent pink and bright coral red. rev 8/2007
'Glauca'   mature plant at Quail Botanic Gardens   foliage   flowers   this is a tough, old-style landscape variety Ti plant that takes sun, and some drought, and frost to 25F with minimal damage. The showy flowers and hardiness suggest it may be a hybrid with C. stricta. It is compact, vertical, and blue green in color with purplish new growth. It forms a usually narrow evergreen shrub to 6-10', grown for its tropical look and purplish tones. It is hardier than it looks, but not capable of withstanding repeated hard freezes. It will sprout from the roots aggressively if frozen all the way down. Takes full sun coast-side but likes at least part shade anywhere and will tolerate deep shade well. Likes rich, moist soils but can go dry if it has to. It makes a great container plant and is used as a house plant in cold winter areas. Sunset Zones 9, 13, 15-17, 19-24/USDA zone 9. Eastern Australia. rev 3/2010
'Jackie'  foliage  dark bronzy olive green, new growth of brilliant magenta to coral pink appears on mature plants. rev 3/2010 
'Kiwi'  gorgeous!   low, compact grower with leaves streaked yellow then edged in sharp rose pink. A beautiful tricolor. rev 3/2010
'Lilinoe'  young  solid deep maroon, maturing to dark coral red suffused with magenta. Lance shaped leaves. A compact but vigorous grower. rev 3/2010 
'Maria'  foliage  bronzy green with leaves edged and streaked with flamingo to coral pink. rev 8/2007 
'Maroon Magic'  nursery plants  narrow dark burgundy bronze leaves, new growth on older plants is deep, deep coral red. Fast, vigorous, landscape type. rev 9/2006 
'New Guinea Black'  foliage  this may be an interspecific hybrid based on leaf texture and growth characteristics. Also known as 'Black Ribbons.' This is a robust, tough, old landscape form, one of the original hybrids, that of course also makes a great container or house plant. It is easily recognized by its long, rather narrow, glossy purple black leaves that have nicely wavy edges. It grows relatively quickly and is one of the best for trying outdoors in California, subject to the usual limitations. This is probably my favorite Ti plant variety, being fast, vigorous, black, shiny, tall, SNAIL RESISTANT, and completely tolerant of cold, wet soils (I have one planted under a drain spout at my house, no problems.) It even tolerates frost pretty well, though it will burn with direct freezing temperatures if exposed. Like all the old-generation hybrids it is quite resistant to tip burn with low humidity and high light, unlike the fancy, softer newer hybrids. I like it so much I have used it throughout my very crowded yard. This is a real winner in all departments. rev 4/2009 
'Orange'  foliage   blooming   light olive green leaves, new growth strongly colored light to deep salmon pink. Vigorous. rev 2/2010 
'Passion Pink'  nursery crop  medium green leaves, new growth heavily colored with flamingo to salmon pink. Vigorous. rev 8/2007 
'Pastel'  foliage  green leaves edged in red and flushed rose and coral pink on the new growth. rev 9/2007 
'Pink Integrity'  nursery crop   older, winter  narrower leaves, splashed and edged flamingo pink at the edges and on new growth. A fast landscape grower too, to 4-7'. rev 9/2006 
'Purple Dazzler'  see 'New Guinea Black,' above. rev 4/2009
'Purple Prince'  new foliage  the bluest of the purples, a quite unusual color. rev 1/2008 
'Ruby'  nice plant   a compact, broad-leaved variety, new growth rich burgundy, mature leaves black red.  rev 7/2009
'Red Sister'  new foliage, mature plants  broad coppery leaves with occasional pinkish stripes on the new growth. This is another one to use if you want a fast, upright, copper colored variety. Despite being a red variety this one is highly salt intolerant. rev 9/2009 
'Rikki'  foliage, young plants  dwarf, very compact, broad leaved, dark maroon bronze with broad magenta pink margins. rev 5/2007 
'Soledad Purple'   new growth   young plant at Quail BG  see 'Glauca,' above. rev 4/2009
'Xerox'  new foliage  broad leaves, brilliant neon magenta pink new growth fades to a thin, intense coral pink edge. Somewhat compact, but still vigorous. rev 9/2006 

Cornukaempferia aurantiflora ‘Jungle Gold’  flower closeup   total awesome effect  a low growing ginger relative, also classified simply as Kaempferia, this outstanding foliage subject for part to full shade is worth growing for its strikingly colored Calathea-like leaves alone. The broad leaves are deep, bronzy green with strong silver white zonal markings broadly splashed along the edges, and light burgundy undersides. They have a nice, somewhat perfumy, almost citrus-ginger fragrance. It forms small clumps of five to ten leaves, each about 8-10" long. It gets to about 8-10" tall by 12-16" across at the biggest, and is a little slow, but it seems as happy under cool Central California conditions as anywhere else as long as you nuke the snails. Like virtually all the Kaempferias and Curcumas, it is very slow to emerge and often doesn't start to push foliage until May or June. The hotter the climate, the sooner it pops out. It does retain its leaves well into winter though, usually until frost. The flowers are small, orchid-like things held down just above the throat of the leaf axils and appear briefly in early summer. They are a hot, striking golden orange with darker orange highlights. Winter deciduous, wants rich, moist, well amended soil, at least part shade, and it takes a fair amount of water when dormant but gophers apparently love the taste. It makes an outstanding, charming container plant and can even be used indoors. USDA zone 9/Sunset zone 16. Southeast Asia. Zingiberaceae. rev 10/2009 

Correa  AUSTRALIAN FUCHSIA  tough, adaptable plants, and are usually immune to grazing damage by insects, rabbits, deer, gophers, and ground squirrels unless they are recently planted. They will tolerate most soils if they have good drainage. All grow best in sun to part shade, but will tolerate pretty dense shade if kept on the dry side. Many will take frost until about 20°F, below which they are severely damaged. All are native to southern or southeastern Australia, except for C. reflexa, which can be found across Australia. Rutaceae.

‘Ivory Bells’  closeup   habit  rounded shrub to 4’ tall, 8’ wide. Rounded green leaves have light undersides. Pendant, tubular, ivory white flowers to 1" long, with light tan flocking on the back of the petals, appear in winter and spring, occasionally throughout the year. Taller and more upright than ‘Dusky Bells,’ relatively open when young, eventually moderately dense.

pulchella  closeup   habit   another plant  mounding shrub to 3’ tall, 6-8’ wide. Typical dark green foliage, with a heavy show of pendant light pink flowers, with a hint of salmon, in winter and spring. Very showy when in bloom. This species is native to areas of alkaline soil in South Australia, and may need applications of lime in acid soils.

'Pink Flamingo'  flowers   habit  a Koala Blooms program item, with slightly darker pink flowers on a plant with essentially the same habit and dimensions as the original trade form. rev 9/2007 

Cosmos atrosanguineus  CHOCOLATE COSMOS  closeup  deciduous perennial to 2’ tall bears small, single maroon brown flowers to 1" across most of the year. Flowers smell like chocolate. Sun, average watering. Hardiness not completely known, but our plants took 20°F in containers without damage, resprouting vigorously from the roots. The real problem with longevity seems to occur in soils that remain overly wet in winter. Mexico. Compositae/Asteraceae.

Cotinus coggygria purpureus  PURPLE SMOKE TREE  foliage   flowers   small tree, smoking somewhat fall color  a medium size deciduous shrub to small tree to about 8-10’ tall and wide. It is grown for its deep reddish purple foliage and strange, attractive flower clusters, which are wispy, thread like, and suspended above the foliage like puffs of smoke. The leaves usually lighten in color somewhat in summer, though this varies from plant to plant. Our strain has proven to be mostly colorfast, with a minimum of greening. Fall color is outstanding - somewhat stronger than the regular green variety, but also not as noticeable when it turns. The green form quite noticeably changes from green to red orange, instead of green to red orange. Still it is one of the best plants for fall color, even in cool areas, though color is much stronger where summer heat ripens the wood. Sun gives the best leaf color, both during the growing season and during the fall, but it will take part shade and fall color can still be quite nice there. It needs regular to almost no summer watering when established and is very frost hardy. Europe, Asia. Anacardiaceae, which makes it a relative of the Cashew and Pistachio. rev 2/2003

'Royal Purple'  reflected light   sunlight   well used at Jody and Terri's  tissue culture propagated for clonal consistency, featuring uniformly dark, black purple foliage. Typical intense fall color and puffs of flower smoke. rev 8/2005  

procerum ‘Splendens’  at the Huntington  a large, robust, coarse textured grower to 5' tall with 3-4" wide leaves that are flushed dark maroon. Narrow petaled pink flowers are produced in fall to complement the striking foliage. A dramatic focal point subject, use it like an Agave or Phormium. Rare. Semievergreen to deciduous, hardy to 20°F (USDA zone 9, Sunset probably 8-9, 14-24). rev 12/2002

'Sangria'  young crop    much like C. procerum 'Splendens,' but this variety has deeper pink flowers.  rev 4/2008 

Cuphea hyssopifolia  FALSE HEATHER  closeup   typical plant  shrubby evergreen perennial to 2’ tall, 4’ wide bears small, closely set leaves and tiny rose red flowers. Heaviest bloom in summer, with some flowers almost all year. Part shade to shade, average watering. Great in containers. Damaged by frost below 25°F. Central America. Lythraceae.

cyanea   flowers   young plant  somewhat open, moderately robust, everblooming, and hardy enough to be evergreen with normal frost and go to the ground (but come back!) in a hard freeze. To about 18" tall by a couple of feet wide. Provides an almost endless display of its little hanging, tubular, deep rose pink flowers with yellow mouths. Part sun to shade, regular watering, fantastic in containers.Easy, satisfying, rewarding. Sunzet zones 5-9, 14-24/USDA zone 8. rev 5/2009

'Strybing Sunset'  blooming   red orange shading to golden orange at the mouth, with deep maroon red ears stiking up at the tip. Produces chains of flowers along the branches. Grows to 2-3' high and spreads cheerfully. Flowers over a very long period and so is probably facultative long-day initiation. Sun to part shade, shear back as needed. Great as container, combo, or garden. More frost hardy than it looks, just like C. cyanea. It should take 10-15F or Sunset zones 5-9, 14-24/USDA zone 8.  7/2009

Cupressus macrocarpa   MONTEREY CYPRESS  typical middle aged specimens   nice view   clipped on N. Branciforte   Strybing patriarch  a fast evergreen tree to 40’ or more, picturesque and individualistic with age under the right conditions. It can be sheared as hedge quite successfully in climates where it is well adapted. It tends to be very short-lived away from the immediate coast. Its main nemesis these days is Cypress Canker, a highly contagious fungal bark disease that causes open cankers on the branches that weep sap, causing limb loss, eventual decline, and eventually death. Keep this one in fog and wind and overall cool, humid conditions and it will generally do fine. The farther away from those conditions they are, the poorer they do. Sun to part shade, little or no summer watering, average to good drainage, probably begins to suffer below 15°F. Central California. Cupressaceae. rev 8/2005

Curculigo capitulata  FALSE PANAMA HAT PLANT, PALM GRASS  in full, north facing shade in my garden   nice view   Buena Creek Gardens, San Marcos  not a grass and not a palm, even though it is commonly mistaken for one. It clumps to form (slowly) a tall grove of single, uncut, palm-like leaves, light green and pleated, to 3' tall by about 4" across. It looks for all the world like a thick patch of palm seedlings coming up. A large, beautiful planting of it can be seen on the edge (the north end?) of the pond at the LA Arboretum in Arcadia. This is one of those foliage plants that doesn't look like anything but itself. It is highly desirable and lends an incomparable tropical air to landscapes. It needs part sun to full light shade, rich, moist soil, regular to infrequent watering, and protection from hard freezes. It is actually quite frost tolerant, growing as it does from underground stolons, but it is a slow grower and retains its leaves for more than a year so if they are cut down every winter it gets unhappy. It bears small dark yellow flowers in furry, congested, capitate heads near the ground during the warm season. Makes a wonderful, happy container plant and can be used in greenhouse plantings. Hypoxidaceae. Tropical Asia, Australia. rev 8/2005

Cyathea  TREE FERN  tree ferns seem to need a couple of years to get established before they start forming a trunk. Often the fronds will increase in size dramatically for a year or two while the crowns enlarge. Once it has reached its mature trunk size, it will start to put on vertical growth. The best overall site for tree fern information is Ian Barclay's excellent The Cold Hardy Tree Fern Web Page.(link is here) I recommend anyone interested in tree ferns check it out as their first stop. Tree fern lovers of the world unite!!

     Want to grow your tree ferns faster? I know a little trick. Heap freshly chipped tree clippings or other coarse mulch on the ground all around them as thick and as far as you can stand it and sprinkle or soaker-hose them like crazy. I have seen established  C. ‘Brentwood’ and cooperi plants in a grove put on THREE FEET of trunk growth in one year following this formula. If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't a believed it! You could probably speed them up even more if you used a high nitrogen analysis liquid fertilizers monthly. NOTE: do not use pure chipped wood, your mulch should be litter composed of leaf, twig, branch, and stem material. The best stuff comes when the power line trimming crews are working in spring, when the trees have all their nutrient resources committed to the new growth. Such a mix will have most of the elements needed for complete decomposition. The idea is to create a thick, nutrient-rich, water-holding sponge above the roots.

     A distinctive look found in the wild with some tree ferns, including Cyatheas, is that of a skirted trunk, formed when the dead fronds from the previous year fold down against the trunk with the emergence of the new fronds. These old fronds are retained either not at all, briefly, or for a long period depending on the species and exposure. Some species or forms maintain a permanent skirt with at least the previous year's fronds as ornamentation. This look is never found in ornamental plantings in my experience because everyone cuts the old fronds off as soon as they start to yellow. But it is easy to emulate this natural skirting by simply bending and/or cracking the yellowed or dead fronds down against the trunk. This works best when they are relatively moist, which prevents them from cracking off completely.

     Don't site tree ferns immediately adjacent to traffic areas because the scales can be quite irritating to sensitive skin and even dangerous if they get into your eyes. rev 3/2004

‘Brentwood’  distinctive brown fur on croziers   my house   distinctive robust trunk  formerly just considered a strain of  C. cooperi, I am separating this one on out on its own until we or anyone else can figure out just exactly what this is. Ours form, which come from one commercial source and from tissue culture, is distinctly different from C. cooperi. It is a much larger, more vigorous, more robust variety. It may be a selection or a hybrid, or even a form of some other species. My personal suspicion and theory is that it is actually C. kermadecensis, but that is just from picture-booking it, I haven't examined the fine characteristics to pursue that lead. It is larger than anything else in the trade. Compared to the familiar C. cooperi its trunks are about twice as thick and only have dark brown fur, not the blond to whitish fur typically found on the former. The frond stipes (leaf-stems) are conspicuously rough, almost spiny, and dark, shading quickly away from the trunk to light green. There are subtle differences in the tiny leaflets as well, the frond color is darker green, and the fronds themselves show a much more pronounced arch than  the usually almost flat crown found on C. cooperi. It is a good substitute for the hard to find (in California, anyway)  Cyathea medullaris, plus an incomparably better cool grower. Growing conditions are as per C. cooperi, but it is slightly more frost tender. I lost my two more exposed specimen in 1998 when the crowns froze, and the other, more protected specimen resprouted with two crowns. Older plants, or plants with a little more winter sun, would probably not have been as damaged. rev 1/2008

cooperi (Sphaeropteris cooperi, Alsophila cooperi)  LACY TREE FERN, ROUGH TREE FERN, AUSTRALIAN TREE FERN  Union Street, 1998   Union Street, 2005    blue Victorian   the importance of background color and companion plants   happy plant, Paradise Park   characteristic trunk   from above   at Strybing Arboretum  evergreen (usually), to 10’ tall (to 30' in nature!) with a maximum trunk diameter of 8". This is easily the most common tree fern found in California, for a variety of reasons. It is fast, easy to propagate, reasonably hardy, tolerant of dry summer air, and survives commercial culture well. It can be transplanted and moved very easily as long as some root ball is taken with it and it is well watered afterwards until established. Its fronds are light to medium green, tripinnate (divided many times) and spreading to 15’ wide on more robust specimens. Fronds are wider and usually held more horizontally than those of the “Tasmanian” Tree Fern (Dicksonia antarctica), and the bases eventually dehisce cleanly to leave an oval scar (D. antarctica retains the stubs). It is also distinguished by relatively large, blond (usually) scale-like filaments on the stipes (frond stems), as opposed to the very fine brown fur found on D. antarctica. It is very tolerant of growing under  Eucalyptus globulus, and is often found growing beneath it in nature, along with  Acacia melanoxylon. Grows best in part shade to shade but is often seen in full or almost full sun conditions, usually bleached and scorched to some degree. It will tolerate very frequent watering, with an attendant fast growth rate, but can survive in a semidormant state with little summer watering. It is a good container plant as long as you don't plant it where its fronds will be across a pathway. This species is more tender than the one found more commonly in Australia,  C. australis, a much taller and much slower growing species, which is hardier even than D. antarctica. This species is damaged by frost below 25°F, usually going deciduous, but it needs around 20°F to kill it. Eastern and southeastern Australia. Cyatheaceae. rev 9/2004

Cycas revoluta  SAGO PALM  starting to cone   at the Huntington - dream on!  a cycad, which is a palm-like gymnosperm, and a cone bearing plant, but not considered a true conifer. Grown for its exotic foliage and striking form. From Southern Japan, it is one of the hardiest cycads and is frost hardy enough to be used throughout California except the Sierras and points east and the Northeastern high desert plateau. Its fine textured, glossy green leaves are hard, durable, and mostly free from pests. With age the crown will enlarge and a trunk will form, and remarkable giant cones will form within the leaves. With great age it can reach 10-15', though such specimens are rare in California, and so slow that it is pointless to attempt to grow one to that size unless you start when you are in first grade. And if you do get one that big, it will be prone to theft anyway and so probably disappear. This plant is quite effective used by itself in a container or as a focal point in the landscape. It is also quite dramatic used in massed in the garden, which used to be prohibitively expensive but is a more achievable look nowadays. It brings much of the perfect, uniform, clean look of a palm but stays nice and small. Likes sun to part shade, average to good drainage, and average to infrequent watering. It responds well to moderate fertilizing. Use iron treatments and/or acidify the soil if chlorotic. Cycadaceae. rev 5/2006

Cynara scolymus Imperial Star (seedlings)  ARTICHOKE  ornamental clump, Huntington Botanic Gardens    ready to pick!   fun with flowers, by Virginia Bennett   amazing bloom, closeup  an improved strain from the California Cooperative Exchange Service, with a very high percentage of high grade heads, good uniformity, and a better range of climatic adaptation. This variety has good flavor and is a slightly faster producer than ‘Globe’ divisions, although quality is not quite as good as the hard-to-get (and often diseased) field divisions. Still they make excellent heads and grow with more vigor than the divisions. It makes an impressive deciduous perennial in areas colder than production areas when grown for its 4’ tall, finely tomentose grey foliage and large purple thistle flowers. For good eating quality heads, plan on cutting plants back in early fall in inland areas and growing on through cool, overcast winter weather. Hot weather causes the buds to bolt and limits climatic range. Plants need about 1300 hours below 50°F to fully vernalize and form buds early but plants are facultative long day bloomers and will initiate about a month later without chill. Also, in this seed strain 80% of plants will still flower after just 200 hours of chill, which makes it an excellent variety for Southern California. In coastal areas, plants can be cut back after harvest for repeat crops. In all areas, frost below 25°F will kill the plants back, but except for bronzing of outer petals on the heads, quality should be unaffected. In fact, some experts consider these “frost kissed” buds to be the best. Plants produce best if fed rather heavily when young and more moderately when mature. They will require watering at all stages for good production except very near the coast or in very rainy areas. They need at least average drainage or they will be prone to various root rots. For best results treat them to deep, rich soil and feed moderately heavily. Full sun, part sun if only used as an ornamental. Mediterranean origin. Compositae/Asteraceae. rev 2/2005

Cyperus  SEDGES  grass-like plants that like moist soil. Some can be oppressively invasive. Cyperaceae. rev 9/2003

papyrus  PAPYRUS  mature garden clump   another garden   at the Huntington  tall subtropical perennial bears clusters of filmy, narrow, thread-like leaflets on stalks to 6-8’ tall. Needs average to heavy watering. Must be protected from hard frost. Outstanding container plant, striking when used with cut flowers. Sun to part shade, will tolerate standing water. Northern and central Africa.

'Little Tut'   DWARF PAPYRUS   this is a truly dwarf form of the real Papyrus, not the chunky little species C. isocladus, that only vaguely resembles it. Just cut the size of genuine Papyrus by half to two thirds and that is what you get. A much better form for medium to small containers. rev 5/2008 

Cyrtomium falcatum ‘Rochfordianum’  HOLLY FERN  Great America   Strybing Arboretum  this upright evergreen fern to 30" tall (to over 5' if you live along the Gulf Coast!) bears large, coarsely pinnate, glossy, sword-like fronds, with large, dark green pinnae (leaflets), in circular rosettes. Needs mostly shade, average watering, and no frost below 25°F. IT does well in containers and can form large specimens Asia, South Africa, Polynesia. Polypodiaceae. rev 11/2008

fortunei  HARDY HOLLY FERN  this species is a little different from the more commonly encountered C. falcatum, being generally lighter green, sometimes almost grey green in color, dull as opposed to glossy, and mostly lacking the marginal hairs and indumentum. It often has attractive and noticeable vein patterns pressed into the leaf's upper surface as well. It is usuallyo lower, rarely over 2' tall, and takes a full USDA zone more cold (5 as opposed to 6). It also is not plagued by thrips like C. falcatum and seems more tolerant of garden conditions on the West Coast. rev 4/2009

clivicola  first crop  more leaflets, undulate leaflet margins, denser, lower, finer textured, slightly grey green in color, and with dark central midribs. Choice, an excellent garden fern. rev 4/2009
intermedium  trade show samples  sometimes mixed up with v. clivicola. Often has dark leaf midribs and dark indusia (spore-bearing structures), grows with a more horizontal habit.  rev 4/2009

hybrid (falcatum x caryotideum)  first plants  this is one of several new forms we have that I think are all more interesting than the standard trade species, C. falcatum, and its forms. This is a lower growing, flatter form with many fewer but much larger leaflets that are more cut, a light, almost-but-not-quite greyish green in color, with a flat finish as opposed to a glossy sheen, and with interesting, fine, impressed veins. It is grown outside in the Pacific Northwest so should be fine for most of California as far as hardiness. It looks like a smaller grower, probably to under 2' tall. Typical fern conditions. rev 11/2008