Dehiscent Fruits

Fig. 1   Arbus precatorius seedpods in watercolor.

 It is a plant that grows as a weed in the coastal areas of my hometown in the Philippines.
And for the sake of nostalgia, I decided to draw it based on a picture I saw on the internet.

One the subjects I have enjoyed painting recently have been some dehiscent fruits.  These are the fruits that split-open at maturity to reveal or release the seeds in them.  Dehiscence is nature's seed dispersal mechanism.

Sometimes as gardeners we seem to be focused on the flowers especially on ornamental plants such as the Fortnight Lily (Dietes iridioides).  However as a plant scientist, I seem to be more fascinated by the inherent ultimate purpose of the plant which is reproduction.  Flowers are mainly there to facilitate the seed production.  It is for this very reason that the petalss are not very lasting - they fade right after pollination.  The fruits which contain the seeds are the true star of the whole show.

Fig. 2  Dietes iridiodes seedpods in watercolor.

Commonly known as Fortnight Lily, it is a popular choice for the local landscapes because of its heat and drought tolerance. It has beautiful white flowers that bloom in waves from spring to fall.  After the petals fade away, prominent green seedpods take the place of the flowers.  However, during this time of year blackish-gray cracked seedpods hover over the evergreen leaves.

Hort Art - Photographic Impressionism

"Blue Brodiaea Breaking Through"

So my older daughter has been helping me play with some artistic tools on Photoshop lately.  Here are some of my first attempts so far using the blurr filter.  It is fun because I can hide the less important parts of the picture.  Some might call it cheating but I call it art - Hort Art.  Someday I might learn to use a drawing tablet to have a finer and better control of the cursor.

"Eden Through the Mist"

When a gardener learns a new software - art is born. :)

Hort Art - Avian Sculptures

Birds on stepping stones.

Careful not to let anything out of the bag, my husband and I packed our kids and drove 350 miles to Fortuna, California to surprise my mother-in-law on her 63rd birthday.  We knew they were in town on that day but when we got there nobody was home.  So we waited...we tied some birthday balloons on their railings.  Although the gate to the backyard was closed it did not require much from us to open it and go take a peek into her beautiful garden.  My children entertained themselves by collecting frogs and bugs while my husband and I went to Starbucks for coffee.  

One thing that is very notable in her garden is the spread of avian-themed ornaments throughout the place.  There is art in the placement of any ornament and she seems to have mastered it beyond my ability to emulate.  It is such a delight to be surprised by a pair or family of birds in every little corner of the garden.  

There are so many of them that I began to wonder which is her true hobby - gardening or bird watching?  Just like in the interior of our homes, the things we put in our gardens speak about us.  It appears that a gardener's success in garden ornaments depends on our choices is based on what we really like instead of what might be pleasing. 

Birds on a lunch break.

Birds at home.

Birds playing in the tool shed.

Hen and chicks?

Garden ornaments such as these bird sculptures add a finished look to any garden. 

Hort Art: Pollarded Trees at Filoli

London plane trees (Platanus x hispanica) line the entrance to the Filoli visitor center.

Last spring I talked a little bit about pollarding where most of the pictures were taken from the gardens in Paris.  The pictures featured the gnarled and enlarged knobs of the dormant trees.  With my recent visit to the Filoli gardens, I took pictures of pollarded trees - now crowned with green foliage.  

I am really fascinated by the discipline that is involved in pollarding a tree.  A well trained tree is achieved only through the consistency and patience of a gardener.  And although I'd like to adopt pollarding as a pruning technique, it would be a real challenge since it requires special equipment and manpower to do the job.   

The process of pollarding starts with hard pruning.  The major limbs of a tree (not a seedling) is cut back to achieve a desired shape.  However the success of pollarding rests on the annual pruning of the new growths around the cut.  When this is done properly, the process results in the unusual bulging of the underlying stems which makes the trees look interesting.  If the pruning is missed for a year or so, the tree loses its intended shape.

Disciplined shape

Unusually-bulged stems.

Pollarding helps trees maintain the same height and canopy cover through the years.

Pollarding: discipline-instilled on tree and discipline-required from gardener.

Hort Art - Garden Poem

This plaque was given to me by my mother-in-law a while back.  It has been in one corner of my garden ever since.  What I didn't know is that the verse written on it is adapted from an old poem by Dorothy Frances Gurney. 

As I looked at this beautiful poem, it does not talk about the gardens that we grow in our backyards at all but rather the garden that God intended and designed for mankind. The garden described in the first stanza refers to the Garden of Eden where God placed Adam.  It was a peaceful place very close to heaven.  Adam and Eve allowed themselves to be defiled by sin - God's garden is off limits to sinful man.  But that was not the end of it.  God provided a way for mankind to be forgiven so that they could go back to His Garden.    The garden in the last stanza speaks of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane before he was crucified - the crucifixion that opens the gates for us, Adam's children, to enter the Garden once more. 

Read the poem for yourself and see what you can get out of it.

God's Garden

THE Lord God planted a garden

In the first white days of the world,

And He set there an angel warden

In a garment of light enfurled.

So near to the peace of Heaven,

That the hawk might nest with the wren,

For there in the cool of the even

God walked with the first of men.

And I dream that these garden-closes

With their shade and their sun-flecked sod

And their lilies and bowers of roses,

Were laid by the hand of God.

The kiss of the sun for pardon,

The song of the birds for mirth,--

One is nearer God's heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on earth.

For He broke it for us in a garden

Under the olive-trees

Where the angel of strength was the warden

And the soul of the world found ease.

~Dorothy Frances Gurney ~

Hort Art - Garden Accents

This statue appropriately blends in with the rest of the garden and yet it invites your eyes to look.  The ivy has found its way to become part of the lady's outfit.  This combination gives a sense of connection between the accent statue and its surroundings.  There exists an impression that "she" has been there when the garden began.  The color and scale of the accent piece add to the overall success of this design.

I took this picture from one of the gardens featured in the El Dorado Hills Garden Tour (May 15, 2010).

Hort Art - Pollarding

Pollarded tree at the Jardin du Luxembourg

During their recent trip to France my husband and my son took pictures of pollarded trees in the gardens of Paris.  Although they think that they went there at the wrong time because the plants are still bare, I personally think that it is the best time to see the distinguished architectural beauty of pollarded trees.  The appearance of newly polarded trees may exhibit an ignoble sight with their fresh cuts.  Those that have gone through years of this drastic pruning method, however, display an unparalled presence of endurance and persistence through their stubby and gnarled formation.

Pollarded tree at the Jardin du Luxembourg

Pollarding is the method of pruning where the top tree branches and stems are cut back drastically.   Pollarding starts with a maiden tree, a tree that has not been pollarded.  A pollarded tree is called a pollard.  Pollarding results in a flush growth of slender shoots and branches which needs to be removed annually.  The annual attempt of the tree to grow a scar tissue over the repeated cut, results in the formation of bulges at the ends of the branches. 

Pollarded trees at the Jardin du Plantes

Pollarding is very popular in France especially in urban gardens and parks (I noticed from the pictures).  This procedure controls the growth of the plants beyond their space allowances.  Pollarding reduces the canopy cover of trees which is important in maintaining the desired level of shade.  It increases the resistance of the trees to winds.  Root growth is regulated preventing them from being to invasive.

Rows of pollarded trees at the Jardin du Plantes

Rows of leafless tall pollards look stately in the spring.  In the summer I imagine evenly clipped trees that provide a continuous row of shade.  This are not common in California where we live...so I wonder how these tall trees are pruned and how much time, manpower, and Euros are spent in pruning them?   I guess whatever the cost of maintaining them that they are worth it.  

Hort Art - New Hypertufa Recipe

This pot is made from a "green" version of the traditional hypertufa.   Hypertufa is an artificial rock made from a combination of natural aggregates (such as sand or Perlite) and peat moss mixed with Portland cement.  My hypertufa recipe is unique in that it includes coffee grounds, portland cement, and water.   The coffee material can be acquired free from Starbucks.  It makes the mixture darker and a lot lighter (in weight) compared to sand.

I was motivated to make small and unusual pots for my new collection of succulents.  The rustic look of hypertufa would make an interesting contrast against their varying shades and shapes of the plants.  

I will continue to experiment on different coffee:cement ratio until I come up with a desirable combination.  My first try was not quite successful as I skimped on the cement. 

Sometimes, the inspiration to create can be found in a garbage bag like the coffee grounds I used in this project.   For as long as you can imagine then the possibility remains.  After all, horticulture is not only a science but also an art. 

Hort Art: Mazes and Labyrinths

I have always been fascinated by hedges maybe because it was a part of my everyday life growing up.  In a little town in the Philippines where I came from, hibiscus were used as fence-plants.  They are planted closely so that they would form a hedge along the roads. 

Then I went to Britain where I saw a completely different application of the hedge.  Hedges are designed geometrically to form mazes and labyrinths.  Although mazes are rooted on myths of long time ago, they maintain a classic appeal to people of all ages.   Today,  they have become part of gardens in many countries of the world.  They are designed for entertainment, recreation, as object of art, object of magic and meditation.  Mazes in the gardens are like living puzzles.   Unlike the labyrinths, mazes have dead end and therefore you can get lost in it...which probably provides more challenge and attraction to the adventurous ones.  Here are three examples of mazes, the ones that I've seen, in Britain.  Notice that the plants used are different. 

The Murray Star Maze at Scone Palace

The Murray Star Maze, was designed by the world renowned Maze designer Adrian Fisher, is Perthshire's only maze. Designed in the shape of the five pointed star that's featured in the Murray family crest. The maze comprises 2000 beech trees, half copper and half green, planted in a way to create a unique tartan effect.  I did not have a good position to take a picture that would show the overall effect of the design.

Jubilee Maze

The Jubilee Maze a.k.a. "The Amaging Hedge Puzzle" is about twenty years old.  It was designed by Lindsay and Edward Heyes.  Edward Heyes does the trimming himself and according to his records it takes him 10 weeks per year to trim the hedges.   The maze is made of 1,039 Port Orford Cedar bushes.   

Maze Garden at Hampton Court

The maze garden at Hampton Court in Herefordshire is made of a thousand yews with a gothic tower at its centre.  In this picture the plants were in the process of being trimmed. 

If you have a land to spare and a dream to have tourists visiting your garden, then plan on adding a maze to your garden.  This will surely amaze your neighbors.  Visit your local professional nurseries not only to see what's available and adapted to your area but also to see if you like the plant.   After you have selected your type of plant then you can browse the internet for a more reasonable price. 

Hedges are live garden structures.  Take time to care and train them.

Hort Art - Hedges

Picture taken at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Hedges provide architecture and structure to any garden.  The strong lines that they make provide an anchor for everything else that are added to the garden.   Hedges provide a privacy feature as they can be used as fence and even divide gardens into rooms.

Hedges are shrubs that have been planted closely and allowed to grow into each other's space and trained into a desired shape and size.  Hedges look neat and disciplined but that does not happen without the gardeners intervention.   A good hedge require constant pruning and shaping.  Left alone for a long period of time, hedges will grow on their own way and eventually look wild.  Gardeners need to be ruthless in pruning hedges so that they would maintain their intended shape and size.  My own boxwood  (Buxux microphylla) hedges keep on growing wider and taking too much space into the pathway.  

Commonly Used Evergreen Shrubs for Privacy Hedges:

1.  Japanese Boxwood (Busus microphylla)

2.  Yew (Taxus baccata)

3.  Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis 'Green Giant')

4.  Holly (Ilex verticillata)

5.  Leyland Cyprus (x Cupressocyparis Leylandii)

6.  Variegated Japanese Laurel (Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’) aka Gold Dust Tree

7.  Catoneaster (Catoneaster lucidus and Catoneaster divaricatus)

8.  Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica)

9.  Firethorn (Pyacantha coccinea)

10.  Privet (Ligustrum spp.)