casa coniglio

It's a rainy day today, an unusual occurrence in the desert, but it does happen. Temperatures fall, smells come alive, flower colors are richer, and plants get weighted by moisture. It's a nice treat.

Ceanothus 'Gloire de Versaille' opened a few puffs of flowers, but I'm not impressed. The flowers are such a pale faded blue that they don't show well. Perhaps in a wetter climate where the plants will have a green background and the light is softer, the color would be better. I think that for a blue flowered shrub I'd rather have a Caryopteris. We'll see if it survives the winter, then how it blooms next year.

For contrast, the C. caeruleus seedling is still blooming, even setting seeds. The flowers are a much brighter blue, and the leaves are a nice glossy green.

This is a self sown seedling of agastache, and although one of the parents is A. cana, the other parent is likely to be A. 'Firebird'. Although I complained that it faded in the July/August sun, now that September is here, the colors are brighter. The rain makes it droop.

Here is Salvia pitcheri with a background of Agastache 'Ava' (the one that survived). Although most of August had a lackluster showing by Ava, it is starting to shine.

An agastache seedling came up in front of 'Ava' (A. cana x A. baberi) this year. I'm assuming that 'Ava' is the parent. It has a bit more orange to the flowers. In the photo, you see it as a single spike in front of 'Ava'.

This dianthus was sold to me as 'Firewitch' but the flowers are not the vibrant magenta that 'Firewitch' is known for. Could it be the sun? Or was it mislabeled? More likely mislabeled, since the other 'Firewitch' in my planting has put out a single flower which is of the expected color. Whichever it is, it is blooming right now, which is more than I can say about the other dianthus in my collection.

Before


After


While I was away, the garden has progressed. I had put some of the higher light requiring orchids outside to get more sunlight. One burned, but others seemed quite happy, particularly this Brassavola nodosa (a.k.a. La Dama de Noche or Lady of the Night Orchid), which put out three spikes. Looks like while I was away, the moths did play, and pollinated one of the flowers. This has never happened with my orchids before. I suppose it makes sense: B. nodosa is an orchid that grows wild in Mexico, and Mexico is just over the border. So there are moths around that can do the job. Life goes on.

Thanks to all the well wishes via e-mail, comments and those unspoken. They were appreciated. Although things my dad will never be the same, he has improved to a much greater degree than expected. I attribute this to all the well wishes. Thank you.

After spending nearly 4 continuous days with my dad in a bleak hospital room, I've come to the conclusion that hospitals seriously need to work on design. In particular, the landscape and the view out the window needs consideration. Being there with a critically ill loved one is depressing enough without having to look at a parking lot for 10 hours a day. Not to mention how it is for the patient.

No, I'm not changing my thesis.

There will be a pause in postings due to a tragic family emergency. If all goes well, postings will resume in a week or two.

Recently my parents bought a small house. They are planning to rent it out. The garden is quite aged, with overgrown plants. It had me thinking: how do you design a garden for a rental property? Clearly, the biggest issue is maintenance. You can’t expect those renting the property to maintain the garden. And you don’t want to be there every weekend monitoring watering systems, dead-heading flowers, pruning, dividing, transplanting, edging, or otherwise invading the private space of the renters.

That leaves (pun intended) plants that don’t bloom much or require much in the way of attention to irrigation - they'll have to survive wet or dry unless you have reliable water sensors. Growth rate is a two-edged sword. Slow growth requires less maintenance, but fast growers recover from damage more quickly, and make the landscape look established more quickly. A plant that grows quickly is also more likely to grow too large and need maintenance. It is also more likely to have brittle stems. Likewise, a slower growing plant may have tougher stems, but slower to outgrow damage.

Just as in any other planting design, there is not likely to be any one plant that embodies all of the perfect qualities desired for every situation. Faster growing plants would be useful in highly trafficked areas, such as parking lots and walkways, where damage is more likely to occur. You’ll want plants that recover well from the errant foot, pet damage, or the accidental dropping of a sofa, since people will be moving in and out with relative frequency. Slower growing and lower maintenance plants can be used where a car is less likely to run over it, yet be attractive over a long season with little attention.

Since rental properties are a money making venture rather than a pastime or passion, cost is the main issue. Cost is limited by using as few numbers of plant material as possible. This limits not only cost in plant stock, but also irrigation and maintenance such as pruning. The plants themselves should not cost very much, since replacement of some of the plants will be possible with every change of renters, either due to neglect, a faulty irrigation system, accidents, pet damage, or intent. Also, you’ll want something to cover ground, so that there will be less weed growth, either that or a mulch that is easy to maintain, and that doesn’t allow plants to seed in. Here in Albuquerque that leaves out gravel, which in this climate is the ideal seed bed for many plants such as chamisa, apache plume, and weeds.

When I see rental properties around town, it seems like the same plants are used everywhere. These plants are easily available, durable, relatively inexpensive, and tend to grow fairly quickly. These plant choices are not necessarily a bad thing. It is just that plant choices tend to be unimaginative and limited. It is more often that I see poor design.

Design is a big issue, since, as I look at and think about rental property garden design, it isn’t just the kinds of plants that are used, but how the plants are used. In large apartment complexes, there is usually very little space designated for plantings - intentionally. It’s a lot easier to maintain an asphalt road than a perennial garden, since the goal is to get as many apartments and parking spaces in each piece of land as you can in order to make as much money on that property as you can. This leaves little space for landscape. Houses that are rented out have default gardens: the plants that have survived after the homeowners have left it as a rental.

There can be some debate on the safety issues of plants in the rental property landscape. I see that many people use plants such as opuntia and agave, which are beautiful, low care, with low water needs. But I wonder what the legal ramifications are if someone falls (say, in a drunken stupor) in a patch of Agave havardiana? What if a pet suffers from eye damage from Stipa neomexicana? For those reasons, I’m steering clear of those plants, although I firmly believe that people living in this part of the country should have enough common sense to be careful around these kinds of plants and appreciate them for their local beauty. But that’s just my narrow opinion.

So here are a few plants that I think could be used more in rental properties.

Nolina microcarpa and N. texana - these native plants can survive with no water and won’t be damaged by the errant foot. Nolina microcarpa has six-foot (or more) flower stems, while N. texana’s purple flowers are hidden among the leaves. Mass plantings of N. microcarpa are dramatic. The nolina’s are my first choice for durability and drama, and appropriateness to this area.

Cercocarpus ledifolius and C. breviflorus. The mountain mahoganies are tough and though they don’t need water in the foothills, they can grow quickly with irrigation. Mine grew more than 3 feet this year with irrigation. Previous years, without irrigation it grew 3-6 inches. C. ledifolius is easy to find in local nurseries. Although C. breviflorus is native to the local foothills it is difficult but worth a search. I grew mine from seed I collected on a hike. Stratify through winter first, to germinate in the spring in peat-free mix. Protect seedlings from birds.

Juniperus scopulorum. The native Rocky Mountain juniper is tough and attractive. Prickly foliage like most junipers keeps people and animals from messing with it. Irrigation can be minimal or for faster growth, irrigate. Some beautiful forms are sold. ‘Moonglow’ is a blue conical variety that has the benefit of being female - so no pollen. These trees can get 20 feet tall and 15 feet wide with time, so site appropriately. Certainly, juniper as a genus is widely used in rental properties for durability and year-round appearance. The trick is to use them well, and I don’t consider a large monoculture of sheared groundcover junipers to be using them well.

Yucca glauca, Y. thompsoniana, Y. rostrata, Y. elata. Thought by some to be the same species on a continuum of sizes, Y. glauca forms stemless clumps, Y. thompsoniana grows very slowly with short leaves to 5 feet or more, Y. rostrata with longer leaves, and Y. elata to 20 feet or so with long leaves. All produce white flowers on long stems. These yuccas will give you a painful poke if you make the mistake of running into them, but won’t cause any real damage. If a plant gets trampled (unlikely except for very young plants), it will likely re-grow from the roots. Y. thompsoniana and Y. elata are fairly commonly used in older rentals around town.

Lavender and rosemary can be damaged by errant footfalls, but grow back surprisingly quickly if pruned back. Lavender may need replacing periodically.

Grasses are a terrific choice, tolerating errant foot steps and needing little care. Most need trimming once a year in early spring. Calamogrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, and Muhlenbergia capillaris are commonly used, but there are other good choices as well. Muhlenbergia rigens (deergrass) develops into a fountain of light-catching spikes. Although it is often cut back severely in the spring, it doesn’t really need it except for rejuvenation and elimination of old and dead stems. Its close relative M. lindheimeri produces gold spikes in the fall, and will need a good trimming in the spring. I’ve become fond of Sporobolus airoides for its graceful feathery appearance and iron-tough constitution. Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans) is a native plant that is similar and just as lovely as feather reed grass. I wish I’d see the white puffs of Andropogon barbinodis (cane beard grass) in landscapes, but it’s probably to lax in form for plug-n-play use. Unless it is sited properly, a more compact or upright form will need to be found. Although I like the panicums, and the genus is native to New Mexico as well as much of the eastern U.S., the cultivars seem to need a bit more water than I prefer (originating primarily in wetter climates), and remind me of the midwest rather than New Mexico.

Certainly there are many more options, both native and non-native that would work for a rental garden. I’ll probably kick myself for not thinking of them. Suggestions welcome.

Here are some more accurate photos of what the agastache looks like, although there being cloudy days for the last few days, even these photos have brighter colors than during a series of hot sunny days. As I compare the photos to what I see in the garden, these are pretty close to the midday appearance. Of course, lighting makes a big difference, as the late afternoon/sunset appearance is more vibrant as it enhances the reds and oranges, and I've strategically planted them to be backlit by the late afternoon sun.

A. 'Firebird'


A. 'Orange Flare'


A. rupestris


I just received an e-mail from my friend Ted, who says his agastache do the same thing of performing well the first year, then fading out the second or third year. And he lives much further south than here.

It's amusing how two such different plants from wildly disparate origins have such similar color and have begun blooming at exactly the same time. The first is the Ceanothus caeruleus in the last post, and the second is Salvia azurea (aka Salvia pitcheri). They are both anomalies in my red garden, but are such a heart melting color that I can't remove them. In fact, they make me wonder why I don't replace the entire garden with blues. In the pictures, the ceanothus is revealed to have a bit more violet, and the salvia is closer to true blue. But in the garden, they look nearly identical in color. Don't they make a nice pair?

When I was visiting friends in Oregon a few years back, I took a trip to Cistus nursery (a name that ensured that I go). It's not a commercial nursery, with rows of Monrovia plants for sale. Instead, there were theme areas, plants in a bit of disarray, some needing repotting, and benches of mixed plants with only one or two of some gems present. This is clearly a independent nursery, and just as clearly, owned by someone who loves plants. You know this as soon as you get into the parking lot, which is less a lot than a couple of rows of parking areas, divided by a heavily planted median. And oh! the plants in the median. Not your usual fare, if you know what I mean. Sure there was the namesake Cistus, but there was also Eucalyptus, Echium, and a host of other plants that I can only remember as being surprising for Oregon.




Owner Sean Hogan gave me a tour of the nursery, showing me some of his prized plants. When I lamented the fact that I couldn't grow Ceanothus, one of my favorite California plants, in Albuquerque, he showed me a ceanothus growing under a large tree, pulled off a few dried berries, and said, "Here, try this Ceanothus caeruleus." Now, most of us know Ceanothus caeruleus as a very frost tender plant, and I must have shown my doubt. He told me that it does fine in Oregon, and should be fine for me. He had collected it at a particularly high altitude in Mexico, where snow is not uncommon.

At home, I heat stratified some of the seeds, and grew out four or five plants. They were prone to root problems in the seed mix that I had them in, not too surprising given that it was peat based. I planted them in the garden as tiny two-leafed seedlings. Only one survived.

Each spring, I think it has died also, suffering from severe freeze damage. The leaves are supposed to be evergreen, but they are completely brown and branches crispy brown by spring. It has surprised me each year by coming back.

Last year, in late summer, it even produced one cluster of flowers. This year, the explosive new growth has exceeded 3 feet in length. It is starting to bloom, with a number of buds visible. While the flowers are not the glowing dense dark blue of varieties such as 'Concha' that I remember from California, It is a delightful powder blue. It does remind me of my youth.

Thanks, Sean. I wear my Cistus t-shirt proudly.

There was a time when I was head-over-heels with agastache. After all, this genus a lot going for it: fragrant leaves, drought and heat tolerance, nice stature, colorful flowers, long bloom season, edible flowers, and significantly, all this in a native plant. There are a lot of cultivars out there, and clearly these plants are beloved by many. One company even says that agastache is its specialty.

But in my garden, agastache is fraught with problems. Oh, it started out well enough. ‘Double Bubble’ grew tall and lusty, with a mouthwatering fragrance if not exactly bubble gum. Agastache neomexicana grew strongly with a minty fragrance. ‘Desert Sunrise’ had lusciously colored flowers and anise fragrance. ‘Firebird’ grew compactly and vigorously and was loved by hummingbirds. ‘Ava’ grew like gangbusters the first year it was planted and by fall was covered thickly with red-purple flowers. ‘Salmon and Pink’ has grown compactly, blooming early with thick heads of bloom. ‘Orange Flare’ put up with hot dry conditions and pumped out a steady trickle of bloom. Agastache cana grew steadily despite no water and put forth a nice fall show.

The second year, ‘Double Bubble’ put out strong stems with the promise of glory, but these ended in empty calyces and no flowers. ‘Desert Sunrise’ did the same, although there were a couple of deformed blooms among the calyces. Agastache cana broke to pieces after the first strong wind and had the tendency to yellow, grow slowly or simply die outright unexpectedly. ‘Double Bubble’ died that winter, as did many A. cana. Agastache neomexicana grew to a weedy appearance and non-showy flowers.

This year has similar problems. Although I have two plants of ‘Ava’ growing side-by side, one plant decided to die just as it began to bloom.


‘Desert Sunrise’ has only produced empty calyces (I was told it was due to lack of water, so this year it has been irrigated regularly and copiously all season).


One A. cana suddenly turned yellow and died mid-spring, while another which grew vigorously last year has only grown a few inches. ‘Orange Flare’, ‘Salmon and Pink’, A. rupestris and ‘Firebird’ are growing well this year, but I’ve noticed that the flowers fade to a dull color after a hot sunny day (which is mostly what we get here). ‘Orange Flare’ in particular, though with richly colored flowers in the early season, has become quite faded. Photo is actually color enhanced (unintentionally by the camera) to look more colorful than reality.



‘Salmon and Pink’ looks like curtains faded in the sun. ‘Firebird’ has been the most reliable in terms of growth and bloom, but I do wish the flowers were a brighter color. Still it’s the one I’m most likely to keep.




Perhaps my garden conditions are simply not what the plants desire. But in my conceit, I believe I am a pretty good gardener, and it is rare that I can’t figure out what a plant wants. Perhaps my plants have gotten a virus of some sort, or there is a strange fungus in the soil. Whatever the case is, agastache is going to need replacing. Which makes me sad.