Coastal California | Far Out Flora

Strybing All Day Long

November 22, 2011 by Matti | 3 Comments

Salpiglossis - Painted Tongue

Gotta love the SF Botanical Garden at Strybing. There’s always something to check out year round. How adorable is this Salpiglossis? Also known as Painted Tongue, it was popping in the beds. Found a great write up on Salpiglossis over at Life on the Balcony.

Fuchsia boliviana

I’ve a love hate relationship with this Fuchsia. About a year ago gophers attacked and we lost a couple plants. Then requested you to help pick out our replacement plant. Well, the Fuchsia boliviana ‘Alba’ just squeaked in as the winner and I am a huge fan. However as I recall, F. b ‘Alba’ wasn’t available and we ended up planting F. boliviana instead…no Alba. Ours is getting big and I can always pop over to Strybing to get my Alba fix.

Amaryllis belladonna

Every time I see Amaryllis belladonna, I think it’s gonna be the last of the season. Then I’ve got to bust out the camera and document. Just how late in the season will these guys bloom? Dirt Du Jour Northern California has an cool pick showing how it looks in the garden.

Dahlia tenuicaulis - Tree Dahlia

I’ve been hearing a lot of stories about this plant, Dahlia tenuicaulis (aka Tree Dahlia). Early last spring while up in Mendocino, I just missed seeing them in flower. I mean, can it really be…a Dahlia that is a tree. Well, it’s true. We even scored a couple plants this past summer, which we planted up in a big container and they’re just about to flush out its first bloom. I just hope that the wind doesn’t snap off the main trunk before ours flowers. There’s a mystery what color they’ll be as it was unmarked. Stay tuned.

Salvia ‘Anthony Parker’

So many Salvias…so little time. Glad Strybing has ample space to grow out a bunch of them including this Salvia ‘Anthony Parker’. Gorgeous contrast between the purple and green.

Melianthus major

We’re in the search for our own Melianthus major ‘Purple Haze’. So far no luck, but we’ve put out the feelers. I suspect that if we get off our seats and head down to a Strybing plant sale…we’ll likely find one. Until then, just need to drool over this guy.

Canna edulis

Another dazzling display. Canna edulis you look like fireworks shooting off into the sky.

Crinum moorei

Frankly, I know nothing about Crinum moorei. I didn’t even know the name until I found the tag. (shh… don’t tell Megan). What I do know is that Derek over at Plantgasm has the Coolest time-laps video EVER! of it blooming. Man, that was the best 90 seconds I’ve spent in a long time. Thanks for doing what you do…Derek!

– Far Out Flora

Whale of a Story

August 18, 2011 by Matti | 4 Comments

Grass is Greener.

There’s a guy up in Westport, CA who’s on a mission to build a giant whale in his front yard. While up in Mendocino last month, we journeyed 25 miles further north on Hwy 1 to see how his progress is coming along.

Westport Whale.

Local artist, Carlos Amigos (aka Kyle Siler), is the man behind this cool project. This roadside attraction measures somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 feet long, 10 feet high. Seems to be more of a rebar and mesh sculpture at the moment, but believe he’s gonna be coated with fiberglass in the end. Check out his blog on more of the story.

Echeveria imbricata

While there, it wouldn’t be right if we didn’t stroll around to check out some of the gardens in the hood. Love these Echeveria imbricara. They grow into there tight concentric patches that are mesmerizing to the eye.

Neighbor's place.

This garden is chock full of color and texture. If you take a closer look, just up to the right, you can see the afternoon fog rolling in. Even though summers are dry here, that fog drip helps keep our coastal plants hydrated.

Westort Whale.

So I was convinced that a lot of progress has been made on this whale project. Looking back to last Thanksgiving when we originally saw this beast…it looks about the same as before, lol. Still an impressive sight nonetheless and worth checking out if you’re anywhere near this small town of 200.

We can’t wait for out next trek north. Any suggestions for other offbeat objects or gardens we need to go see?

– Far Out Flora

Dead Heading the Echium wildpretii

July 6, 2011 by Matti | 14 Comments

The Echium wildpretii, aka the Tower of Jewels, is one of the coolest plants we’ve grown in the garden. Can’t say for certain, but believe we planted it back in Jan 2010. You can see an old skool picture of it from a post a year and a half ago (1st pic, left hand side).

Echium wildpretii is a biennial monocarpic plant native to the Canary Islands. We started ours from a four inch pot. During the first year it forms a short 2-3 foot stalk of leaves in a rosette pattern. Below is our baby with about a years worth of development.

During its second season of spring growth, it starts to pop out one massive flower which can reach 3-9 feet tall. Our flower spike lurked out last March. The next couple of pics show its progress.

April 2: the excitement builds and it bloomed in time for April’s Bloom Day.

Three weeks later, a flush of flowers began filling in…and two more small flower spikes shot out from the bottom of the stem.

Just a week later, the budding was nearly complete. I would have to call May 7 the day it peaked (see 1st pic).

…3 more weeks and this puppy was about spent. Well, it’s monocarpic thus it’s not coming back so…it was time to dead head it.

We are surprised how well it did in a container. We thought for certain that the roots would be bolting out the bottom of the wooden box it was planted it in. Turned out that everything was well contained inside the planter.

The balancing act

Oh, here’s a tip if you want to balance an Echium wildpretii on your head. The freshly cut stem was super slimy. So instead of resting it on your chin where it easily slips off…try balancing it on your lower set of teeth.

Final resting home

Today, he’s resting against the fence, pining for the fjords. There’s a ton of pin head sized seeds attached to the flower stalk. We’re gonna try collecting some seeds to see if we can get any of them to germinate. Any suggestions how long we need to let those seeds sit before trying to sow them?

– Far Out Flora

December 3, 2010
by Megan
3 Comments

Westport Whale Sculpture

We’re going off topic today, but can’t resist sharing this (soon to be) road side attraction. Outsider Artist, Carlos Amigos aka Kyle Siler, is building a ginormous whale sculpture in the little coastal town of Westport California…just along Highway 1. … Continue reading →

Nepenthes and more Big Sur fun

April 7, 2010 by Megan | 9 Comments

Before leaving Big Sur, we stopped at a couple of our favorite places starting with Nepenthe restaurant.

Protea Love at Nepenthes

Nepenthes Garden

Nepenthe’s Gardens are pretty sweet…richly filled with succulents, CA Natives, and there is something always in bloom. BTW their restaurant, Cafe Kevah, is reasonably priced and has a fantastic view.

Someone tell us the name of this plant please

Seriously…we really need to know the name of this plant (above)…anybody know?

Nepenthes Driveway

The main driveway off of Hwy 1 is flanked with Italian Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens). We fell in love with the Grevillea.

Cute

Down Sycamore Canyon Rd, there is a sweet little garden to see when you head towards Pfeiffer Beach.

Matti's rock balancing at the beach

McWay Falls

Just before leaving Big Sur proper, check out McWay Fall, sometimes called Julie Pfeiffer Falls. BTW, the falls often dry up by mid summer because lack of rain.

– Far Out Flora